their Master's use," are only "as vessels of wrath, fitted for everlasting destruction"]

3. Purifying

[Some there were in our Lord's day, who, the more they were rubbed with the fullers' sope, and heated by the refiner's fire, were the more freed both from their outward filthiness and their inward depravity: the apostle tells us of many, who, having once abandoned themselves to the most infamous lusts, were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" So at this time many of the " sons of Levi," not ministers only but people also (for all believers are now " priests unto God") are "purified as silver and gold, and offer to the Lord their offerings in righteousness"-And it is no small consolation to them to know, that, while they are in the furnace, the refiner himself "sitteth" over them, watching the process with all due solicitude, and taking care that they shall lose nothing but their dirt and dross-]

Let two QUESTIONS close this interesting subject.

1. What reception have you given to Christ since his first coming?

[Ministers are sent, like John, to prepare his way; they are "a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desart an high-way for our God"-Let me then ask, Are you "seeking this Lord?" are you" delighting in him as the messenger of the covenant?" Do you open your hearts to him as "his temple," and invite "the king of glory to enter in?"-Are you welcoming him even under the character of a refiner, and saying, Put me Lord, into any furnace, so that I may but come out of it purified as gold? Is it your one desire and endeavour to offer unto him your offerings in righteousness? and do the sacrifices. of prayer and praise ascend up daily from the altar of your hearts, inflamed by fire that you have received from heaven? -This, this is the reception which he should meet with; God grant that he may be thus precious to all our souls!-]

2. What preparation have you made for his future advent?

[It is no less certain that He will come again, than that he has already come-Nor will his advent be less "sudden" than at his first arrival: yea rather, as Noah's flood, it will come wholly unexpected by the world at larges" But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?"That will be a discriminating day indeed:

Rom. ix. 22.

1 Cor. vi. 11.

Matt. xxiv. 37-39.

all that have ever lived will have "the counsels of their hearts made manifest;" and the tares shall then be separated from the wheat, and the sheep from the goats-Alas! How will his fire then burn up the ungodly!t and how strict a scrutiny must every one undergo before he shall be finally approved!" Brethren, are ye ready? Are ye "prepared to meet your God?" Have ye been so purified from the love of sin, that ye are now meet for the inheritance of the saints in light?"-Are ye so “seeking and delighting in Jesus" now, that ye can give up your account to him with joy and not with grief?-O say not, Where is the God of judgment? Think not that he delighteth in any who commit iniquity: but know that "he will come even as a thief in the night;" and that it is to those only who look for him, that he will appear to their everlasting salvation*-]

t Compare Mal. iv. 1. Nah. i. 6. Rev. vi. 15—17. u 1 Cor. iii. 13, 14.

* Heb. ix. 28.

CLVIII. THE IMPORT OF THE NAMES GIVEN TO

CHRIST.

Matt. i. 21-23. Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for He shall save his people from their sins. (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.)

THE dispensations of Providence are extremely dark and intricate

The things which appear most afflictive often prove to be the richest mercies that could have been vouchsafed to

Joseph was espoused to a virgin of consummate pietyBut, before their nuptials, she proved to be in a state which gave him reason to suspect her fidelity

Desiring to exercise all the lenity which the case would admit of, he determined to put her away privily

How distressing must such a state have been to this holy man!

But God sent an angel to unfold to him the mystery, to declare the ends for which the child should be born,

and to impose on the infant a name, that should mark his office in the world.

I. The appointment of the name

God had often condescended to assign names to men [Sometimes he had made an 'alteration in their names; and sometimes totally changed themb

Sometimes he had assigned a name before the child was conceived

In these things he always acted with unerring wisdomWhen men have attempted to give significant appellations, they have only manifested how ignorant they were of futurityd

But God sees all things from the beginning to the endAnd his designation of Christ's name was a prognostic of his character-]

The appellation given to the virgin's son was peculiarly suitable

["Jesus" simply means a Saviour; and was a common name among the Jews

It was sometimes assigned to those who were great deliverers

It had been given in a peculiar manner to the son of Nung

He was eminently a Saviour, as leading the Israelites into the promised land, which Moses was not permitted to do" But Christ, whom he typified, is a far greater delivererHe "does that for us which the law could not do"i

He leads the true Israel of God into their heavenly Canaan-]

So remarkable an event may justly lead us to enquire into

II. The reason of that appointment

Waving all other reasons, we notice two before us 1. To fulfil a prophecy

a Abram and Saraï to Abraham and Sarah. b Jacob to Israel.

