Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-28
CHRISTMAS THOUGHT
Message of the Angel That Came
Nineteen Hundred Years Ago
TO THE WATCHING SHEPHERDS.
No Greater Event Has Been Announced in
the History Of the World.
1T MEANS SALVATION FOR THE RACE
"Unto you is born this day Savior"

That was the message of the angel, as out
Of the shining glory of the Lord he came,
above the fields of Bethlehem, where shep-
herds watched their focks. That was the
good tidings of great Joy, so strange, so
wonderful, so filed with blessing and hap
piness unspeakable, that when the angel
uttered it suddenly there stood beside him
a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, "Glory to God in the
highest, and ON earth peace, good will
towards men,"
That is what the psalms and authors say.
That is what Christmas means.
He who was born on Christmas Day came
into this world to save us. He did and does
save every man who puts his hands in his,
and gives him his heart. We want to think
about that this morning. We know it so
well that we are in danger of not knowing
it at all. We want to think about it, and
really get 1t into our hearts and lives, if we
can, more than ever before.
IT'S A FAMILY DAY.
We want to leave behind us for little
while all the other associations which gather
about the day. There is the Joy in all our
homes, with Christmas gifts In them and
Christmas cheer. Christmas is the great day
of the family, and most rightly and
blessedly so. But let us put all that out of
our minds for little space and
think just about this. Let us remember
that Christ was born that He might save us.
You know what need there was in the world
for Christ's help, when He came. You
know what sort of world it was. with re-
ligion almost dead, and morality very little
better. How black the sky was all around
that shining of celestial light where the an-
gels stood-a black sky with only scattered
company of stars to give light in it. That
was how the black world closed in about the
manger in the Bethlehem stable.
There lay the Christ-child, and all about
was the world lying in darkness. There
was light there where the holy child lay
upon the bosom of the virgin mother. The
light which lighteth every man which COM
-th into this world was there; but OIL how
dark it was everywhere else-dark with ig-
norance of God, dark with unbelief, dark
with pain, dark with sin, with only here
and there good man like star. And out
of this darkness Christ came to save us. The
world is better now than it was on that
first Christmas day, and yet it is a pretty
dark world even now. ALL our hearts, am
afraid, have dark corners in them. All our
lives, I know, have experiences Of pain in
them. There is good deal of sin still in
the world, and sorrow beyond anybody's
measuring.
THE TE,oUGHT OF GOOD FRIDAY.
Now there is one part Of the Christian
doctrine which we call the atonement.
would say that it is the very central and es-
sential part. 1t includes all else which
anyone can teach about how we may be
saved. 1t comes into our thoughts most
emphatically at another time of the Chris
tian year than this. 1t centers about the
death of Christ. This revelation of the
bearing of Christ's death upon our sins is
very difficult to understand Indeed it is
so difficult that, seen after pretty nearly
1900 years of study, men have not really got
any further than just the simple fact.
Christ died to save us from our sins. That we
know. And beyond that we know abso-
lutely nothing. Not single theory which
ventures its commentary upon this fact sat-
isles US. This, say, is the part of the
Christian truth about salvation which GEN.
ters about Good Friday, and adds its empha-
sis to the joy of Easter.
That is not the whole of the Christian
truth about salvation. That is not the part
of it which comes into our hearts at Christ
mas We remember to-day how He who
died at last to save us from our sins was
born, and taking our nature upon Him
lived our human life, to save us from our
sins, to give us guidance in our temptations,
to give us consolation in our sorrows
Christ saved US not only by His death but
by His life.
1t is significant, indeed, that Christ came
as little child into the world. Think how
infinitely that widens out the application
of His example! At every step along the
way, we may ask ourselves, How would
Christ have met this difficulty, or en-
countered this temptation, or improved this
opportunity? From childhood up Christ's
life is lived beside our own.
THE EXAMPLE OF A LIFE.
That is one of the things that we want
We want somebody to show us how. We
want somebody to go ahead before us and
give us guidance and the inspiration of his
example. We all recognize the help we get
from good men and women who live beside
us, in whose eyes light dwells which
brig htens the lives of all who see it, whose
lips speak wisdom, whose character upliits
our character. These good people are the
saviors Of their friends. He who was born
on this dav was and is the Savior
of the world. He is just that
which we see in the saints and heroes of our
commo lives magnifed and multiplied in
fnitely. 1t does help a man in the face OF
spiritual danger to think about the purity
and truth of Christ. 1t does give a man
courage to bear misunderstanding, to re-
member how Christ was misunderstood. 1t
does uplift us, it does ennoble us, it does
save us, to think of Him.
Sometimes it all seems dark about us; we
look up and there is no such light in the sky
as the Bethlehem shepherds saw; we listen
for some revelation out of heaven, and the
sky, which echoed with angelic voices 1000
years ago, is dumb. We want to know
what the truth is. And so many people
clamor this. and SO many that, and
everywhere are questions without
any answers, that we wonder if there
really is any truth anywhere. or if we
can ever find out what it is. We are
tempted to take the easy way oil the Apostles
and say, 81 know not" And then we turn
to Christ. We go to Him as the wise men
went, conGessing that we are not wise men
at ali, but that He is wise. and say to Him
we bring our doubts and our darkness and
ask Him to give us light.
TO BE THE LIGHT.
And that is what Christ came into this
world for-to be the light There is no
truth which we need to know, but He will
tell US. There is no question to which we
really need to have an answer, but He will
answer it for US. He who on Christmas
Day took up our life and began to live it.
was the Master. In spiritual things, in
knowledge of God. in knowledge Of the
heart of man, insight into heaven,
He was the Master. What He said.
He spoke out of a mind and heart
before which we can but bow in
reverence. What He spoke is true, be-
cause He spoke it. =, He who knew so much