:

Christ. Joshua came in the room of Moses: so does Jesus, and his Gospel succeeded the law of Moses, and does that for us, which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. Joshua fought the battles of the Jews, subdued their enemies, and led them into the promised land: so does Jesus subdue all his and our enemies; triumphs over principalities and powers, making a show of them openly; and by treading down Satan under our feet, makes us more than conquerors. Joshua went himself first into Canaan, before he brought the people in thither; so Christ went first into the heavenly Canaan, whither our fore-runner is entered before, to prepare a place for us. Joshua, by the sound of ram's horns, threw down the walls of Jericho Christ by the foolishness of preaching, throws down strongholds, and saves them that believe. Joshua commanded the sun to stand still: Jesus by his miracles demonstrates all the course of nature to be under his controul. Joshua carried the people of God into Canaan: Jesus leads his people into that rest, that remains for the people of God. Joshua had his name by a special designation, to signify that he should save the Jews from their enemies, and bring them into the promised land: Jesus had his name given him by a special appointment, to signify that he will also perform to his people all that which his name signifies, namely, that he shall save his people from their sins."

3. This name Jesus, was given by God through the ministration of angels. (Luke i. 31.) It was not given by private fancy, as people give names to their children according to their own humour: not by his mother Mary, or his reputed father Joseph: not by any man, but by God himself. God, who knew his nature, office, and designs, gave him a name suitable to them all; it was certainly fit that no human device should have any share in an affair of this sort.

4. It was solemnly put upon him at his circumcision. "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel, before he was conceived in the womb." It seems to have been the custom to give the names of children at their circumcision, but here it was exceeding proper; and was not without its mystery and signification. 5. The name Jesus is mentioned as the substance of Gospel preaching, as comprehensive of the whole method of salvation, (Acts viii. 35); Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." This preaching Jesus, was not the bare repetition of his name, but the representation of what that name contained, laying before the eunuch the proper evidence, that this Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. So much of the character, life, and death of Christ; so much of his doctrine, and of the way of salvation, as was sufficient to convince and persuade him to confess: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Upon which confession he was baptized; a very short one indeed, but comprehensive, and, as Beza observes, "It contains a perspicuous summary of that form of confession which was demanded of the adults that were to be baptized, and was used in those truly apostolical times; and plainly declares what it is to be baptized in the name of Christ." 6. All his other names centre in this name Jesus. He had never

had the name Christ, the Anointed, but in order to be Jesus the Saviour. The names of Messiah, Emmanuel, Shiloh, the Mediator, all these names are put on, for the sake of this one, that he might be our Jesus.

7. The name possessed by Christ, and the reason of his wearing it, are peculiar to himself. Superstition and idolatry, flattery and ambition, have given the name of Saviours, to them that were no gods; to them that have done little good in the world; but our Lord wears the name in a sublime sense, that applies to none but himself" Because he shall save his people from their sins." We consider—

II. The reason of his name, which is taken from its signification; and his design of coming into the world, viz. "For he shall save his people from their sins."

Others upon gaining victories have been called saviours; for delivering families, cities, or kingdoms from slavery and misery. So it is said, "God raised up saviours to his people Israel." When Flaminius delivered the Grecians from servitude, and liberty was proclaimed by his order at the Isthmian games, the people cried out, SOTER, SOTER, a saviour, with so strong and loud a cry, that the air was so rent and shattered, that Plutarch says, "the very birds fell down dead upon the place."

But these were only temporal salvations, and saviours subordinate to the great Jesus, and the benefits of his administration. It is Jesus that saves by these, and He is a Saviour by his own power and merit, in a sense that carries an infinite emphasis and sweetness in it beyond all others; as will appear if we consider the nature of his salvation, and the manner of effecting it.

