no one, who gives a fair exercise to his understanding, and meditates with humility, will consider as an obstacle in the way of his faith.

In the contemplation of this mysterious subject, we must always take Revelation for our guide, and not suffer our Reason, which even in points of an inferior and more evident nature is liable to error, to wander out of its proper and appointed sphere. With regard to the express words of Scripture, we are not to question their truth upon the ground of our difficulty in comprehending them; for difficulty of comprehension is no proof of fallacy in the doctrine. Before we come to any decision upon the doctrines of Scripture, we should inquire into the origin of Scripture itself. The result of this inquiry must be, either that Scripture is, or is not, the Word of God. If it be rejected as such, there can be no occasion to enter into any question with regard to the truth of the doctrines it contains; for the first proposition being denied, all the other propositions that arise out of it, must be denied also. If, however, it be received as a Book of Divine Origin and Authority, then it follows of course, that every doctrine it teaches must be true, how mysterious soever it may be; for to acknowledge Scripture to be the Word of God, and yet to hesitate in receiving any of its doctrines upon the ground of difficulty, is a positive contradiction, an inconsistency in argument, which can find no justification in reason or in candour. We are to consider the Gospel as a Divine Revelation, and consequently as removed from the possibility of containing a fallacious doctrine, or conveying a delusive sense. What we can comprehend, we should thankfully receive and rejoice in; what we cannot, we should firmly believe to be true, as being the Word of God.

So far back as the fall of Adam, it was declared by the Lord God himself, that "the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's head."* This promise, although a positive one, had nevertheless a considerable degree of obscurity in it, and

gave mankind no insight into the manner in which the Redemption was to be effected. All that could be collected from it was, that some great event would be brought to pass at a future period by one born of a woman, and that this event would be destructive of the power of Satan, and conducive to the good of man. This promise, however, was opened in its meaning, and rendered more clear as to its object, by subsequent promises made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

As we draw nearer in our inquiry to the fulness of time, prophecy, which had succeeded the intimations of God by his own mouth, begins to grow more plain and circumstantial. "Behold," said the Prophet Isaiah, “ a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name, Immanuel,"* that is, "God with us."† And again, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting

Father, the Prince of Peace."* And in the prophecies of Jeremiah we have these words, "The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man;"† that is, the Lord shall cause a man to be born of a woman, after a new and extraordinary generation. Hence it appeared, that the Conception of that great Person and Prophet, who was to come to be the conqueror of Satan, the plague of death, and the destruction of the grave, was not to be after the ordinary course of things. It was to be something wonderful, something new, something different from what had ever happened before, or was likely to happen again. The Seed of the Woman was to be the Son of a Virgin, and likewise the Mighty God.

In the account which the Evangelist gives us of the Conception of Jesus Christ, how astonishingly were the prophecies concerning it fulfilled! As the event was to be such as had never taken place before, an Angel was sent from Heaven " to

a Virgin espoused," that is, contracted in marriage," to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the Virgin's name was Mary. And he came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." And when she inquired, how this could be; the Angel acquainted her, that "the Holy Ghost" should "come upon" her, "and the power of the Highest overshadow" her, and that the "Holy thing which" should" be born of" her should" be called the Son of God."*

Hence we understand, that our Saviour was conceived in a new and miraculous manner by the immediate operation of

* Luke, i. 27-35.