was, by an immediate act of Divine power, and by affirming that he is only a superior animal, or a development of a species of baboon. He dishonours himself by transgressing the Divine laws, by violating the principles of truth and justice, and by plunging into the mire of sin. And he dishonours himself by resting satisfied with earthly things, when he ought to be aspiring to that higher state of being of which he is the destined heir. If man would but assert the dignity of his nature and live worthily of it, how great he would speedily become! 3. In the dominion over all things which God has assigned him (ver. 6-9). All nature is here said to be under man's control; but, at present, man is not the absolute lord of nature, and the passage therefore looks back upon his original dignity as described in Gen. ii., and forward to what he will hereafter be when God's purposes of mercy are fulfilled. Accordingly the Psalm is quoted in Heb. ii. 6-8. Now, what is the meaning of these words? It is evidently this: "We do not yet see man the supreme lord of nature; but what do we see? We see Jesus the man Christ Jesus-who for a little time was made lower than the angels that He might suffer death on man's behalf, now crowned with such glory and honour that all things are put under His feet." In His person, then, human nature is already on the throne, and is possessed of absolute dominion over all created things. The inference is that man himself, redeemed and sanctified by the blood of Christ, shall hereafter attain this dominion, and shall be, in this as in other respects, like his Lord. The Psalm, then, is prophetic. It tells what the believer is to be. It points to the time referred to in the sublime predictions of Isaiah xi. 6-9; and it looks forward even beyond the millennial age to an eternity of bliss, when man, made "for a little time," as the Psalm is there quoted, "inferior to the angels," shall become, as our Lord foretold, "equal to the angels," and shall dwell for ever in the temple of everlasting light. Is it asked, By what means will man be thus exalted? The answer is, By the cross of Christ, which is to lift him out of his present degradation, and to place him on his Saviour's throne. Thus the greatness of God in His goodness towards man is the theme on which the Psalmist dwells; and the Psalm concludes, as it began, with a note of holy praise. "O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!" The Biblical Expositor. "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"-Rom. viii. 32. E-rather, "He surely." It is a pity to lose the emphatic particle of the original-that spared not—" withheld not,” "kept not back." This expressive phrase, as well as the whole thought, is suggested by Gen. xxii. 12, where Jehovah's touching commendation of Abraham's conduct regarding his son Isaac seems designed to furnish something like a glimpse into the spirit of His own act in surrendering His own son. "Take now (said the Lord to Abraham) thy son, thine only, whom thou lovest, and....offer him for a burnt offering" (Gen. xxii. 2); and only when Abraham had all but performed that loftiest act of self-sacrifice, the Lord interposed, saying, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou HAST NOT WITHHELD THY SON, THINE ONLY SON, from Me." In the light of this incident, then, and of this language, our apostle can mean to convey nothing less than this, that in "not sparing His own Son, but delivering Him up," or surrendering Him, God exercised, in His paternal character, a mysterious act of self-sacrifice, which, though involving none of the pain and none of the loss which are inseparable from the very idea of self-sacrifice on our part, was not less real, but, on the contrary, as far transcended any such acts of ours a His nature is above the creature's. But this is inconceivable if Christ be not God's "own (or, proper) Son," partaker of His very nature, as really as Isaac was of his father Abraham's. In that sense, certainly, the Jews charged our Lord with making Himself "equal with God" (John v. 18), which He in reply forthwith proceeded, not to disown, but to illustrate and confirm. Understand Christ's sonship thus, and the language of Scripture regarding it is intelligible and harmonious; but take it to be an artificial relationship, ascribed to Him in virtue either of His miraculous birth, or His resurrection from the dead, or the grandeur of His works, or all of these together, and the passages which speak of it neither explain of themselves nor harmonise with each other. Delivered Him up— not to death merely (as many take it), for that is too narrow an idea here, but "surrendered Him" in the most comprehensive sense; comp. John iii. 16, "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son." For us all-that is, for all believers alike; as nearly every good interpreter admits must be the meaning here. How shall He not-how can we conceive that He should not. With Him also—rather, “also with Him." The word "also" is often so placed in our version as to obscure the sense: see Heb. xii. 1. Freely give us all things?-all other gifts being not only immeasurably less than this Gift of gifts, but virtually included in it.-Dr. D. Brown. ONLY Materials for Sermons. XV. THE OBJECT OF FAITH. "Looking unto Jesus."