66

eyes

XII,

"brightness of thy rifing. Lift up thine DISC. round about, and fee; all they ga"ther themselves together, they come to "thee; thy fons fhall come from far, and

thy daughters shall be nurfed at thy fide. "Then thou fhalt fee, and flow together, "and thine heart fhall fear, and be en

larged; because the abundance of the "fea fhall be converted unto thee, the "forces of the Gentiles fhall come unto "thee i." No lefs clear are several paffages in the Pfalms, which never failed to make a part of the fynagogue fervice. "All "the ends of the world fhall remember, "and turn unto the Lord, and all the "kindreds of the nations fhall worship be"fore him .--The princes of the nations "shall be joined to the people of the God "of Abraham '.-Praise the Lord all ye heathen, praise him all ye nations; for his merciful kindness is ever more and "more towards us, and the truth of the "Lord endureth for ever m"

k

DISC.

XII.

The event, which bore fo capital a share in the gracious defigns of the Almighty, which was thus predicted, and celebrated beforehand, by patriarchs and prophets, began, as at this feafon, to take place, by the coming of the eastern sages to Bethlehem, in the name of us all, as reprefentatives of the heathen world. They were the firft-fruits of that glorious harvest, afterwards reaped and gathered by the Apoftles and their fucceffors; they were the ftandard bearers of that noble army, which, from the four quarters of the globe, hath fince marched into the church, through the gates mercifully thrown open to admit them. From the confideration of the perfons mentioned in the text, we proceed therefore to confider,

Secondly, their journey; the occafion, and the end of it; 66 They came to Jerufalem, faying, Where is he that is born king of "the Jews? For we have seen his star in "the east, and are come to worship him.'

The

XII.

The birth of Chrift was firft revealed to DISC. the fhepherds, who were Jews. For that purpose, the angel of the Lord defcended from heaven, and the glory of the Lord fhone round about them; a proper intimation of his appearance, at the brightness of whose rifing on the intellectual world, darkness was to vanish, and the fhadows fly away. A fign of the fame import was vouchfafed to the Gentiles, as their conductor to the new born Redeemer of mankind. "A ftar, which they faw in the eaft, went before them, till it came, "and stood over where the young child " was."

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I fhall not take up your time in propofing conjectures on the nature and form of this ftar. It was undoubtedly such, as might best answer the end in view; and probably far exceeded the other stars, to appearance, in magnitude and brightness; as it notified the birth of one, who was fairer than the children of men, on whom rested the spirit of grace and glory.

How

DISC.

XII.

How juft and how beautiful an emblem was such a star of the bleffed person to whom it pointed! Celestial in it's original; framed of the pureft materials; admitting no drofs and bafenefs into it's compofition; without fpot, or the fhadow of a cloud; fhedding a luftre incapable of being fullied by the objects on which it fell, and paffing through all things undefiled; moving above the world, though moving in it; placed in heaven, to give light upon the earth; rifing in the east, but diffufing it's glories to the weft; the first-fruits of the day, the bright and the morning star, difpelling the fhades, clearing the skies, eclipfing the other luminaries, reigning alone and unrivalled in the firmament ; from thence, not more bright than beneficial, exerting an influence, powerful, though filent and fecret; directing and attracting men to the falvation it portended" !

n See these particulars beautifully expanded and enlarged upon, by the admirable Dr. SOUTH, in a discourse upon Rev. xxii. 16. "I am the root and the offspring of "David, and the bright and morning ftar." Vol. III. Serm. VII.

The

XII.

The eastern Magi, as is evident from the DISC. text, understood, before they began their journey, that the ftar which they faw did by it's appearance indicate the birth of 66 the King of the Jews," that is, of the perfon foretold and expected, under that character, among the people of God. They understood, that this perfon, though ftyled "King of the Jews," would accept the oblations of the Gentiles, and extend to them the bleffings of his reign. They understood, as it fhould feem, that he was more than man; "We have feen his ftar "in the east, and are come to worship "him." By what means is it likely they should have attained this knowlege?

It is certain, that at the period when these things happened, and for some time preceding it, a general expectation of a ruler to arise in Judea prevailed all over the world. Suetonius, not to mention other hiftorians, exprefsly tells us, that an antient and uninterrupted opinion had prevailed in all the east, that at that time (namely,