King of the Jews," when the sacred hands were There is no name so sweet on earth, And when he hung upon the tree, O JESUS, by that matchless name, Thou art the same for ever. G. W. Bethune. Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we render thee Collect. most hearty thanks, that after man, created in thine own image, had fallen under the curse of sin and death, thou didst not leave him to perish in helpless misery, but didst provide a Saviour, and proclaim to the fathers, by the mouth of thy prophets and holy men of old, the advent of thy dear Son, the Hope of Israel, the Desire of the nations, the Redeemer of the world, that, by believing on him, we might have the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting: to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, be glory and thanksgiving, world without end. Amen. THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. LUKE ii, 1-7. Unto us a child is born, Unto us a son is given; And the government shall be upon his shoulder: Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Isaiah ix, 5, 6. VIII. THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. LUKE ii, 1-7. the Nativ ity. ALTHOUGH the birth of the Divine Man is the Chronology of pivotal fact of Christianity and the turning-point in human history, yet, strange to say, we do not know the day or even the year in which Jesus Christ was born. Nor is it needful that we should. Our salvation depends on the fact of his birth, not on its time or place. It matters not, then, on what particular day he was born. The grand thing is that he has been born at all. Enough that we know that there has been such a thing as the fullness of the time, and that, when that full- Gal. iv, 4. ness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Nevertheless, let me say in passing, there is a fine propriety in celebrating once a year the nativity. Our ignorance of the date is no valid objection. We do not hesitate to date our letters and documents Anno Domini 1887, although in doing so we commit an error of at least four years, and perhaps six. The all-important thing here is not the time of the nativity, but the fact of the nativity. And, if one |