him; his own refurrection, and the defcent of the Holy Ghost in miraculous gifts. He prophefied of the deftruction of Jerufalem, which came to pafs in forty years after his own death, within the compass of that generation, as he had foretold; the very foundations of the temple and city were destroyed, and the ground plowed up, fo that there was not left one ftone upon another that was not thrown down; according to our Saviour's prediction: and indeed the figns that he foretold should forerun the destruction of that city, with the circumstances that came with it and followed after, exactly agree with that punctual and credible history of the fact related by Jofephus. And he affured his difciples that his gospel fhould be published in all nations, and that his religion should prevail against all the oppofition of worldly power and malice, and that the gates of hell fhould not prevail against it; which things being purely contingent in refpect of us, and many of them unlikely to happen, the fulfilling of fuch predictions argue a prophetick fpirit in our Saviour, and confequently, that he was fent from God. Therefore, believe in this article. Unless we believe in this article; where is our faith and hope in the redemption, that was wrought by the facrifice of Chrift Jefus, which could never have We must been performed by any perfon, but by him, who is God as well as man? He must have been a facrifice of infinite dignity, and nothing lefs could bear any proportion to the infinite guilt of our fins, as being committed against a God of infinite goodness and majesty. And by this belief, we are encouraged and freed from all doubt and fcruple in giving to Chrift that divine honour, which is due to him; which if we ascribe to him, without being satisfied that it is his due, we cannot wholly free ourselves from that idolatry, which is a breach of the first commandment. By this faith alfo of the inward dignity of Christ, we may learn to raise our affections to the utmost pitch our nature is capable of, in the admiration of that wonderful goodness of the Father in fending his beloved Son to die for us, while we were his enemies, rebels, apoftate creatures; and that wonderful love and condefcenfion of the Son, in fo far debafing himself for our fakes, who deserved the most grievous vials of his his wrath and indignation to revenge the quarrel of his cove nant. VI. In those words by which the angel told the Virgin Mary, that she should be mother of Jefus Chrift; The angel's that her fon should be great, and called the Son of meffage. the Highest; that the Lord God should give unto Ifaiah. him the throne of his father David; that he should reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and that of his kingdom there fhall be no end, is contained an astonishing Foretold by meffage. Looking back to the prophecy concerning the Meffias, which foretold, that the government should be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; of the increase of whofe government and peace there should be no end; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with juftice, from henceforth even for ever. The angel's defcription of the Meffias imports, that God pretation. would fettle upon the Meffias a fpiritual kingdom, It's inter- (of which that temporal one of David was but an imperfect reprefentation) the abfolute government of his church, that spiritual house of Jacob; and that this kingdom of his should never be destroyed, as the kingdom of the Jews was to be, and which is now fulfilled. His falutation. This declaration was preceded by the falutation made to the bleffed virgin by the fame angel, in these words, Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee, bleffed art thou among women. The meaning of which was, that the bleffed virgin was most excellently disposed to receive the greatest honour that ever was done to the daughters of men; her employment being holy and pious, her body chafte, and her foul adorned with all virtues, particularly with humility, which is in the fight of God of great price; for though he was to be the mother of an univerfal and everlasting bleffing, which all former ages had defired, and all future times fhould rejoice in; yet fhe refigns all this glory to him that gave it her, and declares whence the received it, that no other name, but his, might have the honour. When How receiv→ ry. Her quefti on. When she received this falutation, she was troubled at the faying of the angel, and caft in her mind what manner of falutation it fhould be; judging herfelf un- ed by the worthy of fo great an honour, and being furprized virgin Mawith the strangeness of such an appearance in her retirement. But when the angel pofitively affirmed that she should conceive and bring forth the Meffias, fhe enquires, how that could be, fince she knew not a man? but this implied in her no doubt, concerning the thing, nor any diffidence in refpect to the iffue of it; but rather admiration in refpect to the wonderful manner of effecting it and if we have any regard to the tradition, that Joseph was old when efpoufed to the bleffed virgin, it will be probable, what many of the ancients believed, that by this anfwer, the virgin feems to hint at fome refolution of continuing in a state of perpetual virginity; at least it implies that fhe defired to be fatisfied in the manner as well as in the matter of this mystery: and therefore the angel anfwers the difficulty, by declaring the wonderful manner how his meffage fhould be brought about, viz. That