which vitiates the proof of the Christian faith. All these sciences have, at one period or another, cast their missiles at the stately fabric of our Christian philosophy and erudition, but they have dropped harmless and impotent at its base.

Still the minds of the simple and unwary are in danger of being seduced, and therefore ministers of the gospel are to nerve themselves for the fight with the girdle of truth, and the sword of the Spirit. They are to become familiar with infidel objections to Christianity, and to be able to meet them.

Some of the following outlines are designed to supply arguments by which to withstand infidel opposition, to establish the minds of the wavering, and to comfort those who are weak and tremble for Zion. Such as they are, the Author leaves them to the judgment of the reader; and hopes that they may at least become suggestive of better thoughts, brighter ideas, and more powerful arguments, by which to secure the above objects. In that case, the author will have his reward.

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"THIS is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”—1 TIM. i. 15.

Ir a man has received special benefit from a medical prescription, he will very cordially recommend it to others.-The Apostle Paul had received great benefit from Jesus Christ, the great Physician of souls, for which he was willing to magnify him by life and by death. The grace of God had cured him of Pharisaism, of guilt and condemnation, of wretchedness and ruin, and had given him moral and spiritual health-Divine enjoyment-dignity of office-Christian usefulness, and heavenly hope. He had cause therefore to praise his Physician, and to recommend him to others.

The text has the character of a parenthesis; and seems to have been introduced into the narrative, because the mind of the Apostle was full of the subject. He, the chief of sinners, had obtained mercy, through "Christ Jesus, who had come into the world to save sinners." This doctrine to him was interesting and glorious, for he had felt its benefit; he regarded it as a sovereign remedy for the woes of humanity. It was worthy of all acceptation." Consider,

I. THE GLORIOUS DOCTRINE: "That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

The word "saying" means in this place, doctrine, position, or declaration.

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This Doctrine divides itself thus: The Person delegated the place into which he came—the design of his delegation-the extent of his saving power.

1. The Person delegated to save sinners. "Christ Jesus." A person of unparalleled dignity and glory, as declared by the pro

phets, evangelists, and apostles. They speak of him as Christ Jesus, as the anointed of God, and as the Saviour of the world

-To save sinners-to save them for ever, it was necessary that the person delegated should be superior to men, the sinners, and to angels, the created -a Being super-human and super-angelic. Such was Christ Jesus, the Son of God-equal with him. Hence in accordance with his matchless dignity and glory, Moses speaks of him in these emphatical terms: "The Lord thy God," etc. Deut. viii. 15.- -David in the most glowing terms, declares his royal and priestly character, Ps. cx. 1-4. The life-giving strains of Isaiah's harp announce his glory, as if the prophet had actually taken his stand by the Babe of Bethlehem, and eyed him in every step of his onward course, till, as the "Man of sorrows,' he " poured out his soul unto death." O what strains are these! "Unto us a child is born," etc. Isa. ix. 6, 7.-This is he of whom Jehovah speaks by the prophet Jeremiah: "Behold, the days come," etc. Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. -This is that Messiah, of whom Gabriel speaks to Daniel the prophet, Dan. ix. 24.—This is that Messenger, or Angel of the Covenant, of whom Malachi, the last of the prophets, speaks. Mal. iii. 1.– -And then if we come down to the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles, as they narrate his marvellous acts and teaching, and describe his gracious character, we behold "his glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The language of the Apostle Paul speaks volumes; "Without controversy," etc. 1 Tim. iii. 16. This then is that glorious Messiah, that Anointed One, whom God the Father has consecrated, or set apart, as the great Prophet, Priest, and King of the church, that he may, by the efficient discharge of these offices, save sinners, even the chief.

2. The Place into which he came: "the world." This implies his pre-existence, and then his humility and condescension in coming into such a vile world as this. This is stated, John i. 1, 2; Phil. ii. 6-9. He came from heaven, that vast, pure, magnificent, and felicitous abode, to this fallen, sin-trodden, and sincursed world from those realms of light to this region of darkness and shadow of death- from the greetings and adoration of the cherubim and seraphim to the lamentation, mourning and woe of wretched sinners- from association with pure ethereal spirits to mingle with publicans and sinners-from the throne of the King, to the manger, the cross, and the grave-from the Father in whose bosom he dwelt, to do battle with the Prince of this world -with the Prince of darkness. O what a transition! From heaven to earth! That pure Being! The Holy Son of God! to tabernacle here! Yet did the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, surrounded as he is with the splendour of a wide and everlasting monarchy, bend his steps to our humble habitation; yes, the foot

* CHRIST. A Greek word answering to the Hebrew Messiah, signifying the anointed, or the consecrated one, or the Messiah, three terms of similar import. John i. 41.JESUS, means the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. This name is compounded of Yah, or Jah, a name of God, and Houshaia, the Saviour, and may therefore be read Jehovah the Saviour.- Nicholson's Bible Companion.

steps of God manifest in the flesh have been on this earth which sin has made like unto hell. Yes, defiled, loathsome, and miserable as this world was-and small though this planet be amid the orbs and the systems of immensity, yet hither hath the King of glory bent his mysterious way, and entered the tabernacle of vile men, and in the disguise of a servant did he sojourn for years under the roof which canopies our obscure and solitary world.* It was here that he clothed himself with the vile rags of humanity, and performed every part of his prophetical and priestly office, in a state of deep abasement, in order to obtain eternal redemption for us, and to lay the foundation of earth's future happiness, and his own inconceivable and everlasting mediatorial glory. Eph. iv. 9, 10.

