as he lived. One, who had a good heart, would not pretend to a mission from God, when he knew, he had no such mission, but spake merely of himself.

If then we believe, that there was such a person as Jesus Christ, and that he really sustained that holy and blameless character, which is ascribed to him, we must believe, that his gospel is divine, and that the religion, which it contains, is true and important. They, who profess to believe, that there was such a man, and yet disbelieve his divine authority, and heavenly mission, most palpably contradict themselves; for such a man would never have claimed an authority, and assumed a character, which did not belong to him. An infidel will ask; "How do we know, that he was so perfect a man? May not this high character be a fiction of his disciples, who have written the memoirs of his life?" It must then be supposed, that his disciples were dishonest and wicked men. And would men of corrupt hearts and vile intentions have ascribed to their master a character, which must condemn themselves? The disciples of an impostor will always exhibit the example and doctrine of their master, in a manner, which tolerates their own vices. They will make him teach and practise a religion lax in those points, in which they wish for indulgence. Yea, is it supposable that wicked men; men, who were in heart utter strangers to true religion; (and such the disciples of Christ were, if they were deceivers and liars ;) I ask, Is it supposable, that

such a pure, consistent and exalted character, as they have ascribed to Christ, if they had never seen it? The disciples of Socrates, and the followers of Mahomet have given their respective masters no such character and yet their zeal for and attachment to their cause certainly would have induced them to say as much, as truth could justify, or their own imagination could suggest. It was not in their power to frame such a character, as is given of Christ, for such a character had never existed in their minds. They had never seen or heard of the like. What the disciples of Jesus saw & heard, that they have declared ;. for if they had not seen or heard it, they could not have declared it; nor would it have come into their imagination.

They appear to be men of honesty and candour. In their histories they freely relate their own and each other's faults, their weakness, unbelief, dulness of apprehension, mistake of the prophecies, ambition of preferment, expectation of a worldly kingdom, the treachery of one in betraying their Master, the falsehood of another in denying him, the cowardice of all in forsaking him at the time of his crucifixion. If they had seen any faults in him, would they not as readily have related these, as their own and each other's faults? The candour, with which they have written, shews, that they were honest and faithful histo rians, and that the character, which they have given of Jesus, is perfectly just. In short, it shews, that as his enemies, who malignantly watched him, could

Christ has left us an example, not only that we should believe in him, but also that we should follow his steps. If the same mind be in us, as was in him, we have a witness in ourselves, that his gospel is divine, and that we are interested in the salvation which it reveals.

JESUS,

THEOPHILUS.

SAVING HIS PEOPLE

FROM THEIR SINS.

THE Wonderful personage, on whose character and work, the writer of this paper has turned his thoughts, is that Seed of the woman, which was to bruise the serpent's head. He is "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." To reveal this Jesus is the grand scope of the Holy Scriptures. To him pointed all the sacrifices under the Mosaic dispensation; and of him spake all the prophets, from the patriarchs to John the Baptist. The inspired penmen of the various books, composing the New Testament, have also one great object in view, which is to unfold the character, illustrate the doctrines, and make known the kingdom of Jesus. Were we to exclude Jesus Christ and his kingdom from the Holy Scriptures, we should render every part of them uninteresting and unmeaning.

This wonderful personage, though born and brought up in

and though he assumed no earthly pomp, was infinitely greater than the greatest king that ever flourished in this world. He was God manifest in the flesh. As God, he is equal with the Father, possessing all the divine perfections. He is eternal, omniscient, infinite in power, and perfect in goodness. As man, he possessed powers and faculties, which were derived and limited. As man, he was the descendant of David, and never had existence, until he was born of the virgin Mary. Viewed in the mysterious character of God-Man, he is David's Lord, and, at the same time, David's Son. To this two-fold character he evidently referred, in the following remarkable words, recorded in the Revelation of John; I am the Root and the Offspring of David.

The WORD of GOD, or the sec ond person in the Trinity, being thus made flesh, had power to lay down his life, as a sacrifice for sin, and he had power to take it again, that he might become, as he is declared to be, the resurrection and the life. By the an gel who announced to Mary, and afterwards to Joseph his birth, it was foretold that he should be called Jesus, a name peculiarly expressive of his glo rious and divine person, and of the great work, which he came into the world to perform. The word Jesus, means a Saviour. It is the same as Joshua, who was an eminent type of Christ. The incarnate God, or the great Mediator, was thus called, because it was to be his office and work to save his people from their sins.

This divine Saviour is to be considered, as the Father of the

spirits of all men, because it is expressly declared in the Holy Scriptures, that "all things were made by him." But, though all men are Christ's by creation and preservation; yet they are not all his by covenant and adoption. By his people in the restricted sense in which they are spoken of by the inspired writers, we are to understand that part of the fallen race of Adam, which was given to Christ in the covenant of redemption. Some, who were given to him by the Father, have long since finished their mortal race, and are now in heaven, liberated from all sin, and, in ceaseless anthems, praising God and the Lamb. Others are now dwelling in the flesh, subject to labour and toil, and struggling against foes without and foes within. A far greater number, we have reason to believe, are yet unborn, and are reserved as future trophies of the victorious grace of the incarnate God.

Before the Lord Jesus will have done with this world, he will renew by his grace, and call into his kingdom, the whole of this chosen number, from all nations and languages. They will then be known to be his people, "his jewels," in distinction from the rest of men, and he will "spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." He is now, as he has been for many ages, sealing them, and he will shortly make it manifest, that he knows them that are his." He will say to the Father, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word."

