the Godhead bodily; " that our Saviour is styled JEHOVAH, a name appropriated to the Deity; that he says of himself, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last "*"I am he that searcheth the hearts and reins; " that he created the world by his power, redeemed it by his mercy, and governs it by his providence, and shall judge it in righteousness; let any impartial man, I say, consider these things with the attention they deserve, and determine for himself, concerning the nature and dignity of him who was incarnate for our salvation.

which is a part of our nature, stands here for the whole; and, being the baser part of the composition, seems purposely to intimate, that the care and love of Heaven extend even to that; that our bodies, no less than our spirits, are included in the scheme of redemption; so that while the soul reposeth, in humble confidence, on the mercies of Jesus, the flesh also may "rest in hope." In flesh, and by the instigation of flesh, the offence was committed. By taking flesh upon him, therefore, the great Physician, the sovereign healer of all our maladies, corrected the bad Should it be asked, why this person is styled qualities of the fountain, that the streams the WORD? the proper answer seems to be, might flow pure and salutary. In flesh the that as a thought, or conception of the under- offence was committed, and therefore in flesh standing, is brought forth and communicated satisfaction must be made for it. Our High in speech or discourse, so is the divine will Priest was incarnate, that he might have made known by the WORD, who is the off-something to offer, more valuable and efficaspring and emanation of the eternal mind; cious than the flesh of bulls and calves. an emanation pure and undivided, like that "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, of light which is the proper issue of the sun, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt and yet coeval with its parent orb; since the offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had sun cannot be supposed, by the most exact no pleasure; then said I, Lo, I come (in the and philosophical imagination, to exist a volume of the book it is written of me) to do moment, without emitting light; and were thy will, O Gɔd.” * The nature that sinned, the one eternal, the other, though strictly according to the rules of justice, was to suffer and properly produced by it, would be as for sin and the Word was made flesh, for strictly and properly coeternal with it. So the same reason that, when so made, he was true is the assertion of the Nicence fathers; so baptized by John, "To fulfil all righteousapt the instance subjoined for its illustration, ness." "And as Christ took manhood, that "God of God, Light of Light:" in apostoli- by it he might be capable of death, wherecal language, "The brightness of his Father's unto he humbled himself; so, because manglory, and the express image of his person."+ And whether we consider our Lord under the idea of the WORD, or that of LIGHT, it will lead us to the same conclusion respecting his office. For as no man can discover the mind of another, but by the word which proceedeth from him; as no man can see the sun, but by the light which itself emitteth; even, "No man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

This glorious WORD, this uncreated LIGHT, was united to our nature in the person of Christ; "The Word was made flesh." Flesh,

Upon this passage, which is found Rev. i. 11, DR. DODDRIDGE has the following Note-"That these titles (which occur just above in ver. 8,) should be repeated so soon in a connexion which demonstrates they are given to Christ, will appear very remarkable, whatever sense be given in the eighth verse. The argument drawn in the preceding note upon it, would have been strong, wherever such a passage as this had been found; but its immediate connection with this, greatly strengthens it. And cannot forbear recording it, that this text has done more than any other in the Bible, towards preventing me from giving into that scheme, which would

I

make our Lord Jesus Christ no more than a deified creature."

† Απαύγασμα της δόξης, και χαράκτη της υποςάσεως. Matth. xi. 27.

hood is the proper subject of compassion and feeling pity, which maketh the sceptre of Christ's regency, even in the kingdom of heaven, to be amiable; he, who without our nature could not on earth suffer for the sins of the world, doth now also, by means thereof, both make intercession to God for sinners, and exercise dominion over all men, with a true, a natural, and a sensible touch of pity."†

As the Divinity is an object by no means within the grasp of human understanding, it were absurd to expect an adequate idea of the mode of its union with flesh, expressed in the text by the word "made;" "The Word was made flesh." It sufficeth, in this case, to maintain the general truth of the proposition against those, who, in different ways, by subtilty and sophistry, have labored to oppugn and destroy it. We must not, with Arius, deny the Saviour to be truly God, because he became man; nor assert, with Apollinarius, that he was not really man, because he was also God. We must not, with Nestorius, rend Christ asunder, and divide him into two persons; nor,

* Psal. xl. 6,; Heb. x. 5.

† HOOKER, Ecclesiast. Polity, v. 51.
† Εγένετο.

such a shadowy representation, "is of Christ." The blood of bulls and goats, for instance, was offered, but it could not take away sin; it was never intended so to do ; it was "a figure for the time then present," designed to direct the faith of the offerer to its correspondent truth, namely, the blood of Messiah, to be afterwards shed for that purpose. In itself, the law was ineffectual, and of course, if rested in, proved fallacious and destructive.

the mount of transfiguration, and to whom | but the body," the substance, the reality, was vouchsafed a glimpse of that excellent the truth, pointed at, and delineated by glory which the WORD "had with the Father before the world was," and with which the humanity, by him assumed, is now for ever invested. The Divinity, enshrined within, communicated its radiance outwardly to the body, and even to the garments, till mortality seemed to be swallowed up of life; "His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." The "Lord our God became exceeding glorious, "he was clothed with majesty and honor, he decked himself with light as it were with a garment."