-HEB. xii. 2. NLY three words; but these three words contain the whole secret of life. "Looking unto Jesus" in the Scriptures, to learn who He is, what He has done, what He gives, what He requires; to find in His character our pattern, in His teachings our instruction, in His precepts our law, in His promises our stay, in His person and in His work a full satisfaction offered to every want of our souls. "Looking unto Jesus" crucified, to find in His blood poured out our ransom, our pardon, our peace. "Looking unto Jesus" risen again, to find in Him that righteousness which alone can justify us, and through which, unworthy though we are, we may draw near with full assurance in His name, unto Him who is His Father and our Father, His God and our God. 'Looking nnto Jesus" glorified, to find in Him our Advocate with the Father, making complete through His intercession the merciful work of our salvation; appearing even now in the presence of God for us, and supplying the weakness of our prayers by the power of those which the Father heareth always. 66 Looking unto Jesus" as revealed to us by the Holy Ghost, to find in constant communion with Him the cleansing of our sinstained hearts, the illumination of our darkened minds, the transformation of our perverse wills; to the end that we may triumph over the world and the devil-resisting their violence through Jesus our strength, bringing their devices to naught through Jesus our wisdom; upheld by the sympathy of Jesus, who was Himself tempted in all things; and by the help of Jesus, who resisted and conquered. "Looking unto Jesus," that we may receive from Him the work and the cross of each day, with the grace which is sufficient to bear the cross and to do the work; patient through His patience; active by His activity; loving with His love; asking not,. "What can I do?" but, "What can He not do ?" relying upon His strength, which is made perfect in weakness. "Looking unto Jesus," that the brightness of His face may enlighten our darkness; that our joy may be holy and our grief subdued; that He may humble us to exalt us in due time; that He may affliet and then comfort us; that He may strip us of our righteousness to enrich us with His own; that He may teach us how to pray, and may answer our prayers; so that, while we are in the world, we may not be of the world, our life being hid with Him in God, and our works bearing Him witness before men. "Looking unto Jesus," ," who has reascended to His Father's house to prepare a place for us; that this blessed hope may give us courage to live without murmuring, and to die without regret when the day shall come to meet the last enemy whom He has conquered for us, whom we shall conquer through Him; once the King of terrors-now the messenger of everlasting peace. Unto Jesus, and not unto ourselves, to our thoughts, our wishes, our plans; unto Jesus, and not unto the world, its allurements, its examples, its maxims, its opinions; unto Jesus, and not unto Satan, whether he tries to affright us with his rage, or to seduce us by his flatteries. Unto Jesus, and not unto our meditations and prayers, to our religious conversations and edifying books; not to the assemblies of the faithful which we frequent, nor even to the participation of the Supper of our Lord. Let us make a faithful use of all these means of grace; but let us not confound them with grace itself, or turn away our eyes from Him who alone can make them effectual by giving Himself to us through their means. Unto Jesus, and not to our standing in the Christian Church, to the name we bear, to the doctrine we profess, to the opinion that others have of our piety, or to that which we ourselves entertain. Many who have prophesied in the name of Christ shall one day hear Him say, "I never knew you;" but He will confess before His Father and His angels even the humblest of those who have looked unto Him. Unto Jesus, and not to our brethren; not even to the best and most beloved among them. If we follow a man, we run the risk of losing our way; but if we follow Jesus, we are certain that we shall never go astray. Unto Jesus, and not to the obstacles we meet in our path. From the moment that we stop to consider them, they astonish and unnerve us, and cast us down; incapable as we are of comprehending either the reason why they are permitted, or the means by which we may overcome them. The apostle began to sink as soon as he turned to look at the boisterous billows; but so long as he continued looking unto Jesus, he walked upon the waves as upon a rock. The harder our task, and the heavier our cross, the more it behoves us to look to Jesus only. Unto Jesus, and not to the temporal blessings which we enjoy. By looking first at these blessings, we run the risk of being so much captivated by them that they even hide from our view Him who gives them. Unto Jesus, and not to our own strength, for with that we can only glorify ourselves. To glorify God we need the strength of God. Have we ever become Unto Jesus, and not to our weakness. stronger by lamenting our weakness? Jesus, His strength shall fortify our hearts, and we shall break forth into songs of praise. Unto Jesus, and not to our sins. The contemplation of sin brings only death; the contemplation of Jesus brings life. It was not by looking at their wounds, but by beholding the brazen serpent, that the Israelites were healed. Unto Jesus, and not to the law. The law gives us its commands, but does not impart the strength necessary to obey them. The law always condemns, it never pardons. To be under the law is to be out of the reach of grace. Unto Jesus, and not to what we are doing for Him. If we are too much taken up with our work, we may forget our Master; we may have our hands full, and our heart empty; but if we are constantly looking unto Jesus, we cannot forget our work; L |