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OHN faid to Jefus, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comeft thou to me? Mat. iii. 14.

How holy and lovely is that Contest which arifes, on either Side, from nothing but Humility! The Defigns of God are incomprehenfible, even to the Saints. --- There is no Person but has need of being purified by Chrift: Let us go to him with Confidence every Moment, because every Moment we have need of his Grace--- An important Leffon this, which God here, at the very firft, delivers to us, by his Apoftle, The Neceffity we have of a Saviour, and of his Grace, were we as innocent and fincere as Saint John.

Our Souls he washes in his Blood,
As Water makes the Body clean,
And the good Spirit from our God,
Defcends like purifying Rain.

Thus we engage our felves to Thee,
And feal our Cov'nant with the Lord,
O may the great Eternal Three,

In Heaven our folemn Vows record.

T

HEN faith Jefus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou ferve. Mat. iv. 10.

God alone is truly worthy of our Service, Adoration, and Love. Το worship, is not to fay, I worship and adore Thee; but is to be really obedient to God, and from the Bottom of the Heart to prefer his Will before all Things, to live and act only for Him, and to esteem nothing but him, or with Relation to him. When we see Men bufied and employ'd about every Thing, except their God, can we believe that there are many who worship and ferve Him only? Grant, O Lord, that, by thy Grace, I may be among the small Number of those, who worship Thee in Truth, and Serve none but Thee.

Inspire me, Saviour, with that Pow'r
Which caft the Tempter down,
So fhali I bear the fiery Hour,
And bid the Fiend begone!

Quell'd by the Spirit of thy Grace

Again the Foe fhall flee:
He cannot ftand before my Face
When thou refid'ft in me.

AND feeing the Multitudes, he went up into a Mountain: and

when he was fet, his Difciples came unto him. Mat. v. 1.

Since all Chriftians are the Disciples of Chrift, they have_All a Right to hear his Word. To this End they must have a Difciple's Heart, humble, full of Respect, teachable, fwift to hear, eager to learn, and faithful to obey. To go up with Christ, is to lift up one's Heart from the Earth, in order to hear the Truths of Heaven. To fit down, is to hear them with Calmnefs, Peace, and Repofe of Mind. To come unto this Divine Mafter, is to be united to him, and to hear him with Faith, Attention, and Love for his Word.

Great Teacher of thy Church, we own
Thy Precepts all divinely wife:
O may thy mighty Power be shown
To fix them ftill before our Eyes.

Deep in our Hearts thy Law engrave,
And fill ourBreafts with heav'nly Zeal,
That while we truft thy Pow'r to fave,
We may that facred Law fulfil.

I fhall, when thou bestow'ft the Power, And ferve my God, like thofe above,
With perfect Purity and Love.

In Spirit and in Truth adore,

March 25: ( 85 ) Annunciation of the Virgin. 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, of the House of David; and the Virgin's Name was Mary. Luke i. 26, 27.

At length the Moment is come, which is to give a Son to the Virgin, a Saviour to the World, a Pattern to Mankind, a Sacrifice to Sinners, a Head to the Angels, a Temple to the Divinity, and a new Nature to his Divine One. With what holy Wonder and Pleasure should we trace this Notice of an Incarnate Redeemer? And how thankfully should we adore his condefcending Goodness, that for us Men, and for our Salvation, he did not defpife the Womb of so obfcure a Virgin? This Day he is become Emmanuel God with us: The Word is made Flesh: The Holy Ghoft hath wrought this Miracle: The Father hath married, and the Son is married to our poor Flesh: and this is the Wedding Day. This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our Eyes: This is the Day the Lord hath made; nay, this is the Day wherein the Lord is made: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

O ye banish'd Seed be glad,
Chrift our Advocate is made:
Us to fave, our Flesh affumes,
Brother to our Soul becomes.

Shout, ye little Flock! and bleft,
You on JESU's Throne shall reft,
There your Seat is now prepar'd,
There your Kingdom, and Reward.

BLeffed

Leffed are the Meek: for they fhall inherit the Earth. Mat. v. 5.

.. The fecond Leffon of Chrift is the Meekness of Love, in Heart, in Countenance, and in Word. It is no fmall Victory for a Man to fubdue the Severity of his Temper. The Meekness which leads to Blefedness is not a Meekness of Conftitution, of Artifice, or of Deceit; but a Meekness of Grace, of Love, and of Patience. It is difpofed to fuffer itself to be fpoiled of all in this World; but of what Treasures, what Inheritances does it not put us into Poffeffion in the Land of the Living. To poffefs the Land of our Heart in Patience, is the Beginning of the perfect Kingdom of Love, and the Fruit of Chriftian Meekness. Inftruct us, Lord, in this Grace, Thou who art the Master and the Teacher of it.

Meeken my Soul thou heavenly Lamb,
That I in the new Earth may claim
My hundred-fold Reward,

My rich Inheritance poffefs,
Co-heir with the great Prince of Peace,
Co-partner with my Lord.

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