for us. He was nailed to the
cross, and suffered a cruel death for our sakes, bearing the wrath of
God in our stead. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he
loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Christ is that Lamb of God "which has been offered up as a sacrifice,"
and "which taketh away the sins of the world." Now, then, let us
rejoice, and say triumphantly, with the prophet of old, "Unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given." "Behold," said the angels,
"I bring you good tidings of great joy; for unto you is born this day,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." "Glory to God in the highest,
on earth peace, good will towards men."

Oh, how many thousands have had reason to bless the season which we
are now commemorating--the season of the birth of Jesus Christ. The
world, it is true, is still wicked, for there are many who do not
believe in this Saviour; and there are not a few who think they
believe in him, and who do not. Nevertheless, even the world in
general has been the better for his coming, for the thick darkness
is past, and the true light now shineth. Through Christ's coming,
iniquity has been lessened even among unbelievers; for real
Christians, though few, have held up to view the nature of true
goodness, and even bad men have, in some measure, been constrained to
imitate them; they have also grown more ashamed than they otherwise
would have been of their vices.

But who can calculate the blessing which Christianity hath been to
thousands of true believers? How many lives have been made holy here
on earth; how many hearts have been cheered and comforted by it; how
many deaths, which would otherwise have been most gloomy, have been
rendered joyful and triumphant; and, above all, how many immortal
souls have been saved and made happy to all eternity, through faith in
this blessed Redeemer. "My sheep," says Christ, "hear my voice, and
they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." "I go to
prepare a place for them, that where I am there they may be also."

And now, reader, what are your thoughts on the subject of our
Saviour's appearance on this earth of ours? If you are a true
Christian, your language will be such as the following: "It is through
the coming of Christ into the world that I have learned to know
myself, and to know the God who made me. I am by nature blind and
ignorant;