Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER I.
ness of Joseph was rewarded. Nothing so proper
to Jesus as to save, in destroying sin by his grace.
Would to God, that every one would as fully answer
his name of Christian, of pastor, of magistrate, of
father, of priest, &c. as Jesus Christ does that of
Saviour ! O
amiable and reviving Name !
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What
confidence dost thou inspire into true penitents !
What fidelity, gratitude, and love into Christians !
" 22. (Now all this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the pro-
phet, saying, 23. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call
his name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is,
God with us.)"
Jesus is the completion of the prophecies. Mary
is always a virgin, both in conception and delivery,
" All the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily" in
Jesus Christ ; and through him, both with and in
us. Thou art verily and indeed with us. Lord,
by thy incarnation ; vouchsafe likewise to be with us
by the impression and lively sense of thy presence,
by the belief and imitation of thy mysteries, and by
the powerful operation of thy Spirit, thy grace, and
thy love.
" 24. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did
as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife;"
How acceptable a sacrifice to God, is a ready,
humble, and exact obedience ! This gives certain
relief and comfort under inward pains and troubles.
In many such cases, the more one considers, the
more one is perplexed : the secret to find true peace
of mind, is to suffer one's self to be guided. A man