Let us turn once again to God's
Word in that portion that we were considering this morning
in the second chapter of Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews
chapter 2, and I'll read again from verse 6 through to verse
9. But one, in a certain place,
testified, saying, What is man? that thou art mindful of him,
or the Son of Man, that thou visitest him. Thou madest him
a little lower than the angels, thou crownest him with glory
and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. And we observe this morning that
ultimately the reference here is to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one, the man that
is being spoken of, the words of Pontius Pilate, remember,
when he presents Christ to the Jews, the innocent one, how he
says, behold the man. And so, this morning we considered
something of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
his humiliation, his determination, his exaltation, He is clearly
the man, one God, we confess, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus. And now, as I said, we were thinking
of his person and his work somewhat this morning, and amongst other
things we did make mention of his humiliation. And that is very much being spoken
of, of course, in this particular chapter. He is lower than the
angels. He passes by the fallen angels.
There is no provision made for those spirits which are so much
superior to mere mortal men. In the mysterious ways of God
there is only salvation provided for sinful men, but nothing for
the fallen angels. And so Christ, though He be God
and though He be the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, equal
with the Father, equal with the Holy Spirit, yet in that great
mystery of the Incarnation, He is made a little lower than the
angels. As we have it here in verse 9,
it's for the sufferings of death. That he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man. He becomes a man in order that
he might experience death and death that is the consequence
of man's rebellion and man's sin against God. How humbling
is that that the Lord Jesus Christ is pleased to experience him
as he comes into this world. He willingly of course comes
as the servant of the Father in the eternal covenant. He is
pleased to become God's servant. Behold my servant says God, mine
elect. It is Christ who is that servant,
that first of God's elect, and so He comes not to do His own
will, but the will of Him who would send Him and to finish
His work. Lower than the angels, we read,
for the suffering of death. Now, as we were thinking of Christ,
most particularly as the one who is spoken of, We also are
to take account, are we not, of those men who are made choice
of in the Lord Jesus Christ. As he is, says John, so are we
in this world. And I want tonight to consider
more particularly what he said here with regards to the man.
Whereas this morning we concentrated for our text most particularly
on the words of verse 9. I want tonight to go back to
the beginning of this portion. We read verses 6, 7, 8 and 9. At the beginning then in verse
6 we read these words, but one in a certain place testified
saying, what is man? that thou art mindful of him
and the Son of Man that thou visitest him. Now on Thursday
we were considering that particular statement as we find it in the
Psalm. It's there of course in Psalm
8. That is the particular portion
of Scripture that the Apostle is referring to. That is the
certain place made mention of here in verse 6 and so on Thursday
we did look at Psalm 8 and verses 3 and 4 and we thought somewhat
of man's worth, what is man and we saw the worth of man in a
fourfold fashion on Thursday we saw man's work in creation
and he stands at the very apex of that great work that God accomplished
in six days And whereas God creates all things simply by his word,
by the word of the Lord, where the heavens made, and all the
host of them by the breath of his mouth, when it comes to man
it's not so much that God simply speaks a word and man is brought
into being, but God speaks with himself. Let us make man. And
man is made out of the dust of the earth, and God breathes into
his nostrils the breath of life, and he becomes a living soul,
he's made in God's image, he's created after God's likeness. And we see the worth of man then
in that great work of creation. But then we also said we see
man's worth with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ. We referred
on Thursday to this portion in the New Testament which clearly
states that The man that is spoken of ultimately is the Lord Jesus
Christ, but we see Jesus and we see the great work that God
has sent even upon sinful men to make choice of them in Christ,
according as he has chosen us in him. before the foundation
of the world. And then we observed the worth
of man with regards to the way in which God brings that salvation
into the soul of sin of the great work that God accomplishes in
the conversion of the sinner. All that glorious work that God
does when he regenerates the soul. We observed that there
