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vices rendered to the state; but in procuring respect to the solemn institutions of religion; but in preventing the circulation of indecent and corruptive publications; and, as far as in you lies, in levelling to the ground that monster infidelity, which is rearing its daring forehead in the midst of you.

But wherefore suggest cautions to this effect? | wherein we come to announce the revival of Wherefore should these walls so frequently the reign of Jesus Christ in the midst of us, by resound with truths of this class? My brethren, the celebration of his incarnation and birth; by you have so effectually excluded, by your cold- the commemoration which we are to make ness in the performance of good works, the next Lord's day in the sacrament of the supper: doctrine of their merit, that there is little room if at this season, when we are crying aloud to to entertain the apprehension of its ever finding you in the words of St. John, "prepare ye the an establishment in the midst of us. And it is way of the Lord:" should you with the multian undeniable fact, that this error has gained tudes who attended his ministry, inquire, sayno partisans in our churches; at least, if thereing, "and what shall we do?" We would be any, they have kept themselves invisible. reply, wait for "the consolation of Israel," as We have seen many persons who, under the Simeon waited for it: "bring forth fruits worthy power of illusion, imagined they had fulfilled of repentance." the conditions upon which the promises of sal- Prepare the way of the Lord," ye great vation are founded; but never did we find one ones of the earth; lead the way in a procession who advanced a plea of merit. But what we of penitents, as the king of Nineveh did, when have seen, and what we have cause every day the preaching of Jonah thundered impending to deplore, and what is involving multitudes in destruction in his ears, Jon. iii. 4. 9. "Humutter ruin, is our frequently deceiving ourselves ble yourselves under the mighty hand of God," with the belief, that because righteousness and 1 Pet. v. 6, "by whom kings reign, and princes the fear of God are not meritorious, they are decree justice," Prov. viii. 15. Employ the therefore unnecessary. What we have seen, power with which Providence has intrusted and what we have cause every day to deplore, you, not in a vain display of furniture more is the unhappy persuasion prevailing with magnificent, or of equipages more splendid; many who bear the Christian name, that be- not by assuming a deportment more lofty and cause the advent of the Messiah is a dispensa- intimidating; but in curbing bold and insolent tion of grace, it gives encouragement to licen- vice; but in maintaining the cause of truth and tiousness and corruption. Let us not employ justice; but in wiping away the tears of the such ingenious pains to deceive ourselves.-widow and the orphan; but in rewarding serMultiply without end, ye disputers of this world," your questions and controversies, it will never be in your power to prevent my clearly discerning, in the doctrine of the gospel, this twofold truth: on the one hand, that the best preparation for receiving the reign of grace, is that which Simeon made; "he was just and devout, and he waited for the conso- "Prepare the way of the Lord," ye pastors lation of Israel." On the other hand, that the of the flock. Distinguish yourselves from primost insurmountable obstacle which can be vate individuals, not only by the habit which opposed to this reign, is impiety and injustice. you wear, and by the functions which you dis"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make charge; but by your zeal for the church of straight in the desert a highway for our God. Christ; by your unshaken firmness and fortiEvery valley shall be exalted, and every moun- tude in opposing those who impudently transtain and hill shall be made low: and the crook-gress; but by preserving a scrupulous distance ed shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God," Isa. xl. 3; Matt. iii. 3; Luke iii. 6. This was the voice of the forerunner of Jesus Christ, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," professand wherein did he make this preparation to ing Christians. Celebrate your solemn feasts, consist? The preparation of him who had "two not only by frequenting our religious assemcoats" was to "impart to him who had none," blies, but by a holy abstinence from those seLuke iii. 11. The preparation of him who cret abominations, and those public scandalous had meat was to act in like manner. That of practices which have so long inflamed the the publicans was to "exact no more than that wrath of heaven against us; which even now which was appointed them," ver 13. That are scattering the seeds of discord through of the soldier was to "do violence to no man, these provinces; which are draining the reto accuse no one falsely, and to be content with sources of our country, which are tarnishing his wages," ver. 14. The preparation of all her glory, which present to our eyes, in a lowbring forth fruits worthy of repent-ering futurity, vicissitudes still more calamiance," ver. 8. Without these, the reign of tous and more deeply ensanguined than those grace was the reign of wrath: without these, which have already cost us so many tears, and the axe was already laid unto the root of the so much blood. tree; and every tree which brought not forth good fruit was to be hewn down, and cast into the fire," ver. 9; and this Messiah, this Redeemer of mankind, was to come with "his fan in his hand, thoroughly to purge his floor; to gather the wheat into his garner; but to burn the chaff with fire unquenchable," ver. 17. Ah! if at this period of the gospel dispensation, when we are exercising, in some manner, the functions of John Baptist, if in these days

