MEDITATION ON CHRISTMAS-EVE. (Translated from the Swedish of Madame Ehrenborg.) "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." LUKE ii. 14. THUS a Christian Advent-song shows us in what manner we ought to consider Him whose life on earth is adored every day and hour when the Gospel is preached and practised. This adoration is commenced with a festival, the most cherished and the most delightful of all to those who love the Lord, and believe in His Word. The bride whom He will visit is the Christian Church, and all its members who confess Him to be their Lord, their God, and their King. A preparation is made for that festival (in the Swedish Church) by four "Advent Sundays." The text which has been quoted and those which follow,* allude to the same principal subjects. The first class of * The Swedish Church not only prescribes the texts for the Christmas and Easter, &c., but for every Sunday in the year. N. S. NO. 168.-VOL. XIV. festivals, such as 3 L those texts (Matt. xxi. 1-9; John xviii. 36, 37; Luke iv. 16—22.) shows us Jesus Christ as King, annonnced by the Prophets, acknowledged by the people, and Himself confessing that He was come for that purpose. The second class (Luke xxi. 25, 26; Matt. xvi. 24—28 ; Luke xvii. 20-30,) sets forth prophecies of signs and events, which take place at His renewed or second coming, when He was to become more generally known and glorified on the earth. The third class (Matt. xi. 2-10; Matt. xi. 11-19; Luke iii. 1-15.) and the fourth class (John i. 19—28; iii. 22—36; v. 31—39.) contain the testimonies which were exchanged between Him and John the Baptist; by means of which it was to be plainly understood by every soul in search of the truth, that He who had been expected during thousands of years was now walking among the people, and offering His kingdom to all; but none could receive its blessings unless they were purified through the baptism of repentance. For no one who lives and delights in evil can duly receive and comprehend the wonderful truth, that "God is manifested in the flesh." But the annunciation of the kingdom of heaven as being "at hand," will be a sweet and cheerful message" to that soul who has been awakened by "the voice of one crying in the wilderness," to consider what is to come over him. He also cheerfully inquires with the penitents, who came to John in the wilderness, after that which must be done in order to participate in the peace and the blessings of that kingdom. 66 Since the true professors of Jesus Christ, during the four Advent weeks in the growing darkness of nature,* and in kindly attending to the comfort and enjoyment of their beloved neighbours-have prepared themselves for the expected feast, behold! it arrives at last, giving peace and plenty, with light in the darkness, and with the beginning, in a double sense, of a new solar year. All the gifts of God in this life and, in nature speak intelligently to those who are able to comprehend them ;--and who would not be willing to surround themselves with the best things that their situation can afford when Christmas is at hand? But this feast, with all its glory, points chiefly to one Object, which in the eyes of the proud, the selfish, and the worldly, appears of so little importance that, if they occasionally are directed to it, they suddenly are turned away again. That object is—a new-born Babe in the most destitute circumstances. No dwelling-house could be found to afford accommodation for this Babe, but he must be laid upon a bed of straw, in a manger. Alas! what a reflection upon human pomp and vanity! He who was to receive "all power in heaven and on earth," appears as * Alluding to the very short days in Sweden. the poorest babe that was ever born! Who would believe such a thing? It was so prophesied, indeed; but when men seek all their gratifications in bodily pleasures and worldly splendour,-then the prophecies are forgotten or misunderstood, however plain they may be. This sorrowful truth is applicable as well to our times as to those to which the holy Scriptures refer. These are narratives as well as prophecies. That which has happened in the past, happens again in the present, and will happen in the future, as far as regards mankind, if they do not become truly regenerate. A wise man said that "nothing beneath the sun is new." But all things must become entirely changed, altered, perfected, and glorified by the transforming omnipotence of the Lord. The greatest miracle of all, to wit, that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," must exercise its blessed influence upon every soul who wishes to participate in the salvation of His kingdom. The revelation of the Lord happens no more physically, or in Person, but spiritually, and through that Word which from the beginning to the end speaks of the things of His kingdom,-that Word which is able to make the simple wise. In that Word, and in its infinite depths, the revelation of Him about whom we shall read to-morrow, (Christmas-day,) that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," is continued, perfected, and glorified. Through that Word all mankind who desire to see His kingdom shall be born anew, and, spiritually, every one in his own manner experiences what Jesus went through Himself in His state of humiliation, in order that they may be raised to His glory, be conjoined with Him, and receive salvation from Him. "How shall this be?" asks the natural man, who perceives nothing that regards the spirit of God, and unwillingly believes anything that he cannot physically understand. Such a one cannot possibly comprehend how the Omnipotent God could lower Himself down to the earth in a human form, because the worldly wise man is unable to understand such a thing. But all the wonderful things that surround us should never have appeared, if nothing else were possible to