FEAR NO MORE WITH JESUS' BIRTH

JESUS WAS HERE TO END OUR FEAR
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 2:10 10
But the angel saidto them, "Do not be
afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy
for all the people.
God Incarnate, The End Of Fear
BY SPURGEON
“And the angelsaid unto them, Fearnot.”
Luke 2:10
No soonerdid the angelof the Lord appear to the shepherds, and the glory of
the Lord shone round about them, than they were sorelyafraid. It had come
to this, that man was afraid of his God, and when God sent down His loving
messengerswith tidings of greatjoy, men were filled with as much fright as
though the angelof Deathhad appearedwith uplifted sword. The silence of
night and its dreary gloomcausedno fear in the shepherds' hearts, but the
joyful herald of the skies, robedin mildest glories of Divine Grace, made them
afraid.
We must not condemn the shepherds on this accountas though they were
peculiarly timid or ignorant, for they were only acting as every other person
in that age would have done under the same circumstances. Notbecause they
were simple shepherds were they amazed with fear, but it is probable that if
they had been well-instructed Prophets they would have displayed the same
feeling. There are many instances recordedin Scripture in which the foremost
men of their time trembled and felt a horror of greatdarkness whenspecial
manifestations of God were vouchsafedto them. In fact, a slavishfear of God
was so common that a tradition had grown out of it, which was all but
universally receivedas nothing less than the Truth of God.
It was generallybelieved that every supernatural manifestationwas to be
regardedas a tokenof speedy death. “We shall surely die because we have

seenGod” was not only Manoah’s conclusion, but that of most men of his
period. Few, indeed, were those happy minds who, like Manoah’s wife, could
reasonin a more cheerful style, “If the Lord had meant to destroy us He
would not have showedus such things as these.” It became the settled
conviction of all men, whether wise or simple, whether goodor bad, that a
manifestation of God was not so much to be rejoicedin as to be dreaded. Even
Jacobsaid, “How dreadful is this place! It is none other but the House of
God.”
Doubtless the spirit which originatedthis tradition was much fosteredby the
legaldispensationwhich is better fitted for trembling servants than for
rejoicing sons. It was of the bond womanand it gendered into bondage. The
solemn night in which its greatestinstitution was ordained was a night of
trembling. Death was there in the slaughter of the lamb. Blood was there
sprinkled on a conspicuous part of the house. Fire was there to roastthe
lamb–all the emblems of judgment were there to strike the mind with awe. It
was at the dread hour of midnight when the solemn family conclave was
assembled. The door being shut, the guests, themselves,standing in an uneasy
attitude, and awestricken, for their hearts could hear the wings of the
Destroying Angel as he passedby the house.
Afterwards, when Israelcame into the wilderness, and the Law was
proclaimed, do we not read that the people stoodafar off and that bounds
were setabout the mount? And if so much as a beasttouched the mountain it
was to be stoned or thrust through with a dart! It was a day of fearand
trembling when God spoke to them out of the fire. Not with the melting notes
of harp, psaltery, or dulcimer did God’s Law come to His people’s ears!No
soft wings of angels brought the message,and no sunny smiles of Heaven
sweetenedit to the mind! No, with sound of trumpet and thunder, out of the
midst of blazing lightning–with Sinai altogetheron a smoke–the Law was
given.
The law’s voice was, “Come not near here!” The spirit of Sinai is fear and
trembling. The legalceremonies were suchas rather to inspire fearthan to
begettrust. The worshipper at the temple saw bloodshedfrom the first of the
year to the end of the year. The morning was ushered in with the blood-
shedding of the lamb, and the evening shades could not gatherwithout blood
againbeing spilt upon the altar! God was in the midst of the camp, but the
pillar of cloud and fire was His unapproachable pavilion.
The emblem of His glory was concealedbehind the curtain of blue and scarlet
and fine twined linen–behind which only one footmight pass–andthat but
once in the year. Men spoke of the God of Israelwith bated breath and with

voices hushed and solemn. They had not learned to say, “Our Father which
are in Heaven.” They had not receivedthe spirit of adoption, and were not
able to say Abba, Father. They smarted under the spirit of bondage which
made them sorely afraid when by any peculiar manifestationthe Lord
displayed His Presence among them. At the bottom of all this slavishdread lay
sin.
We never find Adam afraid of God, nor of any manifestation of Deity while he
was an obedient creature in Paradise. Butno soonerhad he touched the fatal
fruit than he found that he was nakedand hid himself! When he heard the
voice of the Lord God walking in the gardenin the coolof the day, Adam was
afraid and hid himself from the Presence ofthe Lord God among the trees of
the garden. Sin makes miserable cowards ofus all! See the man who once
could hold delightful converse with his Makernow dreading to hear his
Maker’s voice and skulking in the grove like a felon who knows his guilt, and
is afraid to meet the officers of justice!
Beloved, in order to remove this dread nightmare of slavish fear from the
breastof humanity, where its horrible influence represses allthe noblest
aspirations of the soul, our Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh! This is one of
the works ofthe devil which He was manifestedto destroy. Angels came to
proclaim the goodnews of the advent of the Incarnate God, and the very first
note of their song was a foretaste ofthe sweetresultof His coming to all those
who shall receive Him. The angelsaid, “Fearnot,” as though the times of fear
were over, and the days of hope and joy had arrived! “Fearnot.” These words
were not meant for those trembling shepherds, only, but were intended for
you and for me, yes, for all nations to whom the glad tidings shall come!
“Fearnot.” Let God no longerbe the object of your slavish dread! Stand not
at a distance from Him any more. The Word is made flesh. God has
descendedto tabernacle among men, that there may be no hedge of fire, no
yawning gulf betweenGod and man. Into this subject I wish to go this
morning as God may help me. I am sensible of the value of the theme, and am
very conscious thatI cannot do it justice. I would earnestlyask God the Holy
Spirit to make you drink of the goldencup of the Incarnation of Christ such
draughts as I have enjoyedin my quiet meditations. I can scarcelydesire more
delight for my dearestfriends.
There is no antidote for fear more excellent than the subject of that midnight
song, the first and best of Christmas chorales, whichfrom its first word to its
last note chimes out the sweetmessage, whichbegins with, “Fearnot.”–

“It is my sweetestcomfort, Lord,
And will foreverbe,
To muse upon the gracious truth
Of your humanity.
Oh joy! There sits in our flesh,
Upon a throne of light,
One of a human mother born,
In perfect Godheadbright!
Though earth’s foundations should be moved,
Downto their lowestdeep.
Though all the trembling universe
Into destruction sweep.
ForeverGod, forever man,
My Jesus shallendure.
And fixed on Him,
My hope remains
Eternally secure.”
DearFriends, I shall first detain your attention with a few remarks upon the
fear of which I have already spoken.Then, secondly, we shall invite your
earnestattention to the remedy which the angels came to proclaim. And then,
thirdly, as we may have time, we shall endeavorto make an application of this
remedy to various cases.
1. Turning to THE FEAR of the text, it may be well to discriminate. There
is a kind of fear towards God from which we must not wish to be free.
There is that lawful, necessary, admirable, excellentfear which is
always due from the creature to the Creator, from the subject to the
king, yes, and from the child toward the parent. That holy, filial fearof
God, which makes us dread sin and constrains us to be obedient to His
command is to be cultivated. “We had fathers of
This is the “fearof the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.” To have a
holy awe of our most holy, just, righteous, and tender Parent is a privilege, not
a bondage!Godly fear is not the “fearwhich has torment.” Perfectlove does
not castout, but dwells in joyful harmony. The angels perfectly love God, and
yet with holy fear they veil their faces with their wings as they approach Him.
And when we shall in Glory behold the face of God, and shall be filled with all
His fullness, we shall not cease humbly and reverently to adore the Infinite
Majesty. Holy fear is a work of the Holy Spirit, and woe unto the man who
does not possess it! Let him boastas he may, his “feeding himself without
fear” is a mark of his hypocrisy!

The fear which is to be avoided, is slavish fear–the fear which perfect love
casts out, as Sarahcastout the bondwoman and her son. That trembling
which keeps us at a distance from God, which makes us think of Him as a
Spirit with whom we can have no communion–as a Being who has no care for
us except to punish us–andfor whom, consequently, we have no care exceptto
escape if possible from His terrible Presence.This fear sometimes arises in
men’s hearts from their thoughts dwelling exclusively upon the Divine
greatness.Is it possible to peerlong into the vast abyss of Infinity and not to
fear? Can the mind yield itself up to the thought of the Eternal, Self-Existent,
Infinite One without being filled, first with awe and then with dread?
What am I? An aphid creeping upon a rosebud is a more considerable
creature in relation to the universe of beings than I canbe in comparisonwith
God! What am I? A grain of dust that does not turn the scale ofthe most
delicate balance is a greaterthing to man than a man is to Jehovah! At best
we are less than nothing and vanity! But there is more to abase us than this.
We have had the impertinence to be disobedient to the will of this great One!
And now the goodness andgreatness ofHis nature are as a current against
which sinful humanity struggles in vain, for the irresistible torrent must run
its course and overwhelmevery opponent. What does the greatGod seemto
us, out of Christ, but a stupendous rock threatening to crush us, or a
fathomless sea, hastening to swallow us up?
The contemplation of the Divine greatness mayof itself fill man with horror
and casthim into unutterable misery! Dwelllong upon such themes, and like
Job, you will tremble before Jehovah, who shakes the earth out of her place,
and makes the pillars tremble. Eachone of the sternerattributes of God will
cause the same fear. Think of His powerby which He rolls the stars along, and
lay your hand upon your mouth! Think of His wisdom by which He numbers
the clouds, and settles the ordinances of Heaven. Meditate upon any one of
these attributes, but especiallyupon His justice, and upon that devouring fire
which burns unceasinglyagainstsin–and it is no wonder if the soulbecomes
full of fear!
Meanwhile let a sense of sin with its great whip of wire flagellate the
conscience, andman will dread the bare idea of God. For this is the burden of
the voice of Conscienceto guilty man–“If you were an obedient creature, this
God were still terrible to you, for the heavens are not pure in His sight, and
He chargedHis angels with folly. What are you that you should be just with
God, or have any claims upon Him? You have offended, you have lifted the
hand of your rebellion againstthe infinite majesty of Omnipotence–whatwill

