here spoken of, the advent of "the desire of all nations," the" star of Jacob" arisen, Shiloh come, to whom the gathering of the nations shall be, "the Prince of Peace," by whom peace is proclaimed, and through whom peace is given to" him that is afar off and him that is nigh."

"Yet

In order still farther to justify the application of this prophecy to the person and character of the Redeemer, we may inquire into the import of the other expressions here employed, to describe the appearances of nature and providence, which signalized the era of his manifestation in the flesh. once, it is a little while." The reign of prophecy was hastening to a conclusion. Haggai was one of the last on whom that spirit rested; with Malachi, who lived probably somewhat later, it entirely ceased; and a dark period of five hundred years without a vision, intervened, till it was revived in one who came in the spirit and power of Elias, the forerunner of the Messiah, "the voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God," Isaiah xl. 3, and it shone in all its lustre in the Messiah himself, "the great prophet that should come into the world." By him it is here intimated that God should speak "once" for all; that he should be the full and final declarer of the will of God to mankind; "yet once" but no more.

"It is a little while." With God, what is purposed, is begun to be executed, his agents are already at work, time is lost with him who sees the end from the beginning. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness ;"" beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord, as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” The interval between the prediction and the accomplishment, though a period of five centuries, is, in the sight of God, "a little while;" and five centuries, when they are past, are but "a little while" in the eyes of man also. But to what circumstances attending the coming of our Saviour refers the Prophet, when he represents the great God as "shaking the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and all nations ?" It is well known that the sacred writers frequently employ, by a bold figure, the appearances of the natural world to represent and explain moral objects. In the case before us, it will be found that both the literal and figurative sense of the words are strictly applicable to the subject. Every one, who is at all acquainted with the history of mankind, knows that the whole course of things has been a constant and successive concussion and convulsion, a shaking of the nations, struggle for dominion, the progress of empire from east to west; and an aspect of the heavenly bodies and influence, analogous to the state of the moral world. The observer of nature endeavours to trace all these up to their native causes in the great system of the universe; the moralist looks for them in the nature and constitution of man, and the politician, in the combinations and exertions of passion and interest. The Believer, the Christian, refers all to God, sees him in the cloud, in the sky; hears him in the wind, in the thunder, in the songster of the grove: and he sees the swelling tide of nature and providence labouring with one object of peculiar importance; all things are shaken and composed in subordination to the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Let me compress what I mean to say within a narrow compass; and I shall do it nearly in the words of an elegant preacher whom I have oftener than once had the honour to quote in this place. The eastern part of the world was, in the wisdom of Providence, first peopled, great and extensive empires were first formed there, and there learning and the arts were first brought to perfection. But while science and empire flourished in the east, a power was rising by degrees in the western world, which was one day to surpass all that had gone before it. Unknown to the proud empires of the castern hemisphere, which vainly flattered themselves that they divided the world amongst them,

this power was then silently advancing from conquest to conquest, and the Roman eagle was by degrees strengthening her wing, and preparing to take her flight round half the globe. The succession of those great monarchies, those shakings of the heavens and the earth, this shaking of all nations, led gradually and imperceptibly to that happy conjuncture, that fulness of time, that maturity of divine counsel which suited the introduction of Christianity. They arose one after another, they enlarged one upon another, till at length the genius of Rome, under the permission of heaven, triumphed over and swallowed up all others, and expanded, opened, united, consolidated, that wide-extended, well-informed, civilized empire, through which the gospel of Christ was destined to make a progress so rapid and so successful. To favour this great event, to procure attention to the Author and finisher of our faith, and to render the first appearance of our holy religion at once more august and more secure, the struggles of ambition which had so long shaken the world, those restless contests for superiority, subsided at last, suddenly and unexpectedly, into universal peace. That stormy ocean, which had been for ages and generations in continual agitation, now all at once sunk into a surprising calm; the bloody portal of Janus, which had so long emitted unrelenting destruction to mankind, was shut, and the globe was instantly overspread with tranquillity, relieved from the din of arms, from the confused noise of the warrior, and the horrid sight of garments rolled in blood, in order to receive the Prince of Peace.