in The creation is spoken of as
the work of God's fingers. The work of God's fingers. But
salvation is a far greater work. It's God making bare his arm. It's God stretching forth his
hand. All the great power that God demonstrates in the salvation,
in the conversion of the sinner. And then, fourthly, we observed
on Thursday man's worth with regards to God's dealings with
his children, how he takes them in hand, how he chastens them
and corrects them and so on. He doesn't leave them to themselves
and their own devices, but he instructs them. He instructs
them often to do the right. And we see man's worth in these
various areas. Well, tonight I want us to consider
something more of the worth of man. But first of all, I want,
as we take up these words, particularly in verse 6, to consider the weakness
of man. The weakness of man. What is
man? That thou art mindful of him,
or the son of man, that thou visitest him. I remind you that
it's not just in Psalm 8th and verse 4 we have the same question
or exclamation in the 144th Psalm at verse 3, that's twice in the
Psalms, and then also of course in that portion that we read
in Job chapter 7 at verse 17 and in Job chapter 15 and verse
14, twice in the book of Job. four times in the Old Testament,
what is man, and then we come to the New Testament and we're
told one in a certain place testifies saying, what is man? And remember what we said on
Thursday with regards to the remark of that great Scottish
minister of the 18th century, Ebenezer Erskine, he says these
are down bringing questions. When God repeatedly asks, what
is man? What is man? Oh, it should have
that tendency in us to make us realise what man is. He is such
an insignificant creature, such a feeble creature, so frail,
so weak. Why should God take account of
man? It is an amazing act of condescension on the part of
God. Man is but a creature. Now that is the context, of course.
in that portion that we were looking at only Thursday evening. The whole context of that 8th
Psalm is one in which David is speaking of God's works of creation. When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou
hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and
the Son of Man that thou visitest him? for thou hast made him a
little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory
and honour thou madest him to have dominion over the works
of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feet and so
forth there we see quite clearly in the context that David is
speaking of man as one of God's creatures now there's some reference
to man's dignity, true because he has put all things under his
feet. He stands at the very apex of
the work that God created and he is placed over all God's creatures,
God's vicegerent, as they say. And we have that cultural mandate,
as it's sometimes called. with regards to man's position
in the creation and how man is to make a wise and proper use
of all that provision that God has made. Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. Man
is likely to make use of all the resources that God has provided
for him in the whole of creation. And man can even take the brute
beast of course and make use of it to serve his purpose. the
usefulness of the horse and so on and so forth. This is what
God himself has ordained. And yet, though man has that
preeminent and prominent position, yet even in creation we see something
of man's weakness as a creature. Because man is of the dust. In chapter 2 of Genesis we are
told how the Lord takes of the dust of the ground and forms
the body of man and breathes into his nostrils the breath
of life and he becomes a living soul. But he is made out of the
dust. The very ground that he walks
on is what really constitutes his own body. And so after man's
rebellion against God in that solemn third chapter of Genesis
where we read of the fall of Adam and Eve we have that curse
that comes upon the man in the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread till thou return to the ground for dust thou art
and unto dust shalt thou return Man is so weak a creature, simply
made out of the dust. All go to one place, all are
of the dust, and all turn to the dust to gain, says the preacher
in the book of Ecclesiastes. Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was, and the spirit to God who gave it. clearly felt something of his
own creatureliness in that portion of scripture that we read there,
particularly in the 7th chapter of the book of Job. We have that
question again, do we not there, in verse 17 of chapter 7, What
is man that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest
set thine heart upon him and that thou shouldest visit him
every morning and try him every moment. Why does Job ask such
a question as that? Because Job clearly feels what
he is. He feels himself to be but a
feeble creature. He feels himself to be the very
mark now of God's dealing. We go back to the 6th chapter
in verse 4, he says the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