become of you? What can be your portion but to be set up forever as a
monument of His righteous wrath?”
Now such a fear as that being very easilycreatedin the thoughtful mind, and
being, indeed, as it seems to me, the natural heritage of man as the result of
sin is most doleful and injurious. For whereverthere is a slavish dread of the
Divine Being it alienates man most thoroughly from his God. We are by our
evil nature enemies to God, and the imagination that God is cruel, harsh, and
terrible adds fuel to the fire of our enmity. Those whom we slavishly dread we
cannot love. You could not make your child show forth love to you if its little
heart was full of fear–ifit dreaded to hear your footsteps and was alarmed at
the sound of your voice it could not love you. You might obey some huge
monster because you were afraid of him, but to love him would be impossible.
It is one of the masterpiecesofSatan to deceive man by presenting to his mind
a hateful picture of God. He knows that men cannot love that which terrifies
them and therefore he paints the Godof Grace as a hard, unforgiving being
who will not receive the penitent and have pity upon the sorrowful. God is
love! Surely if men had but Grace enoughto see the beauty of that portrait of
God–thatminiature sketchedwith a single line, “Godis love!” they would
willingly serve such a God. When the Holy Spirit enables the mind to perceive
the CharacterofGod, the heart cannotrefuse to love Him.
Base, fallen, depraved as men are, when they are illuminated from on high so
as to judge rightly of God, their hearts melt under the genialbeams of Divine
love and they love God because He has first loved them. But there is the
masterpiece ofSatan, that he will not let the understanding perceive the
excellence ofGod’s Characterand then the heart cannot love that which the
understanding does not perceive to be loveable. In addition to alienating the
heart from God, this fearcreates a prejudice againstGod’s GospelofGrace.
There are persons in this place this morning who believe that if they were
religious they would be miserable. It is the settledconviction of half of London
that to trust in Jesus and to be obedient to God, which is the essenceofall true
religion, would be wretchedness itself.
“Oh,” says the worldly man, “I should have to give up my pleasure if I were to
become a Christian.” Now this is one of the most wickedslanders that was
ever invented and yet it has current belief everywhere. It is the popular
theologythat to be an enemy to God is happiness, but to be the friend of God
is misery. What an opinion men must have of God, when they believe that to
love Him is to be wretched! Oh, could they comprehend, could they but know
how goodGod is–insteadof imagining that His service would be slavery, they

would understand that to be His friend is to occupy the highestand happiest
position which createdbeings canoccupy!
This fear in some men puts them out of all hope of everbeing saved. Thinking
God to be an ungenerous Being, they keepat a distance from Him. If there are
some sweetattractions, now and then in a sermon, some gentle meltings of
conscience, the gooddesire never matures into the practicalresolve. They do
not say, “I will arise and go unto my Father,” becausethey do not know Him
as a Father–theyonly know Him as a consuming fire. A man does not say, “I
will arise and go unto a consuming fire.”
No, but like Jonah, he would gladly pay his fare, regardless ofthe expense,
and go to Tarshish to flee from the Presence ofthe Lord! This it is that makes
calamity of being a man at all, to most men–that they cannot get awayfrom
God, since they imagine that if they could but escape from His Presencethey
would then wander into bliss. But being doomed to be where God is, they then
conceive that for them wretchednessand misery alone remain. The soft
warnings of mercy and the thundering of justice are, alike, powerless upon
men so long as their hearts are searedand rendered callous by an unholy
dread of God.
This wickeddread of God frequently drives men to extremities of sin. The
man says, “There is no hope for me. I have made one fatal mistake in being
God’s enemy and I am irretrievably ruined. There is no hope that I shall ever
be restoredto happiness or peace. Then what will I do? I will castthe reins
upon the neck of my passions. Iwill defy fate and take my chance. I will get
such happiness as may be found in sin. If I cannot be reconciledto Heaven I
will be a goodservant of Hell.” And therefore men have been known to hasten
from one crime to another with a malicious inventiveness of rebellion against
God.
They act as if they could never be satisfiednor contented till they had heaped
up more and more rebellions againstthe majesty of God whom in their hearts
they dread with a burning Satanic dread mingled with hate. If they could but
comprehend that He is still willing to receive the rebellious, that His heart
yearns towards sinners! If they could but once believe that He is love and wills
not the death of a sinner but had rather that he should turn unto Him and
live, surely the course of their lives must be changed!But the god of this world
blinds them and maligns the Lord until they count it folly to submit to Him.
DearFriends, this evil which works a thousand ills operates in ways of evil
quite innumerable. It dishonors God. Oh, it is infamous! It is villainous to
make out our God, who is Light and in whom is no darkness at all, to be an

objectof horrible fear. It is infernal! I may say no less. It is devilish to the
highest degree to paint Him as a demon, who is Jehovah, the Godof Love. Oh,
the impertinence of the Prince of Darkness, andthe madness of man to
consentto him, that God should be depicted as being unwilling to forgive,
unkind, untender, hard, cruel–whereasHe is love–supremelyand above all
things, LOVE!
He is just, but all the more truly loving because He is just. He is true, and
therefore sure to punish sin, yet even punishing sin because it were not good to
let sin go unpunished. This is base ingratitude on the part of a much-receiving
creature that he should malign his Benefactor. The evil which is thus done to
God recoils upon man–for this fear has torment. No more tormenting misery
in the world than to think of God as being our implacable foe! You Christians
who have lost, for a while, the spirit of adoption–youwho have wandered a
distance from God and nothing canbe more tormenting to you than the fear
that the Lord has castyou awayand will not againreceive you.
You backsliders, nothing can hold you back from your heavenly Father like a
dread of Him! If you canbut really know that He is not to be dreaded with
slavish fear, you will come to Him as your child does to you, and you will say,
“My Father, I have offended–pity me! My Father, I am vexed and grieved for
my sin–forgive me, receive me againto Your arms, and help me, by Your
mighty Grace, that from now on I may walk in Your Commandments and be
obedient to Your will.” My dear Friends, you who know anything about
spiritual life–don’t you feel that when you have sweetthoughts of God
breathed into you from above and have His speciallove to you shed abroad in
your hearts–don’tyou feel that it is then that you are most holy?
Have you not perceivedthat the only way in which you can grow in that which
is morally and spiritually lovely, is by having your gracious Godhigh in your
esteem, and feeling His precious love firing your hearts? That they may be
like little children is the very thing which God desires for His electones!It is
this which His Spirit works in His chosen!It is to this that we must come if we
are to be meet to be partakers ofthe inheritance of the saints in light. Slavish
fear is so opposedto the child-like spirit that it is as the poisonof asps to it.
Dreadand fear bring out everything in us that is of the man rather than of the
child, for it stirs us up to resistthe objectof our fear.
An assuredconfidence in the goodness ofGodcasts out fear and brings forth
everything that is child-like in us. Have you ever seena child trust some big,
rough man, and melt him down by its trustfulness? It trusted where there was
no ground for trust, apparently, and made ground for itself. That same child,
simply and implicitly trusting in a goodand generous father is a noble picture.

And if I, a poor, weak, feeble child, conscious that I am such–knowing that I
am all folly and weakness–canjust believe in my good, greatGod, through
Jesus Christ, and come and trust myself with Him and leave Him to do as He
likes with me, believing that He will not be unkind, and cannotbe unwise–ifI
can wholly repose in His love and be obedient to His will–why then I shall
have reachedthe highestpoint that the creature can reach!The Holy Spirit
will then have workedHis finished work in me and I shall be fit for Heaven.
Beloved, it is because fearopposes this, and prevents this, that I would say
with the angel, “Fearnot.”
II. I fear I wearyyou while I speak upon this somewhatdolorous theme, and
therefore with as much brevity as the abundance of the matter may permit, let
us notice in the secondplace, THE CURE FOR THIS FEAR, which the angel
came to proclaim. It lies in this–“Unto you is born this day in the city of
David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”–
“Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find.
The holy, just and sacredThree,
Are terrors to my mind.
But if Immanuel’s face appears,
My hope, my joy begins!
His name forbids my slavish fear,
His Grace removes my sins.”
That is the remedy–Godwith us–Godmade flesh. Let us try and show this
from the angel’s song. According to the text they were not to fear, first of all,
because the angel had come to bring them goodnews. How does it run? It
says, “I bring you goodtidings of greatjoy.” But what was this Gospel?
Further on we are told that the Gospelwas the factthat Christ was born! So,
then, it is goodnews to men that Christ is born, that God has come down and
takenmanhood into union with Himself. Verily this is glad tidings! He who
made the heavens slumbers in a manger!
What then? Why, then God is not of necessityan enemy to man because here
is God actually taking manhood into alliance with Deity! There cannot be
permanent, inveterate, rootedenmity betweenthe two natures, or otherwise
the Divine Nature could not have takenthe human into hypostaticalunion
with itself. Is there not comfort in that? You are a poor, erring, feeble man,
and that which makes you afraid of the Lord is this fear that there is an
enmity betweenGod and man–but there need not be such enmity–for your
Makerhas actually taken manhood into union with Himself!

Do you not see anotherthought? The Eternal seems to be so far awayfrom us.
He is infinite and we are such little creatures. There appears to be a greatgulf
fixed betweenman and God, even on the ground of creatureship. But observe,
He who is God has also become Man. We never heard that God took the
nature of angels into union with Himself–we may therefore saythat between
Godheadand angelhoodthere must be an infinite distance still–but here the
Lord has actually takenmanhood into union with Himself! There is,
therefore, no longer a greatgulf fixed. On the contrary, here is a marvelous
union! Godheadhas enteredinto marriage bonds with manhood!
O my Soul, you do not stand, now, like a poor lone orphan wailing across the
deep sea after your Fatherwho has gone far awayand cannot hear you! You
do not now sob and sigh like an infant left naked and helpless, its Maker
having gone too far awayto regard its needs or listen to its cries! No, your
Makerhas become like yourself! Is that too strong a word to use? He without
whom was not anything made that was made is that same Word who lived and
walkedamong us and was made flesh–made flesh in such a way that He was
tempted in all points like as we are–yetwithout sin. O Manhood, was there
ever such news as this for you! PoorManhood, you weak worm of the dust–
far lowerthan the angels–liftup your head and be not afraid!
PoorManhood, born in weakness, living in toil, coveredwith sweat, and dying
at last to be eaten by the worms–be not abashedeven in the presence of
seraphs–fornext to God is man, and not even an archangelcancome in
between!No, not next to God, there is scarcelythat to be said, for Jesus who is
God is Man also!Jesus Christ, eternally God, was born and lived and died as
we also do! That is the first word of comfort to expel our fear.
The secondpoint that takes awayfear is that this Man who was also God was
actually born. Observe the angel’s word, “Unto you is born.” Our Lord Jesus
Christ is in some senses more man than Adam. Adam was not born–Adam
never had to struggle through the risks and weaknessesofinfancy. He knew
not the littlenesses ofchildhood–he was full grown at once. FatherAdam
could not sympathize with me as a babe and a child. But how man-like is
Jesus!He is cradled with us in the manger. He does not begin with us in mid-
life, as Adam, but He accompaniesus in the pains and feebleness and
infirmities of infancy! And He continues with us even to the grave.
Beloved, this is such sweetcomfort! He that is God this day was once an
Infant! So that if my cares are little and even trivial and comparatively
infantile, I may go to Him, for He was once a Child. Though the greatones of
the earth may sneerat the child of poverty, and say, “You are too mean, and
your trouble is too slight for pity,” I remember with humble joy that the King

