Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

for worldly supplies, by a settled persuasion, that thou wilt withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly; and that thou art ready to bestow good things, if we persevere in prayer and devotion; that ordering all my actions with a regard to another world, I may so pass through things temporal, that I finally lose not the things eternal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHAP. V.

THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD, OR THE BIRTH DAY OF CHRIST, COMMONLY CALLED CHRISTMAS DAY,

DECEMBER 25.

Q. What Festival doth the church celebrate this day? A. The great Festival of the nativity of our Saviour Jesus Christ; or the appearance of God in the flesh. Q. What authority have we for the observation of this Festival?

A. The practice of the primitive church; for though we have no certain evidence of the exact time when it was first observed, yet it appears plainly, that it was very early received all over the west; and the immemorial observation of it, is an argument of its primitive institution.

Q. But is it not superstitious to observe this Festival upon the twenty-fifth of December, when we cannot be certain that our Saviour was born upon that day?

A. There is little reason to doubt, but that this which we now observe is the very day; the testimony of St. Chrysostom is clear for the tradition of it. Though, if the day were mistaken, the matter of the mistake being of no greater moment than the false calculation of a day, will certainly be very pardonable in those who think they are not mistaken. And as long as those, who are sup

posed to be in this error, do perform the business of the day with as much piety and devotion on a mistaken day, as they could do on a true one, if they certainly knew it ; the excuse of blameless ignorance will wash away greater errors than this of the day, supposing it were an error. Q. What are we to believe concerning the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ?

A. That the Virgin Mary, espoused unto Joseph of Nazareth, who, before and after her espousals was a pure and unspotted virgin, being and continuing in the same virginity, did, by the immediate operation of the Holy Ghost, conceive, within her womb, the only-begotten Son of God; and, after the natural time of other women, brought him forth. Whereby the Saviour of the world was born of a woman, made under the law, without the least pretence of any original corruption, that he might deliver us from the guilt of sin. And he was born of a virgin, of the house and lineage of David, that he might sit upon his throne, and rule for evermore.

Q. Was the promised Messias to be born after a miraculous manner?

A. Yes, the prophecies of the Old Testament foretold as much. Jeremiah says, the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth, a woman shall compass a man.* That new creation of a man is therefore new, and therefore a creation, because wrought in a woman only, without a man. Isaiah, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel. The original word was translated a virgin, by such interpreters as were Jews themselves, some hundred years before our Saviour's birth; and did not the signification of the word and the frequent use thereof in Scripture

[blocks in formation]

import it, the wonder of the sign given by the Lord himself would evince as much. This sign was given, and this promise made, some time in the reign of Ahaz. Now Ahaz reigned but sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his son Hezekiah who succeeded him, was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and therefore born several years before Ahaz was king, and consequently not now to be conceived when this sign was given.

с

Q. How does it appear that those prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ?

A. His mother that bore him was a pure virgin, as appears both from her own account, and that of Joseph, her reputed husband; both persons of known integrity and unquestionable credit. When Joseph doubted of her chastity, an angel was dispatched to clear her honour: and to assure him, that what was conceived in her, was not any human production, but of the Holy Ghost.* When she objected the impossibility of her being a mother, the angel explains it to her himself, by the Holy Ghost coming upon her, and the power of the highest overshadowing her. All which was so unquestionable, and plainly made out to the Apostles and primitive Christians, that they universally and firmly believed it, and thought it a point of so great moment, as to deserve a place in that summary of the Christian faith called the Apostle's Creed.*

Q. What were the circumstances of our Saviour's birth?

A. He was born at Bethlehem, according to the prediction of the Prophet Micah ; whither Joseph and Mary went in obedience to the decree of Augustus, to be taxed, being of the house and lineage of David ; the

2 Kings xvi. 2 Kings xviii. 2.
Luke i. 35.
1 Mic. v. 2.

Luke i. 34. Mat. i. 25.

Luke ii. 4.

providence of God making use of this conjuncture, by verifying a prophecy, to signify and publish the birth of the true Messias. The concourse of people to Bethlehem was so great that they could find no accomodation but a stable; where the blessed virgin brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; doing herself the offices of a pious and tender parent, whilst all the angels of God worshipped him.

Q. How was the birth of our Saviour published to the world?

A. By the administration of angels; for as certain shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; so that the splendour of the appearance confounded their senses, and made them sore afraid. But the angel quickly dissipated the terror that seized them, with the tidings he brought of great joy to all people, in those comfortable words: Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.'

Q. How were the shepherds directed to find this new-born king?

m

A. Lest they should expect a prince accompanied with outward pomp and magnificence, the angel described the meanness and obscurity of his circumstances, this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Upon this notice, the shepherds without delay, went to Bethlehem, and found the narrative verified, and published to the world both what they had seen and heard concerning the holy child Jesus.

Luke ii. 4. i Heb. i. 6. * Luke ii. 9. Luke ii. 12.

Luke ii. 10, 11.

Q. How was this joyful news received by the angels and the shepherds?

A. The multitude of the heavenly host praised God in that divine hymn, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men." And the shepherds, when they had found the real completion of what was told them by the angel, returned, glorifying and praising God.

Q. Since this angelical hymn has been retained in the offices of the church ever since the primitive times of Christianity, what may we understand by it?

A. That the blessed angels excited one another to give glory and praise to God for his wonderful works towards the children of men. That it is our constant duty to acknowledge his majesty and greatness, those peerless prerogatives of power, wisdom, and goodness, which appeared with the greatest lustre in the stupendous incarnation of the Son of God. That Christ hath taken away the enmity between heaven and earth, and reconciled man to God; for God's good-will to favour men is the peace the angels congratulate; hence the gospel is called the gospel of peace, and God so often in the New Testament, the God of peace." And since the children of men alone partake in these wonders of love, they ought continually to join with the heavenly host in glorifying and praising God.

Q. What may we learn from the circumstances of our Saviour's birth, and the publication thereof?

A. It ought to reconcile us to a state of poverty: for since the blessed Jesus chose to be born in so mean and obscure a manner, and preferred it before the splendour and pomp of the rich and great, the poor ought to

n

Luke ii. 14.

ver.

20.

P Eph. vi. 15. Rom. xv. 33.

« AnteriorContinuar »