As we have encouragement to look unto God for the fupply of all our wants and neceffities, it fhould teach us to take no unworthy, fordid or difhoneft course to fupply our wants; but chearfully to depend on God for that fupply; and likewife to behave ourselves fo, that we throw not ourselves out of God's protection, and from under the care of his providence.

Let us acquiefce in every thing that God thinks fit to bestow upon us; and be calm and refigned even when things do not turn out according to our wifh; and patiently fubmit to his afflicting hand, confidering trouble and inquietude as a bleffing and a talent; being manifest tokens and indications that we are objects of his care; whom he is pleased to afflict in this world, to wean us from the joys and pleasures thereof; that we may more eagerly defire heaven, and be the better prepared for it.

How comfortably may we pass the time of our fojourning here on earth, if we only reflect that we are always under the inspection of God; and if we are careful to obey him, he will provide for us, and cause even misfortunes in the end to turn to our advantage. But we must take heed that by our fins we do not cause God to withdraw his protection from us in this world, and provoke

provoke him so that he will cut us off from an inheritance in heaven. If we recollect that we have offended God, let us immediately, like the penitent prodigal, repent and make our peace with him. And if we are truly forry for what is paft, and refolved to forfake our evil ways, and obey God for the future, he will forgive us our tranfgreffions, for the fake of his Son our Saviour Jefus Christ. Amen.

CHAPTER X.

Of the Incarnation.

HEN we fet ourselves ferioufly to

W meditate on the mysterious and

gracious circumftance of the incarnation of our Lord, we are at once filled with astonishment and praise: our hearts exult with gratitude and joyful thanksgiving to him who, for our fakes, and for our falvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghoft, and born of the virgin Mary.

The two great mysteries in this article of our faith, are the conception of our Lord by the Holy Ghoft, and his being born of a pure virgin. And that such an extraor

K 2

dinary

dinary event should come to pafs, greatly amazed even the virgin Mary herself, as appears by the answer the returned to the falutation of the angel: How shall this be, feeing I know not a man ? By this affertion fhe excluded all men, and therefore wondered how this fhould be ; how fhe fhould be able to conceive and bring forth a fon.

The evangelift informs us, that Mary, the virgin mother of our Lord, was espoused to Jofeph; but before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Now it was the cuftom, in the eastern countries, for the man and woman to be espoused and betrothed to each other fome time before the confummation of the marriage. Now Jofeph, to whom the blessed virgin was efpoufed, difcovering her pregnancy between the time of the efpoufals and the completion of the nuptial ceremony, and being a juft man, and unwilling to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily: but he was better inftructed by a special message from the Almighty, and acquainted that her pregnancy was caused by the influence or operation of the Holy Ghoft; and that the child was to be no less than the Saviour and Redeemer of the world.

The

The manner of the operation whereby the Holy Ghost effected the human generation of our Lord is difficult for us to comprehend; and a learned writer* informs us that this expreffion of the angel Gabriel is of general interpretation: The Holy Ghost fhall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Greater intelligence than this we cannot receive from the divine oracles concerning the conception of our Saviour by the Holy Ghost. The ancient fathers, who have well confidered this facred point of religion, teach, that our Lord was operatively conceived by the power and virtue of the Holy Spirit; and they also tell us that farther knowledge in this instance is not to be acquired. For as the prophet fays, who fhall declare his generation: a performance fo wonderfully fublime cannot be clearly comprehended or minutely described by man.

When the holy virgin thought it impoffible she should conceive, feeing the knew not a man, and of herfelf the could not caufe fuch conception; the angel gave her this fatisfactory anfwer: With God nothing fhall be impoffible.

From the information of the gospel, and from the doctrines of the fathers, we understand, that it was by the influence,

* Dr. Pearfon.

the

the operation, or overshadowing of the Holy Ghoft, who is God, that our Lord was conceived and born of the virgin Mary. And this is neceffary to be believed of the Lamb of God, that taketh away the fins of the world: that whatever our original corruption may have been, or at present is, yet there is none in him whom alone God has declared to be his beloved Son, and in whom he is well pleased. No spot of fin appeared in this bleffed facrifice, the great Redeemer of the world; who, though he affumed human nature, and humbled himfelf to become flesh, and was like us in all things, yet was he without fin, as conceived by the Holy Ghost.

2dly. I will confider the second article in the incarnation of our Saviour, viz. that he was born of a pure virgin.

Of the holy virgin who was the mother of our Lord, we have little more recorded than that her name was Mary, that she was espoused to a man whofe name was Jofeph, and that she was the person of whom the Meffiah was born. For thus the holy evangelift, St. Luke, relates, ift chapter, verfe 16th and 17th.-And in the fixth month the angel Gabriel was fent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin efpoufed to a man whofe name was

Jofeph,