of Heaven did hang upon a woman’s breast, and was wrapped in swaddling
bands–and therefore I tell Him all my griefs. How wonderful that He should
have been an Infant, and yet should be God over all, blessedforever!I am no
longerafraid of God! This blessedlink betweenme and God, the holy Child
Jesus, has takenall fear away!
Observe, the angeltold them somewhatof His office, as well as of His birth.
“Unto you is born this day a Savior.” The very object for which He was born
and came into this world was that He might deliver us from sin. What, then,
was it that made us afraid? Were we not afraid of God because we felt that we
were lost through sin? Well then, here is joy upon joy! Here is not only the
Lord come among us as a Man, but made Man in order to save man from that
which separatedhim from God!
I feel as if I could burst out into a weeping for some here who have been
spending their living riotously and gone far awayfrom God their Father by
their evil ways. I know they are afraid to come back. They think that the Lord
will not receive them, that there is no mercy for such sinners as they have
been. Oh, but think of it–Jesus Christ has come to seek andto save that which
was lost! He was born to save!If He does not save He was born in vain, for the
objectof His birth was salvation! If He shall not be a Savior, then the mission
of God to earth has missed its end, for its design was that lostsinners might be
saved.
Lost One, oh, lostOne!–if there were news that an angelhad come to save you
there might be some cheerin it. But there are better tidings still! GOD has
come!The Infinite, the Almighty, has stoopedfrom the highest Heaven that
He may pick you up, a poor undone and worthless worm! Is there not comfort
here? Does not the Incarnate Savior take awaythe horrible dread which
hangs over men like a black pall? Note that the angeldid not forget to
describe the personof this Savior–“ASaviorwhich is Christ.” There is His
Manhood! As Man He was anointed! “The Lord.” There is His Godhead.
Yes, this is the solid Truth of God upon which we plant our feet. Jesus of
Nazarethis God! He who was conceivedin the womb of the virgin and born in
Bethlehem’s manger is now, and always was Godover all, blessedforever!
There is no Gospelif He is not God. It is no news to me to tell me that a great
Prophet is born. There have been greatProphets before. But the world has
never been redeemed from evil by mere testimony to the truth, and never will
be. Tell me that God is born, that God, Himself, has espousedour nature, and
takenit into union with Himself! Then the bells of my heart ring merry peals,
for now may I come to God since God has come to me!

You will observe, dearFriends, that the substance of what the angel said lay
in this. “Unto you.” You will never gettrue comfort from the incarnate Savior
till you perceive your personalinterest in him. Christ as Man was a
representative man. There never were but two thoroughly representative
men–the first is Adam–Adam obedient and the whole race stands. Adam
disobedient and the whole race falls. “In Adam all die.” Now, the Man Jesus is
the secondgreatrepresentative man. He does not representthe whole human
race–He represents as many as His Father gave Him–He represents a chosen
company.
Now, whateverChrist did, if you belong to those who are in Him He did for
you. So that Christ circumcisedor Christ crucified, Christ dead or Christ
living, Christ buried or Christ risen, you are a partakerof all that He did and
all that He is, for you are reckonedas one with Him. See then, the joy and
comfort of the Incarnation of Christ! Does Jesus, as Man, take manhood up to
Heaven? He has taken me up there! Father Adam fell, and I fell, for I was in
him. The Lord Jesus Christ rises, and I rise if I am in Him. See, Beloved, when
Jesus Christ was nailed to the Cross allHis electwere nailed there, and they
suffered and died in Him.
When He was put into the grave the whole of His people lay slumbering there
in Him, for they were in the loins of Jesus as Levi was in the loins of Abraham.
And when He rose they rose and receivedthe foretaste oftheir own future
resurrection!Because He lives they shall live also!And now that He has gone
up on high to claim the throne, He has claimed the throne for every soul that
is in Him. Oh, this is joy, indeed! Then how can I be afraid of God, for this
day, by faith, I, a poor undeserving sinner, having put my trust in Jesus, am
bold to say that I sit upon the throne of God? Think not that we have said too
much, for in the Personof Christ every Believeris raisedup together, and
made to sit togetherin heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Because as Jesusis
there representatively, we are eachone of us there in Him.
I wish that I had power to bring out this precious doctrine of the Incarnation
as I desire, but the more one muses upon it, the more happy one becomes. Let
us view it as an all-important Truth of God that Jesus, the Son of God, has
really come in the flesh. It is so important a Truth that we have three
witnesses appointedto keepit before us upon earth. We have been insisting
many times in this place upon the spirituality of Christian worship. We have
shown that the outward in religion, by itself, avails nothing. It is the inward
spirit that is the greatthing.
I must confess that I have sometimes saidin myself, I hope not rebelliously,
“What is this Baptism for, and what is this Communion of the Lord’s Supper

for?” These two outward ordinances, whatevermay be their excellent uses,
have been the two things around which more errors have clusteredthan
around anything else!And I have heard it said, by friends inclined to follow
more fully the teachings ofthe Quakers, “Whynot put aside the outward and
visible altogether? Letit be the Spirit Baptism, and not the water. Let there be
no bread and wine, but let there be fellowshipwith Christ without the
outward sign.”
I must confess, thoughI dare not go with it because I hope to be held fast by
the plain testimony of Scripture, yet my heart has somewhatgone with the
temptation and I have half said, “Menalways will pervert these two
ordinances. Would it not be as well to have done with them?” While I have
been exercisedupon the point, conscious thatthe ordinances must be right,
and must be held, I have restedupon that text, “There are three that bear
witness in earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood.” And what do they bear
witness to? They bear witness to the mission of Jesus as the Christ, in other
words, to the real Incarnation of God.
They bear witness to the materialism of Christ. Have you ever noticed that
when people have given up the two outward ordinances, they have usually
betrayed a tendency to give up the literal fact that “God was made flesh”?
The literal fact that Christ was really a Man has generallybeen doubted or
thrown into the backgroundwhen the two outward ordinances have been
given up. I believe that these two symbolicalordinances, which are a link
betweenthe spiritual and the material, are set up on purpose to show that
Christ Jesus, thoughmost gloriously a Spirit, was also a Man clothed in a
body of real flesh and blood like our own, so that He could be touched and
handled even as He said, “Handle Me and see. A spirit has not flesh and bones
as you see I have.”
When I think of the Holy Spirit who bears witness that Christ was really a
Man, I thank Him for that witness!Then I turn to the water, and when I read
that Christ was publicly baptized in the Jordan, I perceive that He could not
have been a phantom. He could not have been a mere spectralappearance, for
He was immersed in water. He must have been a solid substantialMan! The
preservationof the ordinance of Baptism is a witness to the reality of the
Incarnate God. Then comes the blood. He could not have shed blood on
Calvary if He had been a specter. There could have been no blood streaming
down from His side when the spearpierced Him if He had been only a ghostly
apparition. He must have been solid flesh and blood like ourselves–andas
often as we come to His table, and we take the cup and hear it said–“This cup

is the New Covenantin My blood”–there is a third witness on earth to the fact
that Jesus did appearin very flesh and blood among men!
So the Spirit, the water, and the blood are the three standing testimonies in
the church of God that Christ was God, and that He was also really, solidly,
and substantially Man. I shall delight in the ordinances all the more because
of this. Those two ordinances serve to make us remember that Christ was
really flesh and blood, and that religion has something to do with this flesh
and blood of ours. This very body is to rise againfrom the tomb! Jesus came
to deliver this poor flesh from corruption! And so, while we must ever keep
the spiritual uppermost, we are prevented from casting awaythe material
body as though that were of the devil. Christ purified as well the realm of
matter as the realm of spirit! And in both He reigns triumphant! There is
much comfort here.
III. Lastly, we canonly occupy a few seconds in APPLYING THE CURE TO
VARIOUS CASES. Child of God, you say, “I dare not come to God today, I
feel so weak.”Fearnot, for He that is born in Bethlehemsaid, “A bruised reed
I will not break, and the smoking flax I will not quench.” “I shall never get to
Heaven,” says another, “I shall never see God’s face with acceptance.I am so
tempted.” “Fearnot,” for you have not an High Priest which cannot be
touched with a feeling of your infirmities, for He was tempted in all points like
as you are.“ "But I am so lonely in the world,” says another, “no man cares
for me.” There is one Man, at any rate, who does so care–a true Man like
yourself. He is your Brother, still, and does not forgetthe lonely spirit.
But I hear a sinner say, “I am afraid to go to God this morning and confess
that I am a sinner.” Well, do not go to God but go to Christ. Surely you would
not be afraid of Him. Think of God in Christ, not out of Christ. If you could
but know Jesus you would go to Him at once!You would not be afraid to tell
Him your sins, for you would know that He would say, “Go, and sin no more.”
“I cannot pray,” says one, “I am afraid to pray.” What? Afraid to pray when
it is a Man who listens to you! You might dread the face of God, but when you
see Godin human flesh, why be alarmed? Go, poor Sinner, go to Jesus. “I
feel,” says one, “unfit to come.” You may be unfit to come to God, but you
cannot be unfit to come to Jesus!There is a fitness necessaryto stand in the
holy hill of the Lord, but there is no fitness needed in coming to the Lord
Jesus!Come as you are–guilty, and lost, and ruined! Come just as you are and
He will receive you! “Oh,” says another, “I cannot trust.” I can understand
your not being able to trust the greatinvisible God, but cannot you trust that
dying, bleeding Son of Man who is also the Son of God?

“But I cannot hope,” says another, “that He would even look on me.” And yet
He used to look on such as you are. He receivedpublicans and sinners and ate
with them! And even harlots were not driven from His Presence. Oh, since
God has thus takenman into union with Himself be not afraid! If I speak to
one who by reasonof sin has wanderedso far awayfrom God that he is even
afraid to think of God’s name, yet inasmuch as Jesus Christis called “the
sinner’s Friend,” I pray you think of Him, poor Soul, as your Friend!
And, oh, may the Spirit of God open your blind eyes to see that there is no
cause for your keeping awayfrom God exceptyour own mistaken thoughts of
Him! May you believe that He is able and willing to save to the uttermost!
May you understand His goodand gracious Character, His readiness to pass
by transgression, iniquity, and sin! And may the sweetinfluences of Divine
Grace quickenyou to come to Him this very morning! God grant that Jesus
Christ, the hope of Glory, may be formed in you! And then you may well sing,
“Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, and goodwilltoward men.”
Amen.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Welcome News FromHeaven
Luke 2:8-11
W. ClarksonIt is surely not without significance thatthis most gracious
manifestation and announcement was made to these humble Hebrew
shepherds "keeping watchovertheir flock by night." It suggests two truths
which are of frequent and perpetual illustration.
1. That God choosesforhis instruments the humble rather than the high. Our
human notions would have pointed to the most illustrious in the ]and for such
a communication as this. But Godchose the lowly shepherd, the man of no
accountin the estimate of the world. So did he actin the beginning of the
gospel(see 1 Corinthians 1:26-29). And so has he actedever since, choosing
often for the agents of his power and grace those whom man would have
passedby as unworthy of his choice.
2. That God grants his Divine favor to those who are conscientiouslyserving
him in their own proper sphere. Not to the idle dreamer, not to the man who

