Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1859-12-08
A DISCOURSE
Delivered ON Thanksgiving Day, Nov. ~,
IN CHRIST CHURCH, MONTPELIER.
BIT REV. p. W. SHELTON,

Blessed be the Lord God Of Israel he hath visited
and redeemed his people-ST. LUXE eS.
These words of ZacLarias the Jewish priest,
on the birth of bis son, John the Baptist, the
forerunner Of our Lord, are the first strains in
magnificent chant of religious thanksgiving
They are not the mere fervent expressions of
gratitude to the Divine Being, such as might
be appropriate to any such OCCASION for as we
read in st. Lukes Gospel, Zecharias was filled
with tho Holy Ghost, and prophesied. They
are marked by the poetical style and diction,
and evidently fraught with the same holy in
spiraton which distinguished the Psalms of
David, the outpourings of the Old Testament
prophets and Hebrew bards.
I" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he
hath visited and redeemed his people. And
hath raised up an horn of salvation for US in
the house of his servant David. As he spake
by the mouth Of his holy prophets which have
been since the world began, that we should be
saved from our enemies and from the hand of
all that hate us
Zacharas spoke with a full perception, no
doubt, Of the speedy advent of one whom John
was " sent" to precede, and of that great re
demption to he revealed through Him. Hence
the lofty and sublime Inscriptions of praise to
God, which he would scarcely have made in
such form, for the birth of his own son, if
that child were not placed in an extraordinary
relation to the Messiah so long prophesied, and
so sh, rtly TO be born. They were spoken by
one who had the first glimpse of a vision of
glory, which his own eyes in its accomplishment
could never see; they refer to blessings to be
shed upon mankind by the coming of unver-
sal Savior, by the development of the plan of
salvation, by the proclamation of that Gospel,
which was to promote peace on earth, and
good will to all mankind.
John, the newborn child, for whom this
song of praise was offered up, was to be be-
headed in prison. Jesus. for whose birth his
mother Mary, in an equally impassioned song,
did magnify the Lord was to be slain upon
the cross the echoes of the angelic chorus over
Bethlehem were to be drowned in lamentable
wall on the destruction of the frst-born to
the momentary lull and cessation of strife upon
the birth of Christ were TO ensue bloody con-
hicts; while the first beginnings of Christian-
ty upon the earth, were to be the signal of
long. confined prosecutions, and to be followed
by almost total observation of the Truth but
the eyes of the prophet looked upon an ulti-
mate advantage, so vast, so far-extended, and
so enduring, that he could rejoice in the distan
prospect, though he we're to die without the
actual sight. lie offered up his thanksgiving
in advance, and though its immediate object
was to present blessing yet the chief burden
of it was the spiritual brightness thereby fore
shadowed, the tender mercies of God to his
people, whereby the dayspring from on High
had visited them, to give light to them that
sat in darkness and in the shadow eff death,
and to guide their feet into the way of peace
Such in every joyful phase of our Christian
course, must still be the principal theme of
praise and thanksgiving. 1t must be CHRIST
not to come-as for Zacharias-but already
come; Christ crucifed, Christ arisen, Christ as
cended into glory, Christ the Redoemer OF the
fallen, Christ the agent Of all our temporal
gifts, the hope and safegua of all men and
! all nations. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and
hath raised up mighty salvation for US. And
this thought | would desire to impress upon
you particularly now, that all which we enjoy,
all our social privileges, all our civilization, all
our liberties all our national advancement and
future prospects, would be nothing, if we were
to blot out the idea of Christ, because the ad-
vance of the age in all which contributes to
human happiness, is not due to intellectual
progress, to the development of the material
means, to the application of science to use.
full arts, to the increase Of wealth, to the added
, refnements and comforts of life, to the spread
OF liberal ideas, to reforms in civil govern
ment, or to anything of this kind, but all thes'
are due, in regard to any redeeming influence
any permanent or ameliorating effects, to th'
; spirit of Christianity, and Christ is the centr
OF that system, and its refulgcnt sun. Ou
i object is indeed to thank God for the birth of
new nation, and ior all the civil and polica
> privileges foreshadowed thereby for the sub
ordinate and temporal blessings which we hold
u but most Of all, for the redemption of tn
; world by our Lord Jesus Christ for the mean
of grace, and for the hopes Of glory.
J For such purpose we are assembled, according
to time-honored custom, as old in fact as TIL
J, social and political system under which we live
e IF our forefathers had not laid the foundation
:. of the commonwealth under most strict sens
~ of their religious responsibility, we might no
# be present to rejoice over the great supcrstruc
/. ture already reared and in the midst of sur
. rounding perils, if anything should lead US tc
Il augur favorably of the Future it is the srecla
r Gle this day presented, when from the confeder
:, ated States, as from so many families o
}. the great Republic, there ascends to Heaven
- from every temple. the voice OF unanimou
!. thanksgiving. 1t is a hope in Christ alone
st which can give eheerfulness to all our holidays
and at,uue our anthems TO sweet accord.
y y As nation we have full reason to give thank
'e to God. through Jesus Christ, that he ha
n raised us to such pitch of exaltaIion, and ha
d crowned the present year with favors surel.,
:, !, He has moi so dealt with any people. We hav
. inherited land magnificent in extent, embrac
5, ing every variety of cline, and of unbounde
q physical resources. In its natural featCres,-
# mountains and fertile valleys, rivers, lakes an
inland waters, it is of unsurpassed grandeur