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12. And when Zacharias saw him, he " was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

"13. But the angel faid unto him, Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer is heard, " and thy wife Elizabeth fhall bear thee a fon, and thou fhalt call his name John.

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14. And thou shalt have joy and gladand many fhall rejoice at his birth. "15. For he shall be great in the fight "of the Lord, and fhall drink neither wine "nor ftrong drink, and he fhall be filled "with the Holy Ghoft, even from his mo"ther's womb.

"16. And many of the children of Ifrael fhall he turn unto the Lord their God, "17. And he fhall go before him in the "spirit and power of Elias, to turn the "hearts of the fathers to the children, and "the difobedient to the wifdom of the "juft: to make ready a people prepared "for the Lord.

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"18. And Zacharias faid unto the angel, Whereby fhall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well ftricken

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19. And the angel anfwering, faid un"to him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the

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prefence of God; and I am fent to speak “unto thee, and to fhew thee these glad tidings.

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"20. And behold thou fhalt be dumb, " and not able to speak until the day that "these things fhall be performed, because "thou believest not my words, which fhall be fulfilled in their feasons.

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"21. And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried fo long in the Temple.

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22. And when he came out, he could "not speak unto them and they per"ceived that he had feen a vision in the Temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless."

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Here we fee that Zacharias was fo far from being finless, that, in the inftance before us, he gives a proof of his want of faith, by disbelieving the meffenger of the Lord. His answer to the angel might indeed have proceeded from mere curiofity: as in the cafe of the blessed Virgin, who made

made ufe of words to the fame effect: but God, who knows the heart, and punishes or rewards not from outward appearances alone, but from our real motives, thought fit to punish him for his incredulity. The people who were waiting for the return of Zacharias, being greatly surprised at the uncommon length of his flay, were of course very curious to enquire into the caufe, which they perceived was fupernatural: their curiofity, however, remained unfatisfied, until the birth of his fon; he continuing dumb all that time, according to the faying of the angel. This prepared the people to conceive an high opinion of a child ushered into the world in fo extraordinary a manner; and his father, when reftored to the use of his fpeech, gloried in publishing the glad tidings, that the forerunner of our bleffed Saviour being arrived, he himself might foon be expected.

Let us now return to the continuation of the account given by St. John.

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"7. The

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7. The fame came for a witness, to "bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe.

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"8. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.

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9. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the

"world."

Our bleffed Lord condefcends to illuminate our dark minds by his Holy Spirit, and enlightens them fo that they are capable of knowing and enjoying him through faith, which gives us a foretaste of that blessed immortality he reserves for us.

"10. He was in the world, and the "world was made by him, and the world "knew him not."

Muft not those who difbelieve the divinity of our blessed Saviour leave this chapter out of their creed, fince it appears written too plainly, and too exprefsly to admit

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of any other interpretation than what the words themselves naturally convey to our minds.

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"11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not:

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12. But as many as received him, to "them gave he power to become the fons "of God, even to them that believe on his

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name.

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13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man, "but of God.

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14. And the word was made flesh, " and dwelt amongst us; and we beheld his

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glory, the glory as of the only-begotten "of the Father, full of grace and truth."

By "his own" we may understand either the Jewish people, who were in a peculiar manner the chofen people of God, or the whole race of mankind; he being their Creator. The Jews, to whom he first came, received him not; but the Gentiles, to whom the gospel was afterwards preach

ed,

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