the poison where I drink has got my spirit, the terrors of
God who set themselves in array against me, all these things
are coming upon him. And they come one on the back
of another, have they not? He's lost all his possessions,
he's lost all his family, And now he's in this willful condition,
he's lost his health, he's covered with boils from the sole of his
foot to the top of his head and he's sitting amongst the potsherds
and he's scraping himself. There he sits in the ashes and
he feels, you see, that God is simply reminding him of what
he is, his great weakness. What he says here in chapter
7 verse 5, My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust,
my skin is broken and become loathsome, my days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle and are spent without hope, O remember
that my life is wind, mine eyes shall no more see good, the eye
of him that hath seen me shall see me no more, thine eyes are
upon me and I am not. As the cloud is consumed and
vanishes away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come
up no more, he shall return no more to his house, neither shall
his place know him any more. He feels his creatureliness. He feels what he is. And it's
interesting because he's echoing what has been said previously
by one of his so-called comforters, Eliphas, in chapter 4 and verse
19 says to him that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation
is in the dust. Houses of clay, that's how the
human body is described. Houses of clay, a foundation
in the dust. Here is man, the weakness of
man. He is of the earth. He's earth, And of course all
of this is compounded because man is a creature, yes, but man
now is also a sinner. Man is a sinful creature, a feeble
creature and a foul sinner. That's what he is. And as I said in the book of
Job, it's not only in chapter 7 that we have that question, what
is man? but it is repeated in chapter
15 in chapter 15 and verse 14, what is man? that he should be
clean and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous,
behold He that is God putteth no trust in his saints, yea,
the heavens are not clean in his sight. God is the Holy One.
God is the one of eyes too pure to behold iniquity. God cannot
look upon sin. And he is a man, he is not just
a creature. He is so unclean, he is a fallen
creature. What is man that he should be
clean? And he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous
or man's sad condition then as a result of Adam's sin. Can a man be profitable unto
God is the question that we find being asked again in Job chapter
22 and verse 2. Can a man be profitable unto
God? when he's in that state of rebellion
against his God. What is our condition by nature?
We're all as an unclean thing, says Isaiah. And all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. And we do all fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities like the wind, they carry us away. What a description
that is of man, even his righteousnesses. The best things we do, are but
guilty rats and how like the leaves and we've come now really
I suppose through the season of autumn, the fall and we've
seen the leaves as they've fallen and how soon they wither away
and that's what we're like as poor sinners and unclean things
There's no profit in man. Again, the psalmist in Psalm
73 confesses, so foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast
before thee, he says. And it's a most striking statement
because it's not really a simile. I know in the authorised version
that's how it reads, the little word as is there. I was as a
beast. or like a beast before them.
But you'll observe there in Psalm 73 and verse 22 that the word
has is in italics. In other words, it's one of those
words that's been introduced by the translators. It's not
a translation of any word that's there in the original Hebrew.
It very literally says, I was a beast. I was a beast. O man, you see, that noble creature
who was made in God's image, made after God's likeness, who
stands at the very apex of all God's work of creation, what
has become of him? He is not just as a beast, he
is a beast. Such a foolish, ignorant creature is man. Again, Psalm
62 and verse 9 we read, men of high degree are alive. all the
most noble of men, the most educated of men, those in positions of
authority, those in positions of influence, men of high degree. He doesn't say they are liars.
He doesn't say they are just liars.
He says men of high degree are alive. They are life personified. This is man's condition, you
see. as a sinner. Yes, he's a creature, but in
a sense there's a certain nobility in his creatureliness, in that
he's made in God's image as a soul, but his body was simply formed
of the dust. But how all of this now is so
compounded because he's such a sinful creature. The carnal
mind, says Paul, is endlessly against God. It's not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Or that's our very mind,
our natural mind, the karma mind, the mind that we're born with.
And the grandness isn't the mind that is so ennobling in that.
