Mary's visit to Elisabeth cxix. 38. 34-37. said Mary, having recovered fr. her fear; yet full of wonder. How.. be, a most natural, and womanly question. Holy Ghost, etc., as easy this strange birth of the second Adam, as the creation of the first. son of Goda (see Ma. iv. 3), "a name never used by any one, but the Lord Himself."__ cousin, Gk., kinswoman. Hence Jo. and Jesus were kinsmen. For, etc., this would tend to allay any rising doubt. Nor more strange for Mary-a virgin; than for aged Elisabeth, to become a mother. The angel's message to Mary.-Consider: I. The honour promised her. But here a question arises, Why should the Messiah be born in this way?-1. That He might not be involved in Adam's guilt; 2. That He might not partake of Adam's corruption; 3. That the Scriptures might be fulfilled in Him. II. Her acceptance of it-1. Her faith in the promise; 2. Her submission to the appointment; 3. Her gratitude for the favour. Learn: (1) How God fulfils His promises; (2) How we ought to receive them.d b 38-40. Mary, etc., her strong faith will accept the situation; and face all the world's contumely, and Joseph's suspicions. a Ps. cxvi. 16; departed, his commission having been performed. days, in 3 or 4 weeks (cf. vv. 56, 57, with 26). hill country,d "the mountains" of Jos. xv. 48. city.. Juda, Gk. "the city Juta " or Juttah. saluted, "The ss. of the saints and those of the ungodly altogether dif."ƒ Mary's the more cordial and significant fr. what she had recently heard. b "Contrast other the salva- the events of Ma. 66 Holy acquiescence in the Divine will.-I. Mary's self-abasement. Behold, etc." I am nothing but a handmaiden, a servant. Am content with being the Lord's handmaiden. II. Mary's resignai. 18-25 had occ. tion. "Be it," etc. God's Word was her law. III. The angel's As a betrothed content. "He departed," etc. His mission completed. He had virgin she could not travel; but no trouble through unbelief, etc. Practical cheerfulness.-I. Mary, now she goes in the depositary of a great secret, concerning herself and her cousin. 'haste,' etc." II. Mary, an earnest believer concerning Elis. III. Mary, a Alford, q.v. Ben-bearer of good news. IV. Mary, cheerfully recognising another's gel is of opinion that Ma. i. 18 good fortune; without boasting of her own superior fortune. 21 comes in after Reasons for submission to the will of God.-I. The sovereignty of Mary's return fr. God. The sovereignty of God is that of a father. Whatever we Elis., see v. 56. have, it is God's more than ours. He never resigns His right to dJudæa, to the extent of five-sixths, anything He entrusts us with. II. The righteousness and justice is barren and of God. He does all things right. III. The mercy and goodness hilly; hence 38 of God. He does all things well. IV. The all-sufficiency of God. mt. cities of Ju- He is a Fountain ever full: if He takes one blessing, He can give a hundred. V. The unchangeableness of God.-Dr. Beaumont. Submission. This is the soul's real and practical acknowledgment of the Supreme Majesty, its homage to its Maker, its selfdedication, than which nothing more suits the state of a creature, or the spirit of a saint. It is that by which the blessed soul becomes, in its own sense, a consecrated thing, a devoted thing, sacred to God; its very life and whole being referred and made over to Him.-J. Howe. dah are named (Jos. xv. 48-60). e Jos. xv. 55; xxi. 16. "A city of the priests S. of HeYutta. Porter's Hd. Bk. for Syria, bron. Now called 58. f Bengel. the prophecy of Elisabeth 41, 42. filled, etc., without this how could Elisabeth have given Mary the salutation of v. 42? spake, but not one word ab. her own case. loud voice, a contrast to the usual low sad a Jo. v. 24. The tone in wh. Orientals speak. blessed.. women, not above Immaculate Con- but among. This salutation not an act of religious worship. festival of the ANTE A.D. 5. Elisabeth and Mary.-I. John's early recognition of Christ, a type of the fact that babes now unborn will be blessed in Him. ception (on Dec. II. The blessing of the Spirit followed by ascription of praise to s) appointed in Christ. Elis. blessed the unborn Saviour. III. Those whom 1389, observed by Rom. Ca. in God has specially blessed, willing to acknowledge even the superior honour of V. favour of others. culate, or without In Mary's having Learned women.-In Elizabeth's reign the learned languages been conceived formed the essential part of a lady's education. Sir Anthony and born immaCooke, the tutor of Edward VI., had his four daughters so care- original sin! fully instructed, that they became proficients in literature; but 1617, Paul V. fornot the less celebrated as mothers of families, conducting their bade anyone to households with admirable discretion. Katherine, who became oppose this dogma; so also did Lady Killigrew, wrote Latin hexameters and pentameters. Mil- Greg. XV.