of a woman, though born in a miraculous manner. Like ourselves, He grew from infancy to boyhood, and from boyhood to man's estate, both in wisdom and in stature. (Luke ii. 52.) Like ourselves, he hungered, thirsted, ate, drank, slept, was wearied, felt pain, wept, rejoiced, mar- velled, was moved to anger and compassion. Having be come flesh, and taken a body, He prayed, read the Scrip- tures, suffered being tempted, and submitted His human will to the will of God the Father. And finally, in the same body. He really suffered and shed His blood, really died, was really buried, really rose again, and really ascended up into heaven. And yet all this time He was God as well as man !
This union of two natures in Christ's one Person is doubtless one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian religion. It needs to be carefully stated. It is just one of those great truths which are not meant to be curiously pried into, but to be reverently believed. Nowhere, per- haps, shall Ave find a more wise and judicious statement than in the second article of the Church of England. " The Son, which is the "Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin of her substance : so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the God- head and the manhood, were joined together in one Per- son, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very man." This is a most valuable declaration. This is " sound speech, which cannot be condemned."
But while we do not pretend to explain the union of two natures in our Lord Jesus Christ's Person, we must not hesitate to fence the subject with well-defined cautions. While we state most carefully what we do believe, we must not shrink from declaring boldly what we do not believe. We must never forget, that though our Lord was God and
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