which every one is confcious of exifting, though no one is capable of explaining, fhould form other combinations, unite other natures, to declare his power and manifeft his glory? Wherefore should " it be thought a thing incredible," that He who unites himself to every one of us, through the medium of reafon and confcience, for carrying on the plan of nature, 1hould have united humanity to himself in the person of the Redeemer, in a manner ftill more incomprehenfible, for per-. fecting the plan of redemption? Shall I reject as untrue or abfurd whatever I do not clearly understand or am unable perfectly to explain? The confcioufnefs which I have of my own being must be renounced then among the first, and every thing within and around us muft be reduced to darkness, doubt and uncertainty.

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Bleffed Jefus, we cannot declare thy generation, and would not be wife above what is written, but we adore in filent won. der, we rejoice that "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," and that men "bebeld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." We rejoice that what we know not now we fhall know hereafter. Suffice it now that we fee Jefus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the fuffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God fhould tafte death for every man :"that" it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things in bringing many fons unto glory, to make the Captain of their falvation perfect through fufferings." We can form no conception of a state pre-exiftent to this frame of nature, for imagination itself must draw its ideas from reality; and to give scope to a faculty fo fantaftical, in treating a subject of fuch high moment, were prefumptuous and profane. Let us reply then to the prophet's challenge, with the modefty and humili ty becoming creatures fo ignorant, fo limited, and fo imperfect. We prefume not to explore the records of eternity, to pry into the counfels of peace, to meafure the infinite Jehovah, his nature, his decrees, his operations, by the contracted line of our finite understanding; but, taking Scripture for our inftru&tor and guide, we will with reverence and joy contemplate the manifeftation of the Son of God in the likeness of man, the mystery of the incarnation, his generation as one of our brethren. In the next Lecture therefore, if God permit, we will endeavour to lead your attention to fome of the remarkable circumftances which immediately preceded the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, and which give celebrity and notoriety to that illuftrious event, and mark the intereft

which eternal Providence took in it, and the importance thereby ftamped upon it to every ferious and reflecting mind.

We conclude at prefent, with fuggefting, from what has been faid, and from every view which is given us in Scripture of the perfon of the Saviour, that there is fpread around it at once an effulgence that dazzles and repels, and a mildness and fimplicity which compofes and attracts. Is he fpoken of as a Man, we are fent to Bethlehem to behold a babe wrapped in fwaddling clothes to Nazareth to converfe with the carpenter's fon, to Cana of Galilee to join with him in the innocent feftivity of a marriage folemnity, to Bethany to witnefs the endearments of private friendship, to Gethfemane to fympathize with the agonizing mourner, to Icenes fuch as daily occur in human life; but we are never left long to confider a mere man in fituations and employments like our own, a man of like paffions with ourselves; the glory of the Lord arifes, the Son of God ftands confeffed, a generation not to be declared, a power that nothing can refift, at which devils tremble, which winds and feas obey, to which death and the grave' are fubfervient. He fpeaks as never man fpake, legions of angels are continually on the wing to minifter unto him.Prophecy and hiftory reprefent him in the felt fame lights, in alternate humiliation and majesty, obfcurity and splendour. What a contraft does the defcription of our prophet prefent? "For unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given, and the government fhall be upon his fhoulder; and his name fhall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlafting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increafe of his government and peace there fhuil be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to eftablish it with judgment and with Juftice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hofts will perform this." The progrefs of his hiftory, in every particular ftage of it, will elucidate the fame obfervation, and therefore it shall not now be farther profecuted.

Again, this fubject feems much calculated to correft the prejudices which prevail among men in the matter of pedigree. There is in reality no fuch thing as mean and high birth or if there be a diftinction, to be born perfect in every limb and feature, with a found and vigorous conftitution, with a mind complete in all its faculties, this is to be nobly born; as, on the contrary, to come into the world difeafed and debilitated, with a conftitution undermined and deftroyed by the vice of parents, is to have the difadvantage of being meanly E born;

born; a diftin&tion which, if founded in reason, truth, and juftice, leaves the great, in general, little to glory. in, and the poor little at which to repine. Have we not all one father? What genealogy is pure from every ftain of infirmity, folly or vice? Is it any diminution of our Saviour's dignity, any impeachment of his perfect purity, or any imputation on his great public character, that in the roll of his ancefry after the flesh, we find the name of Rahab the harlot, and of her who had been the wife of Uriah, and that he was brought up under the roof, perhaps to the occupation, of an obfcure craftsman ? Virtue and vice are perfonal not hereditary, and nothing but vice is a juft ground of fhame. Shall I call myself a difciple of Jefus then, and think it a reproach to be called a carpenter's fon, defpifed because I am a Galilean, lightly efteemed because my parents were poor and ignoble, becaufe a paltry monofyllable introduces not my name ? Real worth ennobles itfelf independent of the breath of Kings, it draws obfcure progenitors into light, and leaves à fair and honorable inheritance to pofterity-in a bright example, and a refpectable name.

