St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-01-31
thought that Christmas is coming. .

x
of joy and light. And the hearts OF
the children are not the only ones
| that thrill with the announcement
that Christmas is coming, for thel1
elders warm with the thought anc
are soon busy with plans for others
to make the day bright with its
gifts. Christmas is coming! Ine
Angel Gabriel was the first to bea1
these glad tidings to earth; to the
earth lost in the darkness OF sin; to
the earth grooming under the BOND
age of it's human masters. Listen to
his message:
''Fear not Mary: for thou hast founo
favor with God. And behold, thou shal'
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
son. and shalt call His name Jesus. He
shall be great, and shall be called the
Son OF the Highest: and the Lord COO
shall give unto Him the throne OF Hls
father David: and He shall reign over the
house of Jacob forever; and OF HIS KING =.
dom there shall be no end."-Luke l:So-3S.
Jesus is coming! In the breast
of every devout Jewish maiden
burned the flame OF hope that she
might be the mother Of the promised
Messiah, and the rapture Of Mary's
heart found expression In her IN
spired song:
MY soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiceG In God my
Saviour. F5 l II
For He hath looked upon the low estate
Of His handmaiden:
For behold, from henceforth all genera
tions shall call me blessed
For He that is mighty hath done to me
great things IS &c e
And holy is His name. "a
And His mercy is unto generations and
generations
On them that fear Him.
He hath showed strength with His arm;
He hath scattered the proud in the 1mag1-
nation of their heart.
He hath put down princes from tnedr
thrones, ~ ~
And hath exalted them of low degree.
The hungry He hath filled with good
things;
And the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen Israel His servant,
That He might remember mercy t@sR 4
CAS- He spake unto our fathers) '$
Toward Abraham and his seed, for ever
And we can enter into the spirit
and joy of that song, for Mary re-
joiced in God her Saviour, and pre-
pared the way for His coming by a
surrendered will and life. The mirac-
ulous circumstances surrounding the
birth of Jesus were Divinely ordered
and Divinely wrought out. The angel
announced the fact that Jesus was
coming. Mary accepted with I'M
bounded JOY the fact that Jesus was
coming. Gods will! How beautiful
it is! It takes root and buds and
blossoms in the fruitful ground of a
surrendered will and the dead self
of a human life. Jesus is coming!
Prepare We the way of the Lord.
Glad message of the angel! How
can l prepare the way for His COM
ing? By a surrendered will and an
cbedient heart. Miraculous, indeed,
is the advent of the Christ into the
human heart and life. 1.-THE wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou
nearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whittier
it goeth: so is every one that is born
of the Spirit" y
Jesus is coming! So spake the an
gel, and then he sped back to God.
The place of the Son on the throne
with His Father was empty. The
One who was co-existent with God,
who had laid the foundation of the
EARTH" and. whose hand had fash
toned the heavens" was gone from
the Fathers house into the far coun-
try to pay the wages of sin by His
death and redeem back to God the
souls of men. Oh, what sad and
empty place was Heaven with the
Son and Heir absent. The angels
stood in mute wonder before the
mystery of Gods marvellous plan of
salvation. Suddenly the scene is
changed, there is a mighty stir
among the angels and Gabriel speeds
from the presence of God to the
shepherds tending their focks by
night, land the glory of the Lord
shone round about them, and they
were sore afraid. And the angel
said unto them: Fear not; for, be-
hold, I bring you good > tidings of
great joy, which shall be to all peo-
pie. For unto you is born this day,
in the city of David, Saviour, which
is Christ the Lord"
The Son of God, absent from
Heaven, found on earth! No wonder
the angels sang. The mystery of the
Sons absence was explained. No
wonder the multitude Of the heaven
" host burst in upon the scene to
sing the praises of Heaven to the
newborn King. The sorrow of
Heaven is turned to the joy of earth.
The song they sang was one they
had learned in Heaven in the pres
ence of the Father and the Son.
where it was always glory to God
in the highest and peace and good
will. And now with Jesus stepped
from Heaven to earth it was still
"Glory to God in the highest" for
on earth, peace and good will would
be wrought toward men through the
Jesus has come! The message the
angels bore to earth that first glad
Christmas morning has never grown
old. It has grown brighter and
sweeter and better as the years have
come and gone since then. Oh, light
that gilded the tops of the Judean
hills! Oh, song that swelled on the
gentle night breezes and has filled all
the earth with its music! Jesus has
come! Jesus has come!!
Does the Christmas time mean this
to you, oh, precious soul? Does it
come to you, bearing this glad song
of the angels? Listen to the Heaven
~ music; catch the message God has
sent to earth to your soul. "And
IIcr Cir from hoi