"thou hast fanointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with "the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered to"gether, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel de"termined before to be done." In this solemn address to the throne of God, it appears that not only the lower and baser part of men, but that men of quality and eminence in the offices of church and state, were active in the crucifixion. Israelites and Gentiles, the two great divisions of men at that time, took part in it; and, by several other passages of scripture, we perceive, that the agency of both was criminal, though not equally criminal.

"He that delivered me to thee," said our Lord to the Roman governor, "hath the greater sin." The agency of Judas and Caiaphas was more criminal than the agency of Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the Gentiles were less blameable than the people of Israel.. By the hands of wicked men Christ was crucified and slain, but their wicked hands did that which the righteous counsel of God determined before to be done. The determination of his counsel was just and holy, the deed of the ungodly assembly who executed it was wicked and unjust. Withcut reproaching his own holiness, the Holy One of Icel executes determinations of his secret will by the agency of the ungodly; and, to the praise of the glory of his justice, punishes them for transgressing commandments of his revealed will, by those ungodly deeds which execute and fulfil determinations of his secret will. Though the Almighty is unsearchable, and his ways, like paths in the sca, cannot be found out unto perfection, these operations we believe, and, with reverence and godly fear, acknowledge and profess, because we observe them exemplified in the record of his administration.-"O, Assyrian! the rod "of mine anger, and the staff of mine indignation. I will send him against the hypocritical nation; and against the "people of my wrath will I give him a charge.-Where"fore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath per"formed his whole work upon mount Zion, and on Jerusa"lem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king "of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks."-In crucifying the Lord of glory, the people of Israel fulfilled the determination of the council and will of the Most High; and for the perpetration of this wicked and execrabic deed, that hypocritical and ungodly nation is dissolved, and blot

ted out of the book of nations. "Great and marvellous are "thy works; Lord God Almighty! just and true are thy "ways, thou King of Saints! Who shall not fear thee, O "Lord, and glorify thy name; for thou only art holy, for all "nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judg"ments are made manifest!""

The crucifiers knew not what they did. This circum stance we believe to be of more importanee, because it occurs oftener than once. Ignorance, though neither the justification nor the excuse of wickedness, is an alleviation pleadable in applications to the throne for pardon. While they were nailing him to the cross, our Saviour mentions it in an address to the throne: "Father, forgive them, for "they know not what they do." The wickedness of some ungodly deeds is a plea which despair brings forward in bar of applications for mercy. But soon after the crucifixion, and while conviction was killing the crucifiers by thousands, Peter lays hold on their ignorance, in confounding despair, and opening the way to the throne. "Now, "brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did "also your rulers." In obviating the prejudice of the educated and self-sufficient mind against the wisdom which the preaching of the cross brings to light, Paul avails himself of the ignorance of the crucifiers: "The hidden. "wisdom which God ordained before the world, unto our "glory, none of the princes of this world knew; for had "they known they would not have crucifred the Lord of "glory."

In the SECOND PLACE, we speak of the Man Christ Jesus, who was crucified. No theme within the limits of oratory is pleasanter than his personal and official glory. Prophets and Apostles, who spake before us, uttered concerning him, and, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; committed to writing the sweetest and most substantiar truths. In their discourses, which are our scriptures, and which instruct at the same time that they delight and ravish, simplicity and grandeur unite; and, by their union, give pleasure to the heart that believes, sweeter and more exquisite than that which is derived from other writings. Much of the pleasure, which we hope you will feel in hearing, would be lost, were we to go on in the modern way, and speak of Christ under the cold and gencral terms-au

thor of our religion, feunder of the Christian institution, benefactor of mankind, restorer of virtue, and pattern of moral excellence. We do not deny, and are not ashamed to profess, that he is what these affected and cant words signify; but we have better words to describe his personal and official excellence, words used and consecrated by speakers who had his mind, and spake and wrote of him as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Man Christ Jesus is Son, and Servant, and Elect of God. By the mouth of David, the Father acknowledges him to be his Son: "Thou art my Son, this day "have I begotten thee;" and by the ministry of Isaiah, holds him out to the world as his Servant and his Elect: "Behold my Servant, whom I uphold; mine Elect, in "whom my soul delighteth." These divine and holy titles, the rays both of personal and official glory, when they strike the eye of the understanding, fill the temple of the heart with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in his face; Son, the brightness of glory, the express image, and, in every perfection, the equal of the Father, by whom he is begotten; Servant, righteous Servant, who doing the work which pleased the Father, glorified him on earth, finishing it by bowing his head and giving up the ghost; Elect of God, and precious chosen of hin from eternity, and foreordained to obedience and suffering before the corner-stones of creation were fastened. assemblage of titles equal to these exists in no other person, human or divine. The sense in which he claims and inherits them is peculiar, and the sight of their glory in the glass on earth, is a foretaste of the pleasure of beholding this glory face to face in heaven.

