Parochial and Plain Sermons

ITUS does the favoured Apostle and Evangelist announce to us that Sacred Mystery, which we this day especially commemorate, the incarnation of the Eternal Word. Thus briefly and simply does he speak as if fearing he should fail in fitting reverence. If an)" there was wh, might seem to have permission to indulge in words on this subject, it was the beloved disciple, who had heard and seen, and looked upon, and handled the Word of Life; yet, in proportion to the height of his privilege, was his discernment of the infinite distance between him and his Creator. Such too was the temper of the IIoly Angels, when the Father "brought in the First-begotten into the world: '' they straightway worshipped Him. And such was the feeling of awe and love mingled together, which remained f,r a while in the Church after Angels had announced His coming, and Evangelists had recorded llis sojourn here, and IIis departure; "there was silence as it were for half an hour."1 Around the Church, indeed, the voices of blasphemy were heard, even as wheu hung on the cross; but in the Church there was light and peace, fear, joy, and holy meditation. Lawless doubtings, importunate inquirings, confident reasouings were not. An heartfelt adoration, a practical devotion to the Ever-blessed Son, precluded difl3eult, ies iu fidth, and sheltered the Church from the necessity of speaking. lie who had seen the Lord Jesus with a pure mind, attending Him from the Lake of Gennesareth to (alvary, and from the Sepulchre to Mount Olivet, where He left this scene of His humiliation; he who had been put in charge with tIis Virgin lXIother, and heard from her what she alone could tell of the Mystery to which she had ministered; and they who had heard it from his mouth, and those again whom these had taught, the first generations of the Church, needed no explicit declarations concerning IIis Sacred Person. Sight and hearing superseded the multitude of words; faith dispensed with the aid of lenhened Creeds and Confessions. There was silence. "The Word was made flesh;" "I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;" sentences such as these conveyed everything, yet were officious in nothing. But when the light of His advent faded, and love waxed cold, then there was an opening for objection and discussion, and a difficulty in answering. Then misconceptions had to be explained, 1 Iev. viii. 1.

reason of these statements is as follows: time having proceeded, and the true traditions of our Lord's ministry being lost to us, the Object of our faith is but faintly reflected on our minds, compared with the vivid pictnre which His presence impressed upon the early Christians. True is it the Gospels will do very much by vay of realizing for us the incarnation of the Son of God, if studied in iaith and love. But the Creeds are an additional help this way. The declarati,ms made in them, the distinctions, cautions, and the like, supported and illuminated by Scripture, draw down, as it were, from heaven, the image of Him who is on God's right hand, preserve us from an indolent use of words without apprehending them, and rouse in us those mingled feelings of fear and confidence, affection and devotion towards Him, which are implied in the belief of a personal advent of God in our nature, and which were originally derived to the Church from the very sight of tIim. And we may say further still, these statements—such, for instance, as occur in the Te Deum and Athanasian Creed—are especially suitable in divine worship, inasmuch as they kindle and elevate the religious affections. They are hymns of praise and thanksgiving; they give glory to God as revealed in the Gospel, just as David's t'sahns magnify His Attributes as displayed in nature, His wonderfid works in the creation of the world, and His mercies towards the house of Israel. With these objects, then, it may be usefifl, on today's Festival, to call your attention to the Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation. The Word was from the beginning, the 0nly-begotten

I have said that when the Only-begotten Son stooped to take upon Him our nature, lie had no fellowship with sin. It was impossible that IIe should. Therefore, since our nature was corrupt since Adam's fall, lie did not come in the way of nature, I[e dhl not clothe Himself in that corrupt flesh which Adam's race inherits. He cane by miracle, so as to take on ]Jim our imperfection without having any share in our sinflflness. tie was not born as other me are; for "that which is born of the flesh is flesh. '' All Adaln's children are children of wrath; so our Lord came as the Son of Man, but not the son of sinful Adam. He had no earthly father; IIe abhorred to have one. The thought may not be suffered that He should have been the son of shame and guilt, l fe cme by a new and living way; not, indeed, formed out of file ground, as Adam was at the first, lest lie should nfiss file participation of our nature, but selecting and purifying unto IIimself a tabo'nacle out of that which existed. _As in the beginning, woman was formed out of man by Ahnighty power, so now, by a like mystery, but a reverse order, the new Adam was fashioned from the woman. He was, as had been foretold, the immaculate "seed of the woman," deriving His manhood from the substance of the Yirgin Mary; as it is expressed in the articles of the Creed, "conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Yirgin Mary." Thus the Son of God became the Son of Man; mortal, but not a sinner; heir of our infirmities, not of our guiltiness; the offspring of the old race, yet  John iii. 6.

