ECCLESIASTICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1934, 19 March 1891, Page 38

ECCLESIASTICAL.

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROL. A Ssbmon DativsHßD os Sabbath Morning BXCEMBEK 20. 3857, BY THfl KBV. C. H. Spubgkon, at the Music Hall, Royal subrby g-akdknß. " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."— Ltjkb ii. 14. It is superstitious to worship angels ; it is but proper to love them. Although it would be a high sin and au aot of misdemeanour against the Sovereign Court of Heaven to pay the slightest adoration to tho mightiest angel, yet it would be unkind and unseemly if we did not give to holy angels a place in om- heart's warmest love. In fact, he that contemplites the character of angels, and marks their many deeds of sympathy with men, and lii'idness towards them, cannot resist the impulse of his nilure-tae impulse of love towards them. The one incident in angelic history, to which our text refers is enoujh to weld our hea' tB to them for ever. How free trom envy the angels were 1 Christ did not come from heaven to save thf-ir compeeis when they fell. When Satan, the mighty angel, dragged with him a third part of the orars of heaven. Christ did nor. stoop from His throne to die for i<hem ; but We left them to be reserved in chains and darkness until the las'; great day. Yet angels rlid not envy men. Though they remembered that He took not up angels, yet thoy did not murmur when He took up the seed of Abraham; and though the blessed M ! ist«r had never condescended to take the angel's form, they did not think it beneath thorn to express their joy when they found Him arrayed ia th* body of au iufant. How free, ton, they were from pride 1 They werd not ashamed to come and tell the news to humb'e shepherds. Methmlis, they had as much joy in pourlug out/ th ir sorgj that night before the eh-pherds, who were watching with their flocPs as tVy would have bat if they hud bsen commanded by their Mister to slug their hymn in the halls of CiE3ar. Mere men- men possessed with pridei. think it a fine t.huip to preich before kings and princes ; and thiuk it a great condescension now and then to have to mnister to the humble crowd. Not so the angels. They stretched their willing wings, and glaaly sped from thoir bright seats above, to tell the shepherds on the plain by night, tho marvellous story of an Incarnate God. Ai d mark bow well they told the story, nud surely yen will love them I til)', will) t'.o etauuner'ug tongue of him thit tellf a tnlo in whirh ho haih no mti-rest. ; nor e\e - i with the feigned interest ot a man I hat would move. tUe pissions of other*, when ha te>'leth uo emotion himself ; but with j »y sad gladness, such as angeio only can know. They'sanj; the story <ut. for they cui'd not stay to lull it in heavy prooo. They sang. " Glory to Uod on high, and ou eaith peace, good will towards men." Methinks, they sang it with gladness ia their eyes ; with their hearts burning

•with love, and with breasts as full of joy as if the good news to man hud b^en good news to them»elves. And, verily, it was good news to them, for the heart of sympathy makes good news to others. K" od news to itself. Do you not love the angels ? Ye will not bo v before them, and there ye are right; but will ye nob love them f Doth It not make one part of your anticipation of heaven that in heaven you shall dwell with the holy angels as well as with th-i spirits of the Just made perfect ? Oh, how sweet to think that these holy and lovely bsingß are our guardians every hour i They keep watch and ward about us, both in the burning noontide, and in the darkness of the night. They keep Us in all our ways ; they bear us np in their hands, le»t at any time we daah our feet against stones. They unaoasingty minister unto us who are the heirs of salvation ; both by day and night they are our watchers and our guardians, for know ye not, that " the angel of the Lord encampeth rouud about them that fear Him." Let us turn aside, having juet thought of angels for a moment, to think rather of this soDg, than of the angels themselves. Their Bong was brief, but as Kitto excellently remarks, it waa ", well worthy of angels expressing the greatest and moat b'essed truths, in words so few, that they become to an acute apprehension, almost oppressive by the pregnant fulness of thtir meaning"— " Q lor v to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." We (ball, hoping to be assisted by the Holy Spirit, look at these words of the angels