One part of his work, as the Saviour of his people, is to deliver them from the punishment of their sins. No language can describe the greatness of the evil to which sin exposes those who commit it. To be a sinner is to be a transgressor of that law, which threatens eternal death, and which knows no mercy. The sinner, therefore, viewed out of Christ, as he must be while he remains in unbelief, is in a ruined, helpless state. He is represented in the word of God to be a lost creature. No created arm can rescue him from eternal punishment, nor give a ransom which will meliorate, in the least, his condition. They, who are given to Christ, are by nature, like all other men, in this ruined state. But, he has come to save them from the punishment to which their sins expose them. To effect this great and important work, he gave his own life a ransom. He died in their stead. It is true, there is efficacy enough in his blood to atone for the sins of the whole world; and the finally impenitent will be condemned, in the great day, for rejecting mercy, freely offered to them, through his mediation. But, meritorious and extensive as is the atonement, it will eventually benefit none who are not united to Christ. The unbelieving and incorrigible it will not save from the punishment of their sins. On the contrary, it will be a mean of greatly aggravating their condemnation, and will, in fact, be to them a

savour of death unto death." Widely different from this are the condition and prospects of believers. Though their sins are numerous and aggravated

beyond all description, yet they are pardoned for Christ's sake, and through him, they will be saved from deserved wrath. They will experience the worth of Christ as a Saviour, Reflecting, as they now often do, on the demerit of sin, and the punishment threatened to sinners in the divine law, they are led to exclaim in the language of the evangelical prophet; "Who a"Who a mong us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" From such a punishment, yea from everlasting burnings, Jesus came to save his people. The language of the gospel is, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." "There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." From these Scriptures, however, we are not to infer, that since Christ has come, the law is abated, either in its requirements, or in its penalty. The law stands in full force. Christ did not come to destroy, but to fulfil it. He took on him the iniquities of us all, and by offering his own precious life a sacrifice for sin, he became the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

Another part of the work of Jesus is to save his people from the love and dominion of sin. All men are by nature in bondage to their vile affections. They are bound with a chain, which is so strong, that no created arm can break it; and this chain is their unconquerable love of sin. Though sin destroys all their present peace, and brings a dark, impenetrable cloud over all their future prospects, yet they roll it as a sweet morsel under their

tongues. It renders them deaf to all that can be said of the wretchedness of the wicked in hell, on the one band, and of the blessedness of the righteous in glory on the other. While in this state all their actions are defiled, and are so far from recommending them to the favour of God, that they are an abomination in his sight. They are restless and unhappy in every condition, and are continually

treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath." This is a faint representation of what it is to be under the dominion of sin, and to be chained down in unbe lief. Who can name any kind of bondage that is so unfriendly to peace, and so destructive in its na ture as this? From this bondage the Lord Jesus saves his people. He can do that which no created arm could effect. He can speak the word, and they, who are dead in sin, will hear his voice, and come out of their bondage. To this salvation from the dominion of sin the Saviour referred in his conference with the Jews, John viii. He said to them, "The truth shall make you free." They, not under. standing him, answered, “We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man; how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them; Verily, verily, I say un to you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

In effecting this deliverance, so happy in its consequences, Christ acts as a physician. He heals the maladies of the soul, and gives spiritual life, where before reigned spiritual death,

This is a work, which is consequent on the atonement; but no less essential; a work which the Saviour performs by the agency of the Holy Spirit, whom he sends from the Father.

When the eyes of men are thus opened by the Holy Spirit, they behold wondrous things in the law and in the gospel. Convinced of the turpitude of sin, they condemn themselves, and lie low before God. They wonder at their former stupidity and blindness, and feel as if they could not do or say enough to mortify themselves, at the footstool of Him, on whose authority they have trampled, and who, they are conscious, has pondered all their steps. Were they be fore addicted to bad habits? Were they enslaved by the love of the world, or by their corrupt appetites and passions? They .now feel themselves in a measare liberated. Jesus has come, by the influences of the Holy Spirit, and made them free. They are willing to part with sins, which once appeared as dear to them, as a right hand, or a right eye. Did they before view all religious duties as a weariness? They now have been taught, that in keeping God's commandments there is great reward. Never have they more enjoy ment than when they can be doing something, which they trust, will promote the honour of God. Although imperfection will be found in Christ's people, as long as they dwell in the flesh, yet they have an assured hope, that after they have finished their war fare on earth, he will raise them to a state of perfect holiness and happiness. The work which he began in their hearts in regener

ation, he has engaged to carry on, until they are ripened for glory. Having 66 come out of great tribulation," occasioned by the wickedness of the world, and. the remaining corruption of their own hearts, and baving" washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," they will be "before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell a-. mong them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." H.

ON INFIDELITY.

IN noticing the moral evils of the present day, we may with peculiar propriety direct our attention to Infidelity, or a speculative disbelief and rejection of divine revelation. No other

history was ever so fully attested, as the gospel; and no other system of doctrines and morals ever exhibited such clear intrinsic evidences of a divine original. Considering that it is a system so admirably calculated: to promote civil, social, and per sonal happiness in this life, as well as to train up creatures, formed for immortality, in a course of preparation for a state of everlasting felicity hereafter; one would think that a fair proposal of it to the understanding would be alone sufficient to induce mankind to receive it. But experience has taught the con