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from every thing characteristic rather of the slaves of this world, than of the ministers of the living God.

This, this is the only effectual method of waiting for deliverance and redemption. Far removed from us be those frivolous terrors, which would suggest, that to be subjected to the yoke of Jesus Christ, is to derogate from his merits! And let us not deceive ourselves; there is not a single particular in the system of the gospel; there is not a single article of Christian theology, but what preaches terror, if we are destitute of that righteousness, and of that

fear of God with which Simeon "waited for | have the commencement of the latter days. the consolation of Israel." In order to our having an interest in the pardoning mercy which the Messiah has purchased for us, we must "fear God," as Simeon did; we must be just as he was; we must hold sin in detestation; we must be "of a poor and of a contrite spirit," Isa. lxvi. 2, because of it; we must "cease to do evil, and learn to do well," Isa. i. 16, 17. In order to our having an interest in sanctifying grace and in the spirit of regeneration, communicated to us by the Messiah, we must "fear God" as did Simeon; we must be just like him, we must love wisdom; we must "ask it of God. . . . nothing wavering," James i. 5, 6; or, as the passage of St. James to which I refer might be rendered, not halting, or hesitating between the choice of wisdom and folly; we must not be like "a wave of the sea," which seems to be making a movement towards the shore, but anon returns with impetuosity into the gulf from which it issued.

Farther, in order to our having a knowledge of the doctrines which were taught by the Messiah, we must "fear God" as did Simeon, we must be just like him; for "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant," Ps. xxv. 14, and "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself," John vii. 17. In order to our having an interest in the promises of the glory to be revealed, which are made to us by the Messiah, we must "fear God" as did Simeon, we must be just like him, for "without holiness no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14, and "having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit," 2 Cor. vii. 1. If we would attain the assurance of salvation, we must "fear God," as did Simeon, we must be just like him: "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall," 1 Cor. x. 12, and "if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee," Rom. xi. 21. 3. Finally, we are informed by the evangelist, that "the Holy Ghost was upon Simeon; and it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ."

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On this particular, I shall confine myself to a single reflection. It supplies us with an explication of several ancient oracles, and particularly that of the prophet: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions," Joel ii. 28. The Jews themselves acknowledge, that the spirit of prophecy was one of the prerogatives, which had been denied to the second temple. This gift seems to have expired with Malachi. For an uninterrupted series of more than four hundred years no prophet had arisen. This high privilege was not to be restored to the church till the latter days should come; and conformably to the style of the Old Testament, the latter days denote the dispensation of the Messiah. Here then, we

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Here we behold the prophetic illumination reappearing in all its lustre. Here the hallowed fire is rekindling, and celestial revelations enlighten a dark world. These exalted privileges are communicated first to Zacharias, who beholds an angel of the Lord "standing on the right side of the altar of incense," Luke i. 11. They are next bestowed on the blessed Virgin, whom the angel thus addresses, "Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women," ver. 28. They are extended even to the shepherds, to whom another angel announces the birth of the Saviour of the world, and who "suddenly hear a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men, Luke ii. 13, 14. They are poured down upon Simeon; and we shall presently behold the whole Christian church inundated with an overflowing flood of divine irradiation. Let this suffice as to the character of Simeon.

