family? "Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with him; but woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him." Either, it is well with you, and God's blessing is upon you; or, it is ill, and his curse is this moment hanging over your devoted soul. Say, gay and fashionable lady, are you not, with all your dress and tinsel, hanging over the gulf of an eternal hell? Say, gay and careless wife, are not you and your husband walking hand in hand to taste eternal woe? Are you not training up your family to join you in that lake that burns with fire and brimstone; "where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched?"

Awake! awake! now is the time to turn from your foolish parade and sinful indulgences, and to seek the Lord, that it may be well with you and yours. And then, in an humble retirement, far secluded from the public gaze, and from those useless and sinful pastimes which disgrace human nature, clad in modest attire, and in the panoply of your own virtues, amidst a contented and pious family, a truly great and good woman, moving in all the dignity and meekness of true piety, you may become a shining and burning light to all around you. Afflictions may, indeed, come upon you; death, even, may invade the family circle and snatch away the beloved child, still, with the composure and resignation of a sincere Christian, you will be enabled to say, "It is well with me, it is well with my husband, it is well with the child."

May God help all wives and mothers to "be in behavior as becometh holiness; not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

SERMON XII.

BY REV. NATHAN EMERY.

CHRIST THE CHRISTIAN'S SAVIOR AND REWARDER.

"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people: to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be glorious," Isaiah xi, 10.

THE revelation of divine benevolence to our fallen race commenced in the morning of time. Man had transgressed the law of his God, incurred his holy displeasure, forfeited his heavenly abode, and exposed himself to endless ruin. Remorse had laid hold of his conscience; fear had commenced its terrors in his guilty soul; justice was advancing, with slow and steady step, to cut the offender down. At this alarming crisis, "a ransom was found;" mercy came to his relief; and as the Almighty pronounced the curse on his deceiver, he made the following glorious declaration: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel!" This first promise made to man contained all the elements of the great system of salvation. It was renewed, at different times, to the pious patriarchs and prophets, who greatly rejoiced at the opening prospect of a glorious moral revolution in the world.

Divine providence saw that man was not prepared, at that time, to receive the splendors of the Gospel day; and that such was the darkened state of his understanding, and the depravity of his heart, that he would plunge into the most despicable idolatry: and, notwithstanding the high opinion man had of his own reason and intelligence, this, in the course of time, actually took place. The fathers of philosophy, the inventors of the fine arts, and the conquerors of the world, worshiped every thing as god but the true

God, and he was unknown to them. In view of this, the Lord saw fit to select Abraham and his descendants to be the repository of his word, and to perpetuate the worship of the true God in the world. The patriarch, therefore, was commanded to leave his country, his kindred, and his father's house, and to sojourn in a distant land; and, to cheer his heart under his privations, he had, in addition to other great promises, the following, which far exceeded all that were given him before: "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." In this promise he had a glimpse of the Gospel era; and our Savior could properly observe to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day." God saw fit to make a strong impression on the minds of the pious, that a great character would come, and do incalculable good on the earth. This subject had the pre-eminence in the minds of the prophets, who dwelt on the pleasing theme with joyful hearts and flowing eloquence. Isaiah seems to have been highly favored with a view of the "suffering of Christ, and the glory that would follow." He saw that long night of darkness and ignorance, which had enveloped our earth, give way before the rising glories of the Sun of righteousness. He heard the sound of the great trumpet, proclaiming a glorious jubilee to our world, declaring liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. In short, he saw the introduction of the Gospel into our world, its progress, and ultimate triumph. He represented its effects by the striking figure of ferocious and untamable animals becoming peaceful, and harmoniously dwelling together, declaring that nothing should hurt in all God's holy mountain. And this was to be accomplished by Him who should stand for an ensign for the people.

I. WE SHALL NOTICE THE PROMINENT DOCTRINES PRE

SENTED IN THE TEXT.

1. The author of this great work is called the "root of

Jesse." It is well understood that Jesse was of the tribe of Judah, and the father of David; and that the prediction was that our Savior would spring from this tribe and the family of David. So there can be no doubt that our text refers to Christ by any who believe in the divine inspiration of the holy Scriptures.

But a difficulty may arise in the minds of some, from the statement of the prophet in the first verse of this chapter. He observes, "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse; and a branch shall grow out of his roots." They may not see how it is possible for Christ to be the root of Jesse; that is, the source from which Jesse came, and, at the same time, be a branch of Jesse ; that is, one of Jesse's offspring. The same idea is advanced in Rev. xxii, 16: "I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify these things in the Churches. I am the root and the offspring of David." It is remarkable how our Savior confounded his enemies by introducing this subject: “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How, then, doth David, in spirit, call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David called him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word." Were we unbelievers in the divinity of Christ, we should be as dumb, and as completely confounded, as were the Pharisees. But divine inspiration has given us a key which opens and explains the whole mystery. The sacred pages proclaim that He is the mighty God, the creator of all things in heaven and earth; therefore, he was the root, or creator, of Jesse and David; and that he was God manifested in the flesh. He took upon him human nature, was made of a woman, who descended from Judah, through the lineage of Jesse and David. Here

the whole mystery is opened, and we have a Redeemer presented to us, "Who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him ;" and on whom we are willing to risk our all for time and eternity. It is true, he was a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief. His enemies were many; they were mighty and malicious. His earthly friends were few and feeble; he had none of the riches of this world to recommend him; he was born in a stable, cradled in a manger; had not a place of his own where to rest his weary head, and finally died on a cross. Here unbelief scowls, and pride frets, at having such a Savior presented to man; but we can assure them that man did not need a Savior to recommend to him the riches and grandeur of the world, but just the reverse. He needed one to teach him that vanity is written on all earthly things, and that he makes a great mistake who lays up his treasure this side of heaven.

Notwithstanding no form or comeliness, by a haughty world, could be seen in Jesus, there is infallible evidence that he was the mighty God, wise in counsel, and mighty in works that beams of divine glory often shone through his humanity while on earth, and that, from first to last, he proved himself to be the promised Savior. Earth took no interest in his birth, made no display of joy, illuminated no cities; but heaven did, and lit up the firmament with a new star, to point distant visitants to his lonely restingplace. Although man had no songs to sing on this great event, angels had; for they shouted their halleluiahs along the starry concave, while over the hills of Bethlehem, and down to the vales below, rolled their anthem of, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." He had no revenue, no store-houses, and yet a hungry multitude of five thousand men, besides women and children, "did all eat, and were filled," with five loaves and two fishes. When he wanted money to pay his