But who can calculate the blessing which Christianity hath been to thousands of true believers?  How many lives have been made holy here on earth; how many hearts have been cheered and comforted by it; how many deaths, which would otherwise have been most gloomy, have been rendered joyful and triumphant; and, above all, how many immortal souls have been saved and made happy to all eternity, through faith in this blessed Redeemer.  “My sheep,” says Christ, “hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”  “I go to prepare a place for them, that where I am there they may be also.”

And now, reader, what are your thoughts on the subject of our Saviour’s appearance on this earth of ours?  If you are a true Christian, your language will be such as the following:  “It is through the coming of Christ into the world that I have learned to know myself, and to know the God who made me.  I am by nature blind and ignorant; I am also sinful and undone; I am utterly without hope, except through the mercy of my Saviour; and even though I have been born in a Christian land, I can trace back, in my recollection, many proofs of this my natural ignorance and corruption and hardness of heart.  I was once like a sheep going astray, but I am now returned to the Shepherd of my soul.  I followed the bent of my own foolish will, but the grace of God in Jesus Christ has changed my sinful heart; the knowledge of my corruption has humbled me; the thought of my Saviour’s dying for me has stirred up gratitude within me, and that acquaintance with his gospel which I have gained has changed my whole views of life.

“Christ’s character delights me:  I read the history of his humble birth, his painful death, and his glorious resurrection, as it is recorded in Scripture, with hope and joy, and with holy confidence and trust.  How shall I sufficiently bless God for Jesus Christ?  Whatever change has been wrought in me, I trace to Christ’s coming into the world.  If Christ had never come, how corrupt should I be at this moment; how blind, how dark, how ignorant, how different from what, through the grace of God, I now am.  How miserable, in comparison of my present happiness.  I am engaged, indeed, in a sharp conflict with my sins; but, through my Saviour’s help, I hope to gain ground against them.  I have, occasionally, doubts and fears; but in general, I feel confident that the promises of God are sure and certain in Christ Jesus; for I know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that soul which I have committed to him till the great day.”

A NEW CHRISTMAS HYMN.

  O how wondrous is the story
    Of our blest Redeemer’s birth! 
  See, the mighty Lord of glory
    Leaves his heaven to visit earth.

  Hear with transport, every creature,
    Hear the gospel’s joyful sound: 
  Christ appears in human nature,
    In our sinful world is found!