various colours which are mingled in it to form the perfect white, can be duly observed; so we must examine the separate virtues of our blessed Master, in order to gain a complete conception of the different graces which are united in the perfect whole. I propose then to notice,

I. Some of the distinct qualities of our Lord's character.

II. The combination and harmonious conjunction of these qualities.

III. The loveliness of the whole, and its suitableness to us as an example.

Let us consider,

I. SOME OF THE DISTINCT QUALITIES OF OUR LORD'S CHARACTER.

We may begin by noticing the extraordinary SPIRIT OF DEVOTION which adorned our blessed Saviour. When twelve years of age, he was engaged in the Temple with the doctors, in his Father's business. When he entered on his public ministry, he committed himself in solemn prayer to God. Before he

chose his twelve Apostles, as well as at his Transfiguration, he spent a considerable time in devotion. During his ministry, he resorted to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He devoutly referred every act of his life and ministry-his mission, his doctrine, his miracles, his sufferings, his resurrection, to the will and appointment of his Father. He honoured the word of God by reasoning from it, appealing to it, and exhorting his followers and others to search into and obey it. He encouraged a spirit of prayer in his disciples by commanding them to pray, and by supplying them with a model of prayer. He sanctioned these encouragements to prayer by his own example; by going out into a desert place to pray, by rising up early, and by continuing all night in prayer to God; by pouring out earnest and fre

quent addresses to his heavenly Father as new exigencies arose; by his solemn intercessory supplication previous to his last sufferings; by his strong crying and tears during his agony; and by commending his soul to his Father as he expired on the Cross.

His ZEAL, DILIGENCE, AND FORTITUDE, were equally remarkable. He was always in action, always in character, always a teacher, always waiting for opportunities of imparting instruction. He was the same person at the table of Matthew or the Pharisee, as in the synagogue or the temple. The zeal of God's house eat him up; and twice did he purge it from the profane uses by which the Jews had defiled it. Such was his ardour of mind, his earnestness, and determination in his work, that it was his meat and drink to do the will of Him that sent him. He neglected even his ordinary food in order to do good. Such was his diligence, that the labours and movements of a long life were crowded, as it were, into the very few years of his public ministry. On one occasion, after teaching, preaching, and healing through one whole day till the sun was set, the sacred historian observes, that the next morning, rising up a great while before day, he said unto his disciples, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth. His FORTITUDE, at the same time, was so great, that he reproved his enemies in the most undaunted manner, though they were often the very rulers who had his life in their hands; that he went boldly up to Jerusalem before his disciples, and entered the city in triumph; that he rebuked Peter for wishing his sufferings not to fall on him; and went forth to meet Judas. Before Pilate, Herod, and Caiaphas, he failed not, neither was discouraged. And his fortitude had this peculiarity, that he knew beforehand all his sufferings, and therefore had to meet

with the whole pain of anticipation as well as of actual endurance. Man knows nothing certainly of his future afflictions, and is supported by the hope of being exempted from them; but the eye of Christ pierced through the long melancholy vista before him.

Let us next advert to our Saviour's WISDOM AND PRUDENCE. Nothing was more conspicuous in the character of our Lord than these qualities. He discovered on all occasions a surprising discernment of circumstances and knowledge of the heart. He fulfilled every thing in the most appropriate time and manner. He stopped precisely where he ought, and never pressed beyond the proper limits of duty. He answered, not merely the words of those who addressed themselves to him, but detected and met, as it were, their very thoughts. He taught the disciples his doctrine, and especially that which related to his sufferings, as they were able to bear it. He turned every incident, however trivial, to an important purpose. He knew when to yield and convey himself away, and when to refute openly his accusers. His parables and discourses are models of profound wisdom and address in the instruction of mankind. Nothing more clearly proves the measure of any one's prudence than proper behaviour and answers on difficult and sudden emergencies. Our Lord was thus tried continually, but he was never taken by surprise: nay, his character was exalted by every such trial. When he was asked by the Pharisees, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? he appealed to their own understanding and habits, whether any one of them would not pluck an ox or an ass from a pit on that day. When one said, Master, speak unto my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me, his reply immediately was, Man, who made me a judge or a ruler over you? A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of

things which he possesseth. In like manner, when he was asked, if it was lawful to pay tribute unto Cæsar; by what authority he did his miracles; who was a man's neighbour; and, which was the great commandment of the law, his answers were so full of wisdom, that his adversaries were astonished, neither durst any one ask him any more questions.

We may go on to mention the INDIFFERENCE AND DEADNESS TO THE THINGS OF THE WORLD which distinguished our blessed Lord. When his disciples showed him the magnificent buildings of the Temple, he expressed none of that admiration which so commonly escapes from us on like occasions. When Satan tempted him with all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, he said, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. When the people would take him by force and make him a king, he departed into a mountain himself alone. When at the feast of the Pharisee, or at the marriage in Cana, he was there evidently as a physician to heal his patients. He expressed no commendation of the feast, he accommodated himself to no sinful custom, but employed himself in the instruction of those who were present. There is no vanity, no love of praise or honour, no approach to self-indulgence or intemperance, no regard to petsonal convenience discoverable in our Master's character; the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests; but the Son of man had not where to lay his head. He wrought no one miracle for his own sake. He took no notice in any of his discourses of the affairs and events of states, or of the political circumstances of the Jews. He came into the world poor, unknown, obscure; he lived thirty years in humble privacy; he passed his ministry in contempt and contradiction and reproach; he died in ignominy and baseness: and in doing this he put

a blot, if I may use the expression, for ever on the glory of a sinful and deluded world.

The BENEVOLENCE of our Saviour's character need scarcely be noticed. He went about doing good to the bodies and souls of men. Kindness marked

every part of his conduct. When he saw the young man who was not far from the kingdom of heaven, he loved him. He healed all manner of diseases among the people, even those which the Jews thought the most afflictive and dreadful. Thus the evidences of his mission were not, like those of Moses, drawn from miraculous calamities inflicted on an offending people, but from benefits conferred on all who applied to him. His love also appeared in taking little children in his arms; in addressing those whom he healed as sons and daughters, and in calling his disciples not servants but friends. In a word, his whole life was one great act of benevolence and good-will to man.

We may further observe the HUMILITY AND CON❤ DESCENSION which were apparent in our Master's example. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. The mind which was in Christ Jesus, to refer particularly to our text, was, that he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Every particular action of his life corresponded with this state of humiliation. He concealed many of his principal miracles, and gave a charge that they should be told to no man. Though he was born in Bethlehem, yet he dwelt so long at Nazareth, as to be called the inhabitant of that mean city, from which no prophet arose. He resolutely opposed every attempt to invest him with worldly honours. His last act amongst his