The shaking of the nations, as paving the way for the desire of all nations, is striking to the contemplative mind in another point of view. Philosophy rode triumphant, every question relating to physics, morals, politics, science, religion, was freely canvassed; and the noise of the schools in many instances drowned that of the ensanguined plain. The introduction of Christianity was preceded by a remarkable diffusion of knowledge, and the radiance of science ushered in the gospel day, as Aurora announces the approach of the sun, and prepares the world for it. Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome, poured from their separate urns, those distinct rills of science, which meeting in one great channel, became a mighty flood, and overspread the vast Roman empire. And thus was Revelation enabled to give a most illustrious proof of its coming down from above, by diffusing over the world, all at once, a light superiour to all collected human wisdom in its brightest glory. And need we ask who it was that thus shook and settled the sea and the dry land, who regulated the vast engine, who conducted all these great events, and brought them to one issue, concurrence and conclusion? At the same period of time the promised Messiah came: the greatest empire that ever existed was at the height of its glory: learning flourished beyond what it had done in any for mer age and the world was blessed with universal peace. A coincidence of facts, every one of which is in itself so extraordinary that it cannot be paralleled by any other times, clearly points out the hand of that supreme, overruling power, who from eternity beheld the great plan of his providence through its whole extent, who alone " can declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things which are not yet done," saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."

To put this beyond all doubt, let it be observed, that these events took their rise in remotest ages, and were prepared in times and countries far distant from and unknown to each other. Empire which sprang up amidst the seven hills of Rome; Science nurst in the academic groves of Greece; and religion from the obscure vales of Judea, all met at one grand crisis. To one another unknown, they must have been conducted by the hand of Providence. But meet they did, and peace from heaven crowned them with her olive. And thus were the nations shaken, to prepare the way of the Lord; thus “the

valleys were exalted, and the mountains and hills laid low, the crooked made straight, and the rough places plain," and the high and aspiring thoughts of men were brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

But the heavens and the earth were literally shaken, at the coming of "the desire of all nations." Witness that new created star which conducted the eastern Magi to the place where the Saviour was born; witness the descent of Gabriel and a multitude of the heavenly host, to announce his arrival; and witness the other appearances of celestial spirits to minister to the Lord of Glory in his temptation and agony, at his resurrection and ascension into heaven; witness the descent of Moses and Elias to the mount of transfiguration; witness too the eclipse of the sun beyond the course of nature, which marked the hour of his death, the quaking of the earth, the rending of the rocks, the rising of the dead: witness the voice from heaven which, like thunder, oftener than once, shook the echoing air, while God himself declared his well beloved Son, and demanded attention for him. All these confirm the testimony of the Prophet, they point it to the Lord Jesus, and inspire joy unspeakable and full of glory, on discovering the perfect coincidence between prediction and event. To this auspicious, this all important era we are now brought; and the next Lecture, with the divine permission, will detail the remarkable circumstances which immediately preceded, or which accompanied the birth of Christ.

And was all this mighty preparation made to introduce a mere man of like passions with ourselves? Were the heavens from above and the earth beneath stirred to meet him at his coming? Did flaming ministers descend singly and in bands, did departed prophets revisit the earth, and the dead bodies of saints arise to do homage to a creature, their equal, their fellow? It is not to be believed. But surely this is the Son of God; and to receive him, coming for our salvation, what solemnity of preparation was too great, what homage of angels and men too submissive, what testimony of created Nature too ample? "Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest."

Is his name and description "the desire of all nations?" how fitly applied! Is light desirable to the benighted, bewildered traveller in a land of snares and of the shadow of death? Is pardon desirable to a wretch condemned? Is the cooling stream desirable to the parched pilgrim, and bread to the hungry perishing wretch? Is the friendly haven desirable to the tempest-tossed mariner, and liberty to the languishing captive? What then to an ignorant, guilty, perishing world, must that wonderful man be whom Providence has raised up to be "a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

But what if when he shall appear, desirable as he is, a blind world shall see "no form or comliness in him, no beauty why he should be desired?" Afflicting thought! "He was despised and rejected of men!" "He came to his own and his own received him not." They "denied the holy one, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto them." The cry was, 66 away with him, crucify him;" his "blood be upon us and upon our children!" O Lord, remove the film from the eyes of those prejudiced Jews; dispose them to receive "The Prince of Peace," let him be all their salvation and all their desire. Lord, remove the film from my eyes that I may see in him, whom God the Father hath sent and sealed, one "fairer than the chil dren of men; into whose lips grace is poured:" that though he may be " unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, He may be unto us who believe, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Amen.

HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST.

LECTURE IV.

