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GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH.

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rescue us from the depths of sin, and raise us to glory, honour, and immortality. He is man, that he might die and be an example of good; and he is also God, that our nature might be more honoured than the angelic. Wonderful mystery! Wonderful truth! "This God is my

God for ever and ever: he will be my guide even unto death."

FEBRUARY 14.

Justified in the Spirit.

"Justified in the Spirit."-1 Tim. iii. 16.

THE word "justified" here means vindicated; and the word " Spirit" means the Holy Spirit. The clause testifies that God manifest in flesh was vindicated by the Holy Spirit in all he said, in all he did, and in all he is still doing.

Jesus possessed the Holy Spirit.-When he was baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit, like a dove, descended upon him. "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." Aided by the ocean-fulness of his influences, he was always wiser than his adversaries; and, if he did not convince, he at least silenced them.

He was justified by the Spirit in his words. "He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God." When he was accused as a Sabbath-breaker, he vindicated by the Spirit his works of mercy. When he was accused of being in league with Satan, the same Spirit wrought in him to the confounding of his foes. And when the officers of the chief-priests were sent to apprehend him, so boldly did he speak by the Spirit, that they testified to those that sent them, "Never man spake like this man."

He was justified by the Spirit in his miracles. “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of

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JUSTIFIED IN THE SPIRIT.

God is come unto you." His astonishing knowledge of the thoughts and mind of his adversaries, and his miraculous cures, in all their variety and publicity, may be regarded as the vindication of the Spirit, that he was the true Messiah.

He was justified by the Spirit in his resurrection from the dead. "Declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." The new tomb, the stone, the seal, the watch, their barefaced falsehood, the testimony of the apostles, and of hundreds of brethren who saw him alive, may all be regarded as the Spirit's vindication of Christ.

He was justified by the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The rushing mighty wind filling the house-the cloven tongues, like as of fire-the apostles filled with the Holy Ghost the gift of tongues, when every one heard, in his own language, the wonderful works of God—and the conversion of three thousand by one sermon-were all vindications of Christ, who promised to his disciples, ere he ascended to heaven, that he would send them the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

He is still justified by the Spirit in the conversion of sinners. The Spirit convinces of sin; he enlightens the mind; he rolls divine truth into the heart; he bends the stubborn will; he leads to the Saviour; and he does all this in vindication of Christ as the true Messiah.

FEBRUARY 15.

Christ seen of Angels.

"Seen of angels."-1 Tim. iii. 16.

ANGELS were created before men. When God laid the foundations of the earth, these morning-stars sang together,

CHRIST SEEN OF ANGELS.

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and these sons of God shouted for joy. They are intelligent beings, holy beings, immortal beings, and form an innumerable company. They are so powerful that one slew Egypt's first-born in a night. death! And one slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, also in a night. What a night of death!

What a night of

They are employed as ministering spirits, suggesting good thoughts, preserving the righteous from danger, executing divine judgments on the wicked, and conveying happy souls at death to the paradise of God. Unseen, yet not less active, they take a deep interest in all the children of God, and greatly rejoice over a sinner's repentance.

Christ was seen of angels at his birth. That event, disregarded by men, excited a deep interest in heaven. It drew down Gabriel and the heavenly host from the skies to announce it unto men. Accordingly, the babe of Bethlehem is no sooner born than the angel said to the shepherds, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, for unto you is born this day a Saviour." Yea, a multitude of the heavenly host attend and sing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

He was seen of angels at his temptation. When he passed through his forty days' trial in the wilderness, preparatory to his entering on his public ministry, and when he wrestled with Satan and overcame him, fatigued and exhausted with the struggle, "angels came and ministered to him."

He was seen of angels in his agony. Gethsemane was the scene of his most terrible mental conflict. There his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death; his sweat as great drops of blood falling down to the ground, and the thrice-repeated prayer was forced from his lips with tears and groans, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Ready to sink under a world's woes, "there appeared an angel from heaven strengthening him."

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CHRIST SEEN OF ANGELS.

He was seen of angels at his resurrection. An angel rolled back the great stone from the door of the sepulchre, and terrified the keepers, and comforted the women; and two angels in white were seen in the sepulchre after he rose, who testified to the certainty of it.

He was seen of angels at his ascension. Two angels, probably a detachment of those attending him to heaven, reproved the disciples and told them of his second coming. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels."

FEBRUARY 16.

Preached unto the Gentiles.

"Preached unto the Gentiles."-1 Tim. iii. 16.

BEFORE the manifestation of Christ, a thick wall of partition divided the Jew from the Gentile; but that wall is now broken down, and Christ is a Saviour for the Gentile as well as for the Jew. Hence, he is "preached unto the Gentiles." Let us attend to these questions: Who is preached? What is preaching? To whom is Christ preached?

Who is preached?--Christ in the dignity of his person. He is God-man, the Mediator, a divine Saviour, a suitable Saviour, and a Saviour universally accessible. Christ in the perfection of his work. That law which we broke, he hath obeyed and magnified. That curse which we merited, he hath endured. His blood-bought righteousness opens to us the way of life, brings us into it, and keeps and comforts us there. Let this smitten rock be the hiding-place of my soul. Christ in the value of his blessings. He hath procured for us pardon, peace, a blessed hope, and eternal life, and these blessings are freely presented to us in the gospel.

PREACHED UNTO THE GENTILES.

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What is preaching?—It is a divine institution whereby Christ is made known, and urged on the attention of men, by the living voice, for their salvation. "It pleases God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe." Reading the word is good, but reading cannot supersede the preaching of Christ by the living voice, which is the heaven-appointed means for the conversion of the world. Preaching should be plain, that all may understand; faithful, that all may be left without excuse; and earnest, that souls may be won, and God glorified. If Christ is preached to us, we should hear with deep attention, because the message is divine; we should hear with self-application and faith, that we may be profited and saved; and we should hear with resolutions to practise, that by our fruits we may be known, and that others may be induced to follow our example.

To whom is Christ preached?" To the Gentiles." This was predicted. "I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." "From the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles." This was fulfilled. Peter preached first to the Gentiles, after receiving heaven's commission to do so, in the house of Cornelius. The Gentiles gladly believed, received the Holy Ghost, and were baptized. "Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." The Gentiles have long formed, and now form, the principal part of the Christian church.

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