upheld him also in the whole of his worke; and "raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory f;" and committed all things into his hands, that he might accomplish in man all the purposes of his loveg.]
What an object, then, must this be !
[We are accustomed to judge of objects, in general, by the efforts made to obtain them. And, if we take that crite- rion, what is there that can equal the great object before us? That it should ever occupy for a moment the mind of the Deity, is amazing : but that it should ever be so desirable in Jehovah's mind, that he should give his only dear Son to effect it ; and that his Son, also, should willingly endure all the curses of the broken law to attain it ; yea, that the Holy Spirit, too, should undertake, by his own almighty power, to accomplish in us this good work ; that the Sacred Trinity, I say, should all combine thus to effect it, exhibits such a view of its importance as nothing can exceed. Yet, how little is it viewed in this light ! How little do men, at that season of the year when we commemorate the Saviour's Advent, recol- lect for what end he came ! If we were to judge by the con- duct of the generality amongst us, we should rather suppose that the Saviour gave himself to deliver us to, and not to deliver us from, this present evil world : precisely as the Jews of old committed all manner of iniquity, and then said, " We are delivered to do all these abominations11." You well know, that, as by general consent, this is made a season of more than usual conviviality; insomuch that dissipation is, if I may so speak, the order of the day : and the man who has no greater portion than usual of mirth and gaiety seems to himself to have failed in the peculiar exercises of his mind, which the season calls for. If one were to say, that such commemora- tions were an insult to the Deity ; that they obstructed the very ends for which the Saviour came ; and were a direct act of rebellion against God the Father, whose avowed will was opposed ; one should be thought a gloomy enthusiast, and an enemy to all social happiness. But so it is, whatever ungodly men may think concerning it; and so it will be found at the last day. God says, " Give me thy heart;" and that command must be obeyed. We must withdraw it from all things that stand in competition with him. The most lawful and honour- able attachments must be subordinated to him : we must " set our affections altogether on things above, and not on things on the earth1:" we must "have our conversation in heaven." Our blessed Lord has shewn us, in this respect, how to walk ;
e
Isai. xlii. 1. f 1 Pet. i. 21. s Eph. iv. 10.
11 Jer. vii. 9, 10. ! Col. iii. 2.