in a fourfold manner. I_ shall just suggest some instructive thoughts arising from these words; then some emotional thoughts ; then a few prophetical thoughts ; nod afterwards, one or two preceptive thoughts. I. First then, in the word* of our text. There are many instructive thoughts. The angels sang something which men could underttand— something which men ought to vinder(rtand — something which ■will make men much better j if they will uaderstaud it. The angels were singing about Jesus who waa born in the manger. W> irtußt look upon their song as being built upon this foundation. They sang of Christ, and the salvation which he came into this world to work out. And what they said of this salvation was this : they s«iid, first, that it gave gory to God ; secondly, that it gave peace to man ; and. thirdly, that it was a token of God's good will towards the human race. 1. First, they said that this salvation gave glory to CP>d They had been present on many august occasions, and they had joined in many a solemn chorus to the praise of their Almighty Creator. They were present at the creation: '• The morning stars sang together, and all the so s of God shouted for j'>y. They had seen many a nlanet fashioned between the pa'ms of Jchovh. and wheeled by His etorual hands through the infinitude of upace. They had sung solemn songs ovf'r many a world which tha Great One had created. Wo doubt, not, th*y had often chanted " Blessing and honour, and glory, and msjestv, and power, and dominion, find might, be uno Him that nitteth on the throve," manifesting Himself in the work of crention. I doubt not, too, that their songs had gathered force through ages. As when first created their first breath was song, so when they saw God oieate new worlds t.hon their song received another note ; they roße a little h'gher in the gamut of adoration. But this time, when they saw God stoop from His throne, and become a babe, hanging upon a woman's breast, they lifted their notes higher still; and reaohing to the uttermost stretch of angelic music, they gained the highest notes of the divine scale of praise, and they sung, "Glory ro God in the highest," for higher in goodness they felt God could not go. Thus their hipheot praise they gave to Him in the highest aot of His Godhfad. If it be true that there Is a hierarchy of angels, rising tier upon tier In magnificence and dignity— if the apostle teaches us that there be " angels, and principalities, and powers, and thrones, and dominions," amongst these blest inhabitants of the uppor world — I can suppose that when the intelligence was first communicated to those angels thafc.are to be found upon the outskirts of the heavenly world, when they looked down from heaven and saw the new-born babe, they sent the news baokward to thejplaoe" whence the miracle first proceeded, singing -. " Angels, from tho realms of glory, Wing your downward flight to earth, Ye who sing creation's story, Now proclaim Me«iah'« birth ; Gome and worship, * Worship Christ, the new-born King." And as the message ran from rank to rank, at last the presence angels, those four cherubim that perpetually watch around the throne of God — those wheels with eyes -took up the strain, and, gathering up the eong of nil the irffiSrior grades of angels, surmounted the divine pinnacle of harmony with their own solemn chant of adoration, upon which the entire host shouted, " The highest angels praise Thee."—: 1 Glory to God In the highest." Aye. there is no mortal that can ever dream how magnificent was that song. Then, note, if angeh shouted before and when the world was made, their hallelujahs wore more full, more strong, more magnificent, if not more hearty, when thfly saw Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary to be man's redeemer—" Glory to God in the highest." What is the instructive lesson to be learned from this first syllable of the angels' song? Why this, that salvation is God's highest glory. He ib gforifipd iv every dew drop that twinkles to the morning tun. He is magnified in every wood flower that blossoms in the copse, although it live to blu^h unseen, and waste its sweetness in the forest air. God is glorified in every bird that warbles on the spray ; ia eve<-y lamb that skips the me*d. Do not the fishes in the sea praise Him ? From the tiny miv ow to the huge Leviathan, do rot all creatures thah swim the- water bless and praire Hia name? Do not all created things extol Him ? Is there aught boneath the fky, say« man, that doth not glorify