even so send I you: and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained (John xx. 21). This was but the earnest and promise of that fuller effusion, and those more abundant endowments, bestowed on the day of Pentecost; but it was given on earth, and by Jesus in person, before his glorification, in order that the church, on receiving the power of the Holy Ghost (Acts i. 8) might know that it came not from the gratuitous love of the Father immediately, nor from the Holy Spirit immediately, but was the consequence of the glorification of the Son of Man, and might "know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ" (Acts ii. 6). This power Christ received when "he ascended up on high, leading captivity captive; receiving gifts in the man" (Psal. lxviii. 18). "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come, in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" and may "grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ" (Eph. iv. 11, 15). Accordingly, the office of the Comforter is to glorify Christ in the church, by bringing the members into entire conformity in all things to the Head; fashioning the stones of the building after the pattern of the Foundation and Chief Corner-stone: the "Spirit of Truth will guide into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak ; and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me," saith Christ, "for he shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine." (John xvi. 13, 16.)

The church, therefore, undoubtedly is now privileged to fill the prophetic office of Christ; and if she neglect it, will be called to account for her faithlessness and shortcoming: and when the church becomes triumphant and its prophetic course is finished; when prophecy ceaseth, and we know even as we are known (1 Cor. xiii. 8, 12), then the redeemed sing, "Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests" (no longer prophets)," and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. v. 10).-And this brings us to the Priestly and Kingly anointing of Christ; both of which are still future to his people, though Christ has entered on the Priestly both virtually and really, and on the Kingly virtually, to be manifested really when the Father hath made his foes his footstool (Psal. cx. 1).

The Priestly office it is clear that Christ could not exercise upon earth: "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of

Juda, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood" (Heb. vii. 14); and "if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law" (viii. 4). But, Christ being come an high priest of good things to come; by his own blood entered in once into the holy place; and, having through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (ix. 11, 14, 24). Therefore" we have such an high priest (after the order of Melchisedec), who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; even the Son, who is consecrated for evermore (vii. 28, viii. 1). This Jesus hath God raised up (Acts ii. 34); and with his ascension into heaven his priestly office began.

The Kingly Office of Christ hath not yet commenced: for though, when Pilate said "Art thou a king? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born....that I should bear witness unto the truth;" he had also declared "My kingdom is not of this world," or age. or age. But the end of the world, or age, is the harvest (Matt. xiii. 39, Rev. xiv. 15, Joel iii. 13); and then the Son of Man, destroying the fourth monarchy, receives "dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. vii. 14). Then the Lord shall take to him his great power and reign (Rev. xi. 17), and the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever (ver. 15). Then shall Jehovah say to Adonai, "I have anointed my King upon my holy hill of Zion" (Ps. ii. 6). Then shall it be said, "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty......Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (Ps. xlv. 3, 6; Heb. i. 8). And then shall he be "crowned with glory and honour." (Ps. viii.) Now we see not yet all things put under him (Heb. ii. 8): But we, being sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all-who, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever (or once for all), sat down at the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool (Heb. x. 10, 13)-we, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (xii. 2), and, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18); waiting for the fulfilment of that promise of our Lord, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me' (John xvii. 24).

To these three offices of Christ, the threefold state of the

temple corresponds: First, the foundation stone laid by Christ in his prophetic character: a tried stone, a sure foundation to his people; but a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to the Jews. Secondly, the lively stones, built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, during his priestly character. Thirdly, the finished temple, when the Stone which the builders refused shall become the head of the corner (2 Pet. ii.); when the head stone shall be brought with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it (Zech. iv. 7); when the Man whose name is THE BRANCH shall branch up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule a King upon his throne; and he shall be a Priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both (Zech. vi. 12): King of Righteousness and Prince of Peace; a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec (Heb. vii., Ps. cx. 4, Isai. ix. 6).

The faith of these things has been the substance of the things hoped for " by all the people of God since the Fall. The Seed to bruise the serpent's head must necessarily be victorious in the same contest where the serpent had triumphed and Adam fell. His predicted triumph, therefore--" he shall bruise "-predicts also that he should be greater than that Adam who had yielded; greater than man before the Fall: "The second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor. xv. 47). But he is also, by the same kind of argument, less than man before the Fall, inasmuch as he is predicted to be the Seed of the woman who had fallen; whose heel the serpent also should bruise; who should not only come into actual conflict with, but be bruised by that enemy of God and man who had brought sin into the world, and death by sin himself bruised in crushing the head of the adversary; vulnerable in that body wherein the victory should be won. This mystery; this stumbling-block to the natural understanding; this Seed, at once greater and less than Adam; admits of but one explanation, which the name Jesus Christ conveys," A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke ii. 11); "God manifest in the flesh;" "Immanuel, God with us;" "The word sent unto the children of Israel, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power" (Acts x. 38). And the whole experience and calling of the Christian church is to participate and exemplify the same mystery: God in our flesh manifesting in us, the members, according to our several capacity, the same power in kind, though not in degree, which was manifested in all its fulness in Christ the Head. this end "the last Adam is a quickening spirit" (1 Cor. xv. 45). And "as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly:" "conformed to the image of

