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GLORIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

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cases amounting to proper evidences of his deity, are strange and unaccountable on the principle that he was merely man, and perfectly harmonize with the doctrine of God manifest in the flesh. Foremost among these circumstances stands the mighty miracle wrought at the very point of time, when the godhead of Christ became united with humanity-the miracle of his divine conception. What could be more sublime, or more in accordance with the doctrine of our Lord's divinity, than such a miracle? what more expressive of the celestial dignity of the child who was about to be born, than the salutation addresed to the virgin, by the angel Gabriel? "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called THE SON of the higheST; and 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, 30. 33; comp. vers. 42, 43. The star which arose in the east, guided the wise men on their journey, and at length stood still over the place where the young child lay, was a bright and beautiful symbol of his glory whom they came to adore. Nor was it a faint indication of the vast event of deity incarnate, which was afforded to the shepherds during their night watches, when "the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them :" when he said unto them, " Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is CHRISt the LORD;" and when "suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God,

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and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good-will toward men:" Luke ii, 8. 14.

Again, in relation to the ministry of Jesus, how plain a designation of his royal and divine authority was the conspicuous fact, that John the Baptist, than whom there had arisen no greater prophet-he who was filled with the Holy Ghost from his very childhood, and came in the spirit and power of Elijah— should be sent for the professed, the single, purpose of preparing the way for Jesus-of opening the door of entrance for his mighty and majestic successor! And in how striking a manner was the truth of our Lord's divinity confirmed, when the heavens were opened, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove, and when his Sonship was vocally proclaimed by Jehovah himself! Still more strongly indicative of the same truth was the glorious scene of our Lord's transfiguration, when on the mountain "his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light"-when Moses and Elias came to minister to him—and when from the bright cloud which encompassed them, the voice of God the Father was again heard to break forth—“ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him :" Matt. xvii, 1-5.

To the same purpose may be mentioned, the irresistible influence which often accompanied the mere personal presence of Jesus-an influence before which the efforts of men and devils shrunk into nothing. When the tumultuous Nazarenes were leading him an easy sacrifice, as it appeared, to the brink of the fatal precipice, they had no power to injure him. He passed through the midst of them, and "went his way:"

OF HIS DIVINITY.

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Luke iv, 30. When the well-armed band of his enemies discovered him in the garden of Gethsemane, they dared not approach him; "they went backward, and fell to the ground:" John xviii, 6. The evil spirits themselves, who could not but believe and tremble, were often by instant terror constrained to confess his divine authority. Even the stormy winds not only obeyed the voice of Jesus, but subsided into a calm under the simple influence of his presence. No sooner was Jesus entered into the ship in which his disciples had been tossed on a boisterous sea, than "the wind ceased:" Matt. xiv, 32.

Very plainly, in the last place, did nature bear her testimony to the mighty authority of her eternal Sovereign, when, as Jesus hung on the cross, during three mid-day hours, and at a period when natural eclipse was impossible, a miraculous darkness covered the whole land; and when, after he had expired on the cross, the earth quaked, the rocks were torn asunder, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, the graves were opened, and the bodies of many saints who slept, arose. Well might the "Centurion and those that were with him watching Jesus," when they beheld these wonders, exclaim with trembling, "Truly this was the Son of God!" Matt. xxvii, 45–54.

V. In order to complete the argument of the present section, I must, in conclusion, adduce certain well-known passages of Scripture, selected partly from the Old, and partly from the New Testament, in which the Lord Jesus Christ, in connection with his incarnation and abode on earth, is described by the names of GOD or JEHOVAH. These passages will be found to apply in succession, to his birth, to his life

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HE IS DENOMINATED

and ministry, to his death, and to his resurrection.

When the apostle John, after declaring that the "Word was God," proceeded to inform his readers, that the "Word was made flesh," he plainly promulgated the doctrine the Deity became incarnate: John i, 1. 14. Now, this doctrine forms one of the principal and most distinguishing features of several of those prophecies in the Old Testament, which describe the coming of that great moral and spiritual deliverer, the Messiah, or anointed Prince of Israel.

Our first example will be found in Isa. vii. That and the following chapter contain a prophecy which, like many others in the Old Testament, (and especially some in the Psalms) may be regarded as of a mixed or double interpretation. The major part of it relates to the deliverance of the Jews under king Ahaz, from the threatened invasion of the Samaritans and Syrians, and to the utter destruction of those hostile nations; and these events were to take place, it appears, during the boyhood of one of the prophet's sons, and the infancy of the other; for he and his children are declared to have been "for signs and for wonders in Israel:" vii, 16. viii, 4. 18. But while these subordinate particulars claim a large share of the prophet's attention, his mind appears to be principally fixed on a far more exalted subject, and he suddenly breaks forth into a declaration, of the future miraculous birth of the Messiah himself: "Hear ye now, O house of David;" said the prophet, "is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call (or thou shalt call) his name IмMANUEL:" vii, 14. In explaining this passage as re

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lating to our Lord Jesus Christ, we are fully justified, first, by the wonderful correspondence of the event with the prediction; secondly, by an apparent allusion to that prediction in the prophecy delivered by Micah respecting the birth of Christ at Bethlehem: lastly, by the positive declaration of the apostle Matthew, who, after describing the event in question, writes as follows: "Now, all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, GOD WITH US:" Matt. i, 22, 23.

Since the names in use among the ancient Hebrews were generally understood to be characteristic, it became customary with them, when they were describing the character or circumstances of any person or place, to say that such person or place should be called " “by such or such a name:" see Isa. iv, 3. ix, 6. xix, 18. xxxv, 8. lvi, 7; Jer. vii, 32; Zech. viii, 3; Matt. v, 19, &c. When, therefore, we read that the name of the holy child of the virgin Mary was to be called “God with us," we are to understand, not that this

3 Nothing could be more striking than the sign or miracle here predicted, namely, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son; and nothing more extraordinary, than the exact fulfilment of that prediction, as recorded by the evangelists Matthew and Luke. The Hebrew substantive peculiar meaning of "virgo intacta."

by condidit, thence inferring, that

has, like our word "virgin," the Most critics derive this substantive from

properly signifies "a young woman,

who liveth obscure or concealed at home, under the care of parents, unmarried:" vide Taylor's Concordance. Thus, in Gen. xxiv, 43, the word is used to designate Rebecca, before she married Isaac; and in Exod. ii, 8, it is applied to Miriam, the unmarried sister of the infant Moses: see also Cant. vi, 8.

4" But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth; then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel; and he shall stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah," &c.: Mic. v, 2—4.

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