ning of his ways, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was: when he prepared the heavens I was there; when he established the clouds above; when he strengthened the fountains of the deep; when he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundation of the earth, then was I by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." And the beloved Apostle John, following up this sublime retrospection, continues, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He could not be exalted by the homage of man. Perfect in his own nature, perfect in felicity, perfect in glory, "Can man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself!" Nor could his glory be diminished by the annihilation of the whole human race:-"Look unto the heavens and see, and behold the clouds, which are higher than thou: if thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of

thine hand? (Job xxxv. 5—7.) No: nothing could be added to his perfection; nothing diminished from the "fulness of God." But he remembered the work of his own hand, and it grieved him to see it in the dust." No sooner had "sin entered into the world, and death by sin," than the blessed Trinity entered into a covenant of redemption, whereby God, the triune God, could be just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly.

In the secret councils of heaven, God the Father spake in vision to his Holy One, and said, "I have laid help upon one that is mighty:" for," He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him." And God the Son stood forth as the mediator of our fallen race, and said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!"--for "no man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him."-I, even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour." And God the Holy Spirit also declared, "I am the Lord, thy God, which teacheth thee to profit; whichleadest thee by the way which thou shouldest go. And what was decreed in heaven was fulfilled on earth, "God so

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loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." And when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.' And when the Lord Jesus was baptized, "the Holy Spirit, descending from heaven like a dove, abode on him:" and then a voice from heaven testified, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then all the splendid promises of the Old Testament, all that prophets told, and all that the Spirit dictated of the designs of sovereign grace, were fulfilled, when "the word was made flesh," when Jesus lay an infant in the manger of Bethlehem," in all points made like unto us," sin only excepted.

"For thou wert born of woman! Thou didst come, Oh Holiest! to this world of sin and gloom,

Not in thy dread omnipotent array ;

And not by thunders strewed

Was thy tempestuous road;

Nor indignation burnt before thee on thy way;

But thee, a soft and naked child,

Thy mother undefiled,

In the rude manger laid to rest
From off her virgin breast."

MILMAN.

The great Teacher of the world came not at once in the state of manhood: he condescended yet farther; he passed through all the stages of infancy and childhood. No. parent's heart will ask Wherefore? for, oh! how sweet it is to be permitted to repose the little wants, the sufferings, the bodies, and the souls of our children, on him, who was once for their sake the babe of Bethlehem!

From the first cry with which the infant enters a world of sin to the last, the extremest point of human suffering, "we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Thus in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God; for in that he himself had suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Man, as a sinner, totally lost all sympathy with God. He might regard the Majesty of heaven afar off with sensations of fear, of awe, even of admiration; but he never could feel towards the Deity, whose wrath was suspended over him, and who sat enthroned in his own

ineffable, incommunicable glory, the sentiment of love, and of filial affection.

From the throne of his holiness God may command obedience; but it is only by partaking of our own nature that he addresses himself to the feelings; that he enters, as it were, into the recesses of the heart, and takes captive every thought and every imagination-not by compulsion, but by love. And for this purpose it was necessary that he should not only assume our nature in its maturity, but that he should pass through its various stages, and endure its various trials of human nature, even previous to the vicarious offering made, once and for ever, on Mount Calvary, when he

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put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." It is chiefly in contemplating the infancy of Jesus, that we feel the reality of the wonderful fact, "The Word was made flesh." Great, great indeed, is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh; justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory." Jesus took not on him, my friends, the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham : wherefore he saith, "a body hast thou prepared me," and that body, that lite