God ? Do not the stars exalt Him, when they write Hjs name upon the azure of heaven in th?ir golden letters? Do not the iifjhtnings adore Him when they flash His brightness in arrows of light piercing the midnight darkness? Do not thunders extol Him when they roll like drums in the march of the God of armies ? Do not ail thiDga exalt Him, from the least even to the greatest? But sing, sing, ob universe, till thou hist exhausted thyself, thou canst not afford a song so iweet as the song of Incarnation Though creation may be a majestic orgau of praise, it cannot reach the compass of the golden a*nticle— lncarnation I There is more in that, than in creation, more melody in Jesus in the manger, than there is in worlds on worlds rolling their grandeur round the throne of the Most High. Pause, Christian, and consider this a minute. See how every attribute is here magnified. Lo! what wisdom is here. God becomes man that God may be just, and tbe justifier of the ungodly. Lo ! what power, for where is power so great as when it concealeth power? What power, that Godhead should unrobe itself and become man! Behold, what love is thus revealed to us when Jesus becomes a man. Behold, ye, what faithfulness I How many promises are this day kept? How many «olomn obligations are this hour discharged? Tell me one attribute of God thnt is not manifest in Jesus ; and your ignorance shall b9 the reason why you have not teen it so. The whole of God is glorified in Christ; and though some pirt of the name of God la written in the universe, it is here boat read — iv Him who was the Son of Man, and, yet, the Son of God. But, let me say one word here before I go away from this point. We muit learn from this, that if salvation g'orifies God. glorifies Him in the highest degree, aim inalcos the highest creatures praise Him, thio one reflection may ba added— then, thut doctrine which glorifies man in salvation cannot be the gospel. For salvation glorifies God. The angel* were no Armlniane, thpy sang, " Glory to God in the highest." Thoy believe in no doctrine which uncrowns Chrlet, and puts the crown upon the head of mortals They baiieve in no system, of faith which makes salvation dependent upon the creature, and which really gives the creature the praise, for what is ifc less thin for a man to save himself, if the wholo dependence of salvation rests upon biß own free will ? No. my bwthren ; there may be gome preachers that delight to preach a doctrine that magnifies man ; but in. their gospel angels have no delight. The only glad tidings that made the ang-ls sing are those thut put G^d first, God last, God midst, and God without end, iv the salvation of His ceaturev and put tbe crown wholly and alo^e up'jn tbf> head of Him that s-wes without a helper. " Glory to God in the highest," is the angels' song. 2. When they had Rung this, they sang what they hid never Buug befora. " Glory to God in tho highest," was an old, old song; they had sung that from bjfore the foundations of the world. But. now. they oaug as ifc were a uew song before the throve of God; for they added this stanza — "on earth, peace." They did not slug that in the garden. Them \vs\s peace there, but it seemed a tiling of course, and eoxree worth singing of. There was morn tlian peaos the~e ; for there was glory to God tli-ro. B"t, now, man had fallen. «u<l aiuce tho 6av when chmubim with li a ry Mvords drove out the man, there had b? en vo peace on earth, save in the breist of eorae believers, who had obtained ptaee from the living fountain of this incarnation of Christ. Ware had raged from the ends of the world ;

men had slaughtered one another, heaps on heaps. There had been wars within as well as wars without. Conscience had fought with man ; Satan bad tormented man with thoughts of sin. There bad been no peace on earth since Adtjm fell. But, now, when the new-born King made His appearance, the swaddling band wi'.h which Kb was wrapped up waß the white flag of peace. That manger was the place where the treaty was signed, whereby warfare should be stopped between mau's conscience and himself, man's conscience and his God. It was then, that day, the trumpet blew — " Sheathe the sword, oh man, sheathe the sword, oh conscience, for God is now at peace with nwn, and man at peace with God ." Do you not feel , my brethren , that the gospel of God is peace to man ? Where else can peace be found, but in the message of Jesus ? Go legalist, work for "peace with toil and pain, and thou shalt never find it. Go, thou, that trusteth in tbe law : go thou, to Sinai; look to tbe flames that Moses saw, and shrink, and tremble, and despair ; tor peace is nowhere to be found, but in Him, of whom it is said, " This man shall be peace." And What a peioe it fs, beloved 1 1 1 is peaoe like a river, and righteousness like the waves of the sea. It is the peace of God that passeth all understanding, which keeps our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. This sacred peace between the pardoned soul and God the pardoner; this marvellous at-one-ment between the sluner and his judge, this was it that the angels *ung when tbey said, " peace on earth." 