October 22 October 29 November 5 November 12 November 19 November 26 December 3 December 10 December 17. December 24 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. BOSTON, MASS. SALEM, MASS. BOSTON, MASS. REV. WILLIAM E. BARTON, D.D. NEWTON, MASS. BOSTON, MASS. BOSTON, MASS. BOSTON, MASS. ITHACA, N. Y. DOVER, N. H. NEWBURYPORT, Mass. HOPKINTON, MASS. NEW YORK, N. Y. BELOIT, WIS. . BOSTON, MASS. BRUNSWICK, ME. ALBANY, N. Y. SOMERVILLE, Mass. NEWTON CENTRE, MASS. SYRACUSE, N. Y. AUBURNDALE, MASS. JACKSON, MICH. SOMERVILLE, MASS. WORCESTER, MASS. OBERLIN, OHIO. SERMONS FIRST QUARTER CHRIST, THE TRUE LIGHT JOHN 11-14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," etc. The gospel of Mark opens with the sound of a voice in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The young prophet, John, is brought before us, surrounded with eager multitudes from all the region round about, and among them there comes from Nazareth of Galilee a young man by the name of Jesus, who receives baptism, as all the people are doing. But as they ascend from the river Jordan the heavens open and the Spirit, like