of the incarnation of the Son of God, this most august name Christ, or Messiah, became applicable to him. Both these names have one signification; that is, anointed. Under the Old Testament, the kings, priests, and prophets, were anointed. This anointing indicated, first, the choice of God. Second, By it, as through a visible sign, were given to the anointed spiritual powers, to fit them for the proper performance of their respective duties. The Son of God, when he became incarnate, took on himself all these offices, and became at once a king, who, by his almighty power, governs his church, and defends her against her enemies. Hence it is written, "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end;" Luke i. 32, 33. As a priest, he offered up himself unto death, to reconcile God to us. 66- Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec;" Heb. v. 6. And as a prophet, he maketh known to us the will of God: according to Acts iii. 22, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you."

To these offices the Son of God was anointed,anointed not with material ointment, but with

the Holy Spirit.

Concerning this he himself has borne witness: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me;" Luke iv. 18. And on this account he is called Christ. From this name also, those that believe in him are called Christians.

Our Saviour took also, after his birth and cireumcision, the name of Jesus, which, accordingto the interpretation of the angel, signifies Saviour: Matt. i. 21.

XXI.

Of the acts of Jesus Christ,

Jesus Christ spent his life in the most perfect fulfilment of the law; proved his divinity by glori ous miracles; and fully made known the will of his heavenly Father,

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Our Saviour having begun his life in persecution, was bred up under his blessed mother, and, as he advanced in years, he "waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him;" Luke ii. 40. Being twelve years old, by his wise questions he put to silence the most eminent of the Jewish doctors, so that those who heard him were astonished at his understanding; Luke ii. 46. When about thirty years old, he was pleased to receive baptism at the hands of John, the greatest of the prophets; not

that he had any need of baptism himself, being without sin, but that he might sanctify for us, by his own holy person, this spiritual bath, which he hath appointed for the washing away of our sins, and in order to show, by his own example, the need we have to be baptised.

After this most important event, the whole fountain of his divine wisdom was opened, and he began to display his heavenly philosophy and most holy doctrine, such as mankind could never hear from any one else. He showed in what the real happiness of man consists; and this he placed in poverty of spirit, in tears and humility, in meekness and mercy, amid persecution and reviling, which was altogether contrary to the wisdom of this world. He explained to us what virtue and vice are, and commanded us to search out their essence, not in external acts, but in the thoughts and intentions of the heart. He taught us the difference which exists between God and the world, between truth and falsehood, and between good and evil. While he overturned superstition and hypocrisy, which are hateful to God, he accused the human race of hard-heartedness, of unbelief, and of universal error. He pointed out the way by which we can attain to the mercy of God; assuring us of the inexpressible blessings of a future life, and proclaimed himself to be the

Saviour, sent to deliver the world. All these doctrines, which are of themselves worthy the acceptation of every one, he confirmed by many glorious miracles. By healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, casting out devils, and raising the dead, he clearly displayed his divinity: so that the multitudes of people that followed him, with astonishment said, "It was never so seen in Israel!" Matth. ix. 33. Moreover, his doctrine was the more effectual, from his whole life and actions being as it were a most pure and holy mirror of every virtue. For he " did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," 1 Peter ii. 22. In this way he perfectly fulfilled his office as a prophet. All the saving doctrines of Christ are contained in the Gospel, which divine book we ought to hold as the most perfect rule of faith and virtue.

XXII.

Of the death of Christ upon the Cross. Our Saviour finished the course of his blessed life by death, even the death of the cross.

Concerning our divine Mediator, his beloved disciple writes, that "He came unto his own, and his own received him not," John i. 11. And he himself condemned the blindness of men on this account," that light is come into the world,

and men loved darkness rather than light, be cause their deeds were evil," John iii. 19.

The Jews, to whose ancestors and their posterity the Messiah and Deliverer of the world had been repeatedly promised, were so assured by the clearest prophecies of his coming, that it was impossible that any of them could fail to expect it. They still, however, though in vain, wait for his appearance. Those very Jews, by whose sacrifices he was always prefigured, by whose holy rites and ordinances he was represented, among whom also the prophets foretold the most evident marks of his appearance as a Saviour, sq that they could ascertain the very time when he should be revealed; these very Jews, I say, as if determinately in opposition to the good will of God towards them, in an unprecedented state of hard-heartedness and blindness, denied him when he came, did not receive but rejected him, accounted him a deceiver, and persecuted him even unto death;-a death which was so salutary to the human race.

The chief causes of this desperate and dreadful act were their unpardonable blindness and wicked hardness of heart. But at the very time when they sought to kill him, they neither knew nor desired to fulfil the divine eternal purpose, that the Son of God should die for the hu