3. And, then, they wisely ended their song'with a third note. They said. " Good will to man." Philosophers have said that God has a good will toward man; but I nev«r knew any man who derived much comfort from their philosophical assertion. Wise men have thought from what we have seen in creation th\t God had much «ood will j toward man, or else His works would never have been so constructed for their comfort ; bub I never I heard of any ntdu who could risk his soul's p^ace j upon bu-th a taint hope as that But I have not only i heard of thousands, but I know them, who are quite, cure that God has a good will towards men ; and if you ask tueir reason, they will give a full and perfect answer. They Bay, He has good will toward man for Ho gave His Son. No greater proof of kindness between the Creator and His subjects can possibly be afforded than when the Creator gives His ooly begotten and well beloved Son to die. Though tbe first) note is God-like, and though the seoond note is peaceful, this third note melts my heart the most. Some thiuk of God as if He were a morose being who hated all mankind. Some picture Him as if He wero son c abstract substinenoo taking no interest in our affairs. Hark ye, God has " good will toward men." You know what good will means. Well, alt that it means, and more God has to you, yo sons n»id daughters of Adnm. Swearer, you h*ve cursed God ; He h<is nob fulfilled Hia ourse on you ; He his good will towards you, though you have no good will towards Him. Infidel, you have slnnrd high and hard against tbe Most High ; He ■ has said no hard things against you. for He bus j siood will towards men. .Poor sinner, tbou bast broken His laws; thou art half afraid to come to the throne of meroy lest He should spurn thee ; hear thou this, and bo comforted— God has good 1 will towards men, so good a will that He has said, and said it with an oath too, " As I live, saith tbe Lord, I have no pleasure in the death cf him that dieth, but bad raober that he should turn unto me and live " ; so good a will moreover that he has even condescended to say, " Come, now, let ua reason together ; though your sins be aB scarlet, they shall be as wool ; though they bo red like crimson, they shall be whiter than snow." And if you say, " Lord, how shall I know that Tbou hast this good will towards me," He points to yonder manger, and says, " Sinner, It I hid not a goed will towards thee, would I have parted with my S >n ? if I had not gopd will towards the human race, would I have given up my Son to become one of that race that He might by so doing redeem them from death?" i Ye that doubt the Master's love, look ye to that ! circle of angels ; ccc their blaze of glory ; hear their soDg, and let your doubts die away in that; sweet music and be buried in a shroud of harmony. He v has good will to men ; He is willing to pardon ; He passes by iniquity, transgression, and sin. And mark thee, if Satan shall then add, " But though God hath good will, yet He cannot violate His juitioe, therefore His meroy may be ineffective, and you may die " ; then listen te that first note of tbe •><ng, "Glory to God in the h ! ghest,"and reply to Satan and all his temptations that, when God shows good will to a penitent sinner, there is not only peace in the sinner's heart, but it brings glory to every attribute of God, and so He can be just, and yet justify the sinner, and glorify Himself. I do not pretend to say that I have opened all the instructions contained in these three sentences, but 1 may perhaps direct you into a train of thought that may serve you for the week. I hope that all through the week you will have a truly merry Christmas by feeling the power of these -words, and knowing the- unction of them. " Gli.ry to God in the highest, on earth peaoe, good will toward men." 11. Next, I have to present to you some emotional thoughts. Friends, doth