the Holy Ghoft fhould come upon her, and that the power of the Higheft fhould over-fhadow her; and then furnished her with an example of fomewhat of like nature in her coufin, and confirmed her from the power of God, to which nothing is impoffible to be done. The angel's anfwer. Upon this the demonftrated an entire faith and obedience in her reply; behold the handmaid of the Lord, be nation. it unto me according to thy word. And the blef- Her refigfed virgin expreffes her gratitude in that admirable hymn called the Magnificat; wherein the fhews fuch a thankful fenfe of the great honour that was conferred upon her, and testifies her humility and devotion, as well as the infinite power and goodness of God, that it appears, as she was highly favoured, fo fhe was alfo full of grace, and had a mind plentifully enriched with the gifts of God's holy Spirit. Thus VII. The only begotten Son of God, took God made man's nature in the womb of the bleffed virgin, of man. her fubftance; fo that two whole and perfect natures, that is See the following part of this work. to Redeems to fay, the godhead and manhood were joined together in one perfon, never to be divided, whereof is one Chrift, very God and very man. But that the divine nature can be born, and fuffer, and die, and be buried, and rife from the man by his grave, is fo wild a thought, that it hath always been difclaimed by all orthodox chriftians, with the utmost abhorrence and deteftation. But this they have faid, that he was God, that he was made of a woman, who was seen and handled; who was arraigned, condemned, and crucified; and afterwards laid in the grave; not indeed in his divine, but human nature; but it was one and the fame perfon, which fubfifted in both natures, human and divine. human nature. The holiness of Christ's human nature. Our fan&tifi This gives us an affurance of the fanctity of Christ's human nature, and freedom from original corruption, which was neceffary o qualify it for it's union with the Word, and to make him a lamb without fpot or blemish, a high prie, holy, undefiled, and separate from finners, who did no fin himfelf, and consequently wanted no redeemer, but might be to us a fountain of righteousness, as our first parent was of impurity and fin. This alfo is an aftonishing inftance of the wonderful freedom of the grace of God, which, withcation. out the least merit from human nature (for even the human nature of Chrift could merit nothing before his conception) condescended to do us fuch inexpreffible honour, as to make himself a tabernacle in our flesh. As we are commanded to be holy as he is holy, we hence learn from whence all our holiness must flow; that the fame Spirit which formed his nature, can only reform ours, and that it will not help us that he was born for us, unless we follow him in the work of regeneration. VIII. And when we profefs that we believe in The birth of the birth of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, we are also to Christ. believe that the Virgin Mary espoused unto Jofeph, who before and after her efpoufals, was a pure and unfpotted virgin, having by the immediate operation of the Holy Ghoft, conceived within her womb the only begotten Son of God, did bring him forth after the natural time of other women. So that the Saviour of the world was born of a wo man, man, made under the law, without the least pretence of any original corruption; that he might with fin deliver us from the guilt of fin. And ; Not ftained Of the house of David. As prophe He was born of a virgin, of the house and lineage of David, that he might fit upon his throne, and rule for evermore. And that the promised Meffias was to be born after this miraculous manner, the prophecies of the Old Teftament foretold: one fays, the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth, a woman shall compass a man. That new creation of a man is therefore new, and therefore a creation; because wrought in a woman only, without a man. Another fays, behold a virgin fhall conceive and bear a Son, and fhall call his name Immanuel. In confequence whereof, his mother that bore him was a pure virgin, as appeared both from her own Of a virgin. account, and that of Jofeph her reputed husband for when Jofeph doubted of her chastity, an angel was difpatched to clear her honour, and to affure him, that what was conceived in her, was not by man, but of the Holy Ghost. And when she objected the impoffibility of her being a mother, the angel explains it to her by the Holy Ghoft coming upon her, and the power of the Higheft overshadowing her. This was fo unquestionable to the apoftles and primitive christians, that they univerfally and firmly believed it, and thought it a point of fo great moment, as to deferve a place in that fummary of the christian faith, called the apoftles creed. The place of our Saviour's birth was Bethlehem, whither Jofeph and Mary went in obedience to the decree of Auguftus, to be taxed; the providence of God making use of this conjuncture by verifying a prophecy, to fignify and publish the birth of the true meffias. The concourfe of people to Bethlehem was fo great, that they could find no accommodation but a ftable, wherein the bleffed virgin brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in fwaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; doing herself the offices of a pious and tender parent; whilft all the angels of God worshipped him, and published to the world the glad tidings of his birth. For, At Bethle hem. In a ftable. As |