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for here again we are told that St. John's office was to make straight the way of the LORD, (Heb. JEHOVAH.) Was the original word retained in this instance, it would at once establish the divinity of CHRIST, and therefore it is that I so often recall the attention to it.

V. 29.-St. John seeth JESUS coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of GOD, which taketh away the sin of the world.

EXOD. Ch. xii. V. 3.—JEHOVAH spake to Moses, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers; a lamb for an house. 5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. 6. They shall kill it in the evening, 7. And shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts of the houses. 13. And when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you. 27. And ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of JEHOVAH's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel when he smote the Egyptians.

The declaration of St. John necessarily leads one to think of the Paschal Lamb. They who believed and obeyed the command of JEHOVAH were led by him out from the bondage of Egypt. In like manner, they who believe in our SAVIOUR, and obey his commands, will be freed from the bondage of sin, and raised by him into the regions of everlasting happiness.

V. 45. Philip saith to Nathanael, We have found him of whom Moses, in the Law and the Prophets, did write,-JESUS of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.

GEN. Ch. iii. V. 15.-JEHOVAH ELOHIM saith to the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

ISA. Ch. ix. V. 6.-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.

Philip declares that Moses and the prophets wrote of CHRIST JESUs, and the foregoing extracts will, I hope, have proved that they announced the advent of a King whose reign was to be for ever and ever-of the EMMANUEL, GOD with us-of the Mighty GOD. Let us then read the Gospels with this fact well engraven on our mind, for this is the guide that will conduct us prosperously into the haven of truth.

CHAP. II.

V. 25.-JESUS needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man.

1 SAM. Ch. xvi. V. 7.—JEHOVAH said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance: for JEHOVAH seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but JEHOVAH looketh on the heart.

1 CHRON. Ch. xxviii. V. 9.-JEHOVAH searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

St. John says, JESUS knew what was in man; and the inspired writers of the Old Testament declare that JEHOVAH understandeth all the imaginations of the heart.

CHAP. III.

V. 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

NUMBERS, Ch. xxi. V. 8.—And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live.

Our Saviour's application of this to himself, teaches us to whom we are to look for life and salvation.

V. 16.-God so loved the world, that he gave (saith St. John) his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light.

Joв, Ch. xxiv. V. 15.—The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me, and disguiseth his face. 16. In the dark they dig through houses. 17. The morning is to them even as the shadow of death; if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

ISA. Ch. Ivii. V. 21.-There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

It seems that in all ages of the world the characteristic of crime is to love darkness. The writer of Job declares it-the prophet Isaiah repeats it-and St. John confirms the statement. In these days the fact is spiritually proved, for the wicked still love the obscure, entangled falsehoods of the scribes and pharisees of all ages and nations, in preference to the clear truths of the Sun of Righteousness.

V. 28.-Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the CHRIST, but that I am sent before him.

The clear, open candour of St. John is in perfect unison with his mission, which was to prepare the way for the GOD of truth.

V. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of GOD abideth on him.

HAB. Ch. ii. V. 2.-JEHOVAH answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, it shall not lie. 4. But the just shall live by his faith.

What is the faith which both the Prophet and the Evangelist lay so great stress upon? He, with his usual clearness, tells us, it is the belief in the SONthat belief which his Gospel so strenuously inculcates, viz., That CHRIST, the Son of man, is the EMMANUEL, by whose mediation alone we can hope to attain everlasting life.

CHAP. IV.

V. 10.-JESUS answered, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith, Give me drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

JER. Ch. ii. V. 13.-For my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Let us apply this gracious reply of our Saviour to ourselves, that we may heartily implore him to bestow upon us the gift of his grace to enable us to drink of the living waters he so mercifully offers us.

V. 21.-JESUS saith, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.

MAL. Ch. i. V. 11.-For, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering, for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith JEHOVAH.

That this prophecy of our Saviour has been awfully fulfilled, we may all bear witness, for we know that the Jews are dispersed all over the earth, and that they have no abiding place in Jerusalem, and that GOD and CHRIST are worshipped among the Gentiles.

V. 16.-God so loved the world, that he gave (saith St. John) his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light.

JOB, Ch. xxiv. V. 15.-The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me, and disguiseth his face. 16. In the dark they dig through houses. 17. The morning is to them even as the shadow of death; if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

ISA. Ch. Ivii. V. 21.-There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked,

It seems that in all ages of the world the characteristic of crime is to love darkness. The writer of Job declares it—the prophet Isaiah repeats it—and St. John confirms the statement. In these days the fact is spiritually proved, for the wicked still love the obscure, entangled falsehoods of the scribes and pharisees of all ages and nations, in preference to the clear truths of the Sun of Righteousness.

V. 28.-Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the CHRIST, but that I am sent before him.

The clear, open candour of St. John is in perfect unison with his mission, which was to prepare the way for the GOD of truth.

V. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of GOD abideth on him.

HAB. Ch. ii. V. 2.-JEHOVAH answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, it shall not lie. 4. But the just shall live by his faith.

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