& Alex. dred, the wife of Lord Burleigh, is described by Roger Ascham as VII. (Hénault). the best Greek scholar among the young women of England, Lady Dec. 8, 1854, the Jane Grey always excepted. Anne, the mother of Lord Bacon, this dogma to be was distinguished both as a linguist and theologian. She corre- an art. of faith; sponded in Greek with Bishop Jewell, and translated his Apologie and charged with from the Latin so correctly, that neither he nor Archbishop should oppose it! heresy those who Parker could detect any error. Pope declared b J. Johnson. the incarnation." an unborn child be called 43–45. whence.. me, Elisabeth, the wife of a priest, a Jo. xiii. 13. would prob. be in better worldly circumstances than Mary. b "Elis. recogmother.. Lord," she could only know this by the Spirit's nised the truth of teaching. babe leaped, "Mysterious effects of sympathy." c -Jacobus. "How believed, in contrast to Zacharias. performance, not one can promise to believers " has ever, will ever, can ever fail." Holy humility." Whence is this to me?" The more wonder- Lord, if not Diful-I. Because Elisabeth was of superior station. as the elder woman she had a claim for respect. III. The prospect ledges both His of her own high honour might have fostered pride-would not Divinity and huany average mother be proud if she knew of a certainty that her born she openly infant would be of the world's very greatest men? IV. Because rejoices to submit she does not seem to have had any special intimation, till perhaps now, of Mary's blessedness. vine?"-Olshausen. II. Because She acknow manity. Before -Van Doren. assert, that the joy of mothers at the escape at the Red Sea, caused their unborn offspring to leap for to His sceptre." Humility and worth.-A farmer went with his son into a wheat-c Alford. Rabbis field to see if it was ready for the harvest. "See, father," exclaimed the boy," how straight these stems hold up their heads! They must be the best ones. Those that hang their heads down, I am sure, cannot be good for much." The farmer plucked a stalk of each kind, and said, "See here, foolish child! This stalk that joy.-Lightfoot. stood so straight is light-headed, and almost good for nothing, while this that hung its head so modestly is full of the most beautiful grain." C b 46-48. soul," whole inner being. magnify, extol, praise. Saviour, saving her fr. oblivion as the mother of Messiah; esp. the author of human salvation. low estate, humble condition. blessed, blessed through her, all nations would think of her with respectful affection. 66 Appropriation.- My Saviour.' I. The plea of the penitent. II. The song of the saved. III. The staff of the prodigal. IV. The anthem of heaven."e Giving and selling.-Once there was a poor woman who greatly desired a bunch of grapes from the king's conservatory for her sick child. She took half a crown, and went to the king's gardener, and tried to purchase the grapes, but was rudely repulsed. A the prophecy cat, or Song of called fr. the first word of it in the Lat. Vulgate. P. xxxv. 9; Handmaid, a Ha. iii. 18. ANTE A.D. 5. maid, or servant, that waits hand. at second effort, with more money, met like results. It happened that the king's daughter heard the angry words of the gardener, and the crying of the woman, and inquired into the matter. When the poor woman had told her story, the princess said, "My dear woman, you were mistaken. My father is not a merchant, but a king; his business is not to sell, but to give:" whereupon she e Stems and Twigs. plucked the bunch from the vine, and gently dropped it into the c Ps. cxxxvi. 23. d Ge. xvii. 1. a Ps. lxxi. 21; iii. 20. woman's apron. So the woman obtained as a free gift what the labour of many days and nights had proved unable to procure her. Hallowed 49, 50. mighty," the mighty God, the Almighty. great cxxvi. 2, 3; Ep. things, honouring her among women. holy,' perfect, pure, etc. name, "all by wh. Jehovah reveals Himself to men." Might, A.-S. meaht, miht; Perbe His name. mercy," all. to God's relation to the church Goth. makts; Ger. through the Abrahamic covenant. from, i.e. fr. age to age to end of time. macht. Holy, lit. whole, healthy; perfect in a moral sense. A.-S. halig-hal, "Mary claims no worship to herself, but sets The Virgin's song of praise.-I. The grounds of her joy. II. The expressions of it. Here we behold a mixture of admiration, gratitude, and joy. Learn-1. Our duty; 2. Our privilege. Greatness of Divine mercy." As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His thoughts above your thoughts, and His ways above your ways." Your sin is of great measure, but there is no measure to His grace. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, God bef. her as and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us the only object of up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God. As worship."