go and worship him; which trouble and jealousy of Herod confirms the expectation the Jews had of a king to be born about that time.

Q. How did the wise men find the young child Jesus?

A. By the help of the same star which appeared to them in their own country; which was now visible to them again, and conducted them in their search of our Saviour, by going before them, and standing still where the young child was; which was matter of great joy and

satisfaction to them.

Q. How did the wise men behave themselves upon their finding our Saviour?

A They fell down and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and presented unto him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh; the most valuable product of their own country, Thereby also acknowledging his majesty, according to the custom all over the East, where they were wont to approach kings with presents. And by the quality of their gifts they seemed to describe the object of their adoration; for they offered myrrh as to a man that was to be delivered to death and the grave for our salvation; gold, as to a king, whose kingdom shall have no end; incense, as to a God, who was made known to them that sought him not.

Q. Why did God manifest his Son to the Gentiles? A. That his grace might appear to all men. For as the Jews had notice of our Saviour's birth by the appearance of angels to the shepherds, so the Gentiles received it now by the appearance of a star; thereby shewing that the time was come wherein the wall of partition should be broken down, and that all nations should be one sheepfold under one shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.

.

Q. Wherein appears the zeal and courage of these wise men?

A. That upon the appearance of an extraordinary star, they undertook so long and tedious a journey; neither regarding the discourses of the world, which might charge them with folly and rashness, nor considering the dangers of going to proclaim a new-born king at the court of a jealous prince.

Q. What may we learn from the observation of this Festival?

A. That true wisdom doth not so much consist in a great understanding, furnished with a large stock of universal learning, as in the use of such advantages to the noblest purposes of serving God and doing good. That no man is too great to be religious, because piety and virtue are the only qualities that ennoble the mind, without which birth and title will never give a man a solid and lasting character. Readily to obey all divine inspirations; for though God prevents us with his grace, yet he expects we should make a right use of it. Not to be discouraged with any difficulty that lies in the way of our duty; and notwithstanding the censures of the world, which will be apt to condemn us, when we depart from the common road of its loose maxims, yet cheerfully to obey when obligation calls. To quit our country, and all the advantages of life, when obedience to God's commands makes it necessary. To take care to testify the sincerity of our faith by not being barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. make the outward acts of our adoration, and the doing homage to the Deity, real expressions of the sense of our minds and inward affections. To offer to him the treasure of our hearts, which is the chief sacrifice he requires.

To

Q. What virtues does the offerings of the wise men

represent unto us as an acceptable sacrifice to our blessed Saviour?

g

A. Gold, which is the common standard of those good things we enjoy, and wherewith we may relieve the wants of the poor, is a fit emblem for charity and works of mercy, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. And David's desiring his prayer might be set before God as incense, and the prayers of the saints ascending after the same manner in the revelations, shews us how fitly our addresses to heaven are represented by frankincense." And the chief use of myrrh being to preserve dead bodies from putrefaction, is a lively image of mortification, that we should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. So that the offerings of a true Christian should be out of a pure heart, charity, prayer, and mortification.

Q. How may we make our riches an acceptable sacrifice to our blessed Saviour?

A. By making use of them to those ends and purposes for which they were bestowed, in supplying the exigencies of our families, and in making such decent provision for our children, as becomes the station we are placed in by satisfying all our just debts, and not oppressing our poor neighbours by delaying the payment of them; and particularly by taking care that the necessitous, and those that want relief, always have their due proportion, which justice, as well as charity, gives them a right to.

Q. When may our prayers be said to ascend before God as incense?

A. When they are offered with such constancy and

Phil. iv. 18.

h Ps. cxli. 2.

Rom. xii. 1.

fervour, as shew we are earnestly solicitous of those things we ask and yet with such modesty and humility as loudly proclaim our own unworthiness, and magnify that wonderful condescension whereby we are admitted to approach God's presence. When our minds are abstracted from the world, and the concerns of this life do, as little as may be, mingle with our requests to God. Above all, when our petitions are offered with faith, nothing wavering. And then we may be said to believe we shall receive the good things we ask, when we perform those conditions upon which God hath promised to bestow them.

Q. When is our mortification an acceptable sacrifice?

A. When we not only abstain from the outward acts of sin, which feed our disease and strengthen our ill habits; but when we deny our bad inclinations the consent of our wills; and deprive them of all those occasions and liberties, which, though lawful in themselves, are yet dangerous to us; because they set us upon the brink of a precipice. And when this contradicting our allowed pleasure is designed in order to get the better of all sinful desires, so that we may not be governed nor led by them.

Q. How ought we to commemorate the manifestation of our Saviour to the Gentiles?

A. With great thankfulness of mind; because upon this enlarging the way of salvation, we became acquainted with the knowledge of Jesus Christ: and with a compassionate sense of the miseries of those that still sit in darkness, and want the light of the glorious gospel.

THE PRAYERS.

FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF GOD.

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten son to the Gentiles; mercifully grant that I, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

FOR THE GUIDANCE OF GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT.

O LORD, from whom all good things do come, for as much as without thee I am not able to please thee; mercifully grant that thy blessed spirit may in all things rule and direct my heart; that by his holy inspiration I may think those things that be good, and by his gracious guiding may perform the same, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

FOR MAKING ACCEPTABLE OFFERINGS TO GOD.

GRANT, O Lord, that I may shew my sense of the great mercy we this day commemorate, by imitating the conduct of the wise men, who were not discouraged by difficulties from obeying the divine call. That the rash censures of the world may never prevail upon me to comply with its loose and unchristian maxims, nor the terrors of it ever affright me from my duty. That thy holy word may govern all my paths and direct all my ways, and that, when I run astray from thy commandments, it may recover me to a sense of my obligations. That the good things of this world, which thy bounty has bestowed upon me, may be offered for the relief of those that labour under want and poverty, a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to thee. That my prayers

Q