we had notice of a certain stranger's being about to come into a country, and should observe that a great preparation was made for his coming, that many months were taken up in it, and great things were done, many great alterations were made in the state of the whole country, and that many hands were employed, and persons of great note were engaged in making preparation for the coming of this person, and the whole country was overturned, and all the affairs and concerns of the country were ordered so as to be subservient to the design of entertaining that person when he should come; it would be natural for us to think with ourselves, why, surely, this person is some extraordinary person indeed, and it is some very great business that he is coming upon.

How great a person then must he be, for whose coming into the world the great God of heaven and earth, and governor of all things, spent four thousand years in preparing the way, going about it soon after the world was created, and from age to age doing great things, bringing mighty events to pass, accomplishing wonders without number, often overturning the world in order to it, and causing every thing in the state of mankind, and all revolutions and changes in the habitable world from generation to generation to be subservient to this great design! Surely this must be some great and extraordinary person indeed, and a great work indeed it must needs be that he is coming

about.

We read, Matt. xxi. 8, 9, 10, that when Christ was coming into Jerusalem, and the multitudes ran before him and cut down branches of palm trees, and strewed them in the way, and others spread their garments in the way, and cried, "Hosannah to the son of David," that the whole city was moved, saying, Who is this? They wondered who that extraordinary person should be, that there should be such an ado made on occasion of his coming into the city, and to prepare the way before him. But if we consider what has been said on this subject, what great things were done in all ages to prepare the way for Christ's coming into the world, and how the world was often overturned to make way for it, much more may we cry out, Who is this? What great person is this? And say, as in Psal. xxiv. 8, 10, " Who is this King of glory," that God should show such respect, and put such vast honor upon him? Surely this person is honorable indeed in God's eyes, and greatly beloved of him; and surely it is a great errand upon which he is sent into the world.

PERIOD II.

HAVING Shown how the work of redemption was carried on through the first period, from the fall of man to the incarnation of Christ, I come now to the second period, viz., the time of Christ's humiliation, or the space from the incarnation of Christ to his resurrection. And this is the most remarkable article of time that ever was or ever will be.-Though it was but between thirty and forty years, yet more was done in it than had been done from the beginning of the world to that time. We have observed, that all that had been done from the fall to the incarnation of Christ, was only preparatory for what was done now. And it may also be observed, that all that was done before the beginning of time, in the eternal counsels of God, and that eternal transaction there was between the persons of the Trinity, chiefly respected this period. We therefore now proceed to consider the second proposition, viz.,

That during the time of Christ's humiliation, from his incarnation to his resurrection, the purchase of redemption was made.

Though there were many things done in the affair of redemption from the fall of man to this time, though millions of sacrifices had been offered up; yet nothing was done to purchase redemption before Christ's incarnation: no part of the purchase was made, no part of the price was offered till now. But as soon as Christ was incarnate, then the purchase began immediately without any delay. And the whole time of Christ's humiliation, from the morning that Christ began to be incarnate, till the morning that he rose from the dead, was taken up in this purchase. And then the purchase was entirely and completely finished. As nothing was done before Christ's incarnation, so nothing was done after his resurrection, to purchase redemption for men. Nor will there ever be any thing more done to all eternity. But that very moment that the human nature of Christ ceased to remain under the power of death, the utmost farthing was paid of the price of the salvation of every one of the elect.

But for the more orderly and regular consideration of the great things done by our Redeemer to purchase redemption for us,

1. I would speak of Christ's becoming incarnate to capacitate himself for ts purchase; and,

2. I would speak of the purchase itself.

PART I.

FIRST, I would consider Christ's coming into the world, or his taking upon him our nature to put himself in a capacity to purchase redemption for us. Christ became incarnate, or, which is the same thing, became man, to put himself in a capacity for working out our redemption: for though Christ, as God, was infinitely sufficient for the work, yet to his being in an immediate capacity for it, it was needful that he should not only be God, but man. If Christ had remained only in the divine nature, he would not have been in a capacity to have purchased our salvation; not from any imperfection of the divine nature, but by reason of its absolute and infinite perfection: for Christ, merely as God, was not capable either of that obedience or suffering that was needful. The divine nature is not capable of suffering; for it is infinitely above all suffering. Neither is it capable of obedience to that law that was given to man. It is as impossible that one who is only God, should obey the law that was given to man, as it is that he should suffer man's punishment.

