Our next inquiry must be,
II. What was the blessing which he was sent to im- part ? The Jews expected a temporal Messiah, who should deliver them out of the hands of all their enemies, and exalt them to a state of unrivalled power upon earth. And, no doubt, to those who could see nothing beyond the literal sense of prophecy, the prophetic writings appeared strongly to justify this expectation. But this was not God's purpose respecting them : it was a spiritual, and not a temporal kingdom, that Christ came to establish. Sin and Satan were the enemies that were to be subdued : and a kingdom of righteousness was to be established throughout the world. Holiness was the blessing which Christ, was sent to impart :
Holiness, I say, was that which Christ was sent to bestow —
[He was not only to " make reconciliation for iniquity, but to make an end of sin, and to bring in everlasting right- eousnessf." " He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us, not merely from perdition, but from all iniquity also, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works g." In truth, his very name was intended to designate this special appointment: " He shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sinsV And the whole Scriptures bear witness to this, as the great object which he came to accom- plish ! ]
And, as it was the end, so has it also invariably been the effect, of the Gospel —
[There can scarcely be conceived a more just represen- tation of the Gospel and its blessings than that which the miracle in the preceding context affords us. A man was lame from his birth. By the Apostle Peter he was healed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And immediately you find the use which he made of the mercy vouchsafed unto him : " He, leaping up, stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple ; walking, and leaping, and praising Godk." Here you see a man previous to his reception of the Gospel : never has he stirred one step in the ways of God. Here also
f Dan. ix. 24. s Tit. ii. 14. h Matt. i. 21.
1 Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27. Eph. v. 25 — 27- k ver. 8.