will do nothing because he cannot do everything of which he thinks himself
capable, but to him who does his bestin the position in which God's
providence has placedhim, will God come in gracious manifestation;and it is
he whom he will selectto render important service in his cause. Butthe main
thoughts of this passageare these -
I. WELCOME TIDINGS FROM THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. "Theywere
sore afraid." "Fearnot... I bring you goodtidings." Why have men always
been so sore afraid in the presence of the supernatural? Why have they feared
to receive communications from heaven? Something much more than a
popular belief (see Judges 13:22)is required to accountfor so universal a
sentiment. It is surely that sinful men are profoundly conscious ofill desert,
and fear that any messagethat comes from God, the Holy One, will be a
messageofcondemnation and punishment. What would be the expectation
with which a camp of rebellious subjects, who had takenup arms againsttheir
sovereign, would receive a messengerfrom the court of the king? Had that
guilty age known that God was about to announce "a new departure" in his
government of the world, what ample, what overwhelming reasonwould it
have had to apprehend a messageofDivine wrath and retribution! How
welcome, then, the words, "Fearnot... I bring you goodtidings"! Of what
depth of Divine patience, of what boundless breadths of Divine compassion, do
these simple words assure us!
II. TIDINGS OF SURPASSING VALUE. Tidings "ofgreatjoy." The birth of
the Babe in Bethlehem "that day" - what did it mean? It meant:
1. Deliverance from a deadly evil. To these shepherds, if they were patriotic
children of Abraham, the promise of a Savior would mean deliverance from
the national degradationinto which Israelhad sunk - a spiritual as well as a
political demoralization. To them, if they were earnestreligious inquirers, it
meant deliverance from the bondage and penalty of sin. This is the
significance whichthe word has to us: in that day was born into the world a
Savior, a Divine Redeemer, One who should save the souls of men from that
which is the one curse of our humanity - sin.
2. The fulfillment of a great hope. To those who then learnt that "the Christ"
was born, it meant that the long-cherishedhope of their nation was fulfilled,
and that whateverthe Messiahwas to bring about was at length to be
accomplished. A great national expectationhas passed, with us, into a glorious
hope for the human race - the hope that under Christ this poor sin-stricken
world will rise from its ignorance, its superstition, its godlessness, its vice, and
its crime, and walk in newness of life, in the love and the likeness ofits
heavenly Father.

3. Restorationto our true position. That Savior is "Christ the Lord." We who
have sought to rule ourselves and to be the masters of our own lives, and who
have suffered so much in so many ways by this guilty dethronement and
usurpation, are now to find our true restand joy by submitting ourselves to
him who is "the Lord" of all hearts and lives; in his service is abiding peace
and "greatjoy."
III. TIDINGS OF GENERALAND OF PARTICULAR APPLICATION.
These gladtidings are for "all the people," and they were for those startled
and wondering shepherds. "To you is born." As we hear the angel's words, we
know that they are for all the wide world, and, whoeverwe may be, for us. -
C.
Biblical Illustrator
I bring you goodtidings of greatJoy.
Luke 2:10
Christmas-day lessons
DeanStanley.1. The whole thought and idea of all that is told us about
Christmas Day suggests the consoling, the cheering thought, that however
gloomy our lot, howeverdistressedour portion, God, the Almighty God, has
not forsakenus.
2. There is the truth which the heathen, and we must also add, which
Christians have often been very slow to acknowledge,that the Divine is only
another word for the perfectly good, that God is goodness,and that goodness
is God.
3. Let me take one specialmark of the life of Christ which extends through the
whole of it, by which His careerfrom the cradle to the grave is distinguished
from that of any of the other founders of religions. Let me sum it up in one
expressionwhich admits of many forms: He was the Mediatorbetweenthe

Divine and human, because He was the Mediator, the middle point, between
the conflicting parts of human nature.
(DeanStanley.)
The joy-producing powerof Christianity
H. W. Beecher.1. Whatis Christianity itself, that is said to have this powerof
producing joy? It is that systemof influence, which was designedof God, and
which is destined to educate the whole human race to perfect manhood.
2. When we saythat Christianity tends to produce joy, we are instantly
pointed to the wretchedcondition of things which exists. Men say,
"Christianity produce joy! Have there ever been such bloody wars as it has
produced? such quarrelling and dissensions? Where is your joy? Besides,
these flighty angels may have said something about joy, but what did the
MasterHimself say!Did He not say 'Take up your cross'&c.?"I do not say,
however, that Christianity instantly produces joy. I do not say that it produces
joy always. While man is being educatedinto, I concede that there is much
suffering. But it is not suffering for the sake ofthe suffering — not aimless
void and useless suffering.
3. But while this grand educationis evolving we must not think that joy is
absent wholly, and we must not pass too summarily by what has actually been
gained by Christianity in the production of joy in the world. The earliest
period of Christian life I suppose to have been transcendently joyful. The
apostles had nothing that men usually call elements of happiness. Yet I will
defy you to find in literature, ancient or modern, so high a tone of
cheerfulness as you will find in their history. And since the days of the apostles
how many Christian men have there not been who have been lifted up into
that sphere where joy abode with them. There is yet to be a revelation of what
Christianity has done for the internal man. The whole range of joy throughout
the world has been augmentedand elevated. The civilized world in ancient
times was never so happy as it is now. The world is better off to-day than it
was at any five hundred years previous. Agassizsays that the growthof a
plant is in three stages:first, by the root, which is invisible, and is the slowest
and longest;second, by the stem, which is perhaps not half as long; third, by
maturation or ripening, which is the quickestof all. So it is in history. The
past has been largelyoccupiedwith root-growth in moral things. The present
may be consideredthe period of growth by the stem. And I think we are
standing on the eve of a period of growthby maturation and ripening. It is for
me, therefore, a very joyful thought, not only that we have a religion which is
joy-producing in its ultimate fruits, but that, lookedupon comprehensively, it

has alreadyproduced vast cycles ofjoy, and is going forward, not having
expended half its force yet, to an era in which joy producing shall be more
apparent, and upon a vasterscale, and with more exquisite fruit, and in
infinite variety.
(H. W. Beecher.)
Glad news
W. H. Murray.Christianity is glad news.
I. BECAUSE IT REVELED GOD TO MAN. Considerthe state of the world
before Christianity was born. Here and there an old sage had gropedhis way
to a knowledge ofthe alphabet of truth. Here and there the Divine Spirit had
communicated to a tribe or nation so much of the Divine wisdom that they
lived faithful to their marriage vows, knew the blessings ofhome,
acknowledgedthe rights of property and life to such an extent that they would
not stealnor kill. But of Godthey knew little — of the life beyond the grave
nothing. But when Christianity was born, a sun arose into the darkness of the
world. Men saw what they had felt must be, but what they had never before
seen. And chiefestamong all sights revealed, stoodGod. The heavens were no
longera vacuum, Christianity told them that God is their Father.
II. BECAUSE IT REVEALED MAN TO HIMSELF. Nevertill Jesus was
born — never till he had lived and passedaway — did man know the nobility
of his species.Neveruntil God dwelt in the flesh could any man know what
flesh might become. Neveruntil the fulness of God was in man bodily, might
the race geteven a hint of that Divine receptiveness that, above all else
perhaps, most nobly characteriseshuman nature.
III. BECAUSE IT REVEALS GOD IN MAN. The proclamationof the angels
is confirmed in our experience and corroboratedby our knowledge thatthe
birth of Christianity was indeed "gladnews" to men, because it brought God
out of distance and darkness into light, and made Him nigh, as He is nigh who
shares our burdens, consolesour sorrows, andin every pinch and stress of
disastrous fortune rescues us from peril and saves us from loss.
(W. H. Murray.)
Christian joyfulness
W. H. Murray.Have you no song in you to-day? Have you receivedno mercy
that can make you tuneful? Do you not know that birds sing when they get
wings? And shall God wing you with powers and yet you remain silent? Look
abroad over the world and see how it is being lifted towards Christ; how the
old barbarisms are melting away;how the dungeons of old oppressions are

crumbling into ruins; how the tyrannies that trampled on men are being
shorn of their power. See the torch and the sword drop from the hand of
persecution, now nerveless, but once potent to strike and to light the martyr's
fire! Hear the chains of slavery snap! The ring and clashof the fetters falling
from wrist and ankle sound round the world. What is doing it! Jesus is doing
it. The Galileanhas triumphed! Old things are passing away;behold, all
things are becoming new! Is there no joy in our hearts at the sight of all this?
Shall we sit stolid and unmoved while before our eyes the influence of the
Birth is moving to its triumph, Should we do so, Religionwould disownus as
unworthy of her favours, and piety itself rebuke us as incapable of gratitude.
(W. H. Murray.)
Joy born at Bethlehem
C. H. Spurgeon.Inour text we have before us the sermon of the first evangelist
under the gospeldispensation. The preacherwas an angel, and it was meet it
should be so, for the grandestand last of all evangels will be proclaimed by an
angelwhen he shall sound the trumpet of the resurrection, and the children of
the regenerationshallrise into the fulness of their joy. The key-note of this
angelic gospelis joy — "I bring unto you good tidings of great joy." Nature
fears in the presence ofGod — the shepherds were sore afraid. The law itself
served to deepenthis natural feeling of dismay; seeing men were sinful, and
the law came into the world to reveal sin, its tendency was to make men fear
and tremble under any and every Divine revelation. But the first word of the
gospelended all this, for the angelic evangelistsaid, "Fearnot, behold I bring
you goodtidings." Henceforth, it is to be no dreadful thing for man to
approachhis Maker;redeemedman is not to fear when God unveils the
splendour of His majesty, since He appears no more a judge upon His throne
of terror, but a Father unbending in sacredfamiliarity before His own
beloved children. The joy which this first gospelpreacherspoke ofwas no
mean one, for he said, "I bring you goodtidings" — that alone were joy: and
not goodtidings of joy only, but "goodtidings of greatjoy." Man is like a
harp unstrung, and the music of his soul's living strings is discordant, his
whole nature wails with sorrow;but the son of David, that mighty harper, has
come to restore the harmony of humanity, and where His gracious fingers
move among the strings, the touch of the fingers of an incarnate God brings
forth music sweetas that of the spheres, and melody rich as a seraph's
canticle.
I. THE JOY mentioned in the text — whence comes it, and what is it?
1. A greatjoy.