Once more, whatever may be our pretenfions. or our want of pretenfion as citizens of this world, we have all equal right and encouragement to afpire after the title and the fpirit, and the privileges of the fons of God. He whofe generation cannot be declared, is not ashamed to call the humbleft of you, brethren. The end of his coming into the world, of his humbling himself to death, of thedding his blood, was to make you kings and priests unto God and his Father." What he is by eternal generation, that he is making you by redemption, by the fpirit of adoption, by the hope of Glory to be revealed. Support the honour of your heavenly Father's name, prove your relation, preferve unclouded your profpects. You are now in a state of depreffion, in heaviness through manifold temptations," your title lies dormant, your poffeffion is at a diftance, but your life is hid with Chrift in God, and when he fhall appear, you fhall appear with him in glory. Beloved, now are we the fons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we fhall be, but when He shall appear we fhall be like him, for we shall fee him as he is." "Fear no," then, "little flock, for it is your Father's good pleafure to give you the kingdom." "Ye are a chofen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye fhould fhew forth the praifes of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."

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6.

LECTURE

For thus faith the Lord of hosts. Yet once, it is a little while, and I will fhake the heavens, and the earth, and the fea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the defire of all nations fhall come And I will fill this houfe with glory, faith the Lord of hofts. The filver is mine, and the gold is mine, faith the Lord of hofts. The glory of this latter houfe. fhall be greater than of the former, faith the Lord of hosts: And in this place will I give peace, faith the Lord of hosts.

THE great Lord of Nature demonftrates his exiftence and

divine perfection, in the original fo.mation, and in the conftant prefervation of all things. "He fpake and it was done, he commanded and it flood faft." He upholdeth all " by the word of his power." The continual fupport of the univerfe has accordingly, with the utmoft propriety, been reprerefented as creation every inftant repeated. In a fyftem which is all life and motion, power almighty, and attention unintermitting, muft ever be exerted to mais tain life, to carry on motion, to preserve harmony. Every being is fubjected to the peculiar law of its own nature; and the great whole is governed by general laws. Unity, fimplicity, multitude, variety, ftrike the eye of every attentive beholder; every individual prefents a little world apart, and the vaft combination of individuals forms but one world, animated by one vital principle.

But Jehovah makes himself known to his intelligent creatures not only in the stated order and harmony of his works, but in the occafional and temporary interruption of that order, and in deviation from that harmony. The powers of earth and heaven are shaken; the fun is turned into darkness and the stars withdraw their light; the barrier which reftrained. the ocean is removed, the windows of heaven are opened, and the earth is overflowed. The rain that fails on Sodom becomes a fiery tide; the flame of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace is rendered harmless air; the hungry lion licks the prophet's feet. The glaring excentric comet, the wandering, planet, and the fixed ftar, all, all refer us to one original, to one oving, restraining, directing, fupporting cause.

Neither,

Neither, however, the regular obfervance, nor the occa fional fufpenfion of the laws of nature are mere wanton difplays of power, to amufe the curious, to alarm the fearful, or to confound the proud. Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and every act of omnipotence have an important meaning and defign. The end at which the Ruler of the world fill aims, is the manifeftation of his own glory in promoting the wifdom and happiness of his creatures.

The Prophet, in the paffage of the facred volume which has now been read, is evidently referring to fome fignal difplay of the divine glory. We behold univerfal commotion raised and settled by the fame power; heaven and earth, the fea and the dry land, and all the kindreds of the nations fhaken together. Univerfal attention is excited, univerfal expectation is raised, and that expectation is completely gratified, by the appearance of" the defire of all nations ;" by the restora tion of peace to a troubled world; by a luftré bestowed on the fecond temple which fhould eclipfe the glory of the first. Now the expreffion," the glory of this latter houfe fhall be greater than the former, faith the Lord of hofts," enables us to fix the period, and to difcover the perfon here defcribed." Haggai lived and prophefied after the Babylonifh captivity, and the immediate object of his prophecy was to urge his restored countrymen to induftry and perfeverance, in the work of rebuilding the temple of the Lord. And as the most powerful and encouraging of all motives, he is commiffioned to affure them, that the period faft aproached when the fabric which they were then rearing fhould be invefted with much. greater honor, than that of Solomon and all his glory ever. poffeffed. But if this were meant of temporal splendor mere-ly, the fact contradicts it; for from Ezra we learn, that, in this refpect, the former temple was far fuperior to the latter ; many of the priests and levites, and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the firft houfe, when the foundation of this houfe was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice" fo mortifying was the comparison. Our Prophet himself holds the fame language, ch. ii. 3. "Who is left among you that faw this houfe in her firft glory? and how do you fee it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" We must look therefore for a different kind of glory, to explain and confirm the prediction; and it is impoffible to be at a loss about an interpretation, when we confider wherein the real glory of the fecond temple confifted.

Not