An

The Man Christ Jesus is the Seed of the woman, and the Seed of Abraham, the Root and Offspring of David, and the Son of Mary. Seed of the woman, is the title by which he is first distinguished in the scripture. Upon this title, which stands foremost in the revelation of his incarnation, sinners builded their faith and hope of salvation, until God was pleased to add unto it the more determinate one, Seed of Abraham: Root and Offspring of David is the title which he takes to himself at the sealing up of prophecy and revelation in Patmos. The importance of his connection, according to the flesh, with the family of David, to the faith both of Israelites and Gentiles, may be

collected, first from, the prophecy of Gabriel to the virgin,. and then from the speech which Peter made to his crucifiers, on the day of the shedding down of the Holy Ghost. "The Lord God," said the angel, "shall give unto him "the throne of his father David;" and, says the apostle, "David being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn "with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, accor"ding to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his "throne." Son of Mary, is another of the titles which appears in his genealogy according to the flesh. "Fear not, "Mary," said the servant who was honoured with a message to her concerning the conception, "for thou hast "found favour with God. And behold thou shalt con"ceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call "his name Jesus." These titles, which break forth along the line of his ancestry according to the flesh, are proofs that he is the Saviour promised to the world, and invitations to believe and praise the love of God, who in "the "fulness of time sent forth his Son, made of a woman, "made under the law, to redeem them who were under "the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

The Man Christ Jesus is the Mediator, the Surety, and the Messenger of the covenant. By the entrance of sin. into the world, peace with God being broken, a mediator between God and man is necessary to its restoration; and the setting up of the only begotten of the Father for its restoration, is the praise of the glory of his sovereignty, wisdom, and love. From this high office, he is honoured with a new title, and set forth as "the mediator of the "better covenant, established on better promises." In the covenant, of which Christ Jesus is mediator, there is an old and a new testament. The efficacy of his mediation, running along the old testament, breaks forth with greater lustre and vigor under the new; and "by means "of his death for the redemption of the transgressions un"der the first testament, they who are called" under both, whether Israelites or Gentiles, "receive the promise of "eternal inheritance." The mediator of the covenant is the surety of it. A surety, is an undertaker, who binds himself to do or pay for another that which he is disabled to do or to pay for himself. The elect of mankind owed obedience to the commandments, and satisfaction to the penalty of that law which the Creator established with the

representative of the whole race; but, having disabled themselves to yield the one and pay the other, the man Christ Jesus approached the Lawgiver, and, from zeal for his glory and love to their redemption, engaged himself to enter into their place under the law, to take their obligation upon him; and, by his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, pay all that they owed. The vigour of his suretiship, together with its precious effects, extends itself to both testaments of the covenant; but under the new its beauty is more conspicuous, and its effects more extensive. "By so much was Jesus made a surety of a "better testament." The mediator and surety is the messenger of the covenant. The glad tidings of a new and everlasting covenant he published to the world in paradise, proclaimed by his holy prophets, sealed and ratified with his own blood upon the cross; and by the mouth of his apostles, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, made them known to all nations, for the obedience of faith. Given for a covenant of the people, every communication from the throne is through his mediation; and by the same channel, every application, or address to the throne, ascends up before God with acceptance.

The Man Christ Jesus is the Priest, the Prophet, and the King, whom God hath raised up and anointed. Moses wrote concerning him as a prophet, and, by the spirit, David spake of him as a Priest and a King. The necessity of these offices in our salvation is indispensable, and the wisdom of vesting them in our Saviour is conspicuous. Salvation, effected by his death as a priest, and revealed in his word as a prophet, is completed under his administration as a king. While on earth, he executed the offices in his humiliation; and, after rising and ascending into heaven, he executes them in his exaltation.Their glory is not an occasional and transient blaze, but a sunshine, which shall continue forever, and fill the heaven of heavens with brightness of glory through eternity.

Recollect these particulars, O hearer! Leave none of them behind. Take them along with you to the table, and carry them in the heart to your dwelling-place, and there digest them in meditation and prayer. He is not an ordinary, nor a mere man, whom they crucified. They crucified the wonderful and singular man, who is the Son, the Fellow, the Servant, the Elect of the Father; the man