inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."

It is then that the joy of the believer is full, when he beholds with the eye of faith the whole family of God,-that great multitude which no man can number, out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, the general assembly and church of the first-born, (that is of Christ,) whose names are written in heaven.

"For to you is born,—this day,—in the City of David,
A Saviour,-which is Christ,-the Lord."

Here, again, the expressions rise one above another, in force and depth of meaning.

The Saviour is born. This is not announced, as it was to the patriarchs and prophets of old, as an event to take place in distant future ages. It was glad tidings even to them, who "saw the day" of the Messiah afar off. But the event is now announced as having actually taken place-nowthis very night.

Nor has this great event occurred in a distant country, or among another people, (as it was announced to the wise men of the East,) but here-close at hand-in this your city of Bethlehem.

The Saviour-the promised Messiah-the desire of all nations-the object of all prophecy-is come.

Who is that Saviour? Christ, the Son of the living God. Who shall declare his generation ?

Who shall recite his titles or his names? It is "the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy and in truth, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." His character and offices are only fittingly described in the words of the prophet

"Unto us a child is born,
Unto us a Son is given,

And the government shall be upon his shoulder;
And his name shall be called

Wonderful,

Counsellor ;

The mighty God;

The everlasting Father;
The Prince of Peace.

Where is this Saviour, this mighty one, to be found? What circumstances of pomp attend his coming?

As if to crush for ever all emotions of earth-born pride-as if to serve as a standing, an eternal proof of the utter insignificance and worthlessness of all outward grandeur-the Saviour appears on earth in a form the most weak and lowly, a child-in external circumstances apparently the most destitute and

wretched, deprived even of the ordinary comforts of

a home

"Wrapped in swaddling clothes,

And laid in a manger."

There is something here more astonishing to the pride and the prejudices of man, than anything which the imagination of man is able to fathom or to conceive. Such an amazing contrast between the apparent and the real, never was before or since, manifested to the world.

But if this last announcement was calculated to shake the faith and confound the expectations of the shepherds, their wavering and troubled thoughts would at once be set at rest, and their whole minds swallowed up in an intense feeling of wonder and joy ;-when a new scene opened which shewed the mighty event that had taken place in its true aspect and importance

"And suddenly, there was with the angel

A multitude of the heavenly host,
Praising God."

Never since the time when the angels of God met the Father of the Jewish nation at Mahanaim,—or that more memorable occasion, when the same patriarch saw in a vision, a ladder stretched from heaven to earth, and these divine messengers as

cending and descending upon it-did such a glorious spectacle manifest itself to men.

The veil is lifted for once-and for an instant mortal eyes are permitted to look into the outer courts of heaven's eternal King. A part of the heavenly host-a small part, yet a multitude-are seen engaged in the employment most fitted for celestial beings;-praising God.

Never surely was mortal hearing enriched with such a tide of harmony, as that which now saluted the ears of the shepherds of Bethlehem.

Compared with this, what were the loftiest strains of earthly music?

The subject the occasion—and the performers— are all of heaven.

It is heaven descending to earth, and drawing earth upwards to itself.

It is no earthly poet that speaks:-Listen to the song of the angels!

"Glory to God,

Glory in the highest heavens;
And on earth, peace,

Good will to men."

Every word is fraught with meaning, deep and large. Glory is ascribed to God-not confined to the narrow bounds of earth, but extended to the infinite regions of heaven, even the highest heaven.

What is the subject, and what the occasion, on which this glory is here described to be founded? Because the rebel, man, is to be pardoned. Good will from an offended God is to be extended to him, and as a consequence of this, peace is proclaimed on earth, and all hostile feelings of man towards

man are to cease.

The above contains a very faint exposition of the feelings and thoughts suggested by this beautiful and affecting portion of sacred writ; and but a small part of these, for the subject reaches into an unlimited field, and the objects which it embraces are altogether boundless.

It is fitting to stop with this feeble outline-the pious reader will fill it up with devout and fervent meditation.

When the mind is thoroughly awakened to their beauty, the simple words of the inspired penman will be felt to possess a charm which no laboured commentary or flowery paraphrase can heighten, or come up to; and we feel that there are in the words of Divine inspiration, a height, and a depth, and a length, and a breadth of meaning and of power, infinitely surpassing all that can be shewn in the most sublime strains of human poesy.