And it was necessary not only that Christ should take upon him a created nature, but that he should take upon him our nature. It would not have sufficed for us for Christ to have become an angel, and to have obeyed and suffered in the angelic nature. But it was necessary that he should become a man, and that upon three accounts.

1. It was needful to answer the law, that that nature should obey the law, to which the law was given. Man's law could not be answered, but by being obeyed by man. God insisted upon it, that the law which he had given to man should be honored and submitted to, and fulfilled by the nature of man, otherwise the law could not be answered for men. The words that were spo

ken, Thou shalt not eat thereof, Thou shalt, or thou shalt not, do thus or thus, were spoken to the race of mankind, to the human nature; and therefore the human nature must fulfil them.

2. It was needful to answer the law, that the nature that sinned should die These words, "Thou shalt surely die," respect the human nature. The same nature to which the command was given, was the nature to which the threatening was directed.

3. God saw meet, that the same world which was the stage of man's fall and ruin, should also be the stage of his redemption. We read often of his coming into the world to save sinners, and of God's sending him into the world. for this purpose. It was needful that he should come into this sinful, miserable, undone world, to restore and save it. In order to man's recovery, it was needful that he should come down to man, to the world that was man's proper habitation, and that he should tabernacle with us: John i. 14, "The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

Concerning the incarnation of Christ, I would observe these following things.

I. The incarnation itself; in which especially two things are to be considered, viz.

1. His conception, which was in the womb of one of the race of mankind, whereby he became truly the Son of man, as he was often called. He was one of the posterity of Adam, and a child of Abraham, and a son of David, according to God's promise. But his conception was not in the way of ordinary generation, but by the power of the Holy Ghost. Christ was formed in the womb of the Virgin, of the substance of her body, by the power of the Spirit of God. So that he was the immediate son of the woman, but not the immediate son of any male whatsoever; and so was the seed of the woman, and the son of a virgin, one that had never known man.

2. His birth.-Though the conception of Christ was supernatural, yet after he was conceived, and so the incarnation of Christ begun, his human nature was gradually perfected in the womb of the virgin, in a way of natural progress; and so his birth was in the way of nature. But his conception being supernatural, by the power of the Holy Ghost, he was both conceived and born without sin.

II. The second thing I would observe concerning the incarnation of Christ, is the fulness of the time in which it was accomplished. It was after things. had been preparing for it from the very first fall of mankind, and when all things were ready. It came to pass at a time, which in infinite wisdom was the most fit and proper: Gal. iv. 4, " But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law."

It was now the most proper time on every account. Any time before the flood would not have been so fit a time. For then the mischief and ruin that the fall brought on mankind, was not so fully seen. The curse did not so fully come on the earth before the flood, as it did afterwards: for though the ground was cursed in a great measure before, yet it pleased God that the curse should once, before the restoration by Christ, be executed in a universal destruction, as it were, of the very form of the earth, that the dire effects of the fall might once in such a way be seen before the recovery by Christ. Though mankind were mortal before the flood, yet their lives were the greater part of a thousand years in length, a kind of immortality in comparison with what the life of man is now. It pleased God, that that curse, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," should have its full accomplishment, and be executed in its

greatest degree on mankind, before the Redeemer came to purchase a never ending life for man.

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It would not have been so fit a time for Christ to come, after the flood, before Moses's time for till then mankind were not so universally apostatized from the true God; they were not fallen universally into Heathenish darkness; and so the need of Christ, the light of the world, was not so evident: and the woful consequence of the fall with respect to man's mortality, was not so fully manifest till then; for man's life was not so shortened as to be reduced to the present standard till about Moses's time.

It was most fit that the time of the Messiah's coming should not be till many ages after Moses's time; till all nations, but the children of Israel, had lain long in Heathenish darkness; that the remedilessness of their disease might by long experience be seen, and so the absolute necessity of the heavenly physician, before he came.

