VI.

SERMON gifts and graces, is this wrapping him in swaddling clothes; the laying up his word, his promises and precepts in our hearts, is the laying him in the manger.

What though there be no room for him in the inn, though the world will not entertain him? The devout soul will find a place to lay him in, though it have nothing of its own but rags, a poor ragged righteousness: for our righteousness, says the prophet, "is but menstruous rags:" yet the best it hath it will lay him in; and though it have nothing but a manger, a poor strait narrow soul, none of the cleanliest either to lodge him in; yet, such as it is, he shall command it, his lying there will cleanse it, and his righteousness piece up

our rags.

What though there be no room for him in the inn? I hope there is in our houses for him. It is Christmas time, and let us keep open house for him; let his rags be our Christmas raiment, his manger our Christmas cheer, his stable our Christmas great chamber, hall, dining-room. We must clothe with him, and feed with him, and lodge with him at this feast. He is now ready by and by to give Himself to eat; you may see him wrapped ready in the swaddling clothes of his blessed sacrament; you may behold him laid upon the altar as in his manger. Do but make room for him, and we will bring him forth, and you shall look upon him, and handle him, and feed upon him: bring we only the rags of a rent and torn and broken and contrite heart, the white linen cloths of pure intentions and honest affections to swathe him in, wrap him up fast, and lay him close to our souls and bosoms. It is a day of mysteries: it is a mysterious business we are about; Christ wrapped up, Christ in the sacrament, Christ in a mystery; let us be content to let it go so, believe, admire, and adore it. It is sufficient that we know Christ's swaddling clothes: his righteousness will keep us warmer than all our winter garments; his rags hold out more storms than our thickest clothes: let us put them on. His manger feeds us better than all the Asian delicates, all the dainties of the world; let us feed our souls upon him. His stable is not hanged here with arras, or decked with gilded furniture; but it is hung infinitely with gifts and graces: the stable is dark, but there is the Light of the world to enlighten it.

VI.

The smell of the beasts, our sins, are perfumed and taken SERMON away with the sweet odours of holy pardon and forgiveness; the incondite noise of the ox and ass and horse are stilled with the music of the heavenly host; the noise of our sins, with the promises of the Gospel this day brought to us. Let us not then think much to take him wrapped up, that is, in a mystery, without examining how and which way we receive him; it is in the condition he comes to us. Let us be content with him in his rags, in his humblest and lowest condition; it is the way he comes to-day: let us ourselves wrap and lay him up in the best place we can find for him, though the best we have will be little better than a manger. What though there be no room for him in the inn, in worldly souls? I hope yet ours will entertain him, invite him too, and say, as Laban said to Abraham's servant, "Come in, Gen. xxiv. thou blessed of the Lord;" come in, come in, thou blessed 31. Child, come in. "Wherefore standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and room for the camels;" the house for thee, my soul for thee thyself, and my body for the camels, those outward elements that are to convey thee. They are not fitted, they are not fitted as thou deservest; but thou that here acceptedst of rags, accept my poor ragged preparations. Thou that refusedst not the manger, refuse not the manger of my unworthy heart to lie in, but accept a room in thy servant's soul; turn in to him and abide with him. Thy poverty, O sweet Jesu, shall be my patrimony, thy weakness my strength, thy rags my riches, thy manger my kingdom; all the dainties of the world, but chaff to me in comparison of thee; and all the room in the world, no room to that, wheresoever it is, that thou vouchsafest to be. Heaven it is wheresoever thou stayest or abidest; and I will change all the house and wealth I have for thy rags and

manger.

These holy births and raptures, or the like, must our souls this day bring forth to answer this day's blessed birth. It is a day of bringing forth; sure, then, there is no being barren. Bring forth fruits therefore worthy of repentance; these Christ this day came to call for: bring forth fruits worthy of the day, and the blessing of it, holiness, thankfulness, and humility, faith and piety, they become it. Bring our first

VI.

