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are willing to seek him, he will be found of you. But if you deliberately prefer darkness, your state is awfully dangerous; and if you persist in your obstinacy, your ruin is unavoidable. God is gracious and longsuffering, but he will not be mocked*. Humble yourself at once, and implore his mercy, or else prepare to meet him in judgment. But be assured he will not meet you as a man. You must either bend or break. The Lord forbid that he should say to any of you, in the great day of his appearance, "Depart from me, ye " cursed, into everlasting fire!"

SERMON IX.

CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF THE MESSIAH.

ISAIAH ix. 6.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

SUCH was the triumphant exultation of the Old Testament church! Their noblest hopes were founded upon the promise of MESSIAH; their sublimest songs were derived from the prospest of his advent. By faith, which "is the substance of things hoped for," they considered the gracious declarations of the faithful une changeable God as already accomplished, though the actual performance respected a period, as yet, future and distant; especially as believers, under that dis

pensation, already felt the influence of the redemption which MESSIAH was to consummate in the fulness of time. It was the knowledge of his engagement on the behalf of sinners, that gave life and significancy to all the institutions of the ceremonial law, which otherwise, though of divine appointment, would have been a heavy and burdensome yoke*. Isaiah therefore prepares this joyful song for the true servants of God who lived in his time; and though it was a day of trial and rebuke, they were provided with a sufficient compensation for all their sufferings, in being warranted to say, " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder," &c.

This ancient song is still new. It has been, and will be taken up from age to age, by the New Testament church. with superior advantage. I trust many of you understand it well, and rejoice in it daily. Men naturally look for something wherein to rejoice and glory. Little reason have the wiset to glory in their supposed wisdom, or the strong in their fading strength, or the rich in their transitory wealth; but this is a just and unfailing ground of glory to true Christians, that "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," &c.

When a sinner is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, to understand the character and offices of MESSIAH, his ability and willingness to save those who are ready to perish, and the happiness of all who are brought into subjection to his gracious government; and when he begins to feel the cheering effects of faith in his name, then this song becomes his own, and exactly suits the emotions and gratitude of his heart. But many persons will despise and pity him as a weak enthusiast.

And yet, perhaps, they do not think so unfavourably of the rapture of Archimedes, of whom it is related, that having suddenly discovered the solution of a difficult problem while he was bathing, he was so transported with joy, that he forgot his situation, sprung instantly from the bath, and ran through the city crying, “I "have found it! I have found it!" He is not usually charged with madness on this account, though the expression of his joy was certainly over-proportioned to the cause. The truth is, the world will allow of a vehemence approaching to ecstasy, on almost any oссаsion, but on that alone which, above all others, will justify it. A person who would be thought destitute of taste, if he was unaffected by the music to which this passage is set, would, at the same time, hazard his reputation for good sense, with some judges, if he owned himself affected by the plain meaning of the words. Incompetent judges surely! who are pleased to approve of warmth and emotion of spirit, provided the object be trivial, and only condemn it in concerns of the greatest importance! But, I trust, the character of my auditory is very different, and that the most of you desire to enter into the spirit of this passage, and to have a more lively sense of your own interests in it. May the Lord grant your desire, and accompany our meditations upon it with his power and blessing!

Every clause in this passage might furnish subject for a long discourse; but my plan will only permit me briefly to touch upon the several particulars, which will lead to a recapitulation or summary of what has been already considered more largely concerning the person, offices, and glory of MESSIAH. We have,

I. His incarnation. "Unto us as child is born;" in our nature, born of a woman : "Unto us a son is VOL. IV.

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" given," not merely a man-child, but emphatically, a son, the Son of God. This was the most precious gift, the highest proof and testimony of divine love. The distinction and union of these widely-distant natures, which constitute the person of Christ, the God-man, the Mediator, is, in the judgment and language of the apostle, the great mystery of godliness*," the pillar and ground of truth. I shall not repeat what I have already offered on this point in the fifth sermon. It is the central truth of revelation, which, like the sun, diffuses a light upon the whole system, no part of which can be rightly understood without it. Thus the Lord of all humbled himself, to appear in the form of a servant, for the sake of sinners.

II. His exaltation. "The government shall be upon "his shoulder." In our nature he suffered, and in the same nature be reigns. When he had overcome the sharpness, the sting of death, he took possession of the kingdom of glory as his own, and opened it to all who believe in him. Now we can say, He who governs in heaven and on earth, and whom all things obey, is "the child who was born, the son who was given for "us." Some subsequent passages will lead us, hereafter, to contemplate more directly the glory of the Redeemer's administration in the kingdoms of providence and grace. At present, therefore, I shall only observe, that the exaltation of the Redeemer infers the dignity and security of the people who are united to him by faith. They have, in one respect, an appropriate honour, in which the angels cannot share. Their best friend, related to them in the same nature, is seated upon the throne of glory. Since he "is for them, who "can he be against them?" What may they not expect, when he who has so loved them as to redeem them with his own blood, " has all power committed unto "him, both in heaven and on earth!" For,

III. The names and characters here ascribed to him, are not only expressive of what he is in himself, but of what he is engaged to be to them.

1. "His name shall be called Wonderful." In another place the word is rendered "Secret*." It is true of him in both senses. He is Wonderful in his person, obedience, and sufferings; in his grace, government, and glory. So far as we understand his name, the revelation by which, as by a name, he is made known, we may, we must, believe, admire, and adore. But how limited and defective is our knowledge! His name is Secret. Who can "by searching find him out?" His greatness is incomprehensible, his wisdom untraceable; his fulness inexhaustible, his power infinite "No one "knoweth the Son, but the Father." But they have a true, though not an adequate knowledge of him, who trust, love, and serve him; and in their view he is Wonderful! The apostle expresses the sentiment of their hearts, when he says, "Yea, doubtless, I count "all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord."

2. Another of his names is " Counsellor." The great councils of redemption, in which every concern respecting the glory of God, and the salvation of sinners, was adjusted, were established with him, and in him, before the foundation of the world. And he is our Counsellor or Advocate with the Father, who pleads our cause, and manages all our affairs in perfect righteousness, and with