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the Son of God, that he might be the first-born among many brethren" (Rom. viii. 29): and at length "this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality; and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory......Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. xv. 53, 57). And so, as time rolled on, and different stages of society brought different forms of polity into being, the promise took its correspondent form and enlargement: To Abram, as the Seed of blessing to all families of the earth; to the bondsmen of Egypt, as the Prophet and Lawgiver like unto Moses; to David, as the King whose throne should be established for ever and they could each of them profess, with the dying Psalmist, "This is all my salvation and all my desire," although they saw it not "to branch forth" (2 Sam. xxiii. 5). And we too, like them, are "saved by hope," and "with patience wait for it," "the glory which shall be revealed in us;" "the glorious liberty of the children of God." "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Rom. viii. 17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 29).

Next in importance to the title Christ, is that of REDEEMER. They are also closely connected; the former expressing the qualification for the work of Redemption, the latter an office which the Christ alone could undertake. And both titles teach the same doctrine concerning the person of the Saviour; the Redeemer being at once the Lord of hosts, and our Kinsman, God manifest in flesh. The title Redeemer does not occur in the New Testament; "Deliverer" being used instead, in Rom. xi. 26; the word in Isa. lix. 20 being Redeemer. But the work of redemption is often mentioned; though this also appears at first to have a limitation to one sense only of its many senses in the Hebrew. Both the omission of the title and the limitation of the meaning, however, are to be accounted for by considering the difference of the parties, or of their circumstances, in the New Testament, as compared with those addressed in the Old; and this may best be done by first considering the various senses included under this title in the Hebrew.

Redeemer, or Goel, in the Old Testament, signifies the next of kin, or representative of a dead man. The duties required of the Goel were threefold: 1st, to avenge the blood of the slain; 2d, to marry the widow, and raise up seed to the dead; 3dly, to redeem the land of the deceased. And the work which these duties impose is that of bringing back what was in danger of alienation, and ridding the land of violence and oppression. Another sense is also attached to Goel as a consequence of the work of vengeance-viz. stain or defilement: as Isa. lxiii. 3,

"I will stain all my raiment." And not only the persons who had received redemption were called by this name-as, "the year of my redeemed is come"-but those who were waiting for the Goel, and set apart as polluted till he should come-as Neh. vii. 64, Ezra ii. 62-those whose genealogies were not found (their Goel not having done his duty) were as polluted (under Goel), put from the priesthood, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. A further division must be made, corresponding with the subject of redemption, Man; who, consisting of two parts, the soul and the body, these not only each need redemption, but receive it at separate times; the soul being redeemed in this life, by the blood of Christ applied by the Spirit to the conscience ("justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," Rom. iii. 24), the body being redeemed at the resurrection ("waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body," Rom. viii. 23). But this division of time constantly present in the New Testament, is not referred to in the Old, because to the Jews the redemption of the soul and body are simultaneous, their final restoration and conversion being always spoken of as a resurrection: "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." (Ezek. xxxvii. 12, Isa. xxvi. 19, Hos. xiii. 14, Ps. xlix. 15.)

To our Redeemer are given all the attributes of Jehovah, before the name of the Lord was known. To the Fathers he was the Angel of the Covenant, who redeemed them from all evil" (Gen. xlviii. 16): Who, after he became known as Jehovah (Ex. vi. 3) did redeem the children of Israel from Egypt (Ex. vi. 6, 2 Sam. vii. 23): "whom in their afflictions they remembered as their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer" (Ps. lxxviii. 35): Who hath been continually expostulating with them, saying," Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel : I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel" (Is. xli. 14): "Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?" (1. 2): And who "in all their afflictions was afflicted, and in his love and pity redeemed them, and carried them all the days of old" (lxiii. 9): And who at length shall come as the Redeemer to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob: for thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered, and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (xlix. 26, xlvii. 4, xlviii. 17): "For thy Maker is thine Husband; the Lord of Hosts is his Name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer" (liv. 8).