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fah. He is THE MIGHTY GOD, and he will tell you, while you are fuffering the heaviest temporal afflictions, although the mountains fhall depart, and the hills be removed, yet my kindnefs half hot depart from you, neither fhall the covenant of my peace be removed," chap. liv. 10. Under your fevereft tribulations, he will affure you, that all things work together for good to them that love God, Rom. vii. 28. He will teach you to fhout victory under an apparent defeat, and to fing this triumphant Fong, "Thanks be unto God, who always caufeth us to triumph in Chrift," 2 Cor. ii. 14. In all thefe things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us," Rom. viii. 37.

This is the third idea of the king Meffiah, and this is the third fource of the duties of his fubjects, and of the difpofitions which are neceffary to the worthily celebrating of the feftival of his nativity. Fall in, chriftian fool with the defign of thy Saviour, who, by elevating thy defires above the world, would elevate thee above all the cataftrophes of it. Come, behold Meffiah, the king, ledging in a ftable, and lying in a manger: hear him faying to his difciples, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nefts; but the fon of man hath not where to lay his head," Matt. viii. 20. Learn from this example not to place thy happinefs in the poffeffion of earthly good. Die to the world, die to its pleafures, die to its pomps. Afpire after other ends, and nobler joys, than thofe of the children of this world, and then worldly viciffitudes cannot hake thy blifs.

Finally, You have need of one to comfort you under the fears of death, by opening the gates of eternal felicity to you, and by fatiating your avidity of existence and elevation. This confolation the king Meffiah affords. He is the everlasting Father, THE FATHER OF ETERNITY,

bis throne, shall be built up for all generations, Pfal. Ixxxix. 4. he hath received" dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, fhould ferve him; his dominion is an everlafting dominion, which fhall not pass away, and his kingdom that which fhall not be deflroyed," Dan. vii. 14. and his fubjects must reign eternally with him. When thou, chriftian! art confined to thy dying bed, he will approach thee, with all the attractive charms of his power and grace he will fay to thee, Fear not, thou worm Jacob, Ila. xli. 14. he will whifper thefe comfortable words in thine ear, When thou paffeft through the waters, I will be with thee

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when through the rivers, they hall not overflow thee when thou walkeft through the fire, thou fhalt not be burned; neither fhall the flame kindle upon thee, chap. xliii. 2. He will open heaven to thee, as he opened it to St. Stephen; and he will fay to thee, as he faid to the convert esain pare. ed thief," To-day fhalt thou be with me adife," Luke xxiii. 43.

This is the fourth idea of the king Meffiah, and this is the fourth fource of the duties of his fubjects. How glorious is the feftival of his nativity! What grand, noble, and fublime fenti. ments doth it require of us! The fubjects of the king Meffiab, the children of the everlasting Father, fhould confider the economy of time in its true point of view, they fhould compare things which are feen, which are temporal, with things which are not feen, which are eternal," 2 Cor. iv. 18. They fhould fix their attention upon the eternity, fill their imaginations with the glo. ry, of the world to come, and learn, by juft notions of immortality, to eftimate the prefent life; the declining fhadow; the withering grafs; the fading flower; the dream, that flyeth away the vapour, that vanifheth," and is irrecoverably loft, Pfal. cii. 11. Ifa. xl. 7. Job xx. 8. and James iv. 14. Thefe,

Thefe, my brethren, are the characters of your king Meffiab, these are the characters of the di vine child, whofe birth you are to celebrate next Wednesday, and in thefe ways only can you celebrate it as it deferves. We conjure you by that adorable goodness, which we are going to teftify to you again; we conjure you by that throne of grace, which God is about to afcend again; we conjure you by thofe ineffable mercies, which our imaginations cannot fully comprehend, which our minds cannot fufficiently admire, nor all the emotions of our hearts fufficiently esteem; we conjure you to look at, and, if you will pardon the expreffion, to lose yourfelves in thefe grand objects; we conjure you not to turn our folemn feftivals, and our devotion. al days, into feafons of gaming, irreligion, and dripation. Let us fubmit ourselves to the king Meah; let us engage ourselves to his government; let his dominion be the ground of all our joy.

"O most mighty thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips, therefore God hath bleed thee for ever!" Pfal. xlv. 2. 3. "The Lord fhall fend the rod of thy Arength out of Zion," saying, "Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies Thy people fhall be willing in the day, when thou halt affemble thy hoft in holy pomp!"* Yea, reign over thine ene

mies,

We retain the reading of the French Bible here; because our author paraphrafes the paffage after that verfion. Tom peuple fera un peuple plein de frane vouloir au jour que tu assembleras ton armee en sa sainte pompe. Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of boliness, &c. The paffage feems to be a prophetical allufion to one of thofe folemn feftivals, in which conquerors, and their armies, on their return from battle, offered a part of their fpoil, which they had taken from their enemies, to God, from whom the victory came. The fe free-will offerings were carried in grand proceffion. They were boly, because

mies, great King bow their rebellious wills; prevent their fatal counfels; defeat all their bloody defigns! Reign alfo over thy friends, reign over us! Make us a willing people! Af femble all this congregation, when thou halt come with thy bost in boly pomp Let not the Aying of the clouds, which will ferve thee for a triumphal chariot; let not the pomp of the holy angels in thy train, when thou shalt come to judge the world in righteousness, A&s xvii. 31. let thefe objects affright and terrify our fouls let them charm and tranfport us; and, instead of dreading thine approach, let us haften it by our prayers and fighs! Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, Amen. To God be honor and glory, for ever and ever.-Amen.

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agreeable to the economy, under which the Jews lived, and they were beautifully holy, because they were not exacted, but proceeded from the voluntary gratitude of the army. In large conquefts, the troops and the of ferings were out of number, like the drops of fuch a fhower of dew, as the morning brought forth in the youth or spring of the year. See 2 Chron. xiv. 13, 14, 15, and xv. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. We have ventured this hint on a paffage, which feems not very clear in our verfion.

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THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. PSALM CXVIII. 15, 16.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right band of the Lord doth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right band of the Lord doth valiantly.

WOM

OMAN! why weepest thou? John xx. 13, 15. was the language of two angels and ef Jefus Chrift to Mary. The Lord had been crucified. The infant church was in mourning. The enemies of chriftianity were triumphing." The faith of the difciples was tottering. Mary bad fet out before dawn of day, to give vent to her grief, to bathe the tomb of her Mafter with tears, and to render funeral honors to him. Io thefe fad circumftances, the heavens opened, two angels clothed in white garments defcended, and placed themselves on the tomb, that inclosed the dear depofitum of the love of God to the church. At the fixed moment, they rolled away the stone, and Jefus Chrift arose from the grave loaden with the spoils of death. Hither Mary comes to fee the dead body, the poor remain of him, who should have redeemed Israel, Luke xxiv. 21. and finding the tomb empty, abandons her whole fou! to grief, and burfte into floods of tears. The heav.. enly meffengers directly addrefs thefe comfortable words to her, Woman! Why weepest thou? Scarcely had the told them the cause of her grief, before Jefus puts the fame queftion to her, Woman! Why weepest thou? And to this lan.. guage, which infinuateth into her heart, and ex

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