SERMON born, our first and chiefest thoughts, our prime and chief endeavours, to attend him from his cratch to his cross: wrap we up and bind our souls with holy resolutions to his perpetual service, lay them humbly at his feet; let not his poverty, or rags, or manger, or reproach, fright or scare us from it, but make room for him, and receive him; lay him up and bind him fast unto our souls, visit him with the shepherds, and sing of him with the angels, and rejoice inhis birth, with all its happy and mysterious circumstances. So when the First-born from the dead shall come again to raise us up, come wrapped in clouds, and robed in glory, we shall be caught up to meet him in the clouds, and be received of him into eternal dwellings, there to follow him in long white robes, and be with him for ever.

Be it so unto thy servants, O Lord.

THE THIRD SERMON

ON

CHRISTMAS-DAY.

S. JOHN i. 16.

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

VII.

Of his fulness! Of whose fulness? Of Verbum Caro's, for SERMON thither this ejus points us, this day leads us. To "the Word made flesh," to Christ's, to His. Yet of his fulness when so John i. 14. made? Of his emptiness, it would be rather. Of his emptiness to-day it is, that we have all received, that we still receive all there is nothing we receive, but it is from this day's emptiness; and there is nothing that we receive not from it, from his this day's emptying himself into the form of a servant, from this day's exinanition.

Yet it is a day of "fulness" too. His thus very emptying himself for us, his thus very emptying himself upon us, is the very fulness of his grace and favour to us: the day, then, wherein it was, a day of fulness, wherein he was full, and we were filled; he full of grace, and we filled from it. "The fulness of time," the apostle calls it upon this account; Gal. iv. 4. a day wherein law and prophets, types and promises, came all to their full, were fulfilled: we received them all fulfilled to us. A day wherein he gave and we received; gave himself with all his fulness, and we received him. So then we here did, and I hope we here will do so too.

A day then this worthy to be observed in our generation, wherein to fill our hearts with gladness and our tongues with joy; to return back somewhat for our great receipts; to con

VII.

SERMON fess we received a great grace to-day by his coming to us, grace upon grace, favour upon favour by it. To return, therefore, 2, gratiam pro gratia, thanks to him for his grace; and do it, 3, to the full too, with full mouths, in full congregations, so to answer to his "fulness" somewhat like.

For to us this "we" reacheth too, this fulness pours out still. We, therefore, in all reason to acknowledge it, as well as any "we" whatsoever, at any time whensoever, at all times whatsoever; but at the full time, this time howsoever. No time comes amiss to do it in, but this time it comes best; a word in season always best. Now here is a day of fulness, and a text of fulness. There wants nothing but our fulness of praise and duty for it; fulness of humility and thankfulness to receive it. All the “we” in the text received it so, no doubt; all that will be of the "we" of S. John's congregation will receive it in the day, will be glad this day to receive it, and thank God for it,-God for sending, Christ for coming with this fulness to us: be glad with Abraham to see a day, with the shepherds to hear a text, that brings news and tidings of it; be full glad at it.

And it will become us well to do so; we have good reason, for all this fulness is for us. His fulness for our filling: he full, that we might be filled. The fulness his, the redundance ours; ours the benefit; we receive the grace, grace," one grace after another, till we also come to a kind of fulness too, "the fulness of the stature of Christ."

grace for

That we may then receive it as we ought, know we that in the text there is a fulness and a filling to be considered : the fulness his, the filling ours. "Of his fulness we all;" there is his fulness,-a complete, gracious, glorious, communicative, universal fulness. "Of his we have all received, and grace for grace;" there is our filling,-a good, plentiful, gracious, universal filling too.

Yet to understand them fully both, both the fulness and the filling, we must consider this fulness. 1, whose it is; 2, what it is; 3, in what respect it is; 4, how great it is; 5, how large it is: five particulars. First, his it is whom we read of a verse or two before; for ejus is a relative, and refers to the antecedent. Secondly, a fulness it is that is answerable to his greatness, fulness with a double article,