2. A lasting joy.
3. A pure and holy joy. But why is it that the coming of Christ into the world
is the occasionofjoy? The answeris as follows:(1) Becauseit is evermore a
joyous factthat God should be in alliance with man, especiallywhenthe
alliance is so near that God should in very deed take our manhood into union
with His Godhead;so that God and man should constitute one Divine,
mysterious person. From henceforth, when God looks upon man, He will
remember that His own Son is a man. As in the case ofwar, the feud is ended
when the opposing parties intermarry, so there is no more war betweenGod
and man, because Godhas takenman into intimate union with Himself.
Herein, then, there was cause for joy.(2) But there was more than that, for the
shepherds were aware that there had been promises made of old which had
been the hope and comfort of believers in all ages, and these were now to be
fulfilled.(3) But the angel's song had in it yet fuller reasonfor joy; for our
Lord who was born in Bethlehem came as a Saviour. "Unto you is born this
day a Saviour." God had come to earth before, but not as a Saviour. The Lord
might have come with thunderbolts in both His hands, He might have come
like Elias to call fire from heaven; but no, His hands are full of gifts of love,
and His presence is the guarantee of grace.
4. This Saviour was the Christ. "Anointed" of God, i.e., duly authorized and
ordained for this particular work.(5)One more note, and this the loudest, let
us sound it well and hear it well. "which is Christ the Lord." Now the word
Lord, or Kurios, here used is tantamount to Jehovah. Our Saviour is Christ,
God, Jehovah. No testimony to His divinity could be plainer; it is indisputable.
And what joy there is in this; for suppose an angelhad been our Saviour, he
would not have been able to bear the load of my sin or yours; or if anything
less than God had been set up as the ground of our salvation, it might have
been found too frail a foundation.
II. Follow Me while I briefly speak ofTHE PEOPLE. to whom this joy comes.
1. Observe how the angelbegins, "BeholdI bring you goodtidings of great
joy, for unto you is born this day." So, then, the joy beganwith the first who
heard it, the shepherds. "To you," saith he; "for unto you is born." Beloved
hearer, shall the joy begin with you to-day? — for it little avails you that
Christ was born, or that Christ died, unless unto you a Child is born, and for
you Jesus bled. A personalinterest is the main point.
2. After the angel had said "to you," he went on to say, "it shall be to all
people." But our translation is not accurate, the Greek is, "it shall be to all the
people." This refers most assuredlyto the Jewishnation; there canbe no

question about that; if any one looks atthe original, he will not find so large
and wide an expressionas that given by our translators. It should be rendered
"to all the people." And here let us speak a word for the Jews. How long and
how sinfully has the Christian Church despisedthe most honourable amongst
the nations! How barbarously has Israel been handled by the so-called
Church! Jesus the Saviour is the joy of all nations, but let not the chosenrace
be denied their peculiar share of whatever promise Holy Writ has recorded
with a specialview to them. The woes which their sins brought upon them
have fallen thick and heavily; and even so let the richest blessings distil upon
them.
3. Although our translation is not literally correct, it, nevertheless, expressesa
greattruth, taught plainly in the context; and, therefore, we will advance
another step. The coming of Christ is a joy to all people. "Goodwilltowards"
— not Jews, but "men "mall men. There is joy to all mankind where Christ
comes. The religion of Jesus makes men think, and to make men think is
always dangerous to a despot's power. It is joy to all nations that Christ is
born, the Prince of Peace,the King who rules in righteousness.
III. THE SIGN. The shepherds did not ask for a sign, but one was graciously
given. Wilful unbelief shall have no sign, but weak faith shall have
compassionateaid. Every circumstance is therefore instructive. The Babe was
found "wrapped in swaddling clothes.
1. There is not the remotestappearance of temporal powerhere.
2. No pomp to dazzle you.
3. Neitherwas there wealth to be seenat Bethlehem.
4. Here too, I see no superstition.
5. Nordoes the joy of the world lie in philosophy. God's work was sublimely
simple. Mysterious, yet the greatestsimplicity that was ever spokento human
ears, and seenby mortal eyes. In a simple Christ, and in a simple faith in that
Christ, there is a deep and lasting peace, anunspeakable bliss and joy.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
God incarnate, the end of fear
C. H. Spurgeon.I. As to THE FEAR of the text, it may be wellto discriminate.
There is a kind of fear towards Godfrom which we must not wish to be free.
There is that lawful, necessary, admirable, excellentfear which is always due
from the creature to the Creator, from the subjectto the king, ay, and from
the child towardthe parent. To have a holy awe of our most holy, just,
righteous, and tender parent is a privilege, not a bondage. Godly fear is not

the "fearwhich hath torment;" perfectlove doth not eastout, but dwells with
it in joyful harmony. The fear which is to be avoided is slaving fear — that
trembling which keeps us at a distance from God, which makes us think of
Him as a Spirit with whom we can have no communion, as a Being who has no
care for us exceptto punish us, and for whom consequentlywe have no care
exceptto escape ifpossible from His terrible presence.
1. This fearsometimes arises in men's hearts from their thoughts dwelling
exclusively upon the Divine greatness.Is it possible to peerlong into the vast
abyss of Infinity and not to fear? Can the mind yield itself up to the thought of
the Eternal, Self-existent, Infinite One without being filled first with awe and
then with dread? What am I? An aphis creeping upon a rosebud is a more
considerable creature in relation to the universe of beings than I can be in
comparisonwith God. We have had the impertinence to be disobedient to the
will of this greatOne; and now the goodness andgreatness ofHis nature are
as a our. rent againstwhich sinful humanity struggles in vain, for the
irresistible torrent must run its course, and overwhelmevery opponent. What
does the greatGod seemto us out of Christ but a stupendous rock,
threatening to crush us, or a fathomless sea, hastening to swallow us up? The
contemplation of the Divine greatness mayof itself fill man with horror, and
casthim into unutterable misery!
2. Eachone of the sterner attributes of God will cause the like fear. Think of
His powerby which He rolls the stars along, and lay thy hand upon thy
mouth. Think of His wisdomby which He numbers the clouds, and settles the
ordinances of heaven. Meditate upon any one of these attributes, but
especiallyupon His justice, and upon that devouring fire which burns
unceasinglyagainstsin, and it is no wonder if the soul becomes full of fear.
Meanwhile, let a sense ofsin with its greatwhip of wire flagellate the
conscience, andman will dread the bare idea of God.
3. Whereverthere is a slavish dread of the Divine Being, it alienates man most
thoroughly from his God. Those whom we slavishly dread we cannot love.
Here is the masterpiece ofSatan, that he will not let the understanding
perceive the excellenceofGod's character, and then the heart cannot love that
which the understanding does not perceive to be loveable.
4. Fearcreates a prejudice againstGod's gospelof grace. People think that if
they were religious they would be miserable. Oh, could they comprehend,
could they but know how goodGod is, insteadof imagining that His service
would be slavery, they would understand that to be His friends is to occupy
the highestand happiest position which createdbeings can occupy.

5. This fearin some men puts them out of all heart of ever being saved.
Thinking God to be an ungenerous Being, they keepat a distance from Him.
6. This wickeddread of God frequently drives men to extremities of sin.
7. This feardishonours God.
8. This fearhath torment. No more tormenting misery in the world than to
think of God as being our implacable foe.
II. THE CURE FOR THIS FEAR. God with us: Godmade flesh — that is the
remedy.
1. According to the text they were not to fear, because the angelhad come to
bring them goodnews. He who made the heavens slumbers in a manger. What
then? Why, then God is not of necessityanenemy to man, because here is God
actually taking manhood into alliance with Deity. Is there not comfort in that?
2. The secondpoint that takes awayfearis that this man who was also God
was actually born. He is more man than Adam was, for Adam never was
born; Adam never had to struggle through the risks and weaknesses of
infancy; he knew not the littlenesses ofchildhood — he was full-grown at
once;whereas Jesus is cradledwith us in the manger, accompanies us in the
pains and feebleness andinfirmities of infancy, and continues with us even to
the grave.
3. Christ's office is to deliver us from sin. Here is joy upon joy.
III. APPLY THE CURE TO VARIOUS CASES. Encouragementto the weak,
the sinful, the lonely, the tempted. There is no cause for any to keepaway
from God, since Jesus has come to bring all to Him.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The joyful tidings of Christmas
C. H. Spurgeon.Now, if, when Christ came on this earth, God had sent some
black creature down from heaven(if there be such creatures there) to tell us,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men," and
if with a frowning brow and a stammering tongue he delivered his message,if
I had been there and heard it, I should have scrupled to believe him, for I
should have said, "You don't look like the messengerthat God would send —
stammering fellow as you are — with such glad news as this." But when the
angels came there was no doubting the truth of what they said, because it was
quite certain that the angels believed it; they told it as if they did, for they told
it with singing, with joy and gladness. If some friend, having heard that a
legacywas left you, should come to you with a solemn countenance, anda

tongue like a funeral bell, saying, "Do you know so-and-so has left you
£10,000?"Why, you would say, "Ah! I dare say," and laugh in his face. But if
your brother should suddenly burst into your room, and exclaim, "I say, what
do you think? You are a rich man. So-and-so has left you £10,000!" Why, you
would say, "I think it is very likely to be true, for he looks so happy overit."
Well, when these angels came from heaven, they told the news just as if they
believed it; and though I have often wickedlydoubted my Lord's goodwill, I
think I never could have doubted it while I heard those angels singing. No, I
should say, "The messengersthemselves are proof of the truth, for it seems
they have heard it from God's lips; they have no doubt about it, for see how
joyously they tell the news." Now, poorsoul. thou that art afraid lest God
should destroythee, and thou thinkest that Godwill never have mercy upon
thee, look at the singing angels and doubt if thou darest. Do not go to the
synagogue oflong-facedhypocrites to hear the minister who preaches with a
nasaltwang, with misery in his face, whilsthe tells you that God has goodwill
towards men; I know you won't believe what he says, for he does not preach
with joy in his countenance;he is telling you goodnews with a grunt, and you
are not likely to receive it. But go straightwayto the plain where Bethlehem
shepherds satby night, and when you hear the angels singing out the gospel,
by the grace ofGod upon you, you cannothelp believing that they manifestly
feel the preciousness oftelling. BlessedChristmas, that brings such creatures
as angels to confirm our faith in God's goodwillto men!
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The joy of Christmas
Anon.The incarnation, such a greatand manifold blessing to our race, must
bring with it a feeling of joy; and not to our race alone, but also to other
beings whose destinies are bound up with ours. The nativity brought joy —
1. In heaven, to the angelspirits. Their ruin was now repaired (Isaiah 51:3).
Zion here represents those who are ever beholding the Father's face;who
rejoice that the loss to their heavenly country is now made good, for the Lord
will be able to lead all the faithful thither, where with the angels they will be in
eternal joy.
2. In the unseenworld, to the faithful departed, Joyful to the old fathers, it is
their longed-for redemption. Adam's sin brought our race into captivity to the
devil. Redemption beganto-day.
3. In the world, among all people. Joyfor the new manifestation. He who
before was invisible was made visible to-day by opening the eyes of the human

race. The light of wisdomhas put to flight all the darkness of ignorance, and
brought joy in the place of despair.
(Anon.)
Joy at the birth of Jesus
M. Faber.To us men, more than to the angels orto any other createdbeings, is
this day's joy. It is the greatfestival of humanity. He who was born to-day was
—
I. A REDEEMER.Delivering us from the servitude of sin and Satan — a
worse bondage than that of Egypt. Think what songs of praise (Exodus 15:1)
are due to Jesus Christto-day, who, by the baptism reddened by His blood,
hath delivered us from the power of our spiritual foes.
II. A SURETY. Taking upon Himself all our debts and the condemnationof
their punishment. A new, the greatestand unheard-of benefit (Colossians
2:14). He came to-day to remit that vast debt, of sin which God alone could
pay; that the bond might be burnt in the fire of His love, or be affixed to the
cross on Mount Calvary.
III. A HEAVENLY PHYSICIAN. Preparedand willing to heal all diseases,
againand again, without fee or reward, without pain to the patient (Matthew
9:12; Luke 4:23).
IV. A SUN TO THE WORLD. Enlightening a darkness more dense than any
natural or physical darkness (John 1:9; John 9:5). A light —
1. Eternal.
2. Cheering.
3. Glorifying.
V. A GUIDE TO THE TRUE AND BLESSED LIFE (Micah 2:13). Going
before in difficulties, smoothing rough ways.
VI. A NOURISHER OF THE WORLD. Sustaining us in the waywith "living
bread."
VII. A PRINCE OF PEACE. Bringing peace —
1. With God.
2. To one's own conscience.
3. With eachother. (Psalm11:6-10.)
VIII. A SAVIOUR. Who will, after this life, bring us safely to the blessedand
eternal country and being. Think on all these things and say (Psalm117:1).