"the beginning of the " new "creation of Go(t." Mary, His mother, was a sinner as others, and born of siuners; but she was set apart, "as a garden inclosed,,n spring shut up, a fountain sealed," to yield a created nature to llim who was her Creator. Thus He came into this world, not in the clouds of heaven, but born into it, born of a woman; IIe, the Son of Mary, and she (if it may be said), the mother of God. Thus lie came, selecting and setting apart for tIimself the elements of body and soul; then, uniting them to IIimself from their first origin of existence, pervading them, hallowing them by lIis own Divinity, sl,iritualizing them, and filling them with light and pm'ity, the while they continued to be human, and for a time mortal and exposed to infirnfity. And, as they grew from day to day in their holy union, His Eternal Essence still was one with them, exalting them, acting in them, manifesting Itself through them, so that He was tntly God and Man, One Person,as we are soul and body, yet one man, so truly God and man are not two, but One Christ. Thus did the Son of God enter this mortal world; and when He had reached man's estate, tie began IIis ministry, preached the Gospel, chose His Apostles, suffered on the cross, died, and was buried, rose again and ascended on high, there to reign till the day when IIe comes again to judge the world. This is the All-gracious Mystery of the Incarnation, good to look into, good to adore; according to the saying in ",.he text, "The Word was made flesh,and dwelt among us." The brief account thus given of the Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, may be made more distinct by referring to some of those modes mentioned in Scripture, in which God has at divers times condescended to manifest Himself in IIis creatures, which come short of it. 1. God was in the Prophets, but not as He was in Christ. The divine authority, and in one sense, name, may be given to His Ministers, considered as His representatives. Moses says to the Israelites, "Your murnmrings are not against us, but against tile Lord.".knd St. Paul, "tle therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God. '' In this sense, Rulers and Judges are sometimes called gods, as our Lord Hilself says. And fnrther, tile Prophets were inspired. Thus Jolm the Baptist is said to have been filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied. In like nanner the Holy Ghost came on the Apostles at Pentecost and at other times; and so wonderfully gifted was St. Paul, that '" from his body were brought unto tile sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. '':Now the characteristic of this miraculous inspiration was, that the presence of God came and went. Thus we read, in the afore-mentioned and similar narratives, of the Prophet or Apostle being,filled with tile Spirit on particular occasions; as again of " the Spirit of the Lord departing from Saul," and an evil spirit troubling him. Thus this divine inspiration was so far parallel to demoniacal possession. We find in the Gospels the  Exod. xvi. 8. 1 Thess. iv. 8..o Acts xix. 12. II]

devil spe,king with the voice of his victim, so that the tormentor and the tormented cotfld not be distinguished from each other. They seemed to be one and the same, though they were uot; as appeared when Christ and lIis Apostles cast the devil out. And so again the Jewish Temple was in one sense inhabited by the presence of God, which came down upou it at Sohmio's I'rnyer. This was a type,,f our Lord's manhood dwelt in by the Word of God as a Temple; still, with this essential difference, that the Jewish Temple ws perishable, and again the Divine Presence might recede f,'om it. There was no real unity between the one ad the other; they were sel,arable. But Christ sys to the Jews of Ills owu body, "Destroy this Te,nple and I will raise it in three days;" implying in these words such an u,ity betweeu the Godhead and the manhood, that there could be no real separation, no dissolution. Even when Iiis body was dead, the Divine Nature was one with it; i, like manner it was one with I Iis soul in pradise. Soul and body were really one with the Eter,ml Word,—not one iu name o,fly,— one uever to be divided. Therefore Scripture says that Iie rose again "accordi,g to the Spirit of holiness;" and "that it was not possible that IIc should be holde, of death. '' 2. Again, the Gospel teaches us a,other mode in which man may be said to be united with Almighty God. It is the peculiar blessedness of the Christian, as St. Peter tees us, to be "partaker of the Divine Nature. '' We believe, and hve joy in believing, that t Rom. i. t. Acts ii. 24. 2 Pet. i. 4.

3 6 Chrislllzas Z). Angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai;" yet in the book of Exodus we read, '" Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called uuto him out of the mountain;" " God spake all these words saying;" and the like. Now, asuming, as we seem to lmve reason to nssume, that the Son of God is herein revealed to us as gracionsly ministering to the I'atriarehs, Moses, and others, in angelic form, the question arises, what was the nature of this appearance? We are not informed, nor my we venture to determine; still, any how, the Angel was but the temporary outward form which the Eternal Word assumed, whether it was of a material nature, or a vision. Whether or no it was really an Angel, or but an appearance existing only for the immediate purpose, still, any how, we could not with propriety say that our Lord "took upon Him the nature of Angels." Now these instances of the indvelling of Almighty God in n created substance, which I have given by way of contrast to that infinitely higher and mysterious union which is called the Incarnation, actually supply the senses in which heretics at various times have perverted our holy and comfortable doctrine, and which have obliged us to have recourse to Creeds and Confessions. Rejecting the teaching of the Church, and dealing rudely with the Word of God, they have ventured to deny that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh," pretending He merely showed Himself as a vision or phantom;—or they have said that the Word of God merely dwelt in the man Christ Jesus, as the x Exo. i}i. 2. Acts vii. 35—38. Exod. xix. 3; x 1.