nob this verse, this tong of angels, stir your heart with happiness ? When I read tbat, and found the augels singing it, I tbotfght to myself, '• Then if the angels ushered ia the Gos pel's great Head with singing, ought 1 not to preach with singing ? And ought no& my hearers to live with singing ? Ought not their hearts to be glad and their spirits to rejoice?" Well, thought I, there be some sombre religionists who were born in a dark night in Decembsr that think a smile upon tbe face is wick id, and believe thit for a Christ an to be glad and rejoice is to be inconsistent. Ah 1 I wish thesn gentlemen had seen the angels when they sang about Christ, ; for if angels sang aubut his birth, though it was no concern of theirs, certainly men ought to sing about it as long as they live, sing about it when they die, aud slug about it when they live in heaven for ever. I do long to see in the midst of the church more of & sinßiug Christianity. The last few yenrs have been breeding in our midst a groaning and uutWieving Christianity. Now, I doubt not its sincerity, bub I, do doubt its healthy Character. I say-it may be true and real enoughGod forbid I should say a word against the sincerity of those who practise it ; but it is a sickly religion. Watts hit the mark when he naif : " Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less." It is designed to do away with some of our pleasures, but it gives us many more to make up for what it takes away; so it does not make them less. O ye that sse in Christ nothing but a subject to stimulate your doubts and make the tears run down your oheeks ; Oye that always say, " Lord, what a wretched land is this, Tbat yields us no supplies," come ye hither and see the angels. Do they tell their story with groans, and sobs, and sighs? Ah, no ; they shout aloud, " Glory to Qod in the highest " Now, imitate them, my dear brethren. If you are professors of religion, try always to have a cheerful carriage. Let others mourn ; but •• Why should the children of a king Go mourning all their days ?" Anoint your head and wash your face ; appear net unto men to fast. Bejoice in the Lord always, and again I cay unto you rejoiOH. Specially this week be not ashamed to be glad. You need not think it a wicked thing to be happy. Penance, and whipping, and misery fire no such very virtuous things, after all. The rtamaed are miserable ; let the suved be happy. Why should you hold fellowship with the lose by ftelingo of perpetuM mourning ? Why not | rather anticipate the joys of heaven, and begin to I eiug on earth that song which you will never need to end ? The first emotion then that we ought to cherish in our hearts is the emotion of joy and gladness. Well, what next? Another emotion is that of conn-lenco. lam not sure that lam right in calling that emotion, but otill'ln me it is so much akin to it, that I will venture to he wrong if I be so. Now, if when Christ came on this earth God had sent some black creature down from heaven (if there be 6uob creatures there) to toll us, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," aud if with a frowning brow aud a stammering tongue he delivered his message, if I had be»n there and heard it, I should have scrupled to believe him, for I should have said, " You don't look like tbe mosoenger that God would send -stammering fellow as you are— with such glad news as this." But when the angels came there was no doubting the truth of what they said, because it wao quite certain that the angels believed it ; thoy told it as if they did, tor they toM it with singing, with joy aud gladness. If some frieod, having heard that a legacy was left you. and Bhould come to you with a solemn countenance, and a tongue like a funeral be!l, Biivins, J'Du jou kuow 60-<ind so has left jou £10,000 ? " Why, you would say, •' Ah ! I dnre say," and teuj;h la his fao.e. But if your brother should suddenly burst, into ycur room, arid oxolaim, " I say, w hnt do you think ? You aro ft rich man ; so-and-so hai 'eft. you £10,000 ! " Why, you would say, " I tiiink it is very likely to be true, for he looks so hapnfc over it." Well, when theae angels came from heayf n they told the news just as if they believed I

