St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-01-07
A Seasonable Sermon.
nY REV A. W. WILD, rEACHAM.
I Abstract by a Correspondent


The Rev. \. W. Wild gave a most
excellent. earnest aud scholarly Christ
mas discourse last Sabbath, taking for
his text Luke >: 10, II. And the angel
said unto them, Fear not for behold, |
bring YOU good tidinsS of great JOY.
which shall be to all people. For unto
you is born this day in the city OF Da-
vid "A Savior. which Is Christ the Lord.
In the introduction of his sermon, he
said There are hallOwed influences
connected with the right observance OF
the SayioI's birth. Birthdays are way
marks. Christ's birth is the radiating
ceutIc of all the lines of spiritual light
to men. That he was born at all. in
the flesh, is even a greater wonder than
that being born, he should die on the
cross. 1t is not necessary to determine
the precise day of his birth. The .fdctis
sufficient Aud ~ the 25th of Dccem-
Der has come now, to he universally rec
ognized by the Christian world, we
find poetic and symbolcal fitness far
higher than the historical in its observ-
auce. Our fathers, it is true, were afraid
of its being too odorOus of RomiSh su-
pcIstition and abuse. But things,
now, having attained a trucr perSpec-
tive we hail the day with JOY for its holy
Inspirations.
Notice some of the suggestive lessons
of the day:
|. We see hor by the birth Of Jesus
t,ro dispcnSatonS IN the plan Of COTS
mercy are GnLcd togethcr and mdde parts
Of one grant wh"Ie. All precioWs history
pointed forward To it, and all subsequent
history points backward 10 it. Il was
one step in comprehensive plan of
God, prepared for in the past, aud con-
summated in the fulucsS of time. 1t Is
the local point in the worlds history.
And this unity of the Divine purpose
in the unfolding of redemption in our
world, is one of the graudest thoughts
for our contemplation. Here is the
greatness and power of the Christian
religion.
II. Christ WAS born in Bethlehem.
LIST. The name is signifcant-'house
of bread From the time of Naomi aud
Ruth aud David in Jewish history, its
wheat aud barley fields and springs of
water were proverbial. But higher
Specification is to be found in that bread
of God, which came down from heaven,
of which if man eat he shall never
small province of a small nation. Here
is au inherent law of all moral forces.
BignesS IS not greatness. We are remind
ed of the words of the prophet in Mi
cab ;: Il. Yet what honor has been and
will he conferred upon that little city
What poets have sung of it, and what
millions in every land of Christendom
turn their eyes thither!
III. The richness OF the literature Of
ereyy Christian nation IN Christmas
hymns is another significant fact, not TO
be OrerlOoked He who to-day with Lu-
Their, would sing Christmas Carol,
will find it hard to choose from the pIo-
fusion offered. This is especially tue
of us and of all the natives of Protest
ant and Papal Europe. The German,
the Italian, the Scandinavian all have
their favorite and almost classic odes /;
while in the English tongue we cannot
forget what such, sweet singers of our
Israel, as Milton, and Watts, and bod
bride, aud Campbell, and Henry Kirke
White have given us.
". To the shepherds of Bethlehem
the announcement was, GOOD HdiHgS Of
qredt jOy, rhich shall be To all people.
And the response of the heavenly host
sums up these tldings, 'Pcdce on earth,
gO0d- rW to men. Christ comes as the
mediator between man and God. This
was the design of his incarnation. Heav-
en- and earth were brought together.
God and man were Iecouciled. Gods
mercy aud sovereignty meet together III
the babe ot Bethlehem. He Is our peace.
The Prince of Peace Aud not only
peace to the individual soul as the
fruit of Christ's mediation, but peace
between man and man. This is the
practical meaning which lies at the bot
tom of all our recognition of Christ.
Christmas day should he the day OF
peacemakers and peace making, because
it is the birthday of the Great Peace
maker"