The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-28
Christ's Aim TO Make All the
Days Of the Year
Such.
A Sad LOSS Is tho Life Which
Has No True Christ
mas.
The Joys OF the Day Viewed From Three
Standp0tnts by ltsv. r.. ID.
Kelsey, Sc. ID.

pnstor, Rev. j.. ID. Kelsey, Sc. D., preached
the sermon, taking his text from Luke 2:lO.
FOL behold | bring you good tidlngs Of
great joy which shall be to all people" II
Ia a rule in life worthy Of all acceptance
that a man does grandly who can make any
other soul rejoice. But where Ia the man
that can compute the amount of JOY and de-
light and blessing which has come into the
world this last Christmas2 Alas, the sor-
row, the heart-ache, the bitterness and the
woe Of this world; but at Christmas the as
poet Of the entire world is changed from
n Of grief and burden to one Of song and
delight. Christmas joys may be looked at
from three stand points. and from each
point the scene is one of exquisite beauty
and blessing.
First. From the religious standpoint
Christmas is the good tidings of great joy,
telling Of heaven and earth united, and of
the redemption Of fallen, lost men. This
is the essential point-Jesus, the savior,
the redeemer. the lamb Of God.
Second. Moreover, it may be viewed as
the worlds grand domestic day of joy.
Babyhood, motherhood, are honored. 1t is
the time Of love, domestic love. What
Thanksgiving used to be for New England,
Christmas is for the whole world - the
grand, great day Of domestic love and bliss.
The world then comes nearest to the heav-
emily ideal of love.
Third, christmas may also be viewed as
the day of enlarged generosity, in imita-
ton of our Savior, who gave Himself as a
gift to needy men; so on Christmas the
world forgets her selfshness and greed and
goes forth seeking whom to bless.
The most needful Of all Christian lessons
is that in Christmas joys Christ Himself is
the source and meaning Of it all. Hamlet
with Hamlet left out is a feeble illustration
of what is Christmas with Christ left out.
He is the central figure Of all history for
nineteen centuries. He has been so in
wrought into the warp and wool of every
day life that even the common courtesies
of the sea son cannot be exchanged without
the use of His name. The scriptural stories
of His birth, the manner Of it and it's at
tendant circumstances are such that He
is evid emily the son of God a3 we'll as the
son of Mary; the deeds dom by Him. the
words uttered by Him, and the visitations
of angels and the Holy Spirit, all conspire
to lead a whole world to join with ST.
Thomas in his grand confession of faith;
MY Lord and my God" Hence it is that
Christmas has a mighty word to say in de-
Tense of the lordship of our Savior. He is
the son of God as we'll as the son of man.
In all the ages have men tried to sink him
to mere human sonship, but the heart, the
consistently and persistently refuse to 90
with them who try to sink the
son Of God into the mere son of Mary.
Never in all the ages have men sung more
heartily the song:
All hail the power Of Jesus name,
Lot angels PROSTATE fall
Bring forth the royal diadem .u II
And crown him Lord of all.
But what to us makes Christmas 90
bright a dav, we must not forget was to
Him a day of extreme humiliation. For
merly my sympathies clustered around his
quivering cross of Calvary, but by further
study have | been led to feel as deep a SYM
pathy with his hour of birth, when the Di-
vine One became lncarnate and became
one OF us-''a man of SORROWS and &C
quainted with grief" that he might be-
the lamb OF God, our great sin Offer
ing.
In counting over our joys on Christmas
the chief JOY comes from the fact that in
Christ is forgiveness of sin. 1t is the dny
when peace is spoken to our troubled souls.
He is our refuge. He is our advocate. He
is our Offering for sin.
In Christ also is our only hope for the flu
ture life. Our hopes Of heaven are all cen
tered in Christ. Is there any brightness in
our outward look upon eternity? Christ is
the source of that hope. 1.-THE light of the
world is Jesus" Moreover the source and
power of ouf present victories and bless
are centei ed in Christ; in 80 far as we
are successful i'll our struggle against sin, |
and in our efforts for a pure and noble life, |
it is Christ i'll US that is the cause and
power Of our redeemed life even as it is
now.
Further still, what a wonderful difference
in the quality US we'll as the quantity of our
joy as Christians from the so-called JOYS of
The world! Compare the b~acohanalian
of the low groggeries and rum shops
to the higher. puter, nobler joys Of a Chris
tian audience listening to the o~ratorio of
the Messiah. In like manner all the joys of
the Christian life are exalted and ennobled
and multiplied. Christ's aims and inten-
make all the days of the year one glad
Christmas: in the ratio in which we are
truly Christian that purpose is accom-
II feel like singing all the time''
and "Oh, Happy Day" are the %keynotes of
The Christian experience. What a sad loss,
christmas!
ooh, to have no Christ, no Savior, H.. .-N"
No rock, no refuge nigh! ..H
When TIN, dark days round thee gather,
When the storms sweep DER the sky.
''Oh, to have no Christ. no Savior,
How lonely lie must be! H f" |
Like n sailor. lost and driven,
On u wide and shoreless sen.
"Oh, to have no Christ, no Savior,
~ No hand clasp thine own; .+...-
Through the dark, dark vale of shadows,
Thou must press thy way alone.
"Oh, to have no hope in Jesusl "~
No, friend. no light in Jesus!
Oh, to nave no hope in Jesus. a-0. .:
How dark this world must be-"
One OF the grandest orators of our age
las compared the universe to a organ under.
he skillful touch of a master mind pealina
orth the richest of harmony; one stop
lone in all the grand instrument was out
# tune, and that stop ia called vox hui
nnna, the human voice. May it be 30 no
may we too join the glad harmony
nd sing the Christmas song Of good It'd
ngs which shall be to all people.
Still another orator has likened our
ngel son at Christmas to the singing Of