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3. The Design of Christ Jesus in coming into the world. “To save sinners."

His name, as before stated, indicates his gracious design. Matt. i. 20, 21. Consider,

(1) The persons he came to save. "Sinners." It is evidently implied that those whom Christ came to save needed salvation. Hence Christ said, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

The Sinner is lost as to the service of God and fellowship with him. "Your sins and iniquities have separated between you and your God." Isa. lix. 2; Eph. iv. 18. The sinner has no love for God-no relish for his service- -no desire for fellowship with him.

The sinner is lost as to his body and the powers of his mind. The body, by reason of sin, is decaying, and must die, Rom. v. 12; but while he lives, he yields every member of his body as an instrument of unrighteousness. Rom. vi. 13.- -The powers of his mind too are prostrated to the service of sin. God has an absolute propriety in all his powers, but he will not have God to reign over him. The understanding, the will, the affections, the desires, are all captivated by sin, and drawn away from God. The sinner then is lost.

*Yes, this world is but a twinkling atom in the peopled infinity of worlds around it. But look to the moral grandeur of the transaction, and not to the material extent of the field upon which it was executed-and from the retirement of our dwellingplace, there may issue forth such a display of the God-head, as will circulate the glories of his name amongst all his worshippers. Here sin entered. Here was the kind and unwearied beneficence of a Father repaid by the ingratitude of a whole family. Here the law of God was dishonoured, and that too in the face of its proclaimed and unalterable sanctions. Here the mighty contest of the attributes was ended-and when justice put forth its demands. and truth called for the fulfilment of its warnings, and the immutability of God would not recede by a single iota from any one of its positions, and all the severities he ever uttered against the children of iniquity, seemed to gather into one cloud of impending vengeance on the tenement that held us-did the visit of the only-begotten Son chase away all these obstacles to the triumph of mercy — and humble as the tenement may be, deeply shaded in the obscurity of insignificance as it is, among the statelier mansions on every side of it - yet will the recall of its exiled family never be forgotten, and the illustration that has been given in this orb of the ningled grace and majesty of God, will never lose its place among the themes and ac clamations of eternity. Dr. Chalmers.

Lost as a transgressor of God's holy law, and condemned to suffer the fearful penalty denounced against the sinner. Jehovah will not allow his holy and righteous law to be broken with impunity. -Therefore he has declared, "The soul that sinneth shall die." See also Rom. iii. 19, 20; Gal. iii. 10.

The sinner then has lost the Divine favour- is under the curse, and therefore must be wretched.It is impossible for a creature to be happy, who is conscious of his own depravity, and his liability to suffer all the consequences of sin. In the absence of God, and of innocence, there is in the soul of man an aching void, that cannot be filled from the haunts of pleasure and dissipation. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."

The sinner is absolutely lost his ruin is complete - he cannot save himself-nor can he be saved by any other being, human or angelic. Neither he, nor any one for him, can honour the broken law and satisfy the claims of Divine justice. His impurity is deep and abominable in the sight of God; but he cannot cleanse himself; he cannot restore the beauteous image of God, which sin has defaced, nor make himself a new creature.

(2) How the coming of Christ was conducive to the salvation of

sinners.

Prompted by infinite love the Saviour came from the most excellent glory to save sinners, when he was under no necessity of coming; he came to save, not to destroy; to reveal mercy, not to denounce judgment; to save sinners the poor, the lost, the wandering not to condemn them; he came to restore them to the favour of God, to raise then up from their degradation, and exalt them to heaven's eternal felicities. He effected this

By placing himself in the sinner's state and circumstances. His incarnation allied him to humanity. The Son of God became the "Babe of Bethlehem." He was poor, despised, persecuted, and misrepresented. By assuming human nature, he was able to sympathize, and capable of suffering and death. John i. 14; Heb. ii. 14-18.

He honoured the law by his perfect obedience to all its precepts. See Heb. vii. 26--28.

He came as a Prophet, as the Light of the world, to remove the sinner's ignorance by revealing to him his lost estate-the way of salvation the path of obedience—and the hope of eternal life — accompanying all with the gift of his Holy Spirit to make wise unto salvation. Luke i. 76-79.

He

He came as a priest to make atonement for sinners. He ascended the cross, and there endured the penalty due to lost men. endured the curse himself for guilty man. See Isa. liii. et cum

multis.

He came as a King to expel every foe from the heart, to subdue every lust, and to reign there as supreme and to conquer all the foes of his saved people.