s; yet still so, that they are all but Divine, all that they can
be made without violating the incommunicable majesty of the Most High.
Surely in proportion to His glory is His power of glorifying; so that to
say that through Him we shall be made _all but_ gods--though it is to
say, that we are infinitely below the adorable Creator--still is to say,
and truly, that we shall be higher than every other being in the world;
higher than Angels or Archangels, Cherubim or Seraphim--that is, not
here, or in ourselves, but in heaven and in Christ:--Christ, already the
first-fruits of our race, God and man, having ascended high above all
creatures, and we through His grace tending to the same high blessedness,
having the earnest of His glory given here, and (if we be found faithful)
the fulness of it hereafter.

If all these things be so, surely the lesson of joy which the Incarnation
gives us is as impressive as the lesson of humility. St. Paul gives us
the one lesson in his epistle to the Philippians: "Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no
reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men[3]:" and St. Peter gives us the lesson of joyfulness:
"whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory: receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

Take these thoughts with you, my brethren, to your homes on this festive
day; let them be with you in your family and social meetings. It is a
day of joy; it is good to be joyful--it is wrong to be otherwise. For
one day we may put off the burden of our polluted consciences, and
rejoice in the perfections of our Saviour Christ, without thinking of
ourselves, without thinking of our own miserable uncleanness; but
contemplating His glory, His righteousness, His purity, His majesty, His
overflowing love. We may rejoice in the Lord, and in all His creatures
see Him. We may enjoy His temporal bounty, and partake the pleasant
things of earth with Him in our thoughts; we may rejoice in our friends
for His sake, loving them most especially because He has loved them.

"God has not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we
should live together with Him