the Messiah's advent. Isai. xl. 9. Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.
THE Gospel with all its sublime mysteries is re- garded by the generality with coldness and indiffer- ence ; whereas the most indistinct prospects of it were sufficient to fill the patriarchs and prophets with holy rapture. It was a view of its Divine Author which drew forth from the prophet this animated exhorta- tion. He saw Jesus as it were already incarnate, and called upon the daughters of Zion and Jerusalem to proclaim and celebrate his advent3. That, which he proposed to them as the subject of their song, is the one great subject also of our ministrations. To call your attention unto Jesus, to set him forth as crucified before your eyes, and, with an exalted voice, to cry, Behold your God! this is our commission. But before we proceed to execute it, we shall,
I. Shew what is implied in this commission —
We cannot fail to observe, what the prophet so strongly intimates,
1. That Christ is God—
[This is a fundamental article of our faith. The Godhead of Christ is that which stamps a value on his sufferings, and renders the whole of his undertaking so meritorious and efficient. It would be to little purpose to say with Pilate, " Behold the man," if we could not also add with the prophet, " Behold your God." But we are not left to doubt of this important truth : it is clearly established in almost every page of the sacred volume : we need go no further than to the writings of Isaiah ; and we shall find it expressly asserted, that the person who was to be " a Child born, and a Son given to us," was the mighty GoD.b He was therefore to be called Emmanuel, because he was God with usc. In the very chapter before us, his forerunner, John the Baptist, was commissioned to cry,
a It should be read as in the margin, " O daughter, that bringest good tidings to Zion," &c. It was customary for women to celebrate the praises of God in public on remarkable occasions. See Exod. xv. 20, 21. and 1 Sam. xviii. G, 7.
b Isai. ix. G. c Isai. vii. 14. with Matt. i. 23.