T H E
G R E A T
S I G H T
By Hymccn J. Appelman, D.D.
“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass” (Luke 2:15). T HIS was the language of the shepherds. It was not a vain cu riosity that led them to Bethle hem. While keeping their flocks by night, the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and said, “ Fear not: for, be hold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swad dling clothes, lying in a manger.” They considered this an order from heaven to go to Bethlehem, to investigate, to ascer tain, to report the fact about which they had been told. They would have set off instantly, but there suddenly descended “ a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” How long this melody continued we do not know. There is not one of us who has any doubt that the shepherds stayed right there until that song was finished. No sooner had the angels gone back into heaven, than “the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Beth lehem, and see this thing which is come to pass.” It is ours to accompany them. It is ours to contemplate a scene which will inspire us to exclaim, with Moses, on a marvelous, but quite inferior, occasion, “ For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, D E C E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
or hath been heard like it?” (Deut. 4:32). In this thing which is come to pass, we too behold a striking display of di vine truth. The coming of the Messiah was called, “the truth of God.” A great many things proved divine veracity. This was undoubtedly the main pledge. Here was the chief promise ever given to man. Here was also the earliest assurance. It was given as early as the Fall. The assurance seemed to hang in suspense: a year, a hundred years, a thousand years, another thousand years, and an other, rolled away before the Seed of the woman appeared! Had God forgotten to be gracious? Would His promise fail? At the end of four thousand years, it was proclaimed His counsels from old were faithful and true. Consider the many so-called minute parts of the promise. It was foretold that the Messiah should descend from a particular nation, the nation of the Jews; a particular tribe, the tribe of Judah; a particular family, the family of David; a particular mother, a virgin. It is almost impossible to enumerate the many things upon which the veracity of God now depends. The failure of any one of them would prove Him a com plete liar. The place of the residence of the Messiah was foretold. It was to be Bethlehem. The prophecy had been re corded for ages. It was acknowledged at the time of His birth. How many things were necessary to this? How accidental seemed the ful fillment? Joseph and Mary were residing at Nazareth. Judea had been under the Roman dominion. In his pride Caesar Augustus wished to know the number and wealth of his subjects. Had Mary been delivered a few days sooner or
later, the Messiah would have been born elsewhere. The Word of God would have been of no effect. All these occurrences seemed casual. Undoubtedly they ap peared so to the parties themselves. Definitely they were not so to God. He knows all His works from the beginning. All these events seemed so loosely con nected, but they were links, forming an adamantine chain. The promise of God was the pivot on which all turned, the center in which all united, the end to which all referred. Witness here, then, not only how will ing, but how able, God is to accomplish His Word. Be strong in the faith of the Messiah. Give glory to God. Let no ap parent delay, no interfering obstacles, no discouraging interests affect the minds of any of us. The purpose of God is secretly, yet uncontrollably, moving on. The most unlikely instruments are contributing to its execution. So much depends on our confidence in the truth of God. Together with the shepherds we see, in the thing which has come to pass, a wonderful combination. Here is a com bination of natures. We admit the Mes siah’s humanity. Why should we ques tion His Divinity? We find many things ascribed to Him, which cannot belong to Him as God. We find other things ascribed to Him, which cannot pertain to Him as Man. Here is the solution of the difficulty—“ God was manifest in the flesh.” Here is a combination of grandeur and abasement. Whose birth could have been more obscure and degrading? What welcome was given Him? What prepara tion was made for Him? “ The world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” A poor young female was His mother. A stable Rag* Fifteen
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