CHRISTMAS AND THE WAR. A SERMON PREACHED ON CHRISTMAS DAY A.D. 1915. “_Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His Own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel._”--2 Tim. i. 9, 10. There has never been an occasion in our own lives, and there have been few occasions in the world’s history, on which we have had more reason for unbounded thankfulness for the blessed message of Christmas. We are celebrating this Festival to-day in a sadder and darker world than any of us can remember, amid scenes of bloodshed and desolation, of which an adequate description can only be found in the lurid pictures of the Book of Revelation, with war and hatred all around us instead of peace and good will, and with death and destruction raging over a great part both of Europe and of Asia. If we had to confine our vision to the present world, and to the prospects it offers, men’s hearts might well, in our Lord’s words, be “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth”; but Christmas breaks upon this dark scene with a message and a promise, which enable us to lift our hearts and hopes above this present world and this earthly scene. The heavens are opened; a great illumination bursts upon the world; and an innumerable multitude of the heavenly host are heard singing, in tones of rejoicing and thankfulness, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.” They are good tidings of great joy, proclaiming peace and good will from God towards men--good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, that unto us was born that day in the City of David “a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord!” Such tidings of great joy are the very things for which our hearts are yearning amid the distresses, bereavements and sorrows, and the overwhelming anxieties of the moment, and such are the tidings which Christmas brings. Let us beware of allowing the heavy burdens and sorrows of the hour to obscure, or to muffle, to our hearts these tidings of great joy. On the contrary, the darker the hour, the heavier the burden; let us open our hearts the more to this glory of God shining round about us, as on this day, and to the tidings of great joy which are proclaimed to us by the Angelic Choir.