it; and though I have often wftfoediy doubted my Lord's good will, I think I never could havd doubted It while. I heard those angels singing. Wo, I should say, "The meisenger* themselves are proof of thd truth, for it seems they have h*ard it from God's lips ; they have no doubt about it, for see how jojously thfy tell the news." Now, poor eoul, tbou that art afraid lest God should destroy thee, and thou thinkest that God will never have mercy upon ttiee, look at the singing angels and doubt if thou darest. Do not go to the synagogue of long- faced hypoorltes to hear the minister who preaches with a nasal twang, with misery in his face, whilst -ha tells you that G.»d has good will towards men ; I know you won't believe what be says, for he noes not preach with joy in bis o»nnteuance ; he is telling you good news with a grunt, and you are nob likely to receive it But go straightway, to tbe plain where Bethlehem shepherds sat by night, nnd when, you hear the angels singing out the go: pel, by iho grace of God upon you. you cannot help believing that they manifestly feel the preoiousness of telling. Blessed Christmas, that brings such creatures, as nngels to confirm our faith in God's good will to men 1 111. I must now bring before you the third point. There are some prophetic utterances contained in these words. The angels swag, " Glory to God in tho highest, on earth pesos, good will toward men." But I look around, and what see I in the wide, -wide world? I do not see God honoured. I tee tha heathen bowing down before their idols ; I mark the Romanist ousting himself before the rotten rags" or his relics, and the ugly figures of his image's. I look about me, and I see tyranny lording it over tbe bodies a»'d souls of men ; I see God forgotten ; I tee a worldly race pursuing mammon ; I see a bloody race pursuing Moloch: I «cc ambition riding like Biinrod over tha land, God forgotten. Hia nanvi dishonoured. And was this all tho angels sang ;>bont? Is thia all that ma«ie them sing " Glory to God iv the highest?" Ah I uo. There are brighter ilays approaching. They sang " Peace on earth." But I hear still the clarion of war; and the cannon's horrid roar; not yet have they turned the sword into a ploughshare, and the spear into a pruninghook! War still reigni. I« this all that the angels sang about ? And whilst I see wan to the ends of the earth, am I to believe that this was all tbe angels expected ? Ah 1 no, brethren ; the angels' song i« big with prophecy; }t travaileth in birth with glories. A few more yarn, and he that lives them ouc shall see why angels sang; a few more jears, and he that will come shall come, and will not tarry. Christ the Lord will come agaiu, and when He Cometh He shall cast the idols from their thrones ; He shall dash down every fashion of heresy and every shape of idolatry ; He shall reigo. from I'Oter to pojo with illimitable sway ; He shall reign when, like a scroll, yon blue heaven* have passed away. No strife shall vex Messiah's reign, no blood Bhall then be shed ; they'll h<tng the useiesß hernlet high, and study war no more. The hour is approaching when tbe temple of Janus shall be shut for ever, and when oruel Mars shall be hooted Jrom the earth. The day is coming when the lion shall eat straw like the ox, when the leopard sba'l He down with the kid ; when the weaned child shall put bis hand upon the cockatrice den and plnywith tbe asp. The hour approacheth ; the first streaks of the sunli/zbt have made glad the age ia which we live. Lo, He comes, with trumpets and with clouds of glory ; He shnll come for whom we look with' 'jovous expectation, whose coming shall be glory to His "redeemed, and confusion to His enemies. Ah ! brethren, when the angels sang this there was an echo through the long aisles of a glorious future. That echo was— " Hallelujah I Christ tbe Lord God Omnipotent shall reign." Ay, and doubtlesi the angels heard by faith the fulness of the song, ' " Hark l the song of jubilee Loud as mighty thunders' roar, Or the fulness of the sea When it break* upon tbe shore." " Christ the Lord Omnipotent reigneth." IV. Now, I have one more lestou for you,' and -I have done. That lesson ia preceptive. I wish everybody that keeps Christmas this year would beep it as the angels kept it. There are many persons who, when they talk about keeping Christmas, menn by that the cutting of the bands of their religion for one day in the year, as If Christ were the Lord of misrule, as if the birth of Chries should be celebrated like the orgies of Brfcohus. There are some very religious people that on Christmas .would never forget to go to church in the morning ; they believe Christmas to be nearly as holy as Sunday, for they reverence the tradition of their elders. Yet their way of spending tbe rest of the day is very remarkable ; for If they