Man's sad condition. His mind is enmity against God,
not just an enemy now. His mind is immature. It's not
subject to the law of God. Neither, indeed, can be the natural
man. He doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God. They're
foolishness to him. This is our condition. This is
your condition. This is my condition. As we come
into this world, without any exception, each and every one
of us, that's our natural state. The sinner is so helpless. His whole condition is a hopeless
condition. He is completely impotent with
regards to the things of God, with regards to the knowledge
of God. And isn't that the picture that
we have painted in that remarkable 16th chapter of the prophecy
of Ezekiel? That long 16th chapter of Ezekiel,
the beginning where we read of the word that came to the prophet
that he was to cause Jerusalem to know her abomination and he
speaks of her nativity. This is how we're born, you see,
all of us are born in this condition. Verse 5 he says, to do any of these unto thee,
to have compassion upon thee. But thou wast cast out in the
open field, belothing thy person, in the day that thou wast born,
a helpless case, unable to do anything for itself. What would
happen to that child, that newborn babe just cast out? It would
soon die. And that's man's condition. He
can do nothing for himself, nothing to help himself, A man, says
John the Baptist, can receive nothing except it be given him
from heaven. And that's our comfort, friends.
Where does the sinner's help come from? It comes from heaven. Oh, it comes from God. The whole
point of what the prophet is saying there in chapter 16 is
that God has compassion upon this sinful man. What is man? They weren't mindful of him.
or the Son of Man that thou visitest Him, God visits men. And He visits
them in a remarkable way. He visits them with His great
salvation. And by visiting them, what does
He do? As He comes to them, so He brings them to Himself. No
man can come to me, says Christ, except the Father which has sent
me draw him. You cannot of yourself come to
Him. I can't come to Him. We come only as God is pleased
to come to us. because no one can be beforehand
with God. All friends, God is able, that's
the great thing. He is able, He is willing. Doubt no more, says Joseph Hart. Come ye sinners, poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to help you,
full of pity, joined with power. All God, you see, is able. Now,
we have these questions concerning man some five times in the Bible,
twice in Job, twice in the Psalms here, also in the book of Hebrews. What is man? And all having that
tendency to bring man down, to make us see what we are. And
it's good, of course, that we know ourselves. We need to know
ourselves. If we are going to know Christ
as our Saviour, we must know ourselves as sinners. He came
to call not the righteous but the sinner. There are questions
in that bring man down. But there are other questions
in scripture concerning God. And as I said on Thursday, when
we have the questions with regards to God, they have the opposite
effect. They exalt God. in our estimation,
or they should do so. Exodus chapter 15 and verse 11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Who is a God like
that? A God who is able to do wonders.
And what wonders God does? He saves sinners. He says, Sinners,
who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth
by the transgression of his people? Those remarkable words that we
find at the end of the prophecy of Micah. Who is a pardoning
God like thee? Who has grace so rich and fruit? And then again also remember
we have questions in the Psalms concerning God, as we find questions
concerning man, what is man, so also concerning God. Psalm 89 verse 6, Who in the
heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the
mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared
in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of
all them that are about him, O Lord God of hosts, who is a
strong Lord, like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round
about them? Or that God might be the one
then, friends, who is exalted, exalted in our estimation, exalted
in our thoughts, that we might have those right views of God,
that we might see something of the greatness of God. I think
I've told the story before probably more than once but the story
is told of George Whitfield on one of his trips to the North
American colonies as they were at that time in the 18th century
and he's ministering there, he did much ministry of course over
there in North America and when he was preaching on one occasion
in the city of Boston in Massachusetts the people were gathering together
to hear the great preacher from England and amongst them of course
not only men and women but boys and girls and there was a little
boy there on that occasion who heard the great evangelist preaching
and after hearing the preaching someone asked the little lad
what he thought of the great preacher from England and his
childlike answer now fruit is out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings he said oh he says he makes God seem so big he makes
God seem so big orphans are with those who have such a view of
God he's a big God he's a great God and that great God is a gracious
God and he's able to save he's able to save weak, feeble sinful
creatures such as we are. And in that salvation do we not
see something of the worth of man? As I said, really this passage
that we have before us in Hebrews chapter 2 directs us ultimately
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the man. He is the man. Remember the first man, Adam. There are many types in the Old
Testament. There are many characters who
are types. Types of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you can probably
think of many of them. David certainly is a type of
Christ. David son of Solomon is a type
of Christ. But Adam, we know Adam is a type
of Christ because we are told as much in the New Testament,
Romans 5 and verse 14, he is spoken of as the figure of him
that was to come. Adam is the figure of him that
was to come, Adam the first man. And Christ the last man. All
the two Adams. Paul speaks of the two Adams
in writing to the Church of Corinth in chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse
45. So it is written, the first man
Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit, That was not first, which is
spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which
is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthly, the second man is the Lord from heaven. These are the two men, you see,
two men. In God's sight there are just those two men, and all other men are in either
of those two men that's the truth you're either
tonight in Adam we're all in Adam by nature but you can be
in Christ you can be in Christ by the grace of God or which
of these two men are we found in? are we in the first Adam?
