an angel to defend and support him, till he had attained to a sufficient age and strength to provide for himself.

It appears, from the accounts of the Evangelists, that he dwelt in the desert till the time of his public ministry, resembling the ancient prophet Elijah, in the meanness of his clothing, and the plainness of his diet. His dress was composed of camel's hair, his food the spontaneous production of the wilderness, such as locusts and wild honey, and his drink the pure water of some crystal spring. His course of life was, indeed, admirably adapted to the doctrine of repentance, which he preached, as well as to engage the attention of his hearers; so that it appears highly reasonable, that those people who waited the coming of the Messiah with earnest expectation, should flock to him, anxious to hear what he had to deliver concerning him.

He proved very successful in his ministry, as he enforced the doctrine of repentance, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand; persons of all degrees and professions flocked to him, confessed their sins, were baptized in Jordan, and submitted to whatever the prophet prescribed as necessary to obtain an inheritance in that kingdom, the approach of which he came to declare. Amongst his converts were many of the pharisaical tribe, some of whom confessed their sins, and were likewise baptized in Jordan.

The conversion of the Pharisees surprised the Baptist, knowing that they maintained an high opinion of their own sanctity, for which reason it was very astonishing that they should express any desire of obtaining a remission of their sins. In short, he was much surprised to find the whole nation so affected by his threatenings, especially as he knew they expected salvation on account of their being of the seed of Abraham, a conceit which they greatly cherished, and which they seem to have derived from a misrepresentation of the following passage: "Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon, and the stars for a light by night; who divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of Hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me, for ever. Thus saith the Lord, if the heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord."

But the Baptist, to curb their arrogance, called them the "offspring of vipers," instead of the children of Abraham; perhaps the Pharisees and Sadducees applied to John for baptism, thinking by that means to avoid the danger they might incur, from being the avowed enemies of the Messiah, whom they

expected to come in all the pomp of royalty, and to maintain his superiority by force of arms.

The Baptist, who was no stranger to those hypocritical sects, well knowing their application to him arose from sinister views, severely reprimanded them in general: "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance." O deceivers, hypocrites, whence have you obtained knowledge of the approaching event I am destined, by God, to make known? Whence have you a sense of the impending judgment of the Almighty? I have plainly told you the proper method of avoiding it is by a sincere repentance, which can only be evinced by the conformity of the heart and life to the word and will of God." And begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Deceive not yourselves with a vain presumption that eternal blessings are yours, merely on the score of your lineal descent from Abraham: such pretence will avail you nothing; for to partake of the promises made to that Father of the faithful alone, spiritually considered, you must show forth some resemblance of his faith and piety.

The Almighty Creator, who formed our first parent out of the dust, and caused Sarah to bear a son unto Abraham, when they were both well stricken in years, can by virtue of his omnipotence, raise up children unto that faithful patriarch, even from these very stones: children, indeed, who by the integrity of their hearts, and purity of their lives, shall prove their spiritual alliance to Abraham, and share with him the promised salvation.

The Baptist, by this plain but honest declaration, at once set at nought the towering expectations of this hypocritical tribe, by showing them that God respected the heart alone, and that all their pretences to descent, ceremonies, and other outward parade, was of no avail with him, who tried the heart, and searched the reins of the children of men.

He went farther, and assured them, that conviction and confession of sin were not sufficient; no, nor even a promise to forsake it, but that there must be a speedy and actual putting it into practice. "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Delay not this important work, for the judgments of the Almighty are at hand; therefore, if you continue in your sins, impending ruin will certainly fall upon you.

Nothing could be more sincere, nothing better calculated, than this doctrine of the forerunner of the blessed Jesus; it struck at the very root of the Jewish prejudices, which induced too many of them vainly to rely upon outward rites and ceremonies, prayers, fasting, &c. ; which, if not performed with

a proper spirit, and from proper views, were an abomination to an holy God. Nor did his conduct less reprove the pride and hypocrisy of the scribes and pharisees, than his doctrine; for whereas those upstart people used to shun the converse of the publicans, and meaner sort, and would rarely deign to give them instruction, the humble Baptist received their applications in the most submissive manner, and preached to them the absolute necessity of faith, repentance, and obedience.

Indeed, throughout the whole of his ministration, he happily adapted his discourses to the circumstances and capacities of the various people he addressed; and took every pious means to prepare them for the reception of the promised Messiah, who was shortly to appear amongst them in the glorious character of Saviour and Redeemer of Israel.

Thus, by a life of inflexible virtue, discourses nervous and pathetic, exhortations sincere and fervent, and rebukes honest and courageous, the Baptist became renowned throughout the region of Judea.