1. The nature of this salvation, which is from sin and satan, from the wrath of God, unto heaven and happiness.

First. It is a salvation from sin. Jesus saves from the guilt of sin, that it should not condemn; from the dominion of sin, that it should no longer reign in our mortal bodies, nor domineer in our heart, affections, and lives, He saves from what is called the filth of sin, as it is something that renders us unlovely and odious in the sight of God; unqualifies for pure, and spiritual company, and is the abominable thing that his soul abhors, and unfits for his presence and enjoyment. He saves us from the tormenting sense of sin, that it may not terrify, disturb, and pain the conscience, to the destruction of inward peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. He saves from the destructive consequences of sin, though not from the miseries of this life entirely, nor the dishonours of the grave, yet so far from the evil of both, as to turn them into gain, and makes them the means of our escaping God's wrath; which is the second thing to be taken notice of.

Secondly. He saves us from the wrath of God. "Even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." Tell me what the wrath of God is, and I can tell you what is the sweetness of this name Jesus. "Even as thy fear is, so is thy wrath." According to our dread of that wrath of God must be the loveliness of that Jesus who delivers us from it. "Much more (says the Apostle) being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath to come."

Thirdly. This salvation is not merely negative, from sin and the wrath of God, but of a positive nature, he saves unto heaven, unto happiness.

1. To God my chief good, my last end; my only portion; my sovereign Lord. To heaven, a better paradise than that from which sin banished my first father and all his family. To heaven, the palace of the eternal King; of which sin had made me incapable. To say all that I can say in the least compass, it includes the enjoyment of God and all his perfections; the Holy Spirit with all his graces; Jesus Christ in all his offices, and with all his benefits; the Gospel with all its promises; the covenant of grace with all its privileges; heaven with all its glories; and an eternity of all. This is complete, and great; a complete salvation, "He is able to save to the utmost;" and a great salvation, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" It must needs be, that my happiness consists in likeness to God, and enjoyment of him. Without likeness there could be no enjoyment. Where there is no similitude of temper and disposition, there can be no more pleasure than there can be where there is no agreement between the object and the faculty. This evidence arises from the nature of the thing; but there is another proof from such testimony as cannot be gainsayed. The witness is the Holy Ghost; 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not (yet fully) appear what we shall be, but this we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is;" that is, we do not know at present the particular circumstances of our felicity; but this we know in the general, that it is to consist in a likeness to God. To be like God, is that which fits for, and assures us of the enjoyment of God. "As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness."

2. The way and mauner by which Jesus saves his people from their sins.

He saves us from the guilt of sin, "By justifying us freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." From the power and dominion of sin," By teaching us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this evil world." From the filth and stain of sin, by "The washing of regeneration, and the renewal of the Holy Ghost; and sanctifying us throughout, in body, soul, and spirit." From the tormenting sense of sin, by "Sprinkling our consciences from dead works; evidencing our interest in his atoning sacrifice. From the consequences of sin, by "Suffering for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, and deliver us from wrath to come;" and from the very being of sin, by "Presenting us perfect and without blame before him in love, and without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."

From all these evils, and unto the enjoyment of an happiness that begins here in this life, in a justified state, a holy nature; communion with God, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost: and at death, the departed soul enters the happiness of the separate state; then at the resurrection, soul and body united, and fitted for one another, and both for God, do for ever take possession of that kingdom Prepared for them from the foundation of the world."

First. We here also further observe that, Jesus has meritoriously procured and obtained for us this salvation. It cost him dear to put on this name, and be called Jesus. It cost him his life and blood. He had before many great and glorious names. The name Jehovah was in him. The "Wonderful Counseller, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace, the mighty God, the Wisdom that dwelt with prudence, the Word that was with God, and was God." He had the worship of angels, and "Glory with the Father before the world. began." But if he will wear the name Jesus, he must pay the price of his most precious blood as of a Lamb without spot; and at the same price by which he bought our souls, and heaven for them, he bought this name for himself. "God sent his Son into the world, that the world through him might be saved." "If while we were enemies, we were reconciled by his death, how much more being now reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

III. Some practical considerations suggested by the name Jesus. It is said in the Song of Solomon, "Thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee." Precious ointment was in use among the eastern people, for medicinal purposes, as well as to give a beauty and lustre to the countenance. Their riches also consisted in sweet oils and costly perfumes; and when they were poured out, either for use or payment, they diffused a lovely fragrance all around. This is the great name, of which the comparison is made; and how well the name Jesus answers to all that is healing, enriching, beautifying, or restoring we have already seen in part: and shall see a little further in the use that is to be made of it, by way of inference and exhortation; and first by way of inference.

