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liberty and purity of the church of Scotland would not have been so well preserved, had the Scots, succumbed to the dominion of imperial Rome. Their success ful resistance is referred to the wisdom and power of the Media. tor, who endowed these hardy mountaineers with an unconquer able love of liberty, and gave them the means of preserving it safely in the forests and fastnesses of their "Island home," that he might afterwards employ both it, and them, for the developement of truth and the good of the church in general.

The fact which has been the subject of the preceding illustration, proves previous design and determination. It was not a mere fortuitous coincidence which turn. ed out for the good of the church without previous arrangement. The Mediator designed it; and executed his design in the accomplishment of his providence.

The argument may be summed up in a few words. First, it was necessary that the Romans should invade the island of Britain, that a communication might be opened between it and the Roman empire; and thus, the gospel be introduced. Second, it was necessary that the northern part of the island should be kept independent of Rome, so as to afford a refuge for pure religion and its professors; when the one was corrupted and the other persecuted.

THE HUMILIATION.

Εαυλον εκένωσε, Phil. 2. 7. In religion there is much that is mysterious. There are many

propositions to which we are commanded to give credence, which, although they are plain and sim ple when considered in themselves, are inexplicable by our capacities depraved as they are by sin.

That this is necessarily the case will at once appear, when we consider the objects which religion contemplates. It is that bond which connects the creature as a moral accountable being with his Creator. And, certainly, if there is to the creature himself so much that is inexplicable in the mode of his own existence, in the physical world around him, and in the mo ral empire of Jehovah, of which he is a subject; if, when he attempts to ascend to the heavens, and employ his faculties about the things of divinity, he finds many things in the character, and attributes, and operations, of Jehovah, which are far beyond his grasp; it should not be deemed surprising, that in the religion which he professes, many subjects too sublime for his stature, too profound for his intellectual strength to reach, should be presented to his attention. Yet, that it abounds in mysteries, is one of the greatest objections of infidelity against divine revelation. Objections against its mysteries are the greatest weapons its enemies make use of against the orthodox faith. That reasoning, however, which would banish from the list of credibilities every thing that is incomprehensible, if it proves any thing, proves entirely too much, it would introduce universal scepticism into the world; it would reject, as unworthy of belief, every thing in physics, every subject in

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dence, both of proportionate There are two kinds of evistrength in insuring belief: the evidence of personal observation, and that which rests on the authority of another. It is the latter kind of evidence which we have for many of the truths of our holy religion. The most of these are pure matters of revelation. his word God informs us of this, and upon the authority of his assertion we are commanded to believe them. He there asserts the subsistance of the Divine Being in a Trinity of Persons; and the FACT we must believe, though every thing connected with it may remain enveloped in mystery-in a mystery which we are not called upon to comprehend. A few evenings since, in the dead hour of night, a meteor of unusual appearance coursed along the heavens.

morals, every principle of the sys. formity of the laws of nature as tem of redemption; for around they are approved by him, all deevery one of these there is thrown monstrate the omnipotence of the a curtain of impenetrable myste- Creator; and in this fact we exerry, as we will sooner or later find cise belief. Yet this attribute is inas we proceed in their investiga- comprehensible, we are not asked tion. This objection is founded to explain it, and none but a madin a mistake of that which is the man would assert his ability to proper object of belief-Facts, and comprehend it. principles, as they are deduced from and illustrated by them; effects, as they are perceived, and deductions drawn from their observation, are the legitimate objects of belief. We must believe these, either because we have ourselves observed them, or upon the testimony of another who is worthy of credence. Of the nature and essence of the things with which we meet, of the mode of their existence, and of the manner of their production, we are most profoundly ignorant. And because those things connected with them are entirely inexplicable, are we to reject the belief of the things themselves? Because we know not why the magnetic needle in the compass of the mariner points us to the north; because we are ignorant of the cause which directs it towards that particular point in the heavens and turns it from all others; because we cannot comprehend the reason why, in certain cases, it varies from the laws which usually govern it; are we, on this account, to refuse belief in these facts entirely, to deny the evidence of our own senses demonstrating these phenomena? The sustentation of the universe, the fact of God's presence with every creature which, from the constitution of its nature, is dependent, and constantly requiring support; the harmony and uniVol. I. DEC. 1831.

and the Holy Ghost," and that these three are one; shall we not believe it, even although it is far beyond the comprehension of our finite capacities as the attributes of the infinite must necessarily be? This doctrine, of the Trinity in Unity, and distinct subsistence as a divine Person, of the Son of God, our text takes for granted-"But he made himself of no reputation." The particle but, grammatically referring to the preceding verse, refers us to the doctrine of that verse as indispensably necessary to the proper understanding of the one before us. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, "but made himself of no reputation." In discussing this subject we will first explain,-secondly, apply.

1st. We will explain the words, Negatively.