Such was the admiration of the people at his life and doctrine, that from the vision of his father Zacharias in the temple, the arrival of the Magi at Jerusalem, the prophecies of Simeon, circumstances recent in their memories, they began to conjecture that John might be the promised Messiah, and were even ready to pronounce him the Redeemer of Israel. So that had he aspired to worldly dignity, he might, for a time, have shone in all the grandeur of human pomp, and claimed a regard superior to any of the sons of men. But, pious in principle, and humble in heart, he could not arrogate honors of which he was conscious of his unworthiness; and therefore honestly undeceived his numerous followers, by assuring them, that so far from being the glorious person promised, he was only his forerunner, and that such was his own inferiority, that he was unworthy of doing his most menial offices. "I indeed baptize you with water but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose." Luke iii. 16.

During the time of the Baptist's continuance at Bethabara, the blessed Jesus left his retirement at Nazareth, and, previous to his public ministry, repaired to the banks of the river Jordan, where John was executing his commission from above, in order to be there baptized by him. We cannot impute this conduct of our Lord, to any necessity there was for his conforming to the institution of baptism, for purity needs not cleansing; it is therefore evident, that his motive was to add a sanction to that ordinance, for ever after appointed to be the initiating right of Christianity-"Go, baptize all nations," &c.

It appears that John immediately, as it were by a prophetic revelation, knew the Saviour of the world; for we find, from

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the Evangelist, that he acknowledged his superiority, and declined the office; "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Our Lord's answer, though short, is very full and expressive ; "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." As if he had said, Regard not the precedence at this time, but perform thy office; for it is necessary that we should, in the minutest point, conform to the divine will, by which this institution is enjoined.

This remonstrance removed the objections of John, and he baptized the immaculate Jesus in the river Jordan, in the presence of numerous spectators.

When this ceremony was performed, as he needed not the instructions usually given on the occasion, he went up straightway out of the water, and kneeling on the bank of the river, fervently addressed his Almighty Father, for an abundant effusion of his Holy Spirit, as he was now entering on his public ministry, the prelude of his important mission, the end of which was the salvation of mankind.

His prayer was heard, his request was granted; and an immediate attestation of the divine pleasure given by a visible ray of glory around him, and an audible voice proceeded from the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, and pronouncing these words, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased:" distinguished his peculiar approbation of the blessed Jesus, by the epithet beloved, as well as his standing in that relation to him in a manner nearer than any of the human race, who are called in common, the sons of men. This voice resembled not any human sound; but was loud and awful, like the thunders of heaven, in order to strike with reverence the surrounding multitude, and publicly declare the holy mission of the promised Messiah.

The blessed Jesus was called, in the Old Testament, the Son of God, but was, on this occasion, declared by the Almighty himself, to be the long-expected deliverer of Israel. Thus, all who were present at this marvellous descent of the Holy Spirit, were amply convinced of the divine mission of our blessed Lord by an infallible testimony from above: this being "the star that was to come out of Jacob, and the sceptre that was to rise out of Israel; the Shiloh foretold by the patriarch Jacob; the Great Prophet, by Moses; the Holy One, by David; the Prince of Peace, by Isaiah; and the Son of Man.

But this remarkable event tended much more to the glory of the Messiah, than all those prophecies; as it was, in some measure, a real display of what they could only picture in the dark.

CHAPTER IV.

Commencement of our Saviour's ministry.-His temptation in the wilderness.-Deputation of the Sanhedrim to John the Baptist. First miracle wrought by the blessed Jesus.

THE great Redeemer having thus complied with the institution of Baptism, and received a most convincing testimony of his heavenly Father's approbation, by the miraculous descent and effusion of the Holy Ghost upon him while praying on the banks of Jordan, in the presence of a multitude of spectators, entered on his public ministry, at the age of thirty years, according to the custom of the priests among the Jews.

It was apprehended by the people, that, as he had just begun his public office, he would repair to Jerusalem, the seat of power and grandeur, in order to display to the mighty and the learned, his miraculous abilities, and effulgent glories.

But, averse to human parade, the heavenly-minded Jesus preferred solitude to the noise and hurry of mortal life: he therefore retired into the wilderness, in order to prepare himself, by fasting, meditation, and prayer, and sustaining temptation, for the important work on which he was entering the salvation of mankind.

To promote this grand design, the Evangelists write, that this retirement into the wilderness was in consequence of the immedidiate direction of the Divine Spirit. Though solitude itself is melancholy, the blessed Jesus added to the dismal scene, by retiring to a barren spot, surrounded by high and craggy mountains, and forming a dark and gloomy chaos.

In this wild and dreary situation the great Redeemer, as Moses and Elijah had done before him, fasted forty days and forty nights, maintained an incessant communion with his heavenly Father, digested the doctrine he was about to deliver, and the obedience he came to perform; and by a total abstinence from food for forty days and forty nights, evinced the divinity of his mission, or, in other words, proved that he was "a teacher from God." But the melancholy solitude of a desert, and the extremes of hunger and thirst, were but a small part of our Saviour's sufferings in the wilderness: Satan, that implacable foe to mankind, was permitted to buffet him with the most insinuating wiles, and assail him with the most alluring temptations, in order to attempt the defeat of heaven's most gracious designs, aud keep mankind under the dreadful dominion of sin and death.