the heathen from the servitude of sin, and bring them to repentance and obedience to God, the story of his love in the gift of his Son has been found the only motive that would reach their hearts. They preached to them of God in the creation and government of the world, and told them of the beauty and dignity of a virtuous life, but could not make them love and adore the one, or conform to the other. It was only when they heard of him, who came from heaven to earth to seek and to save that which was lost, and poured out his soul unto death on the cross, for such sinners as they, that the hearts of these heathen melted, and they bowed themselves to his dominion. and the We need not, therefore, seek any further for the cause of that joy, which animated the song of the angels over the birthplace of Messiah. It is to be found in the overture that was made for the forgiveness of sin, - the terms of forgiveness, inducements offered for its acceptance. This is indeed a sufficient cause, to fill the universe with songs of joy and praise. Spread it then, and let it reach every heart, and inspire every tongue, till "One song employs all nations; and all cry Spread it, ye disciples of the Lord, while the song of the angels still echoes in your ears, and thrills through your hearts. Let parents tell it to their children, till their young hearts grow warm with love, and beat high with joy. Let friend talk of it with friend, and neighbor with neighbor. Let the heralds of the gospel seize the standard of the cross, and hasten to all nations with the song of the angels inscribed in letters of light on their floating banners. Let the ministers of Christ not fail to proclaim it in the public assembly. - My hearers, God has sent his Son from heaven to die for you. He can forgive your sins, he offers forgiveness freely to you, to all who will receive it in a humble, repentant, affectionate faith; and he points you to Bethlehem, to Gethsemane, to Calvary, as the pledges of his love, and inducements to you to accept the proffered pardon. You are personally interested in his overture of mercy. "Unto you is born, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." To you are brought "glad tidings of great joy for they shall be to all people." Ye who have received in your hearts the offered forgiveness, forget not the song which it becomes you for ever to sing. And ye, who know not the joys of pardoned sin, will you not remember why the stillness of midnight was once broken by angelic notes over the plains of Bethlehem? If the threatened woes of hell have ceased to move you, and the riches of heaven are surpassed in charms by the riches of earth, will you not yet be affected by the lovingkindness of your God? Remember that when angels sinned, all with them was lost, they were driven at once to the prison-house of despair, — no Saviour followed them, to die on their account, no voice of mercy has been heard through the dark caverns of their dismal abode. But when man had sinned, all was not lost, though you have sinned, all is not yet lost; your sins may be forgiven; you may yet secure all that Heaven can give. Meanwhile the years seem hastening in their flight, and bearing us away to the full fruition of all that is offered, or to that land of darkness and pain, where mercy never comes, and hope can visit us no more. You may look around you, and look in vain, for many who once heard with you, in the retirement of these walls, the "glad tidings of great joy." On the right and the left may be seen those whose whitening locks tell us that they linger but a little longer in these scenes. And could we borrow for a moment the eye of Omniscience, we might see others in the maturity of manhood and the freshness of youth, on whose front is inscribed with indelible lines, "This year thou shalt die!" Fellowtravellers to the tomb, be not dismayed! but forget not your end, be not indifferent to the angels' song. It speaks. It speaks to you to-day, in a voice of forgiving love. To-morrow it may cease to vibrate on your ear. Listen, O listen now. - Be obey and be for ever blest. Remember and forget not, I pray you, forget not the cause of the angels' song. 14 SERMON IX. MATTHEW xxii. 42. WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? THERE was something so peculiar in this extraordinary personage, as often to excite the curiosity, and, at the same time, to confound the discernment of men. The degenerate Jews, who were anxiously expecting the advent of Messiah, but whose proud and perverted minds had mistaken the object of his mission, were ever in doubt how to regard him, were fluctuating in their opinions of him, and at variance among themselves in their estimation of his character. The works which he did, the manifest interpositions of Heaven that attended him, the dignity of his person and deportment, and the moral grandeur of his life, sometimes commanded their reverence, and compelled them to exclaim, "Of a truth, this is the Christ!" But again, the comparative meanness of his condition, and the obscurity of the place from which he proceeded, arose before their pride, and prompted them to ask, with contemptuous incredulity, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Shall Christ come out of Galilee?" The scribes and Pharisees, who went out from Jerusalem, with the multitude, to witness his works, proclaimed that he had a devil, and that this was the secret of his seeming power. Herod the tetrarch, whose reproving conscience doubtless suggested the thought, said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead. Some said he was Elias, others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. And there was much murmuring among the people because of him; for some said, he is a good man; others said, nay, but he deceiveth the people." It was when the Pharisees had taken counsel how they might entangle him in his talk, that Jesus, after answering their captious inquiries with inimitable skill, proposed to them, in turn, the question, "What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord saith unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If, then, David call him Lord, how is he his son?" And so perfectly ignorant were they of the true nature and character of Messiah, that these inquiries entirely confounded them. "And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." But he had scarcely finished his work of redemption, and ascended up into heaven, when his own professed disciples began to speculate upon his nature, and to dispute concerning his character. By the early Gnostics, he was represented as one of |