2. Positively. "He made himself of no reputation." These words express voluntary action. It is of Christ Jesus the apostle is speaking, and of him he affirms that he became what he previously was not. Into this state he came by voluntary humi. liation. This necessarily results from his person being divine and independent. He is beyond all control. His acts must all be voluntary. Nor until after he became their substitute was he under any controlling obligation to humble himself in behalf of sinners. The Father never regarded him in any other light than as a voluntary servant whose acts were all unavoidable on account of their entire freedom and voluntariness. The original words here rendered, "He made himself of no reputation." have been variously trans

lated, and have received a great variety of explication. These we shall not waste time in answering, but premising that all general terms must be modified in their explanation by the objects to which they are applied, we observe, that the genuine idea of the word Kevow, as derived from the Hebrew, denotes hollowness or emptiness.

When used figuratively it indicates diminution and degradation. When it is applied to a law, it signifies to make void,-to the action of removing a garment to divest or disrobe,-to a vessel, to empty;-to a person, to degrade from office, or from any lofty station in the community; or to deprive of certain rights and privile. ges which he may have possessed. When this term is applied to the Redeemer as voluntarily submitting himself to degradation, we must exclude from it every idea which would attribute faultiness to him, or deservedness of the degradation to which he was subjected.

In the estimation of men, it is true, he deserved much of thatdegradation to which they exposed him. The Jews adjudged him worthy of the most degrading death for his alledged infractions of the Mosaic law, and his rebellion against the civil, they thought him worthy of no reputation, though he claimed the highest possible character-the Son of God, one in nature with the Father. But had they estimated the subject as they ought, they would have considered his degradation as conferring upon him the highest character; the lowest point of his humiliation, as en

titling him to the most exalted reputation.

We would therefore retain unaltered the common translation of these terms, as best conveying the correct idea of the Redeem. er's degradation. The reputation which any one possesses is that estimation in which the world regards him, as derived from his outward conduct and actions. Men judge of character from external appearances, and not unfrequently they are deceived. Thus they judged of the Redeemer. He did nothing really which could render him deserving of a bad reputation. Yet he placed himself voluntarily in such a situation, as to men in general rendered him liable to no other than a bad reputation in the world. He performed such acts as in their estimation deservedly conferred upon him the worst of cha

racters.

To the eyes of the world he made himself deserving of no reputation. In the estimation of the spiritually enlightened-in the estimation of his eternal Father, he by these same acts of voluntary humiliation, secured for himself a name that is above every name.

I observe then, first, that these words do not signify that Christ Jesus did any thing in the course of his life which rendered him deserving of a bad character. Men derive a reputation from their possession of superior intellectual capacities, of benevolent dispositions as these are evinced by acts of charity and beneficence towards their fellow-men, from their moral conduct as members of society. And from no

imbecility of intellect, from no destitution of benevolent sensibility, from no act of immorality, did our Redeemer deserve a bad reputation, for none such existed. His superior intelligence, seen at the earliest period of his man. hood, is evinced by his persua. sive and convincing disputations with the Jewish doctors in the temple-by the replies which he gave to the entangling questions of the priests and others wishing to convict him of some offense-by his exposition of the law of Moses, and of the duty of subjects to the civil common. wealth of which they may be members. The mightiness of his intellect is evinced by the system of doctrine and practice which he inculcated, so admirably adapt. ed to the nature and present exi. gencies of humanity, so calcula. ted to promote the present happiness and future welfare of manand the glory of the great Creator.

His whole course through a world replete with misery, exhibits his benevolent disposition. To the miserable and destitute in every condition, his special attention was directed. He visited the abodes of wretchedness, he removed the diseases of their inmates, he consoled the disconsolate, he upheld the bowed down. When he beholds the mourning widow pressed down to the earth by her bereavement of her only son, he takes pity on her loneliness, and restores him to her embraces, rescued from those of the king of terrors. When he looked forward to the ills awaiting ungrateful Jerusalem, he shed tears of sorrow at the contempla

tion. And when he approaches the tomb of the deceased Lazarus, the mourning of the surrounding friends, the stifled lamentations of the bereaved sis. ters, his own overpowering feel. ing of bereaved friendship burst forth in expressions of weeping"Jesus wept." His voluntary abasement throughout affords the highest evidence of his title to the character of a being of the most refined benevolent sensibility. His morals, it is true, were called in question. The fault finding Jews accused him of frequenting the company of publicans and sinners, of violating the sabbath, of encouraging rebellion. But how unjust is this charge! If he visited the abodes of the wretched, it was to reform their conduct, to improve their morals, to instruct them in the doctrines of the kingdom. If he healed the sick and plucked the corn from the fields for his hungry disciples on the sabbath, he did it as an act of necessity, and mercy, and as the Lord of the sabbath he had a right to suspend when he pleased the operation of the laws which ordinarily regu. late its observance, had such sus. pension been necessary. He commanded that the "things of Cæsar should be rendered unto Cæsar," and had he inculcated resistance to his power, he had a right so to do, for he was himself the King of Israel, which is now enslaved by the oppressor."When he made himself of no reputation,' "it is therefore evident that he did nothing which rendered him deserving of a bad reputation among men. This cannot then be the meaning of

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