not assuming the angelic nature, we can but faintly conceive, but what reason induced him to take upon himself the nature of man, Revelation has clearly shown. We being partakers of flesh and blood, could expect no redemption but from him who partook of the same. Christ descended from above, not only to declare the glad tidings of our salvation, but to die for us, to suffer in our stead, to redeem us from the curse of the law by his blood. Man must die to expiate the sins of man. As man he died for us, his brethren in the flesh; as God, his sacrifice was all-powerful, and his redemption all-victorious. "By man came death, by man" must have" come also the resurrection of the dead." He took upon him therefore our nature, that he might be offered up, an all-atoning sacrifice in our stead.

Again, by taking our nature upon him, he became tempted as we are, yet without sin; he is therefore able to succour them that are tempted; to know the strength of his enemies, to compassionate the agonies of their struggles. It is true that God can estimate all this without a descent into the human form; he knows us better than we know ourselves. But it is for our assurance in his knowledge, it is for our confidence in his wisdom, it is for our comfort in his support, that every suffering of which human nature is capable, Christ for our sake underwent. He is our

great example of patience, humility, and benevolence; the pattern of every virtue, human and divine, the great model on which our lives, our actions, and our words, are to be founded. God sending his only Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh. It not only proclaimed the glad tidings of pardon and salvation, but taught us the way that leadeth unto life, and hath forewarned us of every path which leadeth to destruction.

When therefore in the captiousness of human folly, we consider this adoption of our nature, as beneath the dignity of God, we measure God by ourselves; and because our mean pride will not suffer us to condescend to the weakness and wants of our brethren, we conceive that the Majesty of God cannot be lowered to the infirmity of man. Man is dearer to God than to himself*. It is ignorance alone of the divine attributes, that can consider them as debased by any act of mercy. The farther the rays of infinite goodness penetrate into this vale of sin and sor

row,

the stronger is that body of heavenly light from which they emanate. Let it not then be a cause of cavil and exception, that God should submit to a condition so infinitely beneath him. If we cannot fathom the measures of the divine

* Carior est illis homo quâm sibi.-Juv.

mercy, the least we can do is to receive them with grateful submission.

"This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it;" as on this auspicious day commenced the revocation of the fatal curse. We celebrate the nativity of the world, not less than that of Christ; a new creation unto life, a regeneration by the spirit of God. By this stupendous incarnation of the Divine nature, he made himself the Son of Man, that by no less a change in our nature, we might become the sons of God.

We know the honest transports which the liberty of a single nation, redeemed from the grasp of a tyrant, excites in every kindred heart; and shall a less degree of holy joy be felt at the anniversary of that morning which gave freedom to the whole world, which redeemed generations past, present, and to come, from the bondage of sin, and the powers of darkness, which recovered for fallen man, liberty, life, and immortality. "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garment, O Jerusalem, thou holy city; shake thyself from the dust, loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion."

Are the first glimmerings of peace to a bleeding and exhausted world, to be hailed with enthusiastic joy, and is that event to be received

with less heartfelt triumph, which proclaims a reconciliation between a sinful creature and an offended Creator, a peace between man and his conscience, a peace of pardon between man and God-"Peace I leave with you," said our dying Saviour, "my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you." These are the glad tidings of eternal rest in the city of God, "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise."

It was on this day that the root and branch of Jesse, the bright and morning star, did spring up above our horizon; "though darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, yet the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

It is for us to consecrate this holy festival with prayer, with thanksgiving, with holy and triumphant joy, in the persons of ourselves, and of our brethren in Christ. As Christ took upon him our nature, let us resemble him, as he resembled us. As he was an inheritor of corruption for our sakes, let us be heirs of immortality for his. Sin and sorrow are inseparable companions not only in our pilgrimage through this life, but in our hopes and fears of the next. As then we would consecrate this festival with joy, let us adorn it with

innocence. But if Christ descended into the infirmities of our mortal nature, let us also descend into the weakness and wants of our brethren. Is there an enmity that still rankles in our breasts, this is the season of amnesty and oblivion; as God in the form of Christ forgave us, so let us forgive the sins of our fellow-creatures. The very season of the year, and the climate of our land seems in a peculiar manner to call our attention to the wants of our poorer brethren. Relieve that Saviour who, as on this day, came into the world to redeem you, in the person of his afflicted servants; and believe me, that the cheerfulness of every accustomed relaxation, the pleasure of every innocent festivity, will be rendered inexpressibly more grateful by the thought, that you have shared your delight with your poor fellow-creatures, that you have made the hearts of the widow and of the aged to sing with joy. May innocence purify the pleasures of this season, and charity consecrate them to God,-and thus may you render it happy, by making it holy.