10; Jehovah, who appeared to Isaiah in his visions, Isa. vi; comp. John xii, 37-41; Immanuel, born of the virgin, God with us, Isa. vii, 14; comp. Matt. i, 22, 23; the Mighty God, Isa. ix, 6; the LORD, appearing in his own temple, Mal. iii, 1; Jehovah, whose ways were prepared by the Baptist, Isa. xl, 3; Mal. iv, 5; Jehovah sent by Jehovah to dwell among his people Israel, Zech. ii, 10-13; Jehovah, whỏm (when he was clothed with humanity) the Jews persecuted and pierced, Zech. xii, 10; the LORD and God of Thomas, the apostle, John xx, 28, 29; Jehovah, our righteousness, Jer. xxiii, 6; God anointed of God with the oil of gladness, Ps. xlv, 1-7; the true God and eternal life, 1 John v, 20; both Christ and God, Eph. v, 5; our great God and Saviour, Tit. ii, 1113; OVER ALL, GOD BLESSED FOR EVER, Rom. ix, 5.

The result then of the inquirer's search after truth -the conclusion of his whole train of investigation, first, into the evidences of Christianity, and afterwards into several of the scriptural doctrines, of which those evidences are the basis, is this-that God was manifest in the flesh. It is on the plainest principles of reason, and by a regular, unbroken, course of induction, that he has been carried forward to the admission of this stupendous fact. That fact is now the subject of his frequent and profound reflection. His mind is filled with this prodigious display of the love of our heavenly Father, and it is with irresistible force that the question arises in his soul-" For what purpose could the Son of God, who is one in the divine essence with the Father, and, is, therefore, himself JEHOVAH, so marvellously humble himself, as to assume our frail and suffering nature, in that nature undergo every species of contumely, and finally die, like a malefactor, on the cross?" He has no difficulty in perceiving, that to suppose so vast a dispensation

to have been directed to the mere purpose of communicating information, which might, with sufficient efficacy, have flowed through the medium of an inspired human agency, is to suppose a doctrine utterly repugnant to the known course of the divine government over the world. He is well aware that there is an evenness in all the designs and operations of divine wisdom-a true, unfailing, and very generally perceptible, adaptation between the means and the end; and he therefore concludes, that the Son of God came into the world, and suffered, and died, as a man, to supply all our spiritual wants; not merely to illuminate our ignorance, but to bestow upon us the pardon of sins that are past, and deliverance from sin for the future-to save us from everlasting destruction, and to secure for us eternal happiness.

This conclusion he finds to be amply confirmed by the numerous general declarations of Scripture, that Jesus Christ came into the world to be the Saviour and Redeemer of sinners; but, as he pursues his course of scriptural inquiry on the redemption of the human race, the subject is gradually developed before him, and he is enabled to embrace a satisfactory view of its principal distinct features. These are the doctrines, first, of the atonement; secondly, of the imputed righteousness and advocacy of Jesus Christ; and, thirdly, of the Spirit. The result of his reflections, and of his examination of Scripture, on these points, may be described, in a few sentences, as follows:

First. It is the principle of the moral government of God (a principle of immutable justice), that righteousness shall be rewarded, and sin punished. The analogy of that moral government, as far as it is subjected to our observation here, confirms the plain scriptural doctrine, that repentance in itself is not sufficient to avert the punishment of transgression. Something

more was needed to demonstrate God's unalterable abhorrence of sin, and to reconcile his mercy with his justice. Now, God has himself bestowed upon us all that was required in order to the accomplishment of these ends. In the sacrifice of his only-begotten Son on the cross, he has provided a perfectly adequate atonement for the sins of mankind, in all ages; and thus it is, that the gate of Paradise is again thrown open, (on repentance,) to the whole human race. This great atonement was foreordained before the foundation of the world; and from the earliest ages of it, until the death of Christ, and especially under the Jewish institution, it was typified and foreshown by the rite of animal sacrifice. It was also the subject of prophecy the most detailed and explicit; and, from the very numerous statements made on this fundamental doctrine by our Lord himself, and his apostles, as well as from the sacrificial phraseology in which those statements are couched, it plainly appears, that as the Jews of old were saved from the temporal punishment of their ceremonial and other subordinate offences, and were restored to their civil and external religious privileges, in consequence of their typical sacrifices-so men of every name and nation may be delivered from the eternal penalty of sin, and may be restored to a real peace with God, and therefore to all true happiness, in consequence of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ-a voluntary offering, originating in the love of God and Christ towards the children of men.

Secondly. Nothing short of an absolute, uninterrupted, righteousness can possibly merit the reward of a joyful eternity. Our own righteousness is justly compared to "filthy rags." It has been defiled by inward impurity-it has been scattered and broken by multitudinous transgression. Our only claim on the

heavenly inheritance, therefore, consists in this: that God is pleased to impute, to those who believe, the perfect righteousnes of our Lord Jesus Christ—who was "a lamb without blemish and without spot," and whose fulfilment of the whole law, sealed by his death, was infinitely meritorious in the Father's sight.

And, further, it appears, that although we are commanded not to sin, yet, "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." In this respect, as in many others, he is the all-powerful Mediator between God and his people. At the right hand of the Father, he is ever engaged in our support and defence. He rebukes our accuser, he presents our prayers, he ever lives "to make intercession for us."

Thirdly. While the Christian may rejoice in the sacrifice, the merits, and the advocacy, of Jesus, he is always to remember that none of these points in religion interfere with the unalterable decree of a righteous God, that into his kingdom nothing "that defileth" can ever enter. Man, in order to be eternally happy, must be saved, not only from guilt, but from sin. He must be born again, changed, and sanctified. This essential work is begun and carried forward only through the operation of a divine and supernatural® influence-the great promise of the Father under the Christian dispensation—the influence of the Spirit of God. This influence flows to mankind through the channel of Christ crucified. By his death on the cross, Jesus has procured for us the Spirit, and now freely bestows it on his people, for their help and salvation. The Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, is sent unto us from the Father, by the Son; and, as it was his office to effect the incarnation, immeasurably to inspire the ministry, and to assist the atoning offering of the Messiah himself, so is he the cause of the

new birth, in the seed or children of the Messiah; and ever dwells in true believers, to illuminate, guide, strengthen, and console, them; and, above all, by the work of sanctification, and by the diffusion of divine love in their hearts, to prepare them for the purity, peace, and joyful unity, of the saints in bliss.

Such are the distinct, yet harmonious, features of the scheme which God has appointed for the redemption of man. Now, while, in the purposes to which its several parts are directed, our inquirer beholds a satisfactory reason for the incarnation and crucifixion of the SON OF GOD-while his heart is filled with gratitude towards the Father who ordained, towards the Son who conducts, and towards the Holy Spirit who consummates, the plan of mercy, he presses forwards to the consideration of another question"What," he asks, "are those dispositions or principles of action in the human mind, by means of which I can appropriate these provisions of the love of God, and avail myself of the incomparable privileges offered to me in the Gospel?" The Scriptures answer, FAITH and OBEDIENCE.

On these essential, practical points, the investigator of scriptural truth presently learns the following lessons. First, as to faith-that it is by faith the just man lives, and that, without it, we cannot please God-that our heavenly Father, having bestowed upon us such evidences as are sufficient to convince our reason that he exists, and, that he is the omnipotent moral governor of the world, abounding in goodness towards his creatures, requires that we should place on him the affiance of our souls, in order to our happiness here and hereafter-that such affiance is well pleasing in his sight, and is the means of procuring the forgiveness of our sins-that one indispensable part of it, in those to whom the word of God is revealed, is a belief in that