Their acquittal at the last
They shall not come into

prevail against any believer. day is secured by promise. condemnation, but shall be presented spotless before the Father's throne. Their final glory is secured by promise. Their Saviour shall come again the second time, as surely as He came the first,-to gather His saints together and to give them a crown of righteousness.-Let us be persuaded of these promises. Let us embrace them and They will never fail us. God's word

not let them go.

is never broken.

saw.

He is not a man that He should lie.

We have a seal on every promise which Zacharias never We have the seal of Christ's blood to assure us, that what God has promised God will perform.

We should notice, thirdly, in this hymn, what clear views of Christ's kingdom Zacharias possessed. He speaks of being "saved and delivered from the hands of enemies,” as if he had in view a temporal kingdom and a temporal deliverer from Gentile power. But he does not stop here. He declares that the kingdom of Messiah, is a kingdom in which His people are to "serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him." This kingdom, He proclaimed, was drawing nigh. Prophets had long foretold that it would one day be set up. In the birth of his son John the Baptist, and the near approach of Christ, Zacharias saw this kingdom close at hand.

The foundation of this kingdom of Messiah was laid by the preaching of the Gospel. From that time the Lord Jesus has been continually gathering out subjects from an evil world. The full completion of the kingdom is an event yet to come. The saints of the Most High shall one day have entire dominion. The little stone of the

But

Gospel-kingdom shall yet fill the whole earth. whether in its incomplete or complete state, the subjects of the kingdom are always of one character. They "serve God without fear." They serve God "in holiness and righteousness."

Let us give all diligence to belong to this kingdom. Small as it seem now, it will be great and glorious one day. The men and women who have served God in "holiness and righteousness" shall one day see all things put under them. Every enemy shall be subdued, and they shall reign for ever in that new heaven and earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

We should notice, finally, what clear views of doctrine Zacharias enjoyed. He ends his hymn of praise by addressing his infant son John the Baptist. He foretells that he shall "go before the face" of Messiah, and “give knowledge of the salvation” that He is about to bring in,— a salvation which is all of grace and mercy,—a salvation of which the leading privileges are "remission of sins," "light," and "peace.'

Let us end the chapter by examining what we know of these three glorious privileges. Do we know anything of pardon? Have we turned from darkness to light? Have we tasted peace with God? These, after all, are the realities of Christianity. These are the things, without which church-membership and sacraments save no one's soul. Let us never rest till we are experimentally acquainted with them.-Mercy and grace have provided them. Mercy and grace will give them to all who call on Christ's name. Let us never rest till the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that our sins are forgiven us,—that we

have passed from darkness to light, and that we are actually walking in the narrow way, the way of peace.

69.—[An horn of salvation.] Henry Venn remarks, “The horn of an animal is its weapon for defence and vengeance, its ornament and beauty too. It is used therefore in the prophetic style, to denote the power of the strongest empires. In the same sense we are to understand it here. By this image the exceeding greatness of the Redeemer's strength, and the never-ceasing exertion of it in behalf of His church are signified."-Venn on the prophecy of Zacharias.

70.-[He spake by the mouth of his holy prophets.] Let us note that it is expressly said that "God spake" by the prophets. When we read their words, we read the words of God. ↑ Burgon gives the following apt quotation from Hooker:-"They neither spake nor wrote any word of their own, but uttered syllable by syllable as the Spirit put it into their mouths; no otherwise than as the harp or the lute doth give a sound according to the discretion of his hands that holdeth and striketh it with skill." 71, 74.-[Our enemies.] We are left to gather from other sources, who are meant by these "enemies." It is highly improbable that the expression is to be taken only in a spiritual sense, and that Zacharias only means that Christ delivers His believing people from the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is far more probable that the prophecy of Zacharias, speaking, as he did, when filled with the Holy Ghost, looks far forward into all time, and includes both the second and the first advents of Jesus Christ. In this view the expression" enemies" includes not only the spiritual enemies from whom Jesus delivers His people now, but the literal enemies from whom He will deliver His redeemed Church, and the scattered tribes of Israel, at His future second appearing. 78.-[Dayspring.] This must mean Christ Himself. He is called in Malachi, the Sun of righteousness," and in Peter, "the day-star," and in Revelation, "the bright and morning star." (Mal. iv. 2. 2 Peter i. 19. Rev. xxii. 16.) All are figurative expressions, teaching the same grand truth, that "Christ is the light of the world.” (John viii. 12.)

66

LUKE II. 1-7.

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because

he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

WE have, in these verses, the story of a birth,—the birth of the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every birth of a living child is a marvellous event. It brings into being a soul that will never die. But never since the world began was a birth so marvellous as the birth of Christ. In itself it was a miracle :-"God was manifest in the flesh." (1 Tim. iii. 16.) The blessings it brought into the world were unspeakable :—it opened to man the door of everlasting life.

In reading these verses, let us first notice the times when Christ was born. It was in the days when Augustus, the first Roman emperor, made "a decree that all the world should be taxed."

The wisdom of God appears in this simple fact. The sceptre was practically departing from Judah. (Gen. xlix. 10.) The Jews were coming under the dominion and taxation of a foreign power. Strangers were beginning to rule over them. They had no longer a really independent government of their own. The "due time" had come for the promised Messiah to appear. Augustus taxes "the world," and at once Christ is born.

It was a time peculiarly suitable for the introduction of

E

Christ's Gospel. The whole civilized earth was at length governed by one master. (Dan. ii. 40.) There was nothing to prevent the preacher of a new faith going from city to city, and country to country. The princes and priests of the heathen world had been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Egypt, and Assyria, and Babylon, and Persia, and Greece, and Rome, had all successively proved that "the world by wisdom knew not God." (1 Cor. i. 21.) Notwithstanding their mighty conquerors, and poets, and historians, and architects, and philosophers, the kingdoms of the world were full of dark idolatry. It was indeed "due time" for God to interpose from heaven, and send down an almighty Saviour. It was "due time" for Christ to be born. (Rom. v. 6.)

Let us ever rest our souls on the thought, that times are in God's hand. (Psalm xxxi. 15.) He knows the best season for sending help to His church, and new light to the world. Let us beware of giving way to over anxiety about the course of events around us, as if we knew better than the King of kings what time relief should come. 'Cease, Philip, to try to govern the world," was a frequent saying of Luther to an anxious friend. It was a saying full of wisdom.

Let us notice, secondly, the place where Christ was born. It was not at Nazareth of Galilee, where His mother, the Virgin Mary, lived. The prophet Micah had foretold that the event was to take place at Bethlehem. (Micah v. 2.) And so it came to pass. At Bethlehem Christ was born.

The overruling providence of God appears in this simple fact. He orders all things in heaven and earth.