But the words, as they stand in the text, may be taken in a more extended sense, And if we reflect upon the manner in comprehending the whole world, which, at which it pleased the Father to exalt and the time of Christ's advent, was in a state nnoble the most abasing circumstances of of error and condemnation. The two blessis life and death, by the choir of angels ings, therefore, of which it stood most emihat descended to celebrate his birth; the nently in need, were 66 grace and truth;" new star which appeared in the skies, guid- grace to deliver it from condemnation, and ing the eastern sages to Bethlehem; the truth to correct its errors. Both these God voice which answered him from heaven, in by Christ did vouchsafe to bestow upon it. the audience of the Jews; the preternatu- "He hath made us accepted in the beral eclipse of the sun at his crucifixion; loved," remitting our sins, and receiving us recollecting, at the same time, the triumph to favor. He hath also shown us the true of his resurrection, and the manner of his ascension in the presence of his disciples; all these particulars conspire to declare the glory not of a servant, as Moses, but of a Son, of "the only begotten;" a glory not of magnificence only, or one beset with terrors, like that of Sinai, but bearing towards man, in every instance, a benign and most friendly aspect; as the same bright luminary, which rises in glorious majesty upon the earth, gives life, health, and gladness to all its inhabitants. "We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

In a subsequent verse of this chapter, we find "grace and truth" set in opposition to the Mosaic law. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The law was the dispensation of justice, austere, rigorous, inflexible. "He that doeth these things, shall live in them;" and, "Cursed is he that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them." The Gospel is the dispensation of mercy, mild, gracious, forgiving, saying to the unhappy transgressor of the law, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." The law could only make sin known, and by consequence, aggravate its guilt; the Gospel can pardon sin, and abolish its guilt. Such is the contrast between the moral law and "grace." The ceremonial stands opposed to "truth," not as being false, but figurative. "The law had a shadow of good things to come;

and the right way, enabling, as well as directing, us to walk therein. Grace, without truth, can only mock us; truth, without grace, can only affright us. But when grace hath brought us to him, truth will keep us with him; and through grace we shall accomplish what truth requireth at our hands. "Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other."+

With wonder, gratitude, and joy, therefore, let us reflect upon the honor done us by the Word being MADE FLESH. Our nature is exalted to the throne of God; there is a MAN in heaven! The disciples beheld Christ's glory in the days of his humiliation; but eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the glory with which God hath now invested that body which it hath pleased him to make his own; that body wherewith he hath saved the world: that body which hath been and is the root of eternal life, the instrument where with Deity worketh, the sacrifice which taketh away sin, the price which hath ransomed souls from death, the leader of the whole army of bodies that shall rise again. For though it had a beginning from us, yet God hath given it vital efficacy. Heaven hath

* Εχαρίτωσεν ημας ; Ephes, i. 6.
† Psal. lxxxv. 9, 10.

endowed it with celestial power, that virtue begotten again to a lively hope of an unwhich it hath from above, in regard whereof, all the angels in heaven adore it."* And if "no man ever yet hated his own flesh," can God hate the flesh, which, by being taken into one person with the WORD, is united to the Godhead? Can the Father hate Him, of whom he more than once declared from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased "-" And we are members of HIS body, of HIS flesh, and of His bones. It is a great mystery," saith the apostle, "but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

When man had offended, he fled from his Maker, and dared no more to approach the divine presence. But now that the WORD incarnate hath published his general invitation-"O thou that hearest the prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come!"

If the Son of God became the Son of man, why should it seem a thing incredible, that the sons of men should become the sons of God?" Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory; for we shall see him as he is."

fading inheritance. The stock, from which you are sprung, is noble, it is royal, it is divine. Disgrace it not by base and unworthy actions. Your inheritance is with the saints in light; have no fellowship with the works of darkness. Let your education be suitable to your birth, your conduct answerable to your expectations.* The infirmities and dishonors to which mortality is and must be subject, need not discompose and afflict you. Be not dismayed at the approach of pain and sickness; let not the coffin and the shroud terrify you. For though all flesh be as grass, and all the goodliness of man as the flower of grass;" though "the grass withereth, the flower fadeth," kindly admonishing you to prepare for an autumn and a winter, when the spring of youth and the summer of manhood shall be past and gone; yet "the WORD of God abideth forever." And this is the WORD which hath been "made flesh, and dwelt among us;" this is the WORD to which your nature is in Christ united; "this is the WORD, which by the Gospel is preached unto you;" whose glory there displayed, "as the glory of the only begotten of the Father," you may now behold and who, by his "grace" preceding, and his "truth" accompanying, will lead you to a glory, the excellence of which, enjoyment alone can enable you to comprehend.