66

• John, Luke i. 13..

d Eve named her first child," Cain," which signifies, getting; thinking perhaps that she had now gotten the promised seed: having probably soon discovered her mistake, she called her second son Abel," which signifies, vanity. But how misnamed were both! This proved a martyr for his God; and that, a murderer of his own brother. e Acts xiii. 23. f Neh. ix. 27. 8 Numb. xiii. 16. Which name is precisely the same with "Jesus," and is so translated Acts vii. 45. and Heb. iv. 8.

h Deut. i. 37, 38%

i Rom. viii. 3. Acts xiii. 39.

[Isaiah had foretold that the Messiah should be called Emmanuelk

From the event it appears, that God did not intend this phecy to have a literal accomplishment

pro

We may expect however that the spirit of it should be accomplished

Now the name "Jesus" was in fact equivalent to Emmanuel

"Jesus" means "divine Saviour;" and Emmanuel, God with us!

And the evangelist himself tells us, that the imposition of that name was in order to the fulfilment of this prophecy"—] 2. To declare the infant's office and character

[The virgin's child was to be the Saviour of the worldHe was to save his people by price, and by power They were under sentence of eternal condemnation. His life was the ransom to be paid for their souls"Hence they are called his purchased possessionThey were also in bondage to sin and SatanP

And he was to make them a peculiar people, zealous of good

works

Yea, he was ultimately to place them beyond the reach of all the penalties and pollutions of sin

It was of importance that this great work should be represented in his very name

And the text informs us that the name was given him for this very purpose-]

INFER

1. How precious aught the name of Jesus to be to all his followers!

[What benefit can be bestowed like salvation from sin?A deliverance from its dominion is an unspeakable blessing

The godly desire it no less than deliverance from hell itself

And how delightful is pardon to a burthened conscience!How sweet is a sense of God's favour in a dying hour!— What joy must the glorified soul possess in the day of judg

ment!

Yet Jesus has bought it all with his own most precious blood

k Isai. vii. 14.

m Matt. i. 22, 23.

1 See Bp. Pearson on the Creed, p. 70, 71.
n Matt. xx. 28.

Eph. i. 14. See also 1 Cor. vi. 20. and 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. .
Luke xi. 21. 2 Tim. ii. 26.

4. Tit. ii. 14.

He has bestowed it freely on all his faithful followersHe will impart it liberally to all who will believe on himIs there not reason then for that divine anathema?".

Will not the very stones cry out against those who refuse to praise him?

Let Jesus then be precious to us all

Let us adopt the grateful strains of that sweet Psalmist of Israel

2. How vain is it to expect salvation in the ways of

sin!

[Sinners seem to entertain but little fear about their

souls

They even encourage one another to commit iniquity with greediness

But they cannot possibly be saved in such a state

If they could, the angel should have assigned a very diffe rent reason for the appointment of Jesus' name1

In that case, Christ would have been a minister of sinBut who must not, with the apostle, express his abhorrence of such a thought?"

Our Lord has plainly told us what shall ere long be his address to self-deceiving sinners*——

Let us then "flee for refuge to the hope set before us”And tremble lest we provoke the Saviour to become our destroyer-].

r 1 Cor. xvi. 22.

s Ps. ciii. 1-4.

t He should rather have said, "He shall save his people in their sins." u Gal. ii. 17. * Matt. vii. 23.

CLIX. CHRIST'S ADVENT A GROUND OF JOY.

Ps. xcviii. 1-9. O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together