Another reason why Christ did not come soon after the flood probably was, that the earth might be full of people, that Christ might have the more extensive kingdom, and that the effects of his light, and power, and grace, might be glorified, and that his victory over Satan might be attended with the more glory in the multitude of his conquests. It was also needful that the coming of Christ should be many ages after Moses, that the church might be prepared which was formed by Moses for his coming, by the Messiah's being long prefigured, and by his being many ways foretold, and by his being long expected. It was not proper that Christ should come before the Babylonish captivity, be cause Satan's kingdom was not then come to the height. The Heathen world before that consisted of lesser kingdoms. But God saw meet that the Messiah should come in the time of one of the four great monarchies of the world. Nor was it proper that he should come in the time of the Babylonish monarchy; for it was God's will that several general monarchies should follow one another, and that the coming of the Messiah should be in the time of the last, which appeared above them all. The Persian monarchy, by overcoming the Babylonian, appeared above it and so the Grecian, by overcoming the Persian, appeared above that; and for the same reason, the Roman above the Grecian. Now it was the will of God, that his Son should make his appearance in the world in the time of this greatest and strongest monarchy, which was Satan's visible kingdom in the world; that, by overcoming this, he might visibly overcome Satan's kingdom in its greatest strength and glory, and so obtain the more complete triumph over Satan himself.

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It was not proper that Christ should come before the Babylonish captivity. For, before that, we have not histories of the state of the Heathen world, to give us an idea of the need of a Saviour. And besides, before that, learning did not much flourish, and so there had not been an opportunity to show the insufficiency of human learning and wisdom to reform and save mankind. Again, before that, the Jews were not dispersed over the world, as they were afterwards; and so things were not prepared in this respect for the coming of Christ. The necessity of abolishing the Jewish dispensation was not then so apparent as it was afterwards, by reason of the dispersion of the Jews; neither was the way prepared for the propagation of the gospel, as it was afterwards, by the same dispersion. Many other things might be mentioned, by which it would appear, that no other time before that very time in which Christ did come, would have been proper for his appearing in the world to purchase the redemption of men.

III. The next thing that I would observe concerning the incarnation of

Christ, is the greatness of this event. Christ's incarnation was a greater and more wonderful thing than ever had come to pass; and there has been but one that has ever come to pass which was greater, and that was the death of Christ, which was afterwards. But Christ's incarnation was a greater thing than had ever come to pass before. The creation of the world was a very great thing, but not so great a thing as the incarnation of Christ. It was a great thing for God to make the creature, but not so great as for God, as for the Creator himself, to become a creature. We have spoken of many great things that were accomplished from one age to another, in the ages between the fall of man and the incarnation of Christ: but God's becoming man was a greater thing than they all. When Christ was born, the greatest person was born that ever was, or ever will be born.

IV. What I would next observe concerning the incarnation of Christ, are the remarkable circumstances of it; such as his being born of a poor virgin, that was a pious, holy person, but poor, as appeared by her offering at her purification: Luke ii. 24, "And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons." Which refers to Lev. v. 7, " And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves, or two young pigeons." And this poor virgin was espoused to a husband who was a poor man. Though they were both of the royal family of David, the most honorable family, and Joseph was the rightful heir to the crown; yet the family was reduced to a very low state; which is represented by the tabernacle of David's being fallen or broken down: Amos ix. 11, “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old."

He was born in the town of Bethlehem, as was foretold: and there was a very remarkable providence of God to bring about the fulfilment of this prophecy, the taxing of all the world by Augustus Cesar, as in Luke ii. He was born in a very low condition, even in a stable, and laid in a manger.

V. I would observe the concomitants of this great event, or the remarkable events with which it was attended.—And,

1. The first thing I would take notice of that attended the incarnation of Christ, was the return of the Spirit; which indeed began a little before the incarnation of Christ; but yet was given on occasion of that, as it was to reveal either his birth, or the birth of his forerunner John the Baptist. I have before observed how the spirit of prophecy ceased, not long after the book of Malachi was written. From about the same time, visions and immediate revelations ceased also. But now, on this occasion, they are granted anew, and the Spirit in these operations returns again. The first instance of its restoration that we have any account of is in the vision of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist; which we read of in the 1st chapter of Luke. The text is in the vision which the Virgin Mary had, of which we read also in the same chap

The third is in the vision which Joseph had, of which we read in the 1st chapter of Matthew. In the next place, the Spirit was given to Elisabeth, Luke i. 41 Next, it was given to Mary, as appears by her song, Luke i. 46, &c. Then to Zacharias again, ver. 64. Then it was sent to the shepherds, of which we have an account in Luke ii. 9. Then it was given to Simeon, Luke ii. 25. Then to Anna, ver. 36. Then to the wise men in the east. Then to Joseph again, directing him to flee into Egypt, and after that directing his return.

2. The next concomitant of Christ's incarnation that I would observe is, the great notice that was taken of it in heaven, and on earth. How it was noticed