CHRISTMAS NUMBER “F o r unto you Is bom th is day in th e city of David a Saviour, which is Christ th e Lord. And th is shall be a sign un to you: ¥ e shall find th e babe w rapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly th e re was w ith th e angel a m u ltitud e of th e heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory *to God in th e highest, and on e a rth peace, good-will tow ard men.” (Luke 2:11-14) “F o r un to us a child is born, un to us a son is given; and th e government shall be upon h is shoulder; and h is nam e shall b e called W onderful, Counsellor, The m ighty God, The everlasting F a th e r, The P rince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9 :6 ) “Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; fo r th o u ' h a st created all things, and fo r th y pleasure they are and were created. * * * And every creatu re which is in heaven, an d on th e earth , and u n d er th e - earth , and such as are in th e sea, and all th a t are in them , h ea rd I saying, B less ing, and honour, and glory, and power, be un to him th a t sitte th upon th e throne, and un to th e Lamb fo r ever and ever.” (Rev. 4 :1 1 ; 5 :13 ) ¡HERB are many holy days, memorial days, holidays; days which commemorate events of great importance—birthdays of great men like "Washington and Lincoln; birthdays of nations, like our own fourth of July ; but there is one day different from them all, a world-wide day, celebrating an event more wonderful than any or all other events which have had to do with the history of thé world. This day we name Christmas, the day which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. We are not especially concerned with reference to the question of whether He was born in December or April. We are thinking only of the fact that He was born according to the prophetic Word of God, born of a virgin; that He had no earthly father; that He was God manifest in the flesh, —the greatest of all mysteries—the mystery of godliness; the fact that for hundreds of years the Jewish people looked for the fulfillment of the promise made to Satan and recorded in the third of Genesis: “ The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head.” Not the seed of the man but of the woman, virgin born, conceived of the Holy Ghost, the promise recorded by Isaiah. The time is not recorded, but the place is named, Bethlehem of Judah, the little city. His name is given,—Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ’’ All so wonderful! All so strange! All so gracious! The Christmas holiday is more beautiful than all other days because of its simplicity. It touches the hearts of the children; it appeals to the CHRISTMAS CHEER
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