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II. We are to attempt to unfold the import of the devout rapture which he felt. And here let us give undivided attention to the object before us, and let every power of thought be applied to discover, and to display, the emotions by which this holy man of God was then animated. He takes Jesus Christ in his arms: he blesses God, and says, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." "Lettest thou thy servant depart:" the Greek phrase literally rendered, is, thou unloosest, or settest free thy servant. The sense of the expression cannot, in my apprehension, be disputed in this place. To unloose, in the writings of certain profane authors, and the meaning is the same in our text, signifies that act of Deity which separates the soul from the body. Thou liberatest thy servant in peace, that is, thou permittest thy servant to die in peace. This object which strikes the eye of Simeon, is to him a complete security against the terrors of death. Wherefore should he wish to live longer in this world? Could it be to behold some wonderful event, or to acquire some valuable possession? But his whole soul is rapt in admiration of the object with which his eyes are feasted; the delight he feels in contemplating the Redeemer, "the Lord's Christ," absorbs every faculty. Could the fear of the punishment of sin suggest a wish to live longer? He holds in his arms the victim which is going to be offered up to divine justice. Could he desire longer life from any doubt he entertained respecting the doctrine of a life to come? He is at the very source of life, and needs only to be released from a mortal body, to arrive at immortality. Three sources of meditation, well worthy, I am bold to say, of all the attention you are able to bestow.

1. The desire of beholding some wonderful and interesting event, is one of the most usual causes of attachment to life. There are certain fixed points, in which all our hopes seem to be concentrated. Nothing is more common among men, even among those whose character as Christians is the least liable to suspicion, than to say, could I but live to see such and such an event take place, I should die content:

could I but live to see that adversary of the church confounded: could I but live to see that mystery of Providence unfolded: could I but live to see Zion arise out of her ruins, and the chains of her bondmen broken asunder: could I but live to see my son attain such and such a period. Such emotions are not in every case to be condemned as unlawful; but how much do they frequently savour of human infirmity! Let it be our study to die in peace with God, and we shall be disposed to die, whenever it shall please him, who has sent us into the world, to call us out of it again.

nearer view of the person of whom so lofty an idea is conveyed from preparations so magnificent? All these preparations, however, are in many cases, not so much the badges of the real greatness of the personage whom they announce, as of his vanity. It has oftener than once been felt, that the object of the least importance in a splendid procession, was the very man who acted as the hero of it. But what could the Levitical dispensation furnish, to convey an idea of the Messiah, but what fell infinitely short of the Messiah himself?

Simeon at length beholds this Messiah, so eagerly expected through so many ages. Simeon, more highly favoured than Jacob, who, on his dying bed exclaimed, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!" Gen. xlix. 8. Simeon exulting, says, "Lord, I have seen thy salvation:" more highly favoured than so many kings, and so many prophets, who desired to see the Redeemer, but did not see him, Luke xi. 24, more highly privileged than so many believers of former ages, who saw only the promises of him "afar off, and embraced

Death draws aside the curtain, which conceals from our eyes what is most worthy of our regard, of our desire, of our admiration. If thou diest in a state of reconciliation with God, thine eyes shall behold events infinitely more interesting and important than all those which can suggest a wish to continue longer in this world. Thou shalt behold something unspeakably greater than the solution of some particular mystery of Providence: thou shalt discern a universal light, which shall dispel all thy doubts, resolve all thy difficulties, put to flight all thy dark-them," Heb. xi. 13, he receives the effect of ness. Thou shalt behold something incomparably surpassing the confusion of those tyrants, whose prosperity astonishes and offends thee: thou shalt behold Jesus at the right hand of his Father, holding "a rod of iron," ready to "dash in pieces, like a potter's vessel," Ps. ii. 9, all those who dare oppose his empire. Thou shalt behold something incomparably more sublime than the dust of Zion reanimated: thou shalt behold the "new Jerusalem," of which "God and the Lamb," are the sun and temple, Rev. xxi. 2. 22, 23. Thou shalt behold something incomparably more interesting than the chains of the bondmen broken asunder: thou shalt behold the souls of a thousand martyrs invested with white robes, Rev. vi. 11, because they fought under the banner of the cross: thou shalt hear them crying one to another; "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready," Rev. xix. 6, 7. Thou shalt behold something incomparably more interesting than the establishment of that son, the object of so many tender affections: thou shalt behold those multitudes of glorified saints who are eternally to partake with thee in the felicity of the ever blessed God: thine eyes shall behold that adorable face, the looks of which absorb, if I may use the expression, all those of the creature.

