SCRIPTURE LESSONS.

I.

Good Tidings of Great Soy.

LUKE ii. 18-20.- "There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. 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. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came

joy means. Now, tell me, did this message of the angel's ever give you great joy; You have read it many, many times: has it ever once made you joyful? What is it that has made you most happy in all your life? Did anything ever give you great joy? Well, then, you know what it means, and you will know whether this message has given you great joy. But perhaps you have known very little about joy in your life; perhaps you have been poor, or lonely, or sick, or suffering, and have known far more about the sorrows of this life than about its joys. Oh! then, would you not wish to know about this great joy, which is for all people—for you and for me—and you have read about it so often, and it has not made you joyful yet? Well, we must listen to the angel's message once more, and pray God that the Holy Spirit may open our hearts to receive it. What is it, then, that He says is such good tidings? That" to us is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." A Saviour! What are we to be saved from? Do we need to be saved? We are told in Matt. i. 21, that He was to be called Jesus," for He shall save His people from their sins." You know that sin is the source of all our unhappiness, that it brought death into the world, and pain, and sickness, and sorrow, be-* sides all the misery that it causes in our hearts, and the danger of separating us from God, and

casting us out of His presence for ever. From all these evils this Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, came to deliver us; and so the heavenly host sung, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth, peace, good will towards men." What a joyful sound was that!

Now, when the angels were gone away again into heaven, what do we find these shepherds doing? Do they merely sit talking to one another about this wonderful sight which they have seen, or do they forget it? No; they say, Let us now go to Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass. They go with haste-they give themselves no rest till they go and actually see this Saviour of whom they have heard, and so they return glorifying and praising God for all things that they had heard and seen. They were made exceeding glad by these good tidings of great joy; and you may be made exceeding glad by them too; but not unless you determine to know this Saviour of whom you also have heard. You cannot go to see Him lying in the manger, for He is now at God's right hand; but he has ministers on earth to teach us His ways, and the Holy Ghost has been given to us to make Him known to us, if we earnestly seek to know Him; if, like the shepherds, we give ourselves no rest till we know Him of whom we have heard. And remember we have been baptized into His name; we

ought to know Him, for we are His, bought with His blood.

When the shepherds saw the child, they made known what they had heard about Him; and they that heard them wondered at the things which they related; but Mary, the mother of Jesus, kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. That was a very different thing from merely wondering, and telling the story over and over again, and talking about it, and then, perhaps, getting something else to wonder at and talk about. Mary kept these things in her heart; and we must keep them in our hearts and ponder them, or else something very sad may happen; for you know to what people this Saviour was sent. It was to the Jews-it was to them that God sent first that message of good news concerning a Saviour. To them He sent proclaiming peace and good will. And what did they do in return? They refused the Saviour whom He sent, and put Him to death; and so, instead of peace and good will, which God sent messengers from heaven to proclaim to them, they brought upon themselves the wrath of God, and were cast out from being His people.

And to us this message, telling us of a Saviour, has now been sent; of a Saviour who was born in the city of David-who was born the Son of Mary-who, though He was the very Son of

God, became man, and was made in all things like unto his brethren-who knows what it is to be a feeble infant-who knows what it is to be a man of sorrows-who knows what it is to be poor and needy, andnot to have where to lay His head— who knows what it is to be persecuted and evil spoken of, to be left forsaken and alone-who has Himself been in all points tempted like as we are, and now, from that high and holy place to which He has been exalted, invites us to come boldly to a throne of grace, trusting in His never-failing compassion, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Not only have we heard of this Saviour, but we have been baptized into His name, and made children of God. How terrible if we too are found refusing Him, turning away from Him, not caring for those good tidings which should be our chief joy. Do you remember how our blessed Lord lamented over Jerusalem, saying, "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" He is seeking to gather us under His wings now. Shall He have to say of us, Ye would not?"