(M. Faber.)
Joy follows sorrow
Bp. E. Steere.Itis the presence, orthe memory, of something avoided, which
gives point to our warmestrejoicings. In man grief is linked on to happiness,
and suffering to joy. Just as a life without need of care is not a happy life, so if
there were no fasts there could be no feasts You must have shadow to show
the light. So if there had been no fall there could have been no rising again. If
there had been no Adam, there could have been no Christ. It was not only for
His own pleasure, and not at all for His own profit, but for us, that Christ was
born. Notfor Adam, nor the old patriarchs, nor for very wickedmen, but
because we are what we are — that is why God must needs deny His own
nature, and be born. Thus the little Infant Child appeals to us, as from the
cross the Saviour crucified. Shall we then be sad and sorrowfulon such a day?
It is not sadness to remember an escape from danger, nor sadness to see a
harbour in a storm. Those to whom this Christmas-time is not all mere
pleasure, but whose sad memories and present troubles are too heavy, may
sympathize with the Child born to suffer, and rejoice in the Lord born to save.
It is for you to whom the world is not too dear, that you may have a world
where sorrows enternot, that Christ was born. And for those who have no
weight of care and sorrow, let the memory of Christ make them generous and
thoughtful and kindhearted; not hard and selfish in their enjoyment, but
longing to make all as merry and lighthearted as themselves, remembering
that the first Christmas gift was given by God to us, when the Son of God gave
to mankind Himself.
(Bp. E. Steere.)
Goodtidings
G. Brooks.The gospelmay be called"goodtidings." —
1. Becauseit is so beneficial.
2. Becauseit is so appropriate.
3. Becauseit is so personal,
4. Becauseit is so unexpected.
5. Becauseit is so subservient to the illustration of all the other dispensations
of God toward us.
(G. Brooks.)
The duty of Christian joy

J. Vaughan.We are incapable of omniscience in the regionalike of enjoyment
and of suffering. God has so made the eye of this body that it discerns not the
animalcules swallowedin water, nor the tiny reptiles that are crushed by each
tread of the foot. This limitation of the natural vision is a type to us of a
principle which is the very condition of being. We are not to scrutinize
sufferings which we cannot alleviate. We are not to allow pain to annihilate
pleasure. We are not to setGod's dispensationof sorrow at variance with
God's other dispensationof joy. Where there is the remotestchance of
alleviating, there we are to be keen-sightedin investigation. The eye is to be
open — but let it be the natural eye, not the microscope. We are not intended
so to realize the woe which cannotbe mitigated, as to foster a general
depressionof tone, or a practicalinsensibility to the blessings which are
largely mingled (none can deny it) in the cup of human being. It is needful,
too, that we should none of us so enjoy as to forget the suffering which is for
another and which shall be for us. On this ground, with this view, to this
extent, we are bound to remember, and to take into our reckoning, the
hardships, the calamities, and the miseries, which abound in the world. But it
is not by refusing to rejoice that we shall really either learn to feel or learn to
bear.
(J. Vaughan.)
The gospelto be presentedas greatjoy
J. Vaughan.It is the bounden duty of eachone of us, in his own place and
sphere, to present the gospelto the world as goodtidings — of greatjoy — to
all people. If we once lose this view of it, we have parted with its chief power
over one large sectionat leastof mankind. To the young, to the strong, to the
busy, to the happy, it is idle to offer a consolationwhichthey need not, or a
gloomwhich they repudiate. Tell them that the gospelis a greatjoy — that it
heightens all other joys, that it makes that everlasting which else must be
temporal, that it makes the strong man stronger, and the young man younger,
and the wise man wiser, and the delightful man more delightful, and thus
completes and perfects every part and every kind of human vigour and of
human usefulness and of human hope — you make Christ then what
prophecy writes Him, the Desire of Nations;and you make the gospelwhat
the angelcalls it, great joy, and to all people. Nor do you, in so painting it,
detract from any one of its charms for the struggling and the sorrow-laden.
"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because He hath anointed me to
preach the gospelto the poor. He hath sentme to heal the broken-hearted, to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

(J. Vaughan.)
Christmas Day the turning point
H. W. Beecher.Do youremember that Christmas Day is the first day in the
year in which the days begin to lengthen? On the 21st, the 22nd, the 23rd, and
the 24th of Decemberthey are substantially at a standstill; but on the 25thof
Decemberthe hand of the poetic year cuts one lock from the head of darkness,
and hangs it like a star on the foreheadof the day; and to-day is a minute
longerthan yesterday. And the sun will not go back now. It has setits face
toward the summer; and though there are going to be greatstorms in
January, though vast shrouds of snow will cover the ground, yet you know
and I know that the sun has gone to its farthest limit, and has begun to turn
back;and that just as sure as nature is constantin her career, that sun is
retracing his steps with summer in his bosom, and that there are fruits, and
there are flowers, and there is a whole realm of joy coming. You have no
doubt of this in the natural world. And I saythat though the days of the
world's winter are not over, yet I believe that the Sun of righteousness has
gone as far awayas He ever will, and has turned, and is coming back; and
that there is to be a future summer of joy and rejoicing in things spiritual as
well as in things temporal.
(H. W. Beecher.)
Heathen religions and Christianity
H. W. Beecher.There have beenmany religions which have made men much
more joyful than Christianity has; but they played upon the nature just as it
was, and never sought to change it. The religionof the Greeks was a gayand
festive religion. They wreathed themselves with flowers;they anointed
themselves with sweetperfumes; they surrounded their temples with every
attraction; they invoked every pleasure that they could think of; they sought
to make the hour of their worship a beautiful and charming hour. They
sought joy without seeking manhood. Theirs was a religion which took men
just where they were, and left them where they were, and wrung out of them
all the joy that there was in them at that point of development — and that was
all. But Christianity takes men, and says, "Ye are capable of mightier things
than these," and so begins to open up the nature, to accordthe nature, to
discipline the nature, and make manhood vasterwith the volume of joy by-
and-by wrung out of their faculties — so vast that it shall transcend
immeasurably that which was possible in the beginning or at the earlier
stages.It is a greatcomfort to me, that have lookedwith so much sympathy
upon the whole long requiem of time past, and upon the groaning and

travailing in pain until now that is in the world, to believe, as I do heartily
believe, that the future of Christianity is to be far brighter, and that the day of
struggle is comparatively past.
(H. W. Beecher.)
All creatures interestedin the incarnation of Christ
Bishop Hacker.Mendid share in Him in His own sex and person;women in
the womb that bare Him; poor men in the shepherds, greatones in the sages
of the East;the beasts by the stable whereto He was born; the earth in the
gold that was offered;the trees in the myrrh and frankincense;and to reckon
up no more, the heavens in the star that blazed. All the works of God, even
they which by natural obedience bless Him and magnify Him for ever, did
claim some office to make one in the solemnity when their Creatorwas born.
Why surely some room was left for the angels. It was fit they should be in the
train at the inauguration of this mighty Prince, and their place, according to
their dignity, was very honourable; they were God's ambassadors, and as if
they had a patent to use their office frequently, they had many errands from
heaven — to Mary, to Joseph.
(Bishop Hacker.)
Behold
Bishop Hacker.Ofwhichword standing in this place I note three things —
admiration, demonstration, and attention.
1. Ecce, seeand admire this is the greatestwonderthat ever was. If you love to
castyour eyes upon that which is miraculous, look this way, and see the
greatestmiracle that everwas brought to light.
2. To cry out unto the shepherds, behold, is an adverb of demonstration.
Things hard by make us look towards them more than those that are farther
off; we sit still and muse upon that which we hope will come to pass, but when
we hear the bridegroom coming, then we bustle and look out. And though the
senses ofour body do not fix themselves upon Him, yet faith will perceive Him
strongly and certainly that He is truly present; faith will assure itself how He
stands at the door and knocks, andhow it hears His voice. Furthermore let
this demonstrative direction put you in mind to live so justly and inoffensively
as if you did always behold God in the flesh. But —
3. Ecce, behold, it cloth not beg, but command, attention. When the Lord
sends a messenger, is it not fit to note him diligently, and to ponder his sayings
in your mind?
(Bishop Hacker.)

