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under several personal relations, such as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost-the Father, the Saviour, the Comforter: by which titles and all others analogous to these, we are directed to consider some such kind of distinction and subordination of offices and relations in the Divine Nature as the terms made use of do commonly import. Thus when God is pleased to represent his love to mankind by the highest image of nature that of a father sacrificing an only and well beloved son, the exact transcript of himself, we are to believe, that, by the sufferings and death of Christ, God has given us greater proofs of his love than any man is capable of giving to another: but that such an action of an earthly parent suggests the nearest and most impressive conception of what our heavenly Father has done for us, though at the same time a conception infinitely short of the reality.

In conclusion, I would beg to say a few words on the disposition of mind with which this great subject should be approached and regarded.

In the first place, let us approach it with humility and a deep conviction of our own ignorance.-God has mercifully given us, as it were, some glimpses of his nature; and let us not use the light he has bestowed to question the truth of his own Revelation. It may be designed for the trial of our humility, that something mysterious should be revealed to us; in the same manner as affliction may be designed for the trial of our patience. It is not for us to say, "It cannot be thus; I cannot believe;" but rather, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."

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Again: Avoid a spirit of presumptuous curiosity.Reason not upon the mysteries of religion, as upon topics within the cognizance of human faculties. "The secret things." my brethren, "belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed to us, and to our children, that we may do them."

In the third place, Beware of regarding this or any other doctrine of religion, as a merely speculative sub

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ject:-All religion tends to practice.-And that doctrine which teaches us that it is the Son of God who died to save the world, and the Spirit of God who lives to sanctify it, ought to exercise a large, a lasting, an habitual influence upon every feeling, and resolution, and affection of the mind.

Once more: Beware, under the pretence of simplifying the doctrine, of explaining it away and substituting a theory of your own.-God, my brethren, dispenses salvation in his own appointed way. And, having revealed this way, man must expect salvation in no other. Different ages have had their peculiar temptations upon the subject of the Trinity. Former periods of the Church have been chiefly remarkable for their subtile attempts to explain it: the present is, perhaps, not less characterised by attempts to subvert it. Be it your endeavour my brethren, neither to add to the revelation of God, nor to take from it.

On the whole, approach the doctrine with reverence, and embrace it with gratitude and joy. Acknowledge the Son who is thus proclaimed to you and pray for the Comforter who is thus promised. Learn your need of the salvation and the grace which they respectively communicate; and you will then also learn to value the doctrine. Receive and honour them as they require to be honoured; and they will enable you, by the sanctity of your life and the triumphs of your death, to vindicate the faith you embrace. "Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," enlist, with your whole heart, under the banner of the Gospel: and God will "give you the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord."

SERMON IX.

HOW ABRAHAM. SAW THE DAY OF CHRIST, AND IN WHAT WAY THE TYPES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT REFERRED TO CHRIST.

John viii. 56.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.

THESE words, would, perhaps, be more justly and, without doubt, would be more intelligibly translated thus: "Abraham earnestly desired that he might see my day; and he saw it, and was glad."

This declaration implies, that Abraham had possessed some previous knowledge of the Messiah; that this knowledge, having been in the first instance geneeral and indeterminate, he earnestly "desired to see" the day of Christ more clearly; that he was gratified in this desire; and that when "he saw it, he exeeedingly rejoiced.”

That Abraham had possessed the general knowledge of the Messiah of which I speak, is probable; because the promise had been made to him, that “in him," that is in his family or some one sprung from his loins, should "all the nations of the earth be blessed." But he, probably, as yet knew little of the na

ture of the blessing to be bestowed. This, then, was the point on which he sought to be informed. And he was permitted to understand it. He was favoured with such a view of the nature of that blessing which should come upon all the families of the earth, and of the manner in which it should be communicated: he saw so much of the glad tidings of the Gospel, as to "rejoice" on this account and be "glad."

I. I propose, in the first place, to consider at what time, and in what sense Abraham saw the day of Christ. The solution of this question must be sought for in that account of Abraham which is given in the Old Testament: for our Lord, in making the declaration in the text, meant to confirm his own authority. But he could not confirm it by offering merely his own unsupported assertion, that Abraham had seen his day. The fact might be true; but if he gave no evidence of it, nothing would be added to the authority of Christ. He might have known this circumstance in a miraculous manner; but if other persons did not know it except by his assertion, their belief of it must have rested entirely upon his word. Our Lord himself inculcated this principle of reasoning at the very moment: "If I honour myself." he said "my honour is nothing." We may conclude, therefore, that our Lord grounded his assertion upon something already revealed in the holy Scriptures.

The history of Abraham, I admit, gives no specific account of his having either desired to see the day of the Messiah, or having been permitted to see it. Indeed, if the Old Testament had spoken plainly on the subject, no occasion would have existed for our Saviour's remark. But if there is something in the history of Abraham which, though not obvious at first, yet when properly considered, manifests both the desire of Abraham to see the day of the Messiah and his having been permitted to see it, and at the same time affords some peculiar indications that Jesus Christ was that Messiah; then there is a propriety in our

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