;

* Utile esse civitatibus, dicit Varro, ut se viri fortes, etiamsi falsum sit, Diis genitos esse credant, ut eo modo humanus animus velut divinæ stirpis fiduciam gerens, res magnas aggrediendas præsumat audacius, et agat vehementius. Augustin. de Civit. Dei, lib. iii. p. 49. See Leland, Advant. and Necess. of Rev. i. 182.

DISCOURSE VIII.

THE CASE OF THE JEWS.

JOHN, I. 11.

His own received him not.

THAT the eternal Son of God should con-] people refused to receive so gracious a visidescend, in human form, to visit his people, tant! as their Saviour and Redeemer, is an event which may well be allowed to excite our admiration. But how does our astonishment rise, when we are informed, that his

The unbeliever, who is continually prying into every corner of ancient and modern history, for arguments to countenance him in his unbelief, seizes, we may be sure, with

avidity, on this prominent and marvellous circumstance, and labors to make his advantage of it; affecting to conclude, that the incredulity of the Jew, can only be accounted for, by supposing a deficiency in the evidence laid before him. And the believer, though satisfied that the mission of Jesus stands incontestably proved, will yet often find himself perplexed, when he reflecteth, how strange an occurrence it is, that a people, selected from all others, to be the peculium of the Most High; by his mighty hand and stretched-out arm rescued from bondage; conducted through all kinds of difficulties and dangers; at length settled in a country destined for their habitation; and there constituted depositaries and guardians of the divine oracles and institutions; that this people should reject and crucify the person all along foretold, as we say, by those oracles, and pointed out by those institutions.

The truth is, that in all the annals of mankind, and in the whole compass of speculation, we meet not with a subject of so very singular and extraordinary a nature, as that now before us, namely, the case of the Jews. It may be added, that there is none, on every account, more deserving the deep and attentive consideration of ChrisLet us, therefore, inquire into the cause of the phenomenon with which they present us. Let us hear their plea, and examine the grounds and reasons on which it is founded.

They did not, because they could not, deny that the Son of Mary wrought miracles; miracles though differing in kind, yet equal, in number and magnitude, to those performed by their own great lawgiver. Why, then, believing Moses, did they not believe him? What was it, that could occasion their infidelity? That which occasions it at all times and in all places, when proper evidence is to be admitted. Four points were by them taken for granted, from which flowed all their reasonings, and all their proceedings.

The points were these: First, That, as the chosen seed of Abraham, they had an exclusive indefeasible right to the favors of Heaven. Secondly, That the law of Moses, on account of its own intrinsic efficacy, and without a view to anything farther, was ordained for perpetual observance. Thirdly, That the possession of their city, temple, and country, in peace, wealth, and prosperity, was the end of the promises.

Fourthly, That the prophecies warranted

them in the expectation of a Messiah, who, as a temporal prince, should secure them in such possession, by subduing their civil enemies, and reigning over them in Judea.

If these things were so, they had much, indeed, to say for themselves. But let us see, whether there be not, in their own Scriptures, evidences sufficient to set these positions aside, and to condemn those men, who, upon the strength of them, rejected and crucified Jesus of Nazareth.

Their first position was, that, as the chosen seed of Abraham, they had an exclusive and indefeasible right to the favors of Heaven.

For thus, in reading the Gospel history, we find them continually priding themselves. in their descent from Abraham; as if, in order to their acceptance with God, nothing were required, but a proof of their relation to that patriarch; and as if, while that relation subsisted, no misconduct of their own could occasion them, as a nation, to forfeit such acceptance. When our Lord spake to them concerning that liberty wherewith he came to make them free, they, mistaking spiritual for civil liberty, confidently and roundly replied, "We are Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man ;"* unaccountably forgetting, as it should seem, what they had formerly suffered in Egypt and Babylon, and the state in which they lived, at that very time, under the Roman power. The mention of Heaven's mercy being extended to the Gentiles, always put them beside themselves. Christ only hinted the case of Elijah healing Naaman the Syrian, and that of Elisha being sent to a widow of Sarepta,† leaving the application to themselves. They understood him, and endeavored instantly to destroy him. St. Paul, relating the story of his conversion, was patiently heard, till he touched upon the circumstance of his mission to the Gentiles: "They gave him audience to this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live ."‡

Now this notion was taken up in direct opposition to their own Scriptures.

For they neglected to observe, what it was very obvious for any one to observe who read the Scriptures, that Abraham himself was not chosen and blessed, merely as Abraham the son of Terah; but as a servant of God, tried in various ways, and, in all, found faith