common multitude, the vulgar herd, but He made Himself at home among them. He was dressed like a peasant, in the ordinary gown of the country—a garment without seam, woven from the top throughout. He mixed with the multitude, went to their marriage feasts, attended their funerals, and was so much among them, a man among men, that slander called him a gluttonous man and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. In all respects our Lord was raised up from the midst of us—one of our own kith and kin. "For this cause He is not ashamed to call us brethren." He was our brother in living, our brother in death, and our brother in resurrection; for after His resurrection He said: "Go, tell my brethren." He also said: "My father and your father, my God and your God." Though now exalted in the highest heavens, He pleads for us and acts as a High Priest who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. God has graciously raised up such a Mediator, and now He speaks to us through Him. O sons of men, will ye not hearken when such an One as Jesus of Nazareih, the Son of Man, is ordained to speak of the eternal Gri --SPURGEON.

Condensed Comments.

He knew the fearful power

Of hunger, in that hour

When nature pines and starves for want of bread;
Though, at His high command,

The harvest clothed the land,

And hungry thousands at His word were fed.

J. LOTON.

We must love the grand half-visions of this world. Like Moses, being unable to see the face of the Almighty, we must be content with the rustle of His flowing garments. Unable fully to measure the Christ, let us say: "Here is the only incarnation within the realm of evidence, and here the quality of the being is such that reason may forgive us and faith commend us if we say: 'Truly, this was the Son of God.'"-SWING.

If you have done nothing but exhibit in your lives the precious results of grace you will have done well. If you have presented to your companions truths that were sweetness itself to you and tried to say, in broken accents, "Oh, that you knew this peace!" it shall give you joy unspeakable to meet those in glory who were attracted to Christ by such a simple means.―SPURGEON.

You may go the world over, and you will not find a single believer who is disappointed in the once crucified, now glorified, soon coming King. This is the best an

Take any class of

swer to the skepticism of the day. society, the highest or the lowest, and there is not an instance of one who trusted in the Lord and was confounded. PENNYFATHER.

Brighten darkened lives; soften the rude; make a sunshine of peace in stormy places; cover the faults and follies of men with the flowers of love. That is the best religion, the life of Christ, the very life of God.-H. C. POTTER.

The hoary centuries are full of Him. The echoes of His sweet voice are heard today. His love has perfumed

the past eighteen hundred years, and He lives todav, as the Head of His church. He lives today, the object of the warmest adoration, the most passionate love, for whom millions would die this very hour. Empires have fallen, thrones have crumbled; but Jesus lives, His empire extending every day, His throne gaining new trophies of His grace.-A. E. KITTRedge.

The world can not bury Christ. The earth is not deep enough for His tomb; the clouds are not wide enough for His winding-sheet. He ascends into the heavens, but the heavens can not contain Him. He still lives--in the church which burns unconsumed with His love; in the truth that reflects His image; in the hearts which burn as He talks with them by the way. -EDWARD THOMSON.

All the world's joy comes from the grave of our risen Lord. It was a dark and sad earth to which Jesus came with His revealings of love. But who can write the story of blessing which began with the first Christmas? How poor the world would be today if there had never been a manger cradle at Bethlehem, and then a cross on Calvary and a broken grave!-J. R. MILLER.

Saying: "O heart I made, a heart beats here;
Face my hands fashioned see it in myself;

Thou hast no strength, nor mayst conceive of mine;

But love I gave thee, with myself to love,

And thou must love me who h ve died for thee."

ROBERT BROWNING.

The most destructive criticism has not been able to dethrone Christ as the incarnation of perfect holiness.

The waves of a tossing and restless sea of unbelief break at His feet, and He stands still the supreme model, the inspiration of great souls, the rest of the weary, the fragrance of all Christendom, the one divine flower in the garden of God.-HERRICK JOHNSON.

No other fame can be compared with that of Jesus. He has a place in the human heart that no one who ever lived has in any measure rivaled. No name is pro

nounced with a tone of such love and veneration. All other laurels wither before His.

His are ever kept fresh

with tears of gratitude.-W. E. CHANNING.

O Jesus, King most wonderful !
Thou conqueror renowned!
Thou sweetness most ineffable,

In whom all joys are found!
When once Thou visitest the heart,
Then truth begins to shine;
Then earthly vanities depart,

Then kindles love divine.

E. CASWALL.

Oh, let us understand that the power of Christianity lies not in a hazy indefiniteness, not in shadowy forms, not so much even in definite truths and doctrines, but in the truth and the doctrine. There is but one Christ crucified. All the gathered might of the infinite God is in

that word.-HERRICK JOHNSON.

Oh, for a man to rise in me,

That the man I am may cease to be!

TENNYSON.

You never get to the end of Christ's words.

something in them always behind. They pass into prov

There is

erbs; they pass into laws; they pass into doctrines; they pass into consolations. But they never pass away, and,

after all the use that is made of them, they are still not exhausted.-DEAN STANLEY.

Jesus Christ, perfect in deity, perfect in humanity, truly God and truly man, of reasonable soul and body; of the same substance with the Father as to His divinity, of the same substance with us as to His humanity; in all things like to us, except sin.-COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON, A. D. 451.

The Son of God has come into the world to bless us. Look at that Sermon on the Mount. It is filled with the word blessed, blessed, blessed. I think it occurs nine times. His heart was full of blessings for the people. He had to get it out before He gave His sermon.MOODY.

Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,
If He's not born in thee, thy soul is still forlorn.

SCHEFFLER.

All the glory and beauty of Christ are manifested within, and there He delights to dwell. His visits are fre quent; His condescension amazing; His conversation sweet; His comforts refreshing; and the peace which He brings passeth all understanding.-THOMAS A KEMPIS.

As the sun is the general giver of light to the whole world, although there be many who do receive no light at all of it, even so the redemption of mankind by Christ is available for all, although reprobate and wicked men do not receive the same.-R. CAWDRAY.