necessary that he should be made man: for if he had not been a very natural man, he could not have done for us all those things, which we were bound to do.

NOWELL'S CATECHISM.

Master. But why was he conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary, rather than begotten after the usual manner?

Scho. It behoveth that he who should and could satisfy for sins, and entirely restore wicked and damned persons, should not himself be defiled or blemished with any stain or spot of sin, but be endued with singular and perfect uprightness and innocency. Therefore when the seed of man was wholly corrupt and defiled, it behoved that in conception of the Son of God there should be the marvellous and secret working of the Holy Ghost, whereby he might be fashioned in the womb of the most chaste and pure Virgin, and of her substance, that he should not be defiled with the common stain and infection of mankind. Christ, therefore, that most pure Lamb, was begotten and born by the Holy Ghost and the conception of the Virgin without sin, that he might cleanse, wash, and put away our spots, who, as we were first conceived and born in sin and uncleanness, so do still from thenceforth continue in unclean life.

Mast. But why is there, in this Christian confession, mention made by name of the Virgin Mary?

Scho. That he might be known to be that true seed of Abraham and David, of whom it was from God foretold and foreshewed by the prophecies of the Prophets.

CHAPTER IV.

Of the Name, Titles, and Offices of Christ.

SECTION I.

WHEN the Circumcision of the Holy Infant, the Virgin's Son, took place, by which he was declared to be of the Seed of Abraham, and a partaker of the Mosaic Covenant, and by which he began to“ fulfil all righteousness" in obedience to the Law for man ; at this ceremony, as was customary with the Jews, he received his Name,-that of JESUS,-which had been assigned him by the Messenger of God, before his conception by the Holy Ghost. The name JESUS, signifying a Saviour, or Deliverer, was in common use among the Jews, but was given in a more especial manner to certain temporal deliverers under the Old Testament; particularly to the Son of Nun, whose name, Joshua, (of which Jesus is but a contraction), indicative of the commission with which he was entrusted, rendered him a remarkable type of the future Messias, the Saviour of the World. The name Jesus, as applied to the incarnate Son of God, denoted the merciful and arduous mission with which, as the one Mediator between God and Man, he had submitted to be charged;-to make known the way

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of Salvation through the tender mercy of our God;--to take away the guilt and curse, by suffering the punishment, of Sin;-to make reconciliation by his own entire obedience between Man and his offended Maker; to purchase, with his precious blood, Redemption for the whole world: and to obtain the right of conferring eternal Salvation on all, who by faith and repentance fulfil the terms of the Covenant of Grace. By Jesus of Nazareth, and only by Him, is the fallen race of Adam delivered from all or any the destructive effects of man's first transgression,from the stain and power of Sin, and from the penalty of spiritual and eternal Death: to Him, therefore, is the name of the Saviour, in a peculiar and exclusive sense, pre-eminently appropriate.

of

§ 2. The title Christ, of Greek derivation, synonymous with the Hebrew word Messias, signifies Anointed; and as affixed to the name of Jesus, is expressive of the mode in which he was consecrated to the several distinct offices included in that of Mediation. Jesus was not, indeed, anointed with material oil, in the same manner as those had been, who had preceded, and in some respects typified and resembled him in the several offices to which a solemn unction was considered the fit inauguration;-those of a Prophet, of a Priest, and of a King. Our Saviour was mystically anointed and sanctified, even from the moment of his Incarnation, by the supernatural gifts and spiritual graces of the Holy Ghost. By these and the indwelling of the Godhead, he was fully prepared and qualified for the sublime and sacred functions he had assumed. He was ordained before the foundations of the world were laid; and sent,

in process of time, to execute the office of Mediator: He, in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily, was anointed to preach the Gospel; and on him, as man, were bestowed without measure the choicest effusions of the Spirit, nourishing the wisdom of early youth, encreased in manhood, and confirmed at Baptism,-at entering on the discharge of his ministerial functions.

Those who bear, and call upon, the name of Christ, and are partakers, in some degree, of the holy unction of the Spirit, who as Christians more especially reap the benefits arising from the appointment of the incarnate Son of God to his Mediatorial Office, are, as such, "beloved of God;" are " called to be Saints;" are sanctified in Christ Jesus; are themselves consecrated to the service of God; are "made kings and priests unto" Him; and are therefore bound to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called.”

§3. The three distinct offices to which, in his Mediatorial Capacity, Jesus was anointed, were Prophetical, Sacerdotal, and Regal; and these high distinctions were united in his Person in order to enable him to perform all that was needful for our Salvation. It was requisite, and had been predicted of him, that as a Prophet he should instruct those who were immersed in the deepest ignorance with regard to spiritual things, as well as foretell future events;-as a Priest should offer satisfaction for those who were "tied and bound by the chain of their sins;"--and as a King should found an empire not of this world, and impart the means and the reward of Salvation to those who were utterly unable to attain either by their own unassisted knowledge and capacity. Although many