159 ON CHRISTMAS-DAY. "He shall save his people from their sins To commemorate the great work of redemption, to meet together in unity, and with one heart and one voice to express our own gratitude and praise, is an exercise and duty from which no Christian can be exempted. The commemoration of this day is, indeed, of no trifling importance; it is the harbinger of immortality, and the promoter of peace and good-will toward mankind. And when we encourage the thought, that "angels and arch-angels, and all "the company of heaven" may join *Matt. i. 21. ་་ their celestial choir with ours, how fallem is the interest of terrestrial pursuits and enjoyments! The "airy nothings," which have given to themselves "a local habitation," lose their boasted importance, and the soul, rapt on one grand and awful subject, seems to soar above the world, above all sublunary trials or allurements! But these emotions will necessarily subside, and we become again subjected to the feelings, to the temptations of humanity. A religious remembrance of this holy day is best calculated to soothe the doubting mind to peace, to give. rest to the weary and heavy laden, under whatever species of affliction they may be burthened with; to dry the tear of penitence, to strike the sinner with remorse, and to illumine in the Christian's, mind, the steady flame of pure devotion. And it is a glorious and consoling assurance to know, that the great work of redemption, like the sun in the natural world, shines on the most desolated of mankind as well as on those on whom fortune and honors await. Before light and immortality were brought to light through the Gospel, philosophy was little calculated to ensure a strict observance, even of the laws of moral rectitude; how then could it stimulate the mind to fortitude, patience, self-denial, to all the practical virtues of the Religion of Christ! It is true, history records the wisdom and fortitude of some unenlightened minds; but such instances could not be general; the bulk of mankind was either the slave of vice and folly, or deluded by the vain sophistry of unassisted reason; and, if the idea of a future state of existence could sometimes elevate the mind, the probable evidences of its uncertainty would again be productive of mental chaos and suspense. The prosperity of the wicked, the apparently unequal dis▾ tribution of happiness, the consequent sufferings of piety and virtue; the dissolution of an animál, its progress and manner of death so similar to that of man's; the fall and decay of the leaf, would all contribute to perplex the speculative mind, cause it to doubt the superintendence of God in the government of the world, and to resist the suggestions of nature and reason, in favor of the reality of another life. Modern philosophy, wilfully shunning the light of the Gospel, cannot expect that forbearance from the Deity, which was probably extended to former ages: none now can plead ignorance on religious subjects; all may receive instruction, who wish to be wise unto salvation. The Gospel truths were not secretly or mysteriously revealed; an uncommon star preceded the birth of our Saviour, and strangers, from the eastern world, came to Judea to testify their homage and adoration. |