VI. lay thy fins to thy charge, but forgive thee DISC. what is past, and give thee grace to amend thy finful life; to decline from the ways of the destroyer, in which, perhaps, thou haft unhappily wandered, and incline to the paths of wisdom and righteousness, and walk therein before him all the days of thy life. And when the work fhall be finished, for which God fent thee into the world, even the work of thy falvation, thou wilt perceive, that to depart and to be with Chrift is far better than to live here in poffeffion of all that the world can give thee. Thou fhalt go out with joy, and be led forth with peace by angels, who fhall convey and welcome thy fpirit to the regions of the living, to the bofoms of our holy fathers, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, whence forrow, grief, and lamentation are banished away, where the light of God's countenance vifits and shines continually. And when the trumpet shall found, and all the tribes and kindreds of the earth fhall wail, thou fhalt lift up thy voice and fing for the majesty and glory of thy triumphant Lord, and call to DISC. to the heavens and the earth to bear thee VI. company-" Let the heavens rejoice, and "let the earth be glad; let the sea make a "noife, and all that is therein; let the "field be joyful, and all that is in it; then "fhall all the trees of the wood rejoice be"fore the Lord; for he cometh, for he "cometh to judge the earth, and with righteousness to judge the world, and the 66 people with his truth. He which teftifieth "these things faith, Surely I come quickly, "Amen. Even fo, come, Lord Jesus." DISCOURSE VII. THE WORD INCARNAT E. JOHN I. 14. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth. IN N contemplating the character of man's DISC. our admiration be most excited by the na- To form fuitable ideas of either, it is expedient to take a view of both. And they appear to the utmost advantage in the exordium of St. John's Gofpel, where he fetteth himself to publish, first, the divinity, and then the incarna VII. VII. DISC. tion of his moft adorable and beloved Mafter. He mentions in due order, and regular gradation, the glory which the WORD had with the Father before man, or the world which he now inhabits, had a being: "In the beginning was the Word, "and the Word was with God, and the "Word was God"-His glory, with refpect to the creatures, the works of his hands; "All things were made by him, "and without him was not any thing "made that was made"-His glory, as the fole author of life and immortality ; "In "him was life, and the life was the light "of men"-His glory, with refpect to man in general, as fallen into a state of ignorance and fenfuality; "And the light "fhined in darkness, and the darkness 66 comprehended it not"-His glory, with refpect to the Jews, to whom he first manifefted himself; "He came unto his own, "and his own received him not"-His glory, with refpect to Chriftians; "To as many as believed on him gave he power "to become the fons of God;" in order 66 to effect which he himself became the fon DISC. "The Word was made flesh, of man; " and dwelt among us, and we beheld his 66 'glory, the glory as of the only begotten "of the Father, full of grace and truth." Can any thing be more truly noble and fublime than the former part of the Evangelift's discourse, more pleafing and acceptable than the latter, defcending from the loftiest of speculations on the Divine Nature of the Word, to difplay the benefits of his advent in the flesh; like the Nile, when, rolling from the heights of the Nubian mountains, it diffufeth riches and plenteousness over all the land of Egypt? The union of two natures in the person of our Lord, which may justly be confidered as the fource of every bleffing we enjoy in time, or hope to enjoy in eternity, is expreffed by St. John in these terms, "The Word was made flesh," each of which will be found worthy our attention. VOL. I. 2 Ο λόγος σαρξ εγένετο. N The VII. |