or are we in the second Adam. It's not only in 1 Corinthians
15 but again in Romans chapter 5 we see Paul speaking of these
two Adams, these two men. Romans chapter 5 verse 12 he
says, Wherefore as by one man, that is the first Adam, by one
man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death
passed upon all men for that all or in whom all have sinned. Verse 18 he says, Therefore as
by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one, this is the other Adam,
the last Adam, by the offense of one, the first Adam, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness
of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous." Here is the sinner's hope. It's in Christ. It's in the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Or there's death in the first
Adam, but there's life and salvation in the last Adam. And He is that
one who is worthy, you see. Here is the worthy man. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive honour and glory and blessing. He is that one who
is worthy. He is the worthy man. And it is in Him that we see
the worth of man, do we not? because he comes to save men. All the necessity then of the
sinner's union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinful man's worth
is only to be seen ultimately in his union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. How vitally important then is
that union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there is of course
an eternal union. because he is God's first elect. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, says God. He is God's first elect
and all the elect are chosen in him. Ephesians 1 verse 4. According as he hath chosen us
in him, before the foundation of the world, And in that chapter that we read,
Job chapter 7, where we have the question what is man, is
it not there asked in terms of God's making choice of a man? What is man that thou shouldest
magnify him and that thou shouldest set thy heart upon him? has set his heart upon a man.
That's the wonder of it. The man who in and of himself
is such an unlovely thing. He's in a state of rebellion
against God. His natural mind, his enmity
against God. He's not in any way subject to
God's law. He can't be subject to God's
law. He's willful in his sinning and
yet, here is the amazing thing, God sets his love upon such a
man as that. A sinful man. And as I said this
morning, the Lord Jesus, when he comes into this world, who
does he identify with? He doesn't identify with Adam
as he comes from the hand of his Creator in that pristine
condition, innocent. How God pronounces the Word can
be very good. But Christ doesn't identify with
Adam in innocence, he identifies with sinful man. He is made in
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, though himself he
is altogether the sinless one. Or the impeccability, he could
never have sinned this one. He is free from every taint of
sin. And yet what does he do? He comes where the sinner is,
like Ezekiel the prophet who goes to minister to those in
the exile, those in captivity, And there in Ezekiel chapter
3 we are told how he sat where they sat and was astonished among
them. And this is what the Lord Jesus
does, he sits where his people sit. O this man he receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. What a wonder it is. He comes not to call the righteous
but the sinner. to repentance. What is man that
thou shouldest magnify him and that thou shouldest set thine
heart upon him. God sets his heart upon sinners
and he sends his son to be the saviour of sinners. The union,
you see, is eternal because the choice is eternal. They are chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. But that eternal
union must become real in the soul of the sinner. It must be
an experimental union. It's no good standing before
the Word of God and acknowledging the truth of eternal union and
delighting in it. We need to know it for our souls
good. All there needs to be an application. And we are to be
diligent in this matter. Peter says give diligence to
make your calling and election sure. Maybe you are troubled
over the doctrine of election and you say to yourself, and
maybe you sometimes have even said it to others, that you don't
know whether or not you are of the election of grace. And it's
a trial, it's a trouble to you. Am I one of those that the Lord
has set his heart upon? Well, Peter says, give diligence
to make your calling and election sure. Now, election is eternal. Calling is that that comes in
time. Calling is that great work of
the Spirit. And see the order that we have there in 2 Peter
1. He puts the calling before the
election. We're to give diligence to make
our calling sure. If we can make our calling sure,
then we'll be sure with regards to our election. How else can we make our election
sure? We can't because that's secret to God. The Lord knoweth
him that he is. But we examine ourselves with
regards to calling. And this is what I sought to
say this morning. Those who are called, what do we see in them?
