in the experience of the human heart, and more inspiring to ourselves, than that these grand songs of hope and deliverance and comfort should have echoed over the desolate fields of Judea, and lived in the hearts of a people who were as crushed, and all but destroyed, as any of the ruined nations of Europe of the present day. It has been the same all through history. Even where there was not the inspired voice of Revelation, there was still among the Greeks and Romans the ineradicable hope of a Golden Age; and an inner witness of God’s Spirit kept alive in the whole human race a firm belief in His justice and His ultimate deliverance, both for the world and for individuals, from age to age. Let us not think, therefore, that in the strain and distress and suffering of the present hour we are undergoing any novel or special experience; and if we should be tempted to be out of heart, let us be shamed by the faith of the past, by the inspiration of the Prophets, and even by the uninspired faith and courage of mankind at large. Let us believe, through all, as they did, that the Lord reigneth, and that though “clouds and darkness are round about Him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His seat.” The birth of our Lord, which we celebrate to-day, and the Divine Voice which spoke in Him through human lips, have given us a final assurance that He is reigning, and that He will judge the world in righteousness. But it has done other things, of which my text more particularly speaks, which are a source of still greater joy and assurance to us individually. By the message which our Lord brought us, an infinite and blessed light has been thrown over the great mystery which darkened the minds, and dimmed the faith, of men before His time. The Apostle says that our Saviour “hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” Though looking first, as we may and ought, with the Prophets, to the ultimate vindication of righteousness and justice throughout the world, by the fulfilment of God’s judgments in the struggles of mankind, there still remained, and there remains at this moment, to many hearts among us, the mystery of the sacrifice of life which such judgments involve--the mystery of the destruction of thousands of lives precious in themselves, and infinitely dear to those who loved them, and who lived with them and for them here. Before the Gospel, men’s hearts strained at the burden of that mystery, and it is wonderful that human nature endured it with such courage and patience; but now, says the Apostle, God’s purpose and grace in this bitter experience “is made manifest by the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.”