Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-27
THE SEASON OF JOY.
Christmas Is the Day Of All Days for
the World to Be Glad.
MEANING UF THE ANGELS SONG.
The Christian Religion Is Not Religion Of
Long Faces.
HOW TO OBSERVE TIE HOLIDAYS
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArCH.I
'Behold, I bring you good tidings O.
great joyP'
Out of the midnight sky came the word.
of that wonderful message. Below, in the
fields of Bethlehem, listened the wondering
shepherds. 1t had been night about them.
Darkness had closed in upon them. Ur
above, a few faint stars had shed ray OF
two of dim light, not bright enough to see
BY. Beside their feet, shone the hickering
glimmer of their lanterns. enough to mark
out the rocks and grass of the hill pasture,
and the sheep which they we're set to watch.
But all around them, like wall, was the
blackness of the darkness of the Syrian
midnight.
And then the light came. There was 8
sudden break in the black clouds. Out
shone great gleam of the radiance of
heaven. The whole e1panse above their
heads was flooded with celestial glory. And
out of the central shining of it came an
angel, bearing this message; and whole
choir, and crowd, and multitude of angels
came thronging out behind him, in bright
array, with the voice of singing, chanting
praises and alleleuias, and thanksgivings.
"Glory to God," ran the refrain Of the
hymn of heaven, "and on earth peace"
There Was Darkness Everywhere.
The great world lay in darkness. 1t was
night and winter, not only overhead and
underfoot, but in mems hearts. People
looked out, and looked in, and saw black
ness everywhere. A great sadness and des-
pair seemed to have laid hold upon the
race. The old religions were dead, or dy-
ing. Men were asking about God, and
getting no answers, or lies for answers.
There was no guide. There was no clear
vision. Here and there, some sage or
prophet, like the dim Bethlehem stars, had
bit of light from heaven to offer for the
directing of mems feet. And the Pickering
lanterns of conscience and philosophy
showed step or two of the immediate way,
pointed out some of the nearest duties. But
the world was in the night. And when the
light began to shine there in the neighbor-
hood of the Bethlehem pastures, the men
who saw it were afraid.
"Behold, I bring you good tidings of
great joy" sang the herald angel in the
glory of the Christmas sky, and the men
hid their faces. That heaven should be
open, that a messenger from God should
really speak to the inhabitants of earth,
seemed too good for anybody to believe.
''The angel Of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid"
Message of the Christian Church.
Awaywith fear! Away with the black night
Hail to the sun, and the dawn, and the new
era, and smiles and singing, and glad hearts
The old is passed away; behold all things
are newt "Good tidings of great Joy" I
bring you.
That is the characteristic Christian mes
sage. That is what the Christian Church is
set in the midst of this dark world to say.
Isn't it dark world-outside the church?
Where men and women tremble in the
midst Of their pleasures and look ahead
with fear in their hearts, and nothing salts
fes, and there is no serenity, no peace.
Take away the thought of God, Danish the life
everlasting out of human hope and what is
left which is worth anything? The only
wav to be happy, if you lose trust in the
Almighty Father and look at death as the
end Of ali life, is just to keep from think
ing Don't think; divert your mind with
work or with amusement; don't look up or
ahead. For if you do, you will see the
night about you, you will discover that it is
winter and black midnight But here is
the Church of Christ bringing glad tidings
of great joy to all these men and women un-
der this black sky, making the whole world
bright and new and wonderful and worth
while and glad.
A Message of Great Gladness.
The Church takes a word out of the an
gels Christmas sermon, and makes it de-
scription of all the teaching which she
comes to teach. We preach the gospel"
Our message to men is the message of the
gospel" $50 ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature, is our
marching order. And gospel" means
"good tidings." The message of the Chris
tian Church is to tell the best piece of good
news which anybody ever heard; and to
change night into day the whole world
over, and to bring into everybody's heart
the great Joy which is in our own hearts.
There is no place in our religion for long
faces and melancholy voices, no room in it
for dependency and encouragement. The
emphatic word in it, from the beginning, is
this word 'joy." 'Rejoice in the Lord
alway, and again say, rejoice" Be glad;
lift up your heads. lift up your hearts; sing
alleleuias; be merry and joyful. ''The ram
somed of the Lord shall return, and come
to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon
their heads; they shall obtain joy and glad
ness, and sorrow and signing shall flee
away" That old prophecy finds fulfill
ment in the heart of every Christian. They
used to be able to recognize Christians in
the early centuries by the serenity of their
faces. And you can do that still; you can
tell which are the best Christians by noting
their unceasing happiness.
The Secret of the Believer.
Why, whoever knows that God is his low
ing Father, and that the Lord Christ is his
IoI,x ~ = IL
open gate into celestial country, and a
heavenly company, and life eternal-how
can he help but be glad all the day long!
Sorrow comes, pain gets entrance into life,
iisappointments beset US, there is tribula-
ton, as was promised; but IN the heart of
The true disciple of the Lord Jesus, the sun |
shines on forever We have secret which |
helps MS to face trouble and to Danish fear,
md to be serene amidst perplexities, and to |
be at peace. 1t is the secret which the |
angel told the shepherds on the night be- |
'ore Christmas out of the Syrian SKY. tits the |
open secret, in which our longing is that |
every weary and troubled spirit may have a |
share; the open secret of this great good |
;idings, which transmutes even the iron and |
,teel of sorrow into the gold of JOY.
Christ came amidst the singing of angelic |
,arols, and the chanting of celestial |
lnthems And His coming seemed to
lwaken a whole springtime of new music
There was the song which Zacharias sang:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He
,ath visited and redeemed His people"
There was the song which the Virgin
Mother sang: "My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God
nv Savior" There was the song which old
simeon sang: "Lord, now lettest Thou thy
ervant depart in peace, for mine eyes have
cen Thy salvation.
Great Feast of Gladness,