LUKE I. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

and

And there appeared unto him an Angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him he was troubled and fear fell upon him. But the Angel said unto him, Fear not Zacharias: For thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wis dom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And Zacharias said unto the Angel, whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife well stricken in years. And the Angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

"THE prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Being determined through the course of these exercises to avoid every thing that has the appearance of controversy, I take it for granted that you believe and receive the history of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as delivered in the four gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as of divine inspiration and authority. Of the four Evangelists two were of the number of the twelve whom Christ called to the office of apostleship, and who recorded events of which they were witnesses and partakers, and transcribed discourses which they heard and well remembered. The other two derived their information immediately from those "who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." Their harmony, in every particular of any impor tance, is a proof of the truth and certainty of each individually, and of the whole. John, as one borne aloft on the wings of an eagle, ascends into the heaven of heavens, and begins his account of his beloved Master with a sublime and interesting representation of his divine nature; for which we refer you to Lecture I. Mark introduces "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God," with the voice of a lion "crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Luke ushers in the great Prophet, "the desire of all nations," with an account of the conception and birth of his forerunner John the Baptist, and is of course led to extract the commencement of the evangelical, out of the legal dispensation: and he sets out with exhibiting Zacharias in the exercise of the priest's office. Matthew commences at once with the history of Christ's humanity, as the son of David, the son of Abraham. For these reasons, the four sacred historians of the New Testament dispensation have been distinguished by corresponding symbolical representations, analogous to the vision of the prophet Ezekiel,

Matthew by the face of a man, Mark by that of a lion, Luke by that of an ox, and John by that of an eagle.

St. Luke was by profession a physician; he became early a proselyte to the Jewish religion, and he is generally supposed to have been one of Christ's first disciples, and of the number of the seventy whom "He sent out two and two into every city and place, whither he himself would come." After he had concluded the history of our Lord himself, at the period of his ascension into heaven, he undertook that of the acts of the Apostles, and he addresses both his books to a person of amiable character and exalted rank, named Theophilus, and in him, to every lover of God, in every age of the Church, who is desirous to know" the certainty of the things wherein he has been instructed." On the conversion of St. Paul to the Christian faith, he seems to have attached himself with much zeal and affection to that great Apostle of the Gentiles, he became voluntarily the companion of his travels and afflictions, and brought down his history to his arrival at Rome as a prisoner, on an appeal to the Emperor Nero. His gospel and history of the acts were probably submitted to the inspection of his illustrious fellow-traveller, and received the seal of his approbation. In the preface to the gospel inscribed with his name, he modestly, yet with firmness, lays claim to the great, the essential qualification of a historian, namely, accurate and complete information respecting his subject, "having" says he, "had perfect understanding of all things, from the very first:" and the professed end which he had in view is no less worthy of a great and enlightened mind, that a respected friend might be established in the knowledge, faith and hope of the gospel. The tongue of prophecy had now been silent for more than four hundred years. The last word which it had spoken announced the sending of Elijah the prophet, to precede the great and notable day of the Lord, to work a remarkable change in the temper and character of mankind, to prevent the earth from being "smitten with a curse."

A period of darkness and disorder succeeded. The land which had been for ages so renowned in history seems as if blotted out of the globe; the people, which had been hung up as a sign before the eyes of so many successive generations, seems to be extinguished and lost; the predictions and promises which conferred upon them such high importance, and duration so extended seem to have been defeated and rendered of no effect. The throne of David whose permanency was so often, and so solemnly declared, has sunk into the earth and disappeared. The representative of the royal line of Judah is sunk into an humble carpenter and all hope of revival is at an end. But the Lord hath spoken and shall he not do it, he hath promised and shall he not bring it to pass? Yes, but not at the season, nor in the way which human wisdom would have prescribed, nor by means which human wisdom would have employed. Behold light once more, and suddenly, shines out of darkness: the land of Israel rises once more into importance; Jerusalem rears her head among the nations, the star of Jacob arises, "a rod springs out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots;" and the glory of the latter temple eclipses that of the former.

The Evangelist informs us that at this eventful period Herod was King of Judea. Princes are often among the inferiour actors in the great drama of Providence. Their will shakes the nations of the earth, but the hearts and arms of Kings themselves are in the hands of the Lord, to be by him turned which way soever he will. This man has by some been dignified with the addition of the great :" an appellation more frequently bestowed as a reward to splendid vice, than as a tribute to modest merit. Herod the great! and yet a paltry substitute of a Roman Emperor, an habitual slave to the vilest of human passions, envy, lust, jealousy, cruelty, revenge. The inspired penman.