Let it be admitted, at the same time, that if ever any one could be justified in expressing a wish to have the hour of death deferred, it was in the case of those believers, who lived at the period when the Messiah was expected. This was the case with Simeon. Brought up under an economy in which every thing was mysterious and emblematical, he is justifiable, should he have expressed a wish to see the elucidation of all these sacred enigmas. When a prince is expected to visit one of our cities; when we behold the sumptuous equipages by which he is preceded, the train of messengers who announce his approach; palaces decorated, and triumphal arches reared, for his reception: does not all this excite a desire of obtaining a

those promises; he contemplates, not afar off, but nigh, "the star which was to come out of Jacob," Numb. xxiv. 17, he beholds the accomplishment of the prophecies, "Christ the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 4, the ark, the Shechinah, the habitation of the Deity in his temple, he in whom "all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily," Col. ii. 9, he sees the manna, and more than the manna, for "your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead," John vi. 58, but, "whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life," ver. 54. "Father of day," exclaimed a Pagan prince, "thou radiant Sun, I thank thee that before I leave the world, I have had the felicity of seeing Cornelius Scipio in my kingdom and palace; now I have lived as long as I can desire." It is the very emotion with which Simeon is animated: he has lived long enough, because he has seen "the salvation of God." Let the Roman republic henceforth extend her empire, or let its limits be contracted; let the great questions revolving in the recesses of cabinets be determined this way or that; let the globe subsist a few ages longer, or crumble immediately into dust; Simeon has no desire to see any thing farther: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

Secondly, Simeon remains no longer attached to life from terror of the punishment of sin after death. "The sting of death is sin;" that sting so painfully acute to all mankind, is peculiarly so to the aged. An old man has rendered himself responsible for all the stations which he occupied, for all the relations which he formed in social life, and in the church. And these in general, become so many sources of remorse. Generally speaking, it is not separation from the world merely which renders death an object of horror; it is the idea of the account which must be given in, when we leave it. If nothing else were at stake, but merely to prepare for removing out of the world, a small degree of reflection, a little philosophy, a little fortitude, might answer the purpose.

What is the amount of human life, especially to a man arrived at a certain period of existence? What delight can an old man find in society, after his memory is decayed, after his senses are blunted, after the fire of imagination is extinguished, when he is from day to day losing one faculty after another, when he is reduced so low as to be the object of forbearance at most, if not that of universal disgust and dereliction? But the idea of fourscore years passed in hostility against God, but the idea of a thousand crimes starting into light, and calling for vengeance; by their number and their atrocity exciting a fearful looking for of judgment"this, this presents a just ground of terror and

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thing that communicated motion and life had been annihilated.

And through what a path was she to behold this Son departing out of the world? By a species of martyrdom, the bare idea of which scares the imagination. She beholds those bountiful hands which had so frequently fed the hungry, which had performed so many miracles of mercy, pierced through with nails: she beholds that royal head, which would have shed lustre on the diadem of the universe, crowned with thorns, and that arm, destined to wield the sceptre of the world, bearing a reed, the emblem of mock-majesty; she beholds that temple in which "dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily," Col. ii. 9, with all his wisdom, with all his illumination, with all his justice, with all his mercy, with all the perfections which enter into the notion of the supreme Being; she beholds it assaulted with a profane hatchet, and an impious spear: she hears the voices of the children of Edom crying aloud, concerning this august habitation of the Most High, "Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof."