We see that diligence. We see that determination that
we see in Christ. Remember we referred to the words
that we have here in verse 16, He took not on Him the seed of
Abraham. He took not on Him the nature
of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. But the
margin tells us that there's certain vehemence in the verb
to take here. He took hold of Abraham's seed,
not only in the incarnation, but He takes hold of them in
calling. He is determined, you see, to
take hold of them and to save them. And those who know that
calling, there will be the evidence in their own lives, they will
have a determination. Like we see in Jacob, I will
not let thee go. Unless, oh bless me, is this
how we come, is this how we seek to examine ourselves with regards
to calling? Are we those who are determined
that we will find Him? Yes, we'll seek Him and we'll
seek Him with all our hearts. We'll have no denial, we'll find
Him. And we'll plead with Him in terms of what He Himself has
said in His Word, for Christ Himself has declared, Ask and
it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it
shall be opened unto you. And aren't all those promises
in Christ, yea, and in Him, Amen, to God's glory by us? Or to have
that determination, you see, to make our calling sure. And
once we know our calling, why then we know our election, if
we're those who are called? There must be this experience
then. There must be this evidence of
the new birth. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Old
things are become. No, there is a change you see.
There is a change in this man. He is not the man he was. He is born of the Spirit. And
he knows it and he gives evidence of it by that conflict that he
feels with his own nature. Yes, he still feels that old
nature, that carnal mind, he feels it. Now the flesh is lusting
against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and now these
are so contrary one to the other. It's the mark that is a new man.
And the exhortation is given, is it not in scripture, put on
the new man. which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness, put on the new man which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created him. These
are the exhortations that the Apostle gives when he writes
to the churches at Ephesus and the Colossae, to be putting on
the new man. to be that new man in Christ.
Oh, is this, friends, what we would give diligence to and examine
ourselves in the light of, that we might be those who are truly
in Christ. And we know it because we experience
it in our very souls. One in a certain place testified,
saying, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the Son
of Man that thou visitest here. Ultimately, friends, what are
we to do? We are to look to yon lovely man. As the old Scots
preacher said, yon lovely man. But we see Jesus. For the request that was made
by those Grecians in John chapter 12, sir, they said we would see Jesus.
Are we those who desire to see the man, Christ Jesus, to see
God in human flesh? We sang that lovely hymn of Isaac
Watts this morning at the conclusion of our service and it strikes
me every time I sing the words and I pose with these words of
Isaac Watts 1095 to God. In human flesh I see my thoughts
no comfort find. The holy, just, and sacred three
are terrors to my mind. But, if Emmanuel's face appears,
my hope, my joy begins. His name forbids my slavish fear. His grace removes my sins. Amen. After reading hymns number 89
and the tyranny of St Catherine, 793, when Adam by transgression
fell, and conscious that his might stays, lest he can this
time lead with hell, he wrote, once brought in increased and
filled the world with sin. Number 89.