see their way straight up stairs to their bid at night, it must, be by accident. They would not consider they bad kept Christmas in a proper manner if they did not verge on gluttony and drunkenness. There are many who think Christmas cannot possibly be kept except there bo a great shout of merriment and mirth in tha house, and added to that tbe bolsterouaness of sin. Now, my brethren, although we, as 6ucaet*ors of tbe Puritaus, will not heap the day in any religious sense whatever, attaching nothißg more to it than to any other day : believing that every day may be a Christmas for aught we know, and wishing to make every day Chtiitmas. if we can, yet we must ! try to set an example to others how to bshave on that day ; and especially since the angels gave glory ; to God ; let us do the same. Once more tv« angels laid, " Peace to men": let ua labour if we c*m to mnko pe<tce next Christmas Day. Now, old gentleman, you won't take your son in: bebas offended you. Fetch Ijim at Christmas. " Peace ou earth, "you know (hat is a Christmas orrol. Make peace in your family. Now, brother, you have made a vow that you will never speak to your brother again. Go after him and say, " Oh, my dear fellow, let no*, this doy'c sun go doivn upon our wrath." Fetch him in, and give him your hand Now, Mr Tradesman) you have an opponent in trade, and you bave said tome very hard words about him lately. If you do not make tbe matter up to-day, or to-morrow, or as soon as you cau, yet do it ou that day. That is the way to keep Christmas, peace on earth and -glory to God. And oh, if thou bast anything on thy conscience, anything that prevents thy baviog peace, of mind, keep thy Christmas iv tby chamber, prajiDg to God to give thee peace ; for it is peace on earth, mind. p?aoe iv thyself, peace with thyself, peace with thy fellow men, peace with thy God. And do not think tbou hast well celebrated that day till thou canst say, " O God, " ' With the world, myself, and thee I ere I sleep at peace will be.' " And when the Lord Jesus has become your peace, remember, there is another thing, good will towards, men. Do not try to keep Christmas without keeping good will towards men. You are a gentleman,, and bave servants. Well, try and tet their chimneys on fire with a large piece of good, substantial beef for them. If yon are men of wealth, you have poor ia your neighbourhood. Find something wherewith to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, and make glad the mourner. Bemember, it is Rood wi'l towards men. Try, if 'you can, to show them good will at this special season ; and if you will do that, the poor will say, with me, that indeed they wish there were six Christmases in the year. Let each one of us go from this place determined, that if we are angry all the year round, ibis next week shall be an exception ; that if we have snarled at everybody last year, this Oh'istmas time we will strive to be kindly affeotionate to others ; and if we hive lived all this year at enmity with God, I pray tint by his Spirit "He m^y thia week Rive us peace with Him ; and then, indeed, my brother 16 wiH be tbe merriest Christmas we evtr bad in all our lives. You are going home to your father and mother, young men ; many of you aro gotng from your shops to your homes. You remember what I prraohed oa last Christmas time. Go home to thy friends, and tell them what the Lord hath done for thy eoul, r.nd that will make a blessed roumt cf stories at the Christmas fire. If you will e-jch of you tell yonr pa-ents ho.v tho Loni met you ia the house of prayer ; bow, when you left homo, you were a gay, wild blade, but have now come- back to love your mother's God, and read your father's Bible. Oh, what a happy Christmas that wilt make I What more shall I say? May God give you peace with yourselves ; may He give you good will towards all your fr<endß, your enemies, and your neighbours ; ' and may He give you graca to give ,gory to' God in the highest I will say no more, except atj th» close of this sermon to wish every one of you. when the day ahull come, the happiest Ohris&mai you ever bad in jour lives. " Now with angels round the throne, Cherubim and seraphim, And the Church, whl.jh still is one. Let us swell the solemn hymn ; Glory to tbevgreat 1 AM ! Glory to the Victim Lamb. Biasing, honour, glory, might, And dominion infinite, To the Father of our Lord, To the Spirit and the Word ; A* ifc was all world* before, Is, and shall be evermore."

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