The f ucarnalion. 37 Sheehinah in the Temple, having no real union with the Son of Mary (as if there were two distinct Beings, the Word and lesus, even as the blessed Spirit is distinct from- a man's ul);—or that Christ was called God for His great spiritual perfections, and that He gradually attained them by long practice. All these are words not to be uttered, oxcept to show what the true doctrine is, and what is the meaning of the language of the Church concerning it. For instance, the Athanasian Creed confesses that Christ is " God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds, perfect God," lest we shotdd consider tlis Divine Nature, like ours, as merely a nature resembling God's holiness: that IIe is "Man of the substance of tIis Mother, born in the world, perfect man," lest we should think of Him as "not come in the flesh," a mere Angelic vision; and that "although IIe be God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ," lest we should fancy that the Word of God entered into Him and then departed, as the Itoly Ghost in the Prophets. Such are the terms in which we are constrained to speak of our Lord and Saviour, by the craftiness His enemies and our own infirmity; and we intreat His leave to do so. We intreat His leave, not as if forgetting that a reverent silence is best on so sacred a subject; but, when evil men and seducers abound on every side, and our own apprehensions of the Truth are dull, using zealous David's argument, "Is there not a cause" for words? We intreat His leave, and we humbly pray that what was first our defence against pride and indolence, may become an outlet of devotion,

3 8 ClJ'istzas Day. a service of worship. Nay, we surely trust that He will accept mercifully what we offer in faith, "' doing what we can;" though the ointnent of spikenard which we pour out is notbig to that true )ivine Glory which mmiested itself in Him, when the Holy Ghost singled IIim out from other men, and the Father's voice acknowldged liim as liis deafly beloved Son. Surely lie will mcrcifl,lly accept it, if faith offers what the intellect provides; if love kindles the sacrifice, zeal fans it, and reverence guards it. lie will ilhminate our earthly words fl'om ]Iis own ])ivine Holiness, t they become saving truths to the sofls which tnst in Him. tic who turned water into wine, and (did He so choose) could make bread of the hard stone, will sust;fin u for a brief season on this mortal fare. And we, while we make use of it, will never so forget its imperfection, as not o look out constantly for the True lt, atific Vision; never so perversely remember that imperfection as to reject what is necessaw for our present need. The time will come, if we be found worthy, when we, who no" see in a glass darkly, shall see our Lord and Saviour face to face; shall behold His countenance beaming with the fulness of Divine Perfections, and bearing its own wit.heSS that He is the Son of God. We shall see t[im as He is. Let us then, accordg to the light given us, praise and bless Him in the Church below, whom Angels in heven see and adore. Let us bless Him for His surpassing loving-kindness in taking upon Him our infirmities to redeem us, hen He dwelt i the inner-. most love of the Eveflasti Father, in the glory which:

He had with IIiln before the world was. lie came in lowliness and want; born amid the tumults of a mixed and busy multitude, cast a,ide into the ouIhose of a crowded inn, laid to IIis first rest alnoug the brute cattle. He ew up, as if the native of a despised city, and was bred to a humble craft. IIe bore to live in a world that slighted IIim, for He lived in it, in order in due time to die fr it. He came as the appointed Priest, to offer sacrifice fi,r those who took no part in the act of worship; lie came to offer up fir sinners that precious blood which was lneritorious ly virtue of His Divine Anointing. I[e died, to rise again the third da, the Sun of Righteousuess, fully displaying that splendour which had hitherto been concealed by the morning clouds. He rose again, to ascend to the right hand of God, there to plead IIis sacred wounds iu token of our forgiveness, to rule and guide His ransomed people, and from IIis pierced side to pour forth His choicest blessings upon them. He ascended, thence to descend again in due season to judge the 'orld which He has redeemed.—Great is our Lord, and great is His power, Jesus the Son of God and Son of lnan. Ten thousand times more dazzling bright than the highest Archangel, is our Lord and Christ. By birth the Only-begotten and Express Ilnage of God; and in taking our flesh, not sullied thereby, but raising human nature with Him, as He rose from the lowly manger to the right hand of power,—mising humm nature, for Man has redeemed us, Mm is set above all creatures, as one with the Creator, Man shall judge man at the last day. So honoured is this earth, that no stranger shall judge us, but tie who is our fellow, who will sustain our interests, and has full sympathy in all our imperfectious, lie who loved us, even to die for us, is graciously appointed to assign the final measurement;md price upon IIis own work. He who best -knows by infirmity to take the part of the infirm, I[e who would fidn reap the full fruit of His passion, He will separate the wheat from the chaff, so that not a grain shall fitll to the ground. He who has given us to share ills own spiritual nature, He from whom we have drawn the life's blood of our souls, lie our brother will decide about tIis brethren. In that His second coming, may lie in lIis grace and loving pity remember us, who is our only hope, our only salvation!