THE NATIVITY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 327, 22 December 1888, Page 3

THE NATIVITY.

" Glory to God in the highest, 1 on earth peace, and good will toward men.'— liuke ii. 14. Thk song ,wifcL w,Kioh> a multitude of fch.e heavenly' host celebrated the birth of the Saviour is 1 as iente'ntious as it is shortj'as significanfc'as it is sweet', and as sublime a,3 ■it is. sacred. 1 It rises high and reaches far —from, the highest point of space, to the upmost ,tfound of earth. Ifc comprehends the Creator and' tlie creature, htaven arid e'ai£h', man and angel. t It con-^ necLs ' God's throne with God's .foot-" stool; , for, while i( its ascription ,of "praise 1 ascends' to God 1 Most, High as He sits on the eternal throne, it announces peace to man as he sojourns upon earth beneath, proclaiming goodwill to all the tribes and kindreds of our race, it combines all subjects of praise and elements, of blessedness— the honour of God, the happiness of man, and the harmony of all' intelligent creatures. Its contents* are thus' a summary of all gospel blessings, extensive and' even exhaustive as they' are ;' for, if God be honoured, if man be made ' happy, and all creatures bound in a bond of goodwill, we know not .what more is to be 'attained, or what, more needs even to be desired. And yet we have the substance of all this in the brief but .song of the angels in the, country , near Bethlehem. .The following'are the special subject fol the'sbng :— ' I. Glory to God.— There is no word, perhaps, in all the vocabulary of human speech so little understood, and so much abused 1 , as the word glory. The ambitious aspirant to worldly honours swirigshimself to a giddy elevation by the most unscrupulous means ; and yet ifc i& set down as glory. The warrior , achieves some daring deed of arms, which , costs the lives of thousands ; and -yet he is. said to cover himself with glory. Others take a lower aim, 4 and rest satisfied with a more ignoble object making a god of their ' belly, glorying in their shame, minding earthly things. Some glory in their raok, others glory in their riches ; some glory in their power of over-reaching others, some glory in a trifling superiority, re*l , or .imaginary, over their fellowmen. The subjects of human glorying are very numerous and very various ; while the standard is often most erroneous. And yet,' notwithstanding all this, it will ; be readily admitted by all r£ght-mind«d men that there is no true erlory apart from good- j ness, there is no real glory separate from good will and good works as the evidences of that good will ; in other words, benevolence and beneficence can never be severed from genuine glory.' -.Thus it is with God ; though we would not presume to estimate the Divine glory by a human model, rather would we measure human glory bytlieDivine standard. Ifc will be remembered 6hab Moses once besought the Lord in reference to this matter, saying 'I beseech Thee, showmeThy glory ;' .and the answer he received was, ' I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I wiil proclaim the name of the Lord ;' and when that proclamation took place, ifc run thus, • ' The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious; long - suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.' Thus twice in close succession God identified His glory with Hi& goodness. So is ifc here. The, ground of the glory here ascribed to God in Hia goodness in sending His Son, into the world to seek and save that' which was losfc, as we read, so loved' the world that Ho gave His only begotten; Sou, that whosoever believeth in Him" should not perish but have everlasting life.' God lays claim lo glory, not for destroying men's lives, " bufc saving chem ; not for punishing, but preserving. 'As I live,' saitb/the Lord God, ' I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked : but that the wicked turn from his way and live ; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways : for why will ye die, 0 House of Israel ?' The gift of God's Son exhibits above and beyond , everything else the Divine glory, for it is the highest evidence of His goodness ; that unspeakable gift, therefore, manifests God's glory in the highest. 11. In the highest. — This phrase is left indefinite, perhaps purposely so : ifc may mean, either in the highest heavens, and so among the hiehestintelligences ; or ifc may mean in the highest degree, and so in the highest strains. (1) It may mean among the highest intelligences. Angels are not only dutiful servants of God, they are also diligent 6tudenfcs of the Divine works and ways, and consequently of the Divine glory. We are particulai ly informed that they desh'e to look into the thing? connected with man's salvation. And, oh, would not new revelations of that glory flash on the rapt gaze of those nngelic students, when salvation reached that new stage in iks development which was ushered in by the birth of the Saviour ? Would not fresh view sof the Divine attributes and perfections fill them with amazement and adoration? They would contemplate with delight the glory of that wifdom which said, Deliver from goingdown to the pit, I have found a ransom ; which solved the mighfcv problem, how God could be just and justify the ungodly ; which made the grand discovery, how sin could be punished and the penitent sinner saved. They would be equally amazed at the glory of that power which laid help upon one who is mighty ; who raised up a horn of salvation— a" poweiful Saviour — for us in the house of His servant David ; who, out' ot weakness, ordained strength so thab ' what the law could, not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending Hi& own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned, sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of, the law might be fulfilled in us, who \yalk not after the flesh, but after the • Spirit. ' They would be filled with wonder at the glory of the Divine grace and honour of the Divine Majesty, combined in the birth of that Saviour through whom mercy has freo course, and justice is satisfied ; through whom the threatened sen1 tence is annulled, truth vindicated, through whom holiness is exhibited, and the sinner emancipated ; through whom the glory of God's grace is manifested, and the honour of His majesty maintained. But (2) in the, highest, 'may' signify in the highest' degree. God is essentially gloi'ious : we cannot make God moee glorious than He is, the glory of Grod can neither be increased nor diminished by aught that man can do., But we may declare His glory ; we are bound to exhibit His glory : it is our privilege as wefl as our duty to manifest the glory. When, therefore, the glory of God is -placed! in the clearest light, when it 'is! i.viewed'in its various' aspects, when aX shall one day unite to make Hisj praise glorious, andf when angels and archangels, thrones,, and .dominions, principalities and powers, , shall, be joined-' by the .tribes: of. sanotified humanity in that great work, then shall result a cumulative -ex r Jirepsign of ,the Divine glor,y. Then Qod'4 glory ( ' : s.hall W displayed; in^the^highesb 'style;, as n also" in 'the 1 'most fifcsngSst>ains^ ■ : tit i pe > ace i pn^etirth^WKrt'Z i| .may** be 'fclfe," history of^our^WbVia^Jn its great i nationalities ' ? as in* 'its ' petty '''fcnbes ? lis fthV !i history v of" mari^saj.aget.br Bi^ttisd3 vjfib^riofc, a 'Kistor/pf .w^rsVaridifcattle-fields, {of parjjS&e

