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SERMON XI.

TIDINGS OF A SAVIOUR, TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY.

LUKE II. 10, 11.

"And the Angel said unto them, fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

In the preceding chapter we are informed, that the Angel Gabriel was sent first to Zacharias, a priest, and afterwards to Mary, a virgin of the family of David, to announce to them, and through them to mankind, the birth of the Saviour. The birth of John the Baptist, his harbinger in the great work of redeeming the world from sin and misery, was also predicted by the same illustrious person, and in the appointed season was accomplished. On this occasion, Zacharias, who had been deprived of his speech, both to punish his unbelief, and to manifest the certainty of the prediction, resumed it in the same miraculous manner, and uttered to those around him a memorable prophecy concerning the child already born, and the more wonderful infant whose birth was approaching.

The context opens with an account of a decree, issued by the Roman Emperor, Augustus Cæsar, requiring all the inhabitants of Judea to enrol their names, for the purpose of being taxed. The ancient prophets, particularly Micah, had foretold, that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, the city of David. By means perfectly natural and easy, this prophecy was now accomplished. In Judea, the register of

every family was, according to custom, kept in the city to which that family was originally attached. Bethlehem was the city of Joseph and Mary, the parents of Christ. In obedience to this decree, therefore, they were necessitated to go up from Nazareth, where they usually lived, to be registered in Bethlehem. While they were here attending on this business, she brought forth her first-born son, the Redeemer of mankind.

At this time there was a number of shepherds in the neighbouring fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. As they were occupied in this employment, the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. It cannot be wondered at that they were terrified by this vision, but the Angel soothed their fears, and restored their presence of mind with these remarkable words: "Fear "not; for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which "shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in "the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And "this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe, wrap"ped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

Immediately there appeared a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, "and on earth peace; good will towards men."

Such is a brief recital of the story, of which the text forms an interesting part; a story wholly singular, recounting events of a wonderful nature, and demanding from mankind the deepest attention.

My design in choosing these words, as the theme of the present discourse, is to endeavour to illustrate the declaration made by the Angel, and to show, that the tidings which he published of the birth of a Saviour, are tidings of great joy to all people.

This doctrine I shall illustrate

I. From the story which has been summarily recounted. The person who announced this intelligence to the shepherds of Bethlehem was, it will be remembered, a person of high dignity. He was an inhabitant, and plainly no common one, of the highest heavens. In that happy world he had been

formed with powers of an exalted kind; had stood from the beginning before the throne, and in the immediate presence of God; had advanced for a vast period of time in knowledge and virtue, and had been holden in high estimation among Cherubim and Seraphim. Ample knowledge to discern, and an unquestionable disposition to declare, the real nature of the tidings which he proclaimed, were of course united in him, and left no room to doubt the truth of his declarations.

From his own happy residence he came to this world for the very purpose of publishing these tidings to the human race. Delighted with the nature of this intelligence, he was pleased to be the messenger of it to the world, to which it was so interesting. With him came also a train of his immortal companions, all alike astonished and transported by the event which he announced, and all equally delighted to be present at the birth of the stranger, who this night became a visitor to our ruined world.

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The same illustrious beings had formerly attended him at the creation, when they sang together, and shouted for joy at the sight of the amazing things which he then accomplished. Their songs they now renewed, and joined together in a hymn more noble, more divine, than had ever before proceeded from their lips. Glory," they sung, "to God in the highest, "and on earth peace; good will towards men." God, they perfectly well knew, had been always infinitely glorious, and possessed of infinite goodwill to his universe; but his glory was now peculiarly displayed, and his benevolence outshone all its former manifestations. The redemption, renovation, and forgiveness of sinners were an exhibition of divine excellence, which enlarged the views, and elevated the praises, even of angels, after all their preceding acquaintance with the heavenly system. In proclaiming these tidings, also, the Angel and his companions were wholly disinterested. They had never fallen, and needed, therefore, no Saviour to restore them to the favour of God. In that favour they now stood securely, and were assured by the divine goodness of unchangeable holiness and happiness for ever. Still they rejoiced at the prospect of the restoration of the human race to the favour of God, and

to their own happy society. The good, which they now enjoyed and celebrated, was the good of others; of a race of beings united to them only as intelligent creatures of the same God; creatures who had revolted from their Sovereign, and opposed all the wishes and interests of his virtuous subjects. It was, therefore, a joy most benevolently felt in the mere diffusion of happiness,—a happiness made their own by exalted participation and divine sympathy.

It is further to be remembered, that although they came to this world voluntarily, and were joyfully present on this occasion, yet they were sent hither by their Father and our Father, by their God and our God. Their mission they executed exactly as well as gladly; and disclosed his views as well as their own. In declaring these to be tidings of great joy, they announced the decision of God himself, and proclaimed the views formed concerning this subject by infinite wisdom and goodness. Through them, therefore, mankind are assured that these are tidings of great joy, not only in the estimation of angels, but also in that of Jehovah.

II. The situation in which mankind were when these tidings were brought to them, strongly exhibits the truth of the doctrine.

The whole human race were in a state of determined rebellion against God. Since the apostacy of Adam, there is not the least reason to believe, that a single member of his great family has been born with a disposition to obey and glorify his Creator; that even one solitary instance can be found among his numerous progeny, in which a mind, pure and unbiassed, has loved God, cherished righteousness, and hated sin with all the heart; or that the heavenly character has ever made its appearance, unmixed and unsullied, in this polluted world. On the contrary, the scriptural declarations, which conclude all men under sin, and pronounce every imagination of man's heart to be evil, and only evil, are, and ever have been, completely verified by the concurring experience of all ages and

nations.

As thus guilty and rebellious, mankind were condemned by the holy, righteous, and reasonable law which they had vio

lated, and were, of course, exposed to its dreadful penalty. The law was immutable, like its author, and for the same reason, viz. that it was perfect. Death, therefore, endless and hopeless, was the proper and certain lot of all men; for the law specified no condition on which transgressors might return, furnished no promise to repentance, and communicated no hope of redemption.

In themselves there was no relief for their distresses, and no means of escape from their danger. They could make no atonement for their sins; for all their services were due, of course, for the time being. They could offer no righteousness to reconcile them to God; for their best righteousness was the polluted offering of unclean and rebellious creatures. The door of life was, therefore, shut to them, and could not be opened. If relief existed for them in the divine system, it lay beyond their discovery. In the present world it was unknown; with the future world they had no connection. From the regions where life is found, no messenger, independently of Christ's mediation, had ever visited this residence of apostacy; and no tidings had ever arrived of designs formed for their deliverance, or of hopes indulged concerning their restoration. If such designs existed, if such hopes were entertained, they were hidden from their knowledge, in a book sealed with seven seals.

Thus all the prospects were dark and desolate. A desert of ruin spread immeasurably around them, without a habitation to which they might betake themselves for shelter, or even a friendly hermit to point out a hopeful end to their melancholy pilgrimage. Over their heads extended, without limits, a dreary and perpetual night, in which no lamp lighted their bewildered path, and not a star, not a ray of hope or comfort twinkled through the vast gloom of sorrow and despair.

The destruction to which they were devoted was an awful and comprehensive destruction, involving all evil, and excluding all good. Eternal sin and eternal suffering constituted this compound of woe. In the land of darkness, as darkness itself, where there is no order, and where the light is as darkness, they were banished for ever from the presence of the

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