-JacoJohn Bunyan well says, "It must be great mercy or no mercy, for little mercy will never serve my turn." Dost thou feel that, burdened conscience, dost thou feel that? In God there is great mercy for the harlot, for the drunkard, for the thief, for the whoremonger, for the adulterer, and such like. Here is great mercy, which, like a great flood bursting upwards, shall cover the highest mountains of your sins. bus. d Ge. xvii. 7; Ex. xx. 6; Ps. ciii. 17. e Rev. C. Simeon. f Spurgeon. a Ps. xcviii. 1; Is. li. 9; lii. 10; lxiii. Arm, lit. a joint. Conn. with army, arms, etc. 5; lix. 16. b 1 S. ii. 9; Da. iv. 37. c Ps. cvii. 39; Da. ii. 61. d Ps. lxxv. 7; Job v. 11. e Connoisseur, No. 2. 51, 52. strength. . arm," the remembrance of His ancient wonders, gives Mary confidence for the future. Arm, symbol of strength, etc. The Gospel is the "power of God," etc. proud hearts, proud thoughts of men concerning Messiah and His kingdom, utterly discomfited. mighty, Gk. dynasties. seats, thrones of power, chairs of philosophy, etc., on wh. they think themselves secure. exalted.. degree," reversing the world's proud verdict. The omnipotent God.-I. Has Almighty strength of arm. Physical achievements of Almightiness. II. Has Almighty strength of mental resource-" scattered the proud in the," etc. "How deeply Minds of wicked perplexed-Herod troubled. Purposes of wicked baffled. III. Has almighty strength of administrative energyhearts, when we "put down "-" exalted." rooted must unbelief be in our answered! in are surprised to The unbeliever's creed." I believe that there is no God, but find our prayers that matter is God, and God is matter; and that it is no matter, stead of feeling whether there is any God or no. I believe that the world was not sure that they made; that the world made itself; and that it had no beginning; will be so, if that it will last for ever, world without end. I believe that man they are only offered up is a beast; that the soul is the body, and the body the soul; and faith and accord that after death there is neither body nor soul. I believe that with the will of there is no religion; that natural religion is the only religion, and God."-Hare. in that all religion is unnatural. I believe not in Moses; I believe ANTE A.D. 5. in the first philosophy; I believe not the Evangelists; I believe As a child in Chubb, Collins, Toland, Tindal, Morgan, Mandeville, Hobbes, brought up in a Shaftesbury; I believe in Lord Bolingbroke, Hume, Voltaire, dungeon cannot Diderot, Boulanger, Volney, and Thomas Paine; I believe not believe when told St. Paul. I believe not revelation; I believe in tradition; I believe in the Talmud; I believe in the Koran; I believe not the Bible; I believe in Socrates; I believe in Confucius; I believe in Sanchoniathon; I believe in Mahomet; I believe not in Christ. Lastly, I believe in all unbelief." of the beauties of the sun and the outside world, no more can the natural man the doctrines of religion. 53-55. filled, abundantly. hungry, those who hunger a Ma. v. 6. after righteousness. Men who are consciously sinful. rich, Holpen, old pa.; self-righteous and self-satisfied. holpen, lit. propped up by p. of help. sending the Messiah. Jews rejected the help. mercy, the "As a spark of covenant. spake, about 2,093 yrs. bef. (see also vv. 70-73). seed.. ever, Divine faithfulness. The all-compassionate God.-I. Supplies the need of the poor; II. Gives to the rich a blessed sense of emptiness-this in love as well as anger; III. Has pity upon His people in their fallen state; IV. Has a sacred regard for His covenant. Fulness of mercy..-"It is His free compassion to cast all our sins into the depth of the sea (Micah vii. 19). Now, the sea, by reason of his vastness, can drown as well mountains as molehills; the boundless ocean of God's mercy can swallow up our mightiest sins much more. It is His merciful power to blot out our sins as a cloud. Now the strength of the summer's sun is able to scatter the thickest fog, as well as the thinnest mist-nay, to drive away the darkest midnight; the irresistible heat of God's free love, shining through the Sun of Righteousness upon a penitent soul, to dissolve to nothing the desperatest work of darkness, and most horrible sin, far more easily. But this mystery of mercy and miracle of God's free love is a jewel only for truly humbled souls. Let not a stranger to the life of godliness meddle with it. Let no swine trample it under his feet." fire to all the water in the sea, so no more is all the wickedness of man to the mercies and mer its name from misery, and is no other thing than to lay another's misery to heart." -Binney. b Bolton. 56-58. abode.. her, her cheerful presence, and willing Mary returns to Nazareth service, a great help to the aged E. three months,a i.e., just bef. birth of Jo. house, in Nazareth. son, the Baptist. birth of John cousins, kinsfolk. mercy, removing sterility, which popular fallacy associated with sin. a "So that we have,-5 months during wh. E. Tarrying and returning.