of victor and vanquished, of battles of warriors withCconfused noise and garmenta rolled in blood? And whafcia fche'coridifcion, ,of ithe. fffamilyi ?/,"'- 'Are \ vhifre^nofc frequent heart-burnings,- petty bickerings, occasional outbursts, of angry passions, »nd scenes of domestic: strife,? And what is the state of the indivi&ual heaf.fc ?, IJearthetestimony of God's^ord, ''There is' no peace, eaith my God, to/t'tfe* wicked.' Now the birbh of Christ was designed Ito "restore peace\te the.indiv^duftlsheajr^pp^Gf .tpjthe domestic hearth, aVd peace, to human family throughout the world! _A l scene' of ptacedid once prevail 6nyea'rt>h'';''it'was in Paradise. ' , r , r ,It was sin which marred the peace' and interrupted ,the harmony.- 'Man turned rebel agaitist God, became an enemy to himself, and prepared to be at war with his fellows. Thus ifc still'' is; for 'whence/ asks the Apostle, ' come wars and fightings ; - among you ? come they not hence, even, of your lusts that war ihyour.member* ?' That the original state of things shall be restored, that Paradise, in this sense, shall be regained, a»d that peace shall' be re-estab-lished throughout the regenerated world, tliis^eryScripture, affirms. Even now, when' a family truly believes the Gospel", it nas peace in its members ; its inmates are knit together in kindness, they are linked together in lovo. Bufc it ii mainly of, the influence of the Goapel on the individual heart that we understand this — mainly of inward,. spiritual peace. The heart that once was like a troubled *e» obtains joy and peace in believing. The effect of 'believing in the righteousness % of Christ is' peace, and the enjoyment .consequent thereon is quietness 'and assurance for erer. The birth of Christ -is represented as the source of this, peace ; His mission into the world was vo produce the peace here spoken of ; 'His message to man is peace •;• 'Go in "peace, thy faith hath saved tbee ;■' His legacy to . the Church is peace, 'Peace* I .leave with you,'- His'giftto every individual • believer is peace, 'My peace I give unto you ; not 'as the world ' gireth, give I unto you.' -- He. if^the great .peace-maker, the head pacificator of humanity ; He Hath madte peace by the blood of the Cross. Once possessed of this peace we have that peace- of. God which pasKeth all understanding. Onpe, in^the enjoyment of this peace, ,we,have;that peace of conscience which the world, 'witk all its wealth, cannofc give, and, with all its wickedness, cannot take -away. Having thus lived in peace, we die in peace ; nor shall our departure hence be a step in the t dark or-into the dark, but a sleep in Jesus. IV. Good-will toward' men 1-}1 -} l or, ' On earth peace among men of good-will"; " that is to say, men to whom God has ' manifested good- will, with whom he is well* pleased, and whom He has accepted' in the Beloved. There mayb e peace where' thercis no goodwill. • There i may be < an' • involuntary | peace, coerced peace, a peace necessitated by circumstances. But there is no stable, satisfying, .or . enduring peace unless it is based on good-will. It is thus with the peace God effors us ; the message of the<angel was the effect of this good-will; the song of the angels was, the evidence of this good will, showing «■ that every* obstacle to the outgoing, of. the divind'^avour is removed, while" the words, of the Apostle^confirni both, whenheinfoTtris^HS that God was in Christ, reconciling! the -world' unto Himself, and' noliimputihgtybeiutre&pnsses unto them and-hath^cQmmittedS unto.us the word of reconciliation-;. >±h'e jmessage vwith which he chargesfhi^amb'aaiadora , being, " Be ye recoucile.d/to,G.od."i -m , „> -