But all such terrors disappear in the eyes of Simeon; he knows the end for which this child was born, whom he now holds in his arms: he directs his eyes beyond the cradle, to his cross; by means of the prophetic illumination which was upon him, he perceives this Christ of God "making his soul an offering for sin," Isa. liii. 10. He expects not, as did his worldly-minded countrymen, a temporal kingdom; he forms far But if even then, while she beholds Jesus juster ideas of the glory of the Messiah; he con- expiring, she could have been permitted to aptemplates him "spoiling principalities and pow-proach him, to comfort him, to collect the last ers, making a show of them openly, nailing them to his cross," Col. ii. 15. Let us not be accused of having derived these ideas from the schools, and from our courses of theological study: no, we deduce this all important truth immediately from the substance of the gospel. Ponder seriously, I beseech you, what Simeon himself says to Mary, as he showed to her the infant Jesus: "Behold this child is set for the falling and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against: yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also," Luke ii. 34, 35.

What could be meant by that sword with which the mother of our Lord was to have her “soul pierced through?" That anguish, undoubtedly, which she should undergo, on seeing her Son nailed to a cross. What an object for a mother's eye! Who among you, my brethren, has concentrated every anxious care, every tender affection on one darling object, say a beloved child, whom he fondly looks to, as his consolation in adversity, as the glory of his family, as the support of his feeble old age? Let him be supposed to feel what no power of language is able to express: let him put himself in the place of Mary, let that beloved child be supposed in the place of Jesus Christ: faint image still of the conflict which nature is preparing for that tender mother: feeble commentary on the words of Simeon to Mary, "yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also." Mary must lose that son whose birth was announced to her by an angel from beaven; that Son on whose advent the celestial hosts descended to congratulate the listening earth; that Son whom so many perfections, whom such ardour of charity, whom benefits so innumerable should have for ever endeared to mankind: already she represents to herself that frightful solitude, that state of universal desertion in which the soul finds itself, when, having been bereaved of all that it held dear, it feels as if the whole world were dead, as if nothing else remained in the vast universe, as if every VOL. II.-19

sigh of that departing spirit! Could she but have embraced that dearly beloved Son, to bathe him with her tears, and bid him a last farewell! Could she but for a few moments have stopped that precious fluid draining off in copious streams, and consuming the sad remains of exhausted nature! Could she but have been permitted to support that sacred, sinking head, and to pour balm into his wounds! But she must submit to the hand of violence: she too is borne down by "the power of darkness," Luke xxii. 53. She has nothing to present to the expiring sufferer but unavailing solicitude, and fruitless tears: "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also:" Simeon understood, then, the mystery of the cross: he looked to the efficacy of that blood which was to be shed by the Redeemer whom he now held in his arms, and under that holy impression exclaims, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

3. Finally, Simeon no longer feels an attachment to this world, from any doubt or suspicion he entertained respecting the doctrine of a life' to come. He is now at the very fountain of life, and all that now remains is to be set free from a mortal body, in order to attain immortality. We may deduce, from the preparations of grace, a conclusion nearly similar to that which we draw from the preparations of nature, in order to establish the doctrine of a future state of eternal felicity. How magnificent are the preparations which nature makes! What glory do they promise after death! The author of our being has endowed the human soul with an unbounded capacity of advancing from knowledge to knowledge, from sensation to sensation. I make free here to borrow the thought of an illustrious modern author:* "A perpetual circulation," says he, "of the same objects, were they subject to no other inconvenience, would be sufficient to give us a dis

* Mentor, tom. iii. Disc. exli. p. 340.

gust of the world. When a man has beheld frequently reiterated vicissitudes of day and night, of summer and winter, of spring and autumn; in a word, of the different appearances of nature, what is there here below capable of satisfying the mind? I am well aware," adds he, "how brilliant, how magnificent this spectacle is, I know how possible it is to indulge in it with a steady and increasing delight; but I likewise know that, at length, the continual recurrence of the same images cloys the imagination, which is eagerly looking forward to the removal of the curtain, that it may contemplate new scenes, of which it can catch only a confused glimpse in the dark perspective of futurity. Death, in this point of view, is a transition merely from one scene of enjoyment to another. If present objects fatigue and excite disgust, it is only in order to prepare the soul for enjoying, more exquisitely, pleasures of a different nature, ever new, and ever satisfying."

