truth of that old saying? Well, when God accepted Abel and his sacrifice, remember how Cain was enraged, and wreaked his vengeance on Abel (Gen. iv. 2-8). And when God had rejected Saul from being king, and when Jonathan sought to protect David from Saul's designs, Saul hurled his javelin at Jonathan in wild fury (1 Sam. xx. 30-33). Recall, too, the wrath of Naaman at Elisha when all the time Elisha wished to heal him (2 Kings v. 11-12), and the anger of Herod when the wise men from the East did not return to him with news of Jesus (Matt. ii. 16).

L

ASTLY, God is preparing when we know it not. Has the reader noticed how the thought of preparation runs through the story of this little book? One of its features is that, behind all human acting, we see the hand of God preparing things. 'The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.' And the Lord prepared a gourd, and prepared a worm when the morning rose next day.' 'And it came to pass when the sun did arise, that the Lord prepared a vehement east wind.' That is a lesson we all need to learn. It is one secret of a strong and noble life. We are not merely to believe in the purposes of God; we are to believe in His preparations too. Am I called to work? God has prepared for that. Or am I called to suffer? He is preparing. There is not a day and not a deed ahead, but the love of my Father is making ready now. Our liberty is real, and we must cherish it. Our wills are free to choose. But over our freedom is the sovereign will, and the ceaseless preparations of His love.

I

FIFTY-SECOND SUNDAY

Evening

THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS

Passage to be read: Luke ii. 8-20.

T was a great thing for these shepherds to be in the

same country with the new-born Christ. There were many other folk upon that countryside. There were the merchants of Bethlehem, and the shopkeepers. There were the Roman officers taking the census, and the Roman soldiers in their garrisons. But they never dreamed that the crisis of all history was being enacted at their very doors. The shepherds knew it, God had revealed it to them; out on the hill-pasture under the stars they learned it. And it was a great and glorious thing for them to be in the country of the new-born Christ. I trust it will prove so to all who read this page. For not in a manger and not in swaddling-clothes, but in all revivals and in all fightings for the right, Jesus is mystically born again. And to be wakened to the new life, and catch the meaning of it, is to join the company of these simple shepherds. Do not be self-centred any more. Find out what God is doing in your neighbourhood. And in a wider horizon and a glowing heart, and a song from above like the music of the angels, it will be a great thing for you, as for the shepherds, to be in the country of a new-born Christ.

NOTE first, then, that God's greatest news is revealed to humble men. There were many great men and many wealthy men in Palestine. There were scholars of the most profound and various learning. There were lean ascetics who had left the joys of home, and gone

away to pray and fast in deserts. But it was not to any of these that the angels came, and it was not in their ears the music sounded; the greatest news that the world ever heard was given to a group of humble shepherds. Few sounds from the mighty world ever disturbed them. They were not vexed by any ambition to be famous. They passed their days amid the silence of nature, and to the Jew nature was the veil of God. They were men of a devout and reverent spirit, touched with a sense of the mystery of things, as shepherds are so often to this day. Is it not to such simple and reverent spirits that God still reveals Himself in amplest measure? Must we not become as little children if we would know the secrets of the Kingdom? Whenever I read the beatitude of Jesus, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,' I see the shepherds chatting on the hill. How fitting it was, too, that shepherds should be chosen, when we remember how the twenty-third psalm begins, and when we reflect that the babe born in Bethlehem was to be the good shepherd giving His life for the sheep.

AGAIN, note that when the glory reached them the shep

herds were with their flocks. I like to think that when the heavens shone, and the air thrilled with that magnificent music, these humble men were at their humble duty. I dare say that on the highway over the hill there were fast young fellows going rioting home. Do you think they caught one whisper of that heavenly chorus? I dare say one shepherd had turned lazy, and was asleep at home when he should have been at his herding. Do you imagine he had any vision of the angels? It was to the shepherds who were at their posts, and who were toiling faithfully at their appointed work, that God revealed the birth of Jesus Christ. Could there be any better Christmas message than that? There is an open heaven above simple duty. It is not through the page

antry of idle dreams that life becomes a great and noble thing. It is through the fine heroism that sweeps moods aside, and takes up the cross, and grapples with daily work. It is on simple duty that the glory falls. It is the shepherds at their posts who see the angels.

Το To the same purpose is this other lesson: it is the manger that proves the music true. This was a night of wonder for the shepherds. It is not remarkable that they were sore afraid. When the darkness of midnight flashed into glorious splendour, and the silence of midnight rang with an angel's voice, it is no marvel that the shepherds were dismayed. Was it a dream? Was it the work of magic? Would the splendour pass, and leave things as they were? 'This shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe lying in a manger.' You note, then, what a mean and sorry thing was to be the proof that the vision was from God. No cradle enriched with ivory or gems; no palace flashing with a thousand lights. It was a lowly cave that confirmed the tidings. It was the manger that countersigned the music. What does that mean for your life and for mine? It means that we may put our visions to the proof. It means that God intends us to prove them true in spheres as lowly as the mangercradle. No vision of love, if the love be truly God's, will pass away and leave us to our midnight. It will be verified in the round of humble toil, and in the drudgery of every common day.

LASTLY, the angels depart, but Jesus Christ remains.

It would be a little while before the shepherds realised that the angels had actually gone. Then the darkness would be deepened a thousandfold. Yet it was not while the angels sung their hymn that the shepherds found the place where Christ was laid. It was in the moment of the angels' going that they rose up and made for Bethlehem. And is it not often when the angel

departs (and the angel may be a child or sister) that the heart for the first time sets out for Christ? The angels went, but Jesus Christ remained. The music ceased, but the Lord was with them still. They would never hear again these heavenly strains, but the Saviour was never far away. It is in that faith we all must live and work. The angel and the vision and the music go. The dreams and the hopes of our childhood may depart, and we may seem to be left under a cheerless sky. But though the glory fade, Christ Jesus still remains. He is always with us to hearten and cheer and keep us. Better than any song of angels in His fellowship. It is the true secret of a happy Christmas.

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at the Edinburgh University Press