—I. The tarrying: 1. A long time; 2. A seasonable time; 3. Time well spent-doubtless. Mary's hid herself,+the cheerful voice and nimble hands would make glad the heart and 6th mo. during wh. takes place lighten the labours of her aged friend; 4. A profitable time also. the AnnunciaMary not only a helpmate to Elisabeth, but a scholar to Zacharias. II. The returning: 1. To a home in which she was loved; 2. Where her presence was needed and looked for. ""Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark The delights of home-life.-" Is there, in truth, any blessing of heaven which is more beautiful, more worthy of our warmest gratitude than the possession of a home, where goodness, kindness, and joy are daily inmates; where the heart and eye may sun themselves in a world of love; where the mind is clear and elevated; where friends, not merely by words, but by actions, say to each tion, the discovery of Mary's her pregnancy, taking home by Joseph,+3 mo.'s visit of M = 9 mos."-Alford. "The humble soul is like the violet, which grows low hangs the head hides itself' with downwards, and its own leaves; ANTE A.D. 5. and were it not other, Thy gladness, thy sorrow, thy hope, thy prayer, are also mine?' See how, within the good and happy family, all inethat the fragrant qualities are smoothed down, so as to form a common element of smell of his many goodness and beauty, in which each member of the family finds virtues disco- his life, each power its development, each feeling its reception and world, he would its return, each pure pleasure its expansion. Behold how the choose to live tears are like heaven's dew, the smiles like the sun's light, which and die in se- call flowers into life; and love, love is the blessed, the consecrated crecy." earth, from which all germs of goodness and joy spring gloriously Frederika forth.... Life in a happy family is a perpetual development, a continual spring day." vered him to the Bremer. c Van Doren. 'This sweet name contains in it a thousand treasures of good things, in delight whereof St. Paul useth it 500 times in his epistles, as Genebrardus observeth."-Boys. dumbness of Zacharias removed a The tablet was a thin board on 59, 60. eighth day, acc. to law." they, the friends and relatives. called, usual to give the name on the day of circumcision.' name.. father, not usual am. Jews to name children aft. parents. It is clear they designed to honour Z. mother, the father being dumb. John, the name he had prob. communicated in writing. Name this child.-I. When? The time of Divine appointment, and honoured as an ancient custom. II. By whom? The father first appealed to as the head of the house. III. Perfect agreement, as there should be, between husband and wife. Elisabeth gave the name that Zacharias could not pronounce. IV. Strictly speaking, God named the child. Naming of Children.-" Athenians named their children on the 10th day. Girls named by Jews when weaned. Roman girls 8th, boys 9th day. Jews seldom named them after their parents as Christians do. Greeks and Romans named theirs after ancestors. Heathen converts baptized, had their names changed. Christening' at baptism, a relic of Roman superstitions. Indenturing our children to God in baptism, a Christian's privilege. The Church always enjoyed seals of the Divine covenants. Not the want of, but the contempt of ordinances, destroys souls." 61-64. they, naturally surprised. none.. name, fr. O. T. genealogies it seems that the son was gen. named not aft. the father, but some other relative. and they, dissatisfied with so strange a procedure. father, the proper person to name the child. writing table," or tablet. marvelled, not knowing of wh. some soft material, as wax, the vision, etc., and also at the coincidence of the name given by was spread. The both mother and father. opened, the obedience of faith rewarded, letters were writ- and the promise (v. 20) fulfilled. praised God, for recovery of ten with a stylus, a piece of iron speech; but esp, for the greater mercy. to efface the sion it is called a wax-board. pointed at one What manner of child will this be?" In regard to this quesend, and at the tion-I. Parents may ask it. Their natural affection, their good other end broad wishes. They have sent the child to the school desiring his writing and highest good. II. The World may ask it. Reasonably expects spread the wax. more of Sunday scholars than of others. Looks for the fruit of In the A.-S. ver-religious instruction in word and deed. III. The Church may ask it. Many of its most devoted and pious members engaged in the child's instruction. Prays that they may not labour in vain. "Everything is IV. The Teacher may ask it. What will be the result of my work tery. Names are and prayer? Often prompted to ask it, by peculiar propensities, mysteries, la- etc., of individual under his care. LEARN-1. How many are belled. A thing interested in your character and history. 2. That you ought also mystery directly. to be concerned about yourselves, what you are and what you will If it has not been become. 3. Many put this question; it remains for you to answer related to mys not labelled is a |