The conclusion deducible from the preparations of nature, may likewise be derived from the preparations of grace. Let us not lose sight of our leading object. How magnificent had the preparations of grace appeared in the eyes of Simeon! This we have already hinted: the whole of the Levitical dispensation consisted of preparations for the appearance of the Messiah; if we form a judgment of the blessings which he was to bestow upon the human race, from the representations given us of him, it is impossible to refrain from drawing this conclusion. That the Messiah was to give unbounded scope to the desires of the heart of man, was to communicate to him that unspeakable felicity, for the enjoyment of which nature had already prepared him, but which nature had not the power to bestow. There, I mean in the Levitical dispensation, you found the shadows which retraced the Messiah; there you found types which represented him; there oracles which predicted him; there an exhibition in which were displayed his riches, his pomp, his magnificence; there you heard the prophets crying aloud: "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation; and let righteousness spring up together," Isa. xlv. 8. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace," Isa. ix. 6. "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished," Isa. li. 6.

Now, what state of felicity could possibly correspond to conceptions raised so high by preparations of such mighty import? What! amount to no more than that which the Messiah bestows in this world? What! no more than to frequent these temples? What! no more than to raise these sacred songs of praise: to celebrate our solemn feasts: to eat a little bread, and to drink a little wine at the com

munion table! And then to die? And then to exist no more? And can this be all that salvation which the earth was to bring forth? And can this be all that righteousness which the skies were to pour down? And can this be the dew which the heavens were to drop down from above? And can this be the whole amount of the achievements of that Counsellor, of that Wonderful one, of that Prince of Peace, of that Father of Eternity? "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Good Simeon, what meaning do you intend to convey by these words? Into what peace art thou wishing henceforth to depart, if these eyes, which behold the Messiah, are going to be doomed to the darkness of an eternal night? If these hands, which are privileged to hold, and to embrace him, are going to become a prey to worms? And if that life which thou wast enjoying before thy Redeemer appeared, is going to be rent from thee, because he is already come?

Ah! my brethren, how widely different are the ideas which this holy man of God entertained! "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." Wherefore now? Because now I know, from the accomplishment of thy promise, what was before a matter of presumption only, namely, that my soul is not a mere modification of matter, and a result of the arrangement, and of the harmony of my organs: because I am now convinced, that this soul of mine, on being separated from the body, shall not become a forlorn wanderer in a strange and solitary land: because now I no longer entertain any doubt respecting my own immortality, and because I hold in my arms him who has purchased it, and who bestows it upon me: because to see Jesus Christ, and to die, is the highest blessedness that can be conferred on a mortal creature.

Permit me, my beloved brethren, to repeat my words, and with them to finish this discourse: to see Jesus Christ, and to die, is the highest blessedness that can be conferred on a mortal creature. Enjoy, my friends, enjoy the felicity which the Saviour bestows upon you, during the course of a transitory life: gratify, as you this day turn a wondering eye to the manger in which this divine Saviour lies, and as you celebrate the memory of his incarnation, gratify the taste which you have for the great and the marvellous: and cry out with an enraptured apostle, "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh," 1 Tim. iii. 16. Gratify, as in the retirement of the closet you devote yourselves to the study of the doctrine of this Jesus, gratify the desire you feel to learn and to know: draw constant supplies of light and truth from those "treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3, which he opens to you in his gospel. Gratify, as you receive, next Lord's day, the effusions of his love, gratify the propensity which naturally disposes you to love him. Let every power of the soul expand on hearing the tender expressions which he addresses to you in the sacrament of the supper: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest," Matt. xi. 28. "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come

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