1. How much was his heart set upon our salvation. And how great an account he made of it, since he puts it into his name?

It must be something a person values himself upon, and glories in, that is worked up into his name. Sometimes the noble actions of ancestors; sometimes the eminent qualities that distinguish their own character; these are blazoned in coats of arms, drawn in paintings, artfully woven into hangings, or added to the name, and made a part of the title of the person, in perpetual remembrance. Salvation is woven into the name, and title of our sovereign Lord Jesus; to show what it is his heart was set upon; what he aims at, and glories in. With this name he came into the world. With this he went through it. With this he went out of it: and with this he lives above, and bears it about him always; not so much a memento to himself, as a pledge to us, of the business he came down and went up for, that is, to save his people from their sins.

2. We observe the different genius and design of his name, and of some other great names in the world.

When a great prince is born into the world, he usually takes his name from some province or principality. After that, they either take to themselves, or flattery ascribes to them, the additional titles of excellence, highness, or the great, as Alexander the Great, Pompey the Great but when the God that made all worlds, put on the nature of man, and the name Jesus, he had not one foot of land to take a denomination from: he was only the man Jesus; for though the earth

was the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, yet the Son of Man had not where to lay his head.

Some have taken their names from the devastation and ruin they have carried with them wherever they went.-From the desolation of provinces, the overturnings of kingdoms and empires. Scipio takes the name Africanus, from the havoc he made in Africa: another Scipio is called Asiaticus, from the like doings in Asia: and Germanicus from his exploits in Germany. These were men who carried the blood and ruin of thousands in their formidable names. But when the Lord Jesus comes into the world (no mean person neither, for the angel said of him, " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David,") what is the name this great person takes to himself? Whence does he take his name? Does he borrow it from the destruction of the fallen angels? Or from the final victory he will obtain over all his enemies, who "Would not that he should reign over them?" No, but from something that lay nearer his heart than all this, the salvation of his people, from their sins.

3. The good or evil, that is merely temporal, is of a consideration infinitely below that which is eternal. When we consider that it is salvation from our sins that he has put into his name; when we consider that his doctrine and example, his labours and sufferings, do all conspire towards this, as their main end; the planting the divine nature in the world, and rooting out sin; the inference is plain, that planting the world with holiness, and saving from sin, was an undertaking most worthy of his incarnation. The Jews vainly expected that he should have built them up into a most glorious empire, and secured to them the enjoyments, honours, and pleasures of this life. But since the great and humble Jesus despised that, as a trifling design in comparison of this, it manifestly appears, that saving from sin, and planting holiness in the world, is above all the designs of worldly ambitious spirits. To be good, is more than to be great. To despise the world, is more than to conquer it with arms. To subdue the flesh, is more than to caress it with all the flattery of luxury and greatness. To know God, and obey his will is greater honour, than to command the titles and fortunes of mankind."

4. We ought to observe, how he acted up to the full meaning of his name, to quicken us to act up to our expectation from it. Salvation is in his name. Temporal salvation comes out of it sometimes; as often as it is necessary to that which is spiritual and eternal.

Whenever he said, arise and walk, and healed the body; whenever he said, thy sins are forgiven, and healed the soul, and when he said, deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom, he was acting up to the name Jesus, and expounding upon his own name.

"Lord, remember me, (says the penitent thief,) when thou comest into thy kingdom." One of the ancient writers addresses that petitioner after this manner: "Whence didst thou know that he who died in thy company, and passed for a malefactor like thyself, was the Christ? how didst thou know that he was thy Lord and Saviour?" And he makes him answer thus, "Oh, I could discern it by