Him but what we mortal beings are able to perceive. The naturalist seems to know a great deal about matters when he has been able to ascertain their component parts, and the order in which they originate and progress; but he cannot see the efficient principle in this work, namely, the life. It is, like the heat, something invisible, which can be known and experienced only by its effects. Should even the learned be able to do impossibilities-to count the stars, or the thousand various parts and vessels of which a human body, with all its different organs, is composed, yet he cannot see the thought, which by the will makes this whole marvellous frame-work move the very moment the decision is given; still less can he trace the power by which this is accomplished. If all of us knew that the lofty tree which, with its beauty and uses, is an object of our admiration, has grown up from a little seed of the same kind which the tree drops in autumn around itself; still there is something unperceivable and inimitable, which shows to all that the Hand that made it is a Hand divine. And we do not admire it merely because it is a common occurrence. But lay that grand display before any nation that has seen nothing of the kind, and they will be astounded in the same degree they are able to reflect and muse upon what they see. Such miracles of different kinds surround us; but we are astonished only by things which we have not before seen, or which appear on a sudden. Though being so short sighted, many who are ignorant or perverse about the most common things, will confidently decide what is possible to the Omnipo tent God. But He, in his infinite love and wisdom, accommodates every revelation of Himself to the wants and faculties of the human family, to whom he makes Himself known. When that generation which in the Bible is called Adam, or Man, was no more willing to observe the wise and loveful commands of God for his own happiness, but by an abuse of his freedom suffered himself to be seduced to disobedience, and therefore became exposed to the misery of sin, the judgment over the fallen race was already accompanied by a promise of help. And He who was to come became a Saviour to all those who, with belief and confidence, attach their hopes to that promise, the consummation of which, in time, must be prepared during thousands of years. That promise was again renewed to Abraham and his posterity, and all the worship of Israel was so instituted that it consisted of corporeal emblems of the spiritual things which were represented by their external worship. When that people afterwards disobeyed the laws which distinguished them from other nations, and fell into idolatry and into all the sins connected therewith, then prophets were raised up, holy men of God. These men preached powerfully, sometimes threatening, sometimes warning, attracting and encouraging through prophecies of what was to come in the course of time. They spake in that lofty, significant language of images, which is peculiar to the nations of the East, and used generally in the holy Scriptures as Divine poetry. These "holy men of God" who, by the inspiration of his Spirit, spake of coming events, were probably not fully conscious of the deep signification of their words. They may be compared to instruments, the strings of which obey the hand of the master, and communicate to the hearer the melodies which the master imparts to them. The language used by these Seers is various in character, like the rising and sinking of a ship on the waving ocean, so that the concealed or manifest truths announced might strike the various degrees of perception of those who receive them. Their prophecies of a coming Saviour regard also, alternately, both his natures the Divine one from eternity, and the Human in time. And therefore their prophecies were received in a different way by different persons. Nearly all of the people among whom the Saviour of the world was born, expected in Him a King, who would lead them to greater glory and happiness than that enjoyed by any other people on the earth. In this belief was involved a misunderstood truth. All the true confessors of Him were indeed to arrive at glory and happiness; but His kingdom was not of this world, nor was it limited to that people who, less than others, were willing to elevate their thoughts above worldly things, but who, at the same time, were best fitted for the external worship, through which a foundation was laid for higher or spiritual purposes. Because He, however, through Mary and her husband, who was of the same kindred and His reputed father, descended from the family of David, Herod trembled at the information of a new-born Jewish King, and the little ones in Bethlehem must be sacrificed to the cowardice of the tyrant, because the power he feared was watched by angels and protected by loving hearts. Afterwards, when the Lord grew up and appeared as a teacher and a worker of miracles, there were many who hoped that He shortly would occupy the throne of David, and acknowledged Him as the great Prophet who was to come. But when His deeds superseded any thing hitherto seen or heard, and yet did not satisfy the selfish and worldly, who directed their minds to nothing but earthly glory, voluptuousness, and riches, then He became despised and persecuted by these people; but by the pious and the believing He was deemed to be the Son of God. The angel who announced to Mary what should come had also said," That Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." But He says Himself, in the 14th chapter of St. John, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." And when Philip entreated Him to show them the Father, He said, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father: and how sayest thou, (then,) shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the |