And Micah, too, prefigures the Lord's coming:

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.

And thus was the promise made to Abraham of old fulfilled, that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed; and in the first chapter of St. Matthew's gospel the genealogy of Christ is clearly traced from Abraham downwards.

And now, at this glorious Christmas time-this Christmas which we keep in remembrance of the birth of the anointed Jesus-is it not a pleasant thing to think that our Redeemer was once a little child, and bore the pains and sicknesses common to humanity, even as we? And when we feast and make merry, it will be no restraint upon us to remember amid our joy the origin of the festival, and, besides looking to ourselves, cast a pitying eye upon our poorer brethren— and not a pitying eye alone, but an open, liberal hand; remembering the example of our blessed Master, who declared, that "Whosoever shall give a cup of cold water to one of these in my name, he shall in no wise lose his reward."

And here we may appropriately introduce the admirable reflections of Bishop Hackett :

"I beseech you to observe, all you that would keep a good Christmas, as you ought, that the glory of God is the best celebration of His Son's nativity; and all your pastimes and mirth (which I disallow not, but rather recommend in moderate use) must be so managed, without riot, without surfeiting, without excessive gaming, without pride and vain pomp, in harmlessness, in sobriety; as if the glory of the Lord were round about us. Christ was born to save them that are lost, but frequently you abuse His nativity with so many vices, such disordered outrages, so that you make this happy time an occasion for your loss rather than for your

salvation. Praise Him in the congregation of the people praise Him in your inward heart-praise Him with the sanctity of your life-praise Him in your charity to them that are in need and are in want. This is the glory of God shining round, and the most Christian solemnising of the birth of Jesus.”

Go, heal the sick, the blind restore;

Speak freedom to the sorrowing slave;
Still shall the work delight you more,
Transgressors from their sins to save,

Tell those who sit in death's dark shade,
Their glorious Eastern star hath shone;
The mighty sacrifice is made,

And Sin and Death in bondage groan.

Say that God's mediatorial plan

A covenant more pure revealed;

That peace on earth, good will to man,

Are by His boundless mercies sealed,

Before we place this first beautiful Pearl on our slender string, we will just glance at the uses to which its teachings may be put. "All things are possible to him that believeth," says the Evangelist; and without an entire and perfect faith in what we are here called upon to consider-without an undeviating and sincere belief in the miraculous birth of our blessed Saviour, then is all relation vain, even as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. "Faith," says Bogatzky, "is the very eye and light of the Christian religion. Everything turns upon that. As our faith is, so is our strength and fruitfulness in good works. But at the same time there is nothing more out of our own power than to believe, even after the work of grace has been actually wrought in our hearts. Therefore nothing more needful than to pray for faith as long as we live. May the Lord increase it continually!

66

Nothing can be stronger in the universe than the hand of faith. By this we lay sure hold on our most glorious and

almighty Lord in heaven, and such an inviolable union is established between Christ and a believing soul, that none can separate the one from the other: all the powers of hell and sin avail nothing against it. Faith breaks through the greatest obstacles, removes mountains of difficulties, and has, as it were, a kind of omnipotence in it. For this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.' As straw cannot withstand the force of fire, so God, being a wall of fire around his people, the greatest power of our mighty enemies shall be consumed like stubble. Oh! then look upon him steadfastly, my soul, and believe in him with a simple heart. Wondrous are his ways with his people, and past finding out; but at last all their sorrows and strife, by his infinite wisdom, must come to a glorious and triumphant end.”

Oh, let us go from strength to strength,

From grace to greater grace;
From one degree of faith to more,

Till we behold thy face.

It is said of Dr. Young, the author of the world-known Night Thoughts, that he had in a garden the painted representation of a rustic chair, which was so capitally done, that the spectator did not discover his mistake in taking it for a seat till he came quite close to it. On it were written the words -invisibilia non decipiunt-" the unseen does not deceive." In this one little sentence lies the whole doctrine of faith. The Christian is made acquainted with the power and majesty of the Almighty by his familiarity with things unseen. He is more familiar with the truths of God by his faculty of belief than even by the manifestation of divine power made visible and palpable to his senses. This principle is faith.

Faith, we are told, in all cases, means confidence in the truth of certain propositions which are presented to the view of the mind. I am told there is such a country as India. The evidence of this proposition is such as convinces my

mind of its truth. I believe, or I have faith, in the statement. When convinced of this truth, I might be unwilling to take a voyage to India, but if willing to undertake it, should have no apprehension of finding that no such country existed.

If the truths thus presented to our view are truths which immediately concern ourselves, belief in them produces corresponding emotions and conduct; and thus it was with the Virgin mother of Christ and her cousin Elizabeth—they believed in what had been promised them, and they thought it nothing wonderful or out of the course of nature that they should be chosen as the special instruments of God's great providence. And so it is also with the Christian: he has confidence which rests on certain and sufficient evidencefor faith is nothing more than confidence in the truth of certain propositions. If, says the author of " Persuasives to Piety," I am told of some impending danger, belief in the statement excites concern, alarm, and anxious endeavours to avoid the threatened evil. If, again, I am told of some important benefits, belief in the statement leads me to embrace the favourable offer and seize the proffered good. If I merely think it probable that such danger threatens, or such good is offered, I cannot be said to believe either the one or the other. I think it likely, that is all; and the mere likelihood, though it may excite some degree of alarm or desire, will probably do nothing more.

But the confidence requisite to a Christian is a saving faith in God's promises; and this, says the same author, includes a confidence in the truth of those statements which the gospel makes respecting the Lord Jesus Christ; in other words, the mind is convinced of the certainty of the discoveries of the That in this Scripture respecting him and his salvation.

this

case, as well as where the subjects of time are concerned, confidence is a principal part of faith, is evident from the divine word.

In fact, without a firm and consistent belief in the truths enunciated in this first holy Pearl, all further reading of our little book were waste of time. In the belief in His birth, death, and resurrection, lie our hopes of heaven and immortality. By faith are we justified, and by faith saved. The atonement of the blessed Jesus, says our authority, is that on which faith more especially fixes. Hence it is described as faith in His blood. The expression is remarkable. It is not faith in His divine commission, faith in His rich benevolence, faith in His gracious promises, faith in His lovely character, but faith in His blood. And, as a propitiation for sin is it, by faith in His blood that the soul enjoys the benefits he bestows. The Socinian has faith in His divine commission: what will it avail him? the Mahometan has the same. The humble disciple has faith in His blood. The importance of a faith which thus fixes on the atoning Saviour, appears inculcated by Himself, in the most solemn manner, when He, in a figurative discourse, represented His flesh and blood as the meat and drink of His disciples.

And again, as faith in regard to eternal things is similar to sight in respect to those of time, so it produces effects exactly similar. Were the Christian to see the Son of God expiring for his sins, what more could the sight effect than lead him to abhor himself, to hate his sins, and to yield himself a living sacrifice to his crucified lord? All this faith effects, wherever it is genuine. Were the glories of eternity unveiled to the believer's eye, and the bliss of heaven presented to his sight, what more could the sight effect than lead the soul to seek its portion above, to slight the trifles of time, and to feel and act as a pilgrim upon earth? Where faith is possessed, all this will be effected; not with feelings as lively, or perceptions as vivid, as those produced by sight; but the choice will be as real, and the affections as truly turned to heaven, and fixed and centreing there.