Goodnews to all people
Bishop Hacker. — A goodharvest is not welcome to one village, but it is
gladsome to the whole country round about; and when spoils are divided after
the vanquishing of an enemy, every soldieris enriched, and hath his share.
Such a communicative blessing is our Saviour's incarnation — every man fills
his bosomwith the sheaves ofthe harvest; every Christian soldierthat fights a
goodwarfare plucks somewhatfrom the spoils of the enemy.
(Bishop Hacker.)
The birth of Jesus
JabezBurns, D. D.I. THE MESSENGEREMPLOYED. One ofthe dignified
sons of light. An ambassadorfrom heavento earth, from God to man. A
service of unrivalled glory and benevolence, calculatedto excite wonder and
abundant praise. By the redemption which is in Christ angels become our
brethren, our friends, and our companions for ever. It is Probable their joys
and honours are greatly enhanced by the work of the Messiah.
II. THE PERSONSADDRESSED. Jewishshepherds. Whata contrast
betweenthe ambassadorand those to whom he appeared. How different, too,
to the doings of men and to human expectations. It would have been supposed
the tidings should have been given to kings, or philosophers, or assuredlyto
the priests. But God's ways are not our ways. In all the work and life of Christ
God poured contempt upon worldly glory and distinctions.
III. THE MESSAGE COMMUNICATED.
1. The angel describes the personof Him who is born.
(1)Saviour.
(2)Christ.
(3)The Lord.
2. He announces His birth. The end of prophecy. The fulfilment of types. The
fulness of the times.
3. He affirms this to be an event of goodtidings. Tidings of Divine grace and
salvation— all others are insignificant in comparison. Life, light, happiness,
eternal glory.
4. He notices the universal application of these goodtidings.
(1)To the Jew first. "You."
(2)"All people." None shut out. How comprehensive. Whereverwe find even a
horde of wandering savages,Christis born for them.Application:

1. Is the end of Christ's birth answeredin you?
2. If so, rejoice.
3. Caution againstthe temptations of the season. Let your joy be "in the
Lord."
(Jabez Burns, D. D.)
The angel's messageto the shepherds
H. Venn, M. A.1. The time. Not in the meridian splendour of the sun, when his
unnumbered glories might have added to the lustre of the scene, andcharmed
and gratified senses andimagination. Silence of night is more favourable to
devotion than bustle of day. The errand of the heavenly messengers was ofa
religious nature, therefore they arrive in the darkness and stillness of night.
Long before this silent hour the sun had setin the westernsky. The stars
appeared, and the moon could not certainly withhold her light and her
attendance upon such an occasion;everything conspired to direct the pious
mind to solemn contemplation.
2. The persons. Not to rulers or greatmen was the messagesent, but to
humble shepherds. Why, then, saythe poor, that religion is not for them, that
they are neglectedand forgotten? It was to poor men that this wondrous
announcement was made.
3. The tidings revealed. Were they not "goodtidings'? Would not the poor
afflicted and oppresseddebtor, who was just about to be draggedby a
merciless creditorfrom his home and family, to be shut up in prison, esteemit
glad tidings if he should be in that hour informed that one, completelyable,
had sent an express messengerto the hard-hearted creditor, saying, "Placeall
this man's debt to my account;sethim at liberty to go home to his afflicted
wife and famishing children"? And was it not goodtidings to the children of
Israelin Egypt when Moses was sentby God to be their deliverer, and to lead
them to the promised land? But what is here announced far exceeds the joy of
such occasions as these, forthey refer to temporal concerns, this to eternal.
(H. Venn, M. A.)
Greatjoy is often
Van Doren.1. Secret.
2. Silent.
3. Childlike.
4. Modest.

5. Elevated. Christ is the only source ofrational joy among fallen men.
(Van Doren.)
The Christmas festival festival for the whole world
J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.1. This it is designedto be.
2. This it canbe.
3. This it must be.
4. This it will be.
(J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)
The messageto the shepherds
W. S. Bruce, M. A.I. HOW SURE IS GOD'S WORD. Ages had rolled by since
the promise was first made. Saints had waited; types had prefigured; prophets
had foretold: at last, when all preparation is complete, the Divine decree is
accomplished.
II. HOW WONDERFULARE GOD'S WAYS.
III. HOW GLORIOUS IS GOD'S SALVATION. God, and yet man; a babe,
and yet Lord of all. How greatthe Father's love; how wonderful the Son's
condescension!
(W. S. Bruce, M. A.)
Christianity a cheerful religion
T. Dale, M. A.It is necessaryfor some people to remember that cheerfulness,
goodspirits, light-heartedness, merriment, are not unchristian nor unsaintly.
We do not please Godmore by eating bitter aloes than by eating honey. A
cloudy, foggy, rainy day is not more heavenly than a day of sunshine. A
funeral march is not so much like the music of angels as the song of birds on a
May morning. There is no more religion in the gaunt nakedforest in winter
than in the laughing blossoms of the spring, and the rich ripe fruits of
autumn. It was not the pleasantthings in the world that came from the devil,
and the dreary things from God; it was sin brought death into the world and
all our woe;as the sin vanishes, the woe will vanish too. God Himself is the
ever-blessedGod. He dwells in the light of joy as wellas of purity, and instead
of becoming more like Him as we become more miserable, and as all the
brightness and glory of life are extinguished, we become more like God as our
blessednessbecomesmore complete. The greatChristian graces are radiant
with happiness. Faith, hope, charity — there is no sadness in them; and if
penitence makes the heart sad, penitence belongs to the sinner, not to the

saint. As we become more saintly, we have less sin to sorrow over. No; the
religion of Christ is not a religion of sorrow. It consoleswretchedness, and
brightens with a Divine glory the lustre of every inferior joy. It attracts to
itself the broken-hearted, the lonely, the weary, the despairing; but it is to give
them rest, comfort, and peace. It rekindles hope; it inspires strength, courage,
and joy. It checks the merriment of the thoughtless who have never
consideredthe graver and more awful realities of man's life and destiny; but it
is to lead them through transient sorrow to deeperand more perfect
blessedness, evenin this world, than they had ever felt before the sorrow
came.
(T. Dale, M. A.)
The greatbirthday
C. H. Spurgeon.I. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST SHOULD BE THE SUBJECT
OF SUPREME JOY. We have the angelic warrant for rejoicing because
Christ is born. It is a truth so full of joy that it causedthe angelwho came to
announce it to be filled with gladness. He had little to do with the fact, for
Christ took not up angels, but He took up the seedof Abraham; but I suppose
that the very thought that the Creatorshould be linked with the creature, that
the greatInvisible and Omnipotent should come into alliance with that which
He Himself had made, causedthe angelas a creature to feel that all
creatureshipwas elevated, and this made him glad. Besides, there was a sweet
benevolence ofspirit in the angel's bosom which made him happy because he
had such gladsome tidings to bring to the fallen sons of men.
1. The birth of Christ was the incarnation of God. This is a wondrous mystery,
to be believed in rather than to be defined. Mankind is not outlawed or
abandoned to destruction, for, lo! the Lord has married into the race, and the
Son of God has become Sonof Man. This proves that God loves man, and
means man's good;that He feels for man and pities him; that He intends to
deliver man and to bless him.
2. He who was born is unto us a Saviour. Those who will be most glad of this
will be those who are most conscious oftheir sinnership. If you would draw
music out of that ten-stringed harp, the word "Saviour," pass it over to a
sinner. "Saviour" is the harp, but "sinner" is the finger that must touch the
strings and bring forth the melody.
3. This Saviour is Christ the Lord, and there is much gladness in this fact. We
have not a nominal Saviour, but a Saviour fully equipped; one who, in all
points, is like ourselves, forHe is Man, but in all points fit to help the

feebleness whichHe has espoused, for He is the Anointed Man. The godlike in
dominion is joined with the human in birth.
4. The angel calledfor joy, and I ask for it too, on this ground, that the birth
of this child was to bring glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill
toward men. The birth of Christ has given such glory to God as I know not
that He could everhave had here by any other means. We must always speak
in accents softand low when we talk of God's glory; in itself it must always be
infinite and not to be conceivedby us, and yet may we not venture to say that
all the works of God's hands do not glorify Him so much as the gift of His
dear Son, that all creationand all providence do not so well display the heart
of Deity as when He gives His Only-Begotten, and sends Him into the world
that men may live through Him? What wisdom is manifested in the plan of
redemption of which the incarnate God is the centre! What love is there
revealed!What poweris that which brought the Divine One down from glory
to the manger; only Omnipotence could have workedso greata marvel! What
faithfulness to ancient promises!What truthfulness in keeping covenant!
What grace, and yet what justice!
II. Let us considerTO WHOM THIS JOY BELONGS.
1. It belongs to those who tell it.
2. It belongs to those who hear it.
3. It belongs to those who believe it.
III. How THAT JOY SHOULD BE MANIFESTED.
1. Proclaimthe Saviour.
2. Sing God's praises.
3. Spreadthe news — as the shepherds did.
4. Ponderthis miracle of love — as Mary did.
5. Go and do goodto others.Come andworship God manifest in the flesh, and
be filled with His light and sweetness by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ's Nativity
TheologicalSketch-book.1.Observe the interestwhich the angels felt on the
occasion. While men's minds are intent on the decree of the emperor, theirs
are centredon Christ.
2. Notonly did an angel appearto the shepherds, but the glory of the Lord
shone round about them. Evidence of a message immediately from God.

3. The effect it had upon the shepherds. Sore afraid, but afterwards cheered.
4. The object proclaimed is the "Saviour." Not themselves, but Christ.
5. The good news was common to all people, not to one nation only.
6. The good news, though common to all people, was more immediately
addressedto the shepherds, who like many others were waiting for the
consolationofIsrael. The gospelis addressedto individuals, as if they only
were the objects ofit. Salvation is directly offeredto every soul.
7. In this heavenly messageparticular attention is paid to time, place, and
other circumstances, to show their agreementwith ancientprophecy. Not even
an angel may speak anything contrary to the Scriptures (Galatians 1:8).
I. CONSIDERTHE SUBJECT OF THE ANGELIC MESSAGE, AND SEE
WHAT GOOD TIDINGS ARE CONTAINED IN IT.
1. The birth of Jesus Christ was itselfgoodnews. The greatobject of prophecy
from the beginning of the world, and the hope of the Church in all ages.
2. The gracious designof His incarnation imparted goodtidings to a guilty
and ruined world.
3. The way of salvation, which was effectedby the coming of Christ, forms an
essentialpart of the goodtidings brought to us by the angel. Repentance and
remissionof sins preached among all nations.
II. THESE TIDINGS ARE MATTERS OF JOY, OF GREAT JOY TO ALL
PEOPLE. The word used is strong, and only used for such greatoccasionsas
the joy of harvest or an important victory; but is fully applicable to this
subject.
1. The coming of Christ was the joy of the Old TestamentChurch, while they
lived only in hope of this greatevent (Isaiah25:9; John 8:56). How much more
when it is fully realized.
2. All the joy of believers during the lifetime of our Saviour centredentirely in
Him.
3. All the joy in the times of the apostles had an immediate reference to Christ
and His salvation. The apostles triumphed in every place, but it was because
the savourof His name was spread abroad.
4. Christ and His salvationmade all their troubles and sorrows light and
momentary; yea, they counted not their lives dear for His sake. The history of
the primitive Church is a history of sufferings in the cause of Christ, and of
joy and rejoicing in His holy name. This also is the way for us to bear up
under all the sorrows, trials, and afflictions of this life.

III. INQUIRE WHAT IS NECESSARYTO RENDERTHESE GOOD
TIDINGS A MATTER OF REAL JOY TO US. It is an undoubted fact that
they do not produce joy in all: they did not then, and they do not now. Many
think the tidings of the gospelnot worth hearing. Many who hear, neglect
them, or feel no interest in them. Some who seemto rejoice for a time become
indifferent, and afterwards wither away.
1. To become the subjectof real joy, these tidings require to be believed as
true, and to be receivedwith the utmost cordiality.
2. It requires a deep conviction of our guilty, lost, and ruined state, which is
presupposedby the gospel, and which must be felt and realized before it can
convey to us tidings of greatjoy.
3. A cordial receptionof the gospelitself, as revealing the only way of
salvation;obeying it from the heart, and receiving the truth in love.
(TheologicalSketch-book.)
The first Christmas
Dr. Talmage.I. THAT A SCENE OF FRIGHT OFTEN BECOMESA SCENE
OF EXALTATION. Joseph's wayto authority led through the pit, slavery,
and prison. How many through affliction have found spiritual triumph.
II. WE SEE WHY CHRIST FINDS SO POOR A RECEPTIONUPON
EARTH. ROOM for outward pomps, but none for the lowly Sonof God. In
yonder store there is room for trade, for money, but no room for Christ.
There is no war betweenprosperity and Christ.
III. THAT WHILE VIRTUE IS OFTEN FORCEDTO PLAIN LODGINGS,
WICKEDNESS IS PROVIDED WITHFINE QUARTERS. Guilt on the
throne, innocence in the cabin; Nero in the palace, Paula prisoner;
Nebuchadnezzarwalking in the hanging gardens, Shadrachin the fire.
Remember the order: first the manger; second, the cross;third, the crown.
IV. THAT JOY IS A DOMINANT ELEMENT IN RELIGION.
(Dr. Talmage.)
The first Christmas morning
D. W. Lusk.I. THE ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS GOOD TIDINGS TO THE
SLAVE. When He came, a large part of the race were held in abject servitude.
Slavery prevailed extensively in cultivated Greece,in imperial Rome, and
even in Palestine — in the very shadow of the temple of the MostHigh. Some
Roman masters held from ten to twenty thousand slaves, and the condition of
the slave was hard in the extreme. He was treated and held simply as a

"thing"; bought and soldas men deal in sheepand horses, he was absolutely
the property of his master;he had no rights as a man — no place under the
law; could be beaten, scourged, andput to death at the will of the master.
Such was the condition of half the world when the angelchoir sang their
Gloria in Excelsis. Butthat song was the death-knell to human bondage. The
Infant that lay in the manger hard by was to be the greatDeliverer. Glorious
emancipation! Glorious harbinger of that spiritual liberty which Christ is yet
to achieve!
II. THE ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS GOOD TIDINGS TO THE
LABOURER. The mass of men belong to the labouring class — are forced to
earn their bread in the sweatof their brows. The honour, the dignity, of
labour was not at all understood before Christ's advent. Philosophers taught
that all forms of manual labour were degrading. In Rome only three kinds of
occupationwere consideredrespectable, viz.: medicine, commerce, and
architecture. Free men had to work side by side with slaves. But Christ taught
a new doctrine. He consecratedand made honourable all honest labour, both
by the precepts He taught and by His own example. And just as the spirit and
teachings of the greatMasterprevail, the labouring classeswill be elevated
and prosperous, and human societywill approximate the heavenly world.
III. THE ADVENT OF CHRIST REVEALED TO EARTH THE TRUE IDEA
OF HUMANITY. The ancients had no just conceptionof man as man. At best,
he was consideredof no account, exceptas related to the State or the crown.
IV. THE ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS GOOD TIDINGS TO THE FAMILY.
The ancients had very imperfect ideas about it. Marriage was simply the
means the State had to produce citizens. But, oh, the power, the blessedness,
of the religion of Jesus on the family !V. THE ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS
GLAD TIDINGS BECAUSE IT GAVE THE WORLD A NEW HOPE, The
song of the angels on that eventful Christmas morning was the song of hope to
a despairing world.
(D. W. Lusk.)
Goodtidings of greatjoy
Bishop Hacket.The sweetairof the gospelhath some harsh tidings, to take up
the cross, andendure unto blood, and death, but these were tidings of joy.
1. Joys are of severalsizes, this is a greatone, nay, none so great.
2. Joys and great ones are quickly done, this is joy that shall be and continue.
3. A man may be a conduit-pipe to transmit joy to others, and have no benefit
himself; this is joy to you, to every ear that hears Mark 2:4. A goodnature

would not engross a blessing, but desires to have it diffused, and so was this
joy to all people. The angelsaid unto them, "Fearnot." What should they not
fear: first, non a splendore divine, let not their hearts be troubled because the
glory of the Lord shone round about them, Sore eyes are distempered at much
light, and it is a signthere is some darkness within us all, which loves not to be
discovered;that the best of us all are much perplexed if any extraordinary
brightness flash upon us.
(Bishop Hacket.)
Fearnot
Bishop Hacket., BishopHacket., BishopHacket., BishopHacket.,Bishop
Hacket., BishopHacket.Soif there be not a mixture of fear with our love, it
falleth asleep, it waxethsecure, and loseth her Beloved. If the comfort of our
joy be not allayedwith some fear, 'tis madness and presumption. Again, if our
fear be not intermixed with the comfort of some joy, 'tis sullenness and
desperation. As the earth cannot be without summer and winter to make it
fruitful, the pleasure of the one and the austerity of the other make up the
revolution of a goodyear, so faith is the parent both of a cloudy fear, and a
smiling hope: faith begets fearin us in regard of our own weakness, andhope
in regard of the goodnessofGod; hope ariseth out of the faith of the gospel,
and fear out of the faith of the law. These cannotbe parted.
(Bishop Hacket.)Thatbondage whichmakes us liable to judgment is naught;
but the fear which issues from a conscientiousnessofthat bondage flying to
God that it may fly from judgment is holy and good. Briefly, let them thus be
compared together;a filial fear, which loves God for His own goodness, is like
a bright day which hath not a cloud to disfigure it; a servile fear, that dreads
God because it dreads the wrath to come, is like a day that is overcastwith
clouds, but it is clearerthan the fairest moonshine night. It is goodto have the
spirit of adoption, but it is better to have the spirit of bondage than the spirit
of slumber; it is goodto be in Canaan, but it is better to be in the wilderness
than in Egypt; it is goodto be a child, but it is better to be a servant than a
strangerto the Lord.
(Bishop Hacket.)This, then, is another fear which belongs to our allowance,
but there is a fear which hath a nolite set before it, an immoderate horror of
heart, a symptom of desperation, or at leastof infidelity and diffidence; this is
that quivering with which God strikes His enemies, as a tree is shakenby the
wind to unfasten it from the root.
(Bishop Hacket.)Nothing, yousee, is comfortable to them that have not the
true comforter, the Holy Spirit in their soul.

(Bishop Hacket.)Satanfeels some horror that gnaws and torments him, but he
feels not the blessing of that fear which should discipline him from sin, and
amend him.
(Bishop Hacket.)Thenit were good, methinks, that discretionand
considerationof Christ's merciful gospeldid mitigate their zeal, who think
they are bound to thunder nothing so much to the people as fears, and terrors,
like the writer of Iambiques that spoke angerand poison to put Archilochus
into desperation. Let vices be threatened, but let the hope that accompanies
true repentance go together. Let judgment be put home to the obdurate
conscience, but let mercy be an advocate forthe broken in heart. Let the
strictness of law and the curse thereoffetch a tearfrom our eyes;but let the
ransom of our sins be setbefore us, and that Christ will wipe all tears from
our eyes. St. Paul wished himself at Corinth, not to affright them, but to
rejoice with the brethren; as it was saidof the mild nature of the Emperor
Vespasian, he never sent any man from him discontent, but gave him some
comfort and satisfaction. So the gospelis such a sweetdemulcing lesson, that if
it be truly preachedit must always revive the heart, it cannotleave a sting
behind it. You see the angel delights not to scare, but to comfort the
shepherds, "Fearnot."
(Bishop Hacket.)
Gospeljoy continuous
Bishop Hacket.This spiritual gladness andfestivity is the principal assistance
to vanquish Satan, and all desperate doubts with which he would perplex our
conscience:it is a royal joy which comforts us that we shall be heirs of a
glorious kingdom; it is a sanctifiedjoy which gives us promise that we shall
not only be kings but priests for ever, to offer up the sweetodours of our
prayers to God; it is a superlative joy which cries down all other petty
delights, and makes them appear as nothing; it is endless joy of durance and
lasting for ever and ever; for my text says it is "joy that shall be unto you."
Times of feasting have a period, every man is glutted at last; he that hath his
fill of sport is wearyby the late of night, and glad to take his rest. But the joy
that you have in Christ is with you all the year, in all your sorrow, in all your
adversities;it sleeps with you, it grows old with you, it will change this life
with you, and follow you into a better: "And My joy shall no man take from
you," says our Saviour (John 16:22). Christmas joy was not only for the first
twelve days when the Son of God was born, but for all the twelve months of
twelve hundred years, and many hundreds after them unto the world's end.
So St. Peter cloth solaceus with black sails of sorrow;as if he had never made
a saving voyage. All their laughter is like the joy of Herod's birthday.;

dancing, and revels, and offering of great gifts last for a while, but before
evening you shall see an alteration;and when their surfeited tables are
removed away, the lastservice in the platter is the head of John the Baptist.
But the mirth which we have in the Mediator of our salvationis a song which
hath no rest in it, nor ever shall have a close. We beginthe first part here, that
we may sing the other part in psalms and hallelujahs with the saints for ever.
As Christmas is celebratedpart of the new year, and part of the old, so it is
joy that is in this life, and shall be in the life to come.
(Bishop Hacket.)
The nativity of our Lord, tidings of greatjoy
J. Barrow, D. D.1. Let us considerthat the nativity doth import the
completion of many ancient promises, predictions, and prefigurations
concerning it; that whereas allformer dispensations of favour and mercy were
as preludes or preambles to this; the old law did aim to representit in its
mysterious pomps; the chief of providential occurrencesdid intimate it; the
prophets often in their mystical raptures did allude to it, and often in clear
terms did express it; the gracious designs ofGod, and the longing expectations
of mankind being so variously implied in regard thereto; now all is come to be
fulfilled, and perfected in most clear, most effectual, most substantial
accomplishment. Now what can be more delightful, or satisfactoryto our
mind, than to reflect on this sweetharmony of things, this goodly
correspondence betweenthe old and new world; wherein so pregnant
evidences of God's chief attributes (of His goodness, ofHis wisdom, of His
fidelity and constancy), all conspiring to our benefit, do shine? Is it not
pleasantto contemplate how provident God hath ever been for our welfare?
what trains from the world's beginning, or ever since our unhappy fall, He
hath been laying to repair and restore us? how wisely He hath ordered all
dispensations with a convenientreference and tendency to this masterpiece of
grace? how steadyHe hath been in prosecuting His designs, and how faithful
in accomplishing His promises concerning it? If the "holy patriarchs did see
this day, and were glad";if a glimpse thereof did cause their hearts to leap
within them; if its very dawn had on the spirits of the prophets so vigorous an
influence, what comfort and complacenceshould we feel in this its real
presence, and bright aspecton us!
2. Let us considerwhat alterationour Lord's coming did induce, by
comparing the state of things before it with that which followedit. The old
world then consisting of two parts, severedby a strong wall of partition, made
up of difference in opinion, in practice, in affection, togetherwith a strict
prohibition to one of holding intercourse with the other. Such was the state of

FEAR NO MORE WITH JESUS' BIRTH

FEAR NO MORE WITH JESUS' BIRTH

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