SERMON XXV.

ON THE PROMISES OF GOD..

Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it: I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and plant it upon a high mountain and eminent; In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and I have done it.-Ezek. 17 chap. 22, 23, 24 verses.

You will readily perceive that our text abounds in figurative and allegorical phraseology. So does also the context; in which is beautifully portrayed the captivity of the children of Israel: and especially the carrying away the royal family-the posterity of David, by the king of Babylon. Here we are presented with a very striking instance of God's most peculiar care over them-promises of restoring them to the land of Ca. naan, and of raising up Christ the branch, out of the house of David, to be their King. All these things that are here clothed in all the beauty, force and richness of the poetic, figurative, and allegorical style of the Orien tals, have been exactly fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar, the great Eagle-the long-winged, full-feathered, embroidered Eagle, is represented as coming to Lebanon, and aking the royal family of David-the highest branch

of the highest cedar on the mountain, and carrying it in his bill, as the crow does the acorn, and planting it in the land of traffic. The Lord God, in his turn, takes the highest branch of the same cedar, and plants it on the high mountain of Israel; and the fowls of the air dwell under the shadow of its branches.

In the text there are two things worthy of consideration:

I. The promise.

II. The contents of the promise.

I. The promise. It is an evangelical promise, and relates to the coming of Messiah. Not one of the Kings of Judah since the captivity, as Boothroyd well observes, could answer to the description here given.Not one of them was such a cedar as would furnish such shadow and protection, that fowls of every wing might find shelter in the branches thereof The prophecy receives its fulfilment in the Messiah-the desire of all nations, to whom the ends of the earth shall come for salvation and safety.

There is a striking resemblance here to the parable of our Lord, called the parable of the mustard seed.-This seed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a treeso that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Multitudes of sinners believe in Christ and shelter under the shadow of his wings; they sit under his shadow with great delight, when his banner over them is love.

This prophecy is a promise; the sum of which is, God says, I will. Thus saith the Lord, I will. There is no if, or perhaps with him, but I will and you shall.— When God says, I promise to pay, there is no failure with him, whatever the sum may be. There is no dan. gor that the bank of heaven will ever break. Our God

is exceedingly rich, and ever faithful to his word. His character is good, and his notes are all in credit. The bank of heaven is the oldest and best in the world. It is the bank of the God of truth. The mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the prince of Peace is well able to fulfil his promise; he can do any thing that does not imply a contradiction. He could take upon himself the form of a servant, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; but he never can deny himself or cease to be. His nature renders that impossible— and when he fails to fulfil his promises to believers, or his threatenings to unbelievers, he will cease to be God. This is the spring of consolation-the truth of God.Heaven and earth shall pass away; but neither jot nor tittle of his word shall ever pass away.

II. We proceed to consider what is implied in this promise.

The words. I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, viz: the seed of David and of Abraham -in the mountain of Israel will I plant it:-allude to the coming of Christ, the rod out of the stem of Jesse, to build the new and everlasting temple. Jesse's rod becomes a sceptre to rule and tame-to terify and to change the nature of serpents, lions, leopards, wolves, tigers, and other beasts of prey on the top of the mountain. Such, old Corinthian sinners, were some of you; but ye were washed in the blood of Christ, and sanctified by the spirit of our God.

In this promise we have-the incarnation of Christ. His mediatorial office, and

The blessings flowing fron him as a mediator.

Christ, as concerning the flesh, is of the Israelitesthe seed of Abraham-the branch, and a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Notwithstanding the perverseness, barrenness and stiff-neckedness of Israel, the prophet was

made to say: As the new wine was found in the eluster, and one saith destroy it not; for a blessing is in it. In him, who took upon him the seed of Abraham, is found indeed, delicious wine, and blessings unspeakable for a ruined world. The Word that was in the beginning with the father, and was equal with him in nature and essence, in the fullness of time tabernacled in the flesh.Here is the union of God and man. Here is the great mystery of godliness-God manifested in the flesh.-But I can only now take time to put off my shoes with Moses, draw nigh this bush, and for a moment gaze at this great sight. The father is represented as preparing a body for his Son. He goes to the quarry of human nature to look for a stone-a foundation stone for Zion. The Son lays hold upon that nature, which was fast hastening on destruction's flood, downward to the dead sea, and ties it fast to himself. The angel Gabriel said to Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee; and that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. He was holy, harmloss, and separate from ginners. He knew no sin; there was no iniquity in him neither was guile found in his mouth.

The branch out of the root of Jesse, is also Jehovah our righteousness. The child born in Bethlehem Ephiatah the Son given according to the predictions of the prophets, is the mighty God-the everlasting Fatherand the Prince of Peace. He is of the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh; but he is also the true God and eternal life. Two natures and three offices-an High Priest, a sacrifice, and an altar,-all meet in the person of the branch taken out of the high cedar. Witness the majesty and dignity of the Lord's address to the Rulers of the earth and the chief of devils, while they were boiling with rage against Messiah and his

government,-"Why do the heathen rage, and kings and princes take council together against my annointed? I will declare the decree by which he is to rule."This decree which had long been kept in secret,-was gradually announced by the prophets;-but at the new tomb of Joseph of Arimithea Jehovah attended in person, and to the terror of heil and the joy of heaven, loudly, and with emphasis declared-THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE. Come forth from

the womb of the grave, thou whose goings forth have been of old, even from the day of eternity. Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession. I will exalt thee to the throne of government, and thou shalt be Chief in the chariot of the gospel. Thou shalt ride through the dark places of the earth with the Lamps of Eternal Life suspended to thy Chariot, to enlighten the world! Let no man withstand him. Let no man arrest the progress of his Chariot wheels. late, Herod, Caiaphas: Stand off! Clear the way!Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way-lest ye be crushed in pieces by his Chariot wheels --for that which is to some the savour of life, to others is the savour of death.

Pi.

All other mysteries are but toys in comparison with the mysteries unfolded and exhibited to view upon the pole of the everlasting gospel--the union of three persons in the Deity-union of two natures in the person of Christ-the union of the Spirit in the bond of peace between Christ and his people-and the union of all the saints together in Christ. Their life is hid with Christ in God. Our Saviour said to his Father, "I pray, that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." They are so uni