thee: therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.

I do not understand, Mamma, how that can be. The Holy Ghost, my love, is the Holy Spirit: so that it was thus man was to be redeemed by the Spirit.

By the Spirit, Mamma?

Yes, my child; the loss of the Spirit was the fall of man, and the loss of paradise ; and now the regaining of the Spirit by a new creation, would be the means of regaining paradise, and the rise of man. So, in this instance, God took possession of the womb with his Spirit.

What is the womb, Mamma?

Do you not see yonder pretty ewe? how big she is with young? They are inside of her in a kind of bag, that is called the womb; so that God makes all young in the womb after its own kind.

And did God make me in you, Mamma?
He did, my child.

Then, why was not Jesus like God, Mamma? Because, my love, he was to take the form of man; on that account he was formed in woman, that he might be made like sinful flesh. Being holy, that is, created of the Spirit, he was the Son of God: and yet, being born of woman, he was also the Son of Man.

Why, Mamma, was he called the Son of Man?

To fulfil God's gracious promise, my love, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head; so that he might fight with death, which was the sentence on fallen man.

And why was it necessary that God should become man?

Because, my love, the serpent was the king of this world; and as soon as man fell, he came under this sovereign of the world. The serpent, who was himself a fallen spirit, had tempted man from God by making him sin; and as sin is the opposite of holiness, God and man were at enmity. The glorious object of God was, therefore, to effect a reconciliation by a third person; but where was this third person to be found? there was none such, either in heaven or in earth. God in his glorious wisdom, therefore, thus produced this holy third person out of himself. In this mysterious counsel of God, therefore, the Son agrees to come down from heaven, to be born of woman, to bear all man's pains, sorrows, afflictions, tribulations; to be born of poor people, to give up his whole life to the service of God, nay, even to die for him ; to suffer a most ignominious death, and to be buried, that it should be his office to teach men the knowledge of God, to induce them to leave the present sovereign of the

world, and earnestly to entreat them to follow him in a course of life, in which he would be their example in holiness and righteousness. God on his part promised, that if his Son made this great sacrifice, He, in return, would send down from heavén his Holy Spirit, which the Son would have the power to give those who accepted his gracious offer. With it he would open their eyes, to enable them to see, and receive the things of God, and release their limbs from the chain of Satan, that they might walk according to the commandments of God, and untie their tongues, that they might be able to speak of God, and open their understandings, so that they might be able to comprehend God; so that this first effect of the Spirit would be called baptismal, which was washing the sins of man away, for baptism means ablution in water. The second effect would be, that when man should thus see, walk, talk, and comprehend, he would have deep sorrow that he had been so long in darkness, and be so grieved at his past life, that he would repent of all his sins, and determine to lead a godly life, and sin no more. God also promised, that if his Son shed his blood for the world, he would accept it as a suffi cient atonement; but he was likewise to suffer the sentence of man, as well as his labour and sorrow for death was the most awful of all man's sufferings;

for while men bore the former, he trembled and shuddered at the latter; indeed, the sting of death was more than man could bear; so that it was too much for him, and his intellect often forsook him, on account of its horrors. So that the Son was also to suffer death, and be buried: then he should, as a reward, be accepted by God, as a free, willing, acceptable sacrifice, and rise triumphant, and sit on the right hand of God, in the most endearing of all characters, man's Mediator.

Imagine, my dear child, such a character on earth, in any person who would devote his whole life, going about to reconcile friends who had quarrelled and separated, to bring children to their parents, and parents to their children; would he not, indeed, be beloved? Such is the office, at this moment, of the Son of God. He is earnestly imploring, by his Spirit, which is now on earth, in the souls of his ministers and his followers, all to come to his fountain, that they may be reconciled to God. And no sooner do they come, then he baptizes them with his Spirit, and then pleads with God his sufferings for them; exhibits his wounds; and at length, by importunity, prevails with God, until they are reconciled and forgiven.

How, Mamma, by importunity?

R

He puts his Spirit into the soul of man, so that that man who receives this Spirit unceasingly prays to God, and importunes, until he feels in his own soul that he is reconciled with God. This is, then, the pleading of Christ with God.

What is Christ, Mamma?

It means, my love, the union of the Spirit of God with man ; so that as soon as Jesus was born, he was called Jesus Christ; that is, Jesus, our deliverer; and Christ, God and man united; so that the office of Christ is, that as soon as man is converted, Christ is in him, or the Spirit of God, and it is Christ that intercedeth for us in man; so that when we pray with fervour and sincerity to God, it is not we, but Christ. It is thus the Spirit intercedeth for us; so that the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, says, "Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." So that as soon as Christ is in man, he is no longer after the world, which is called the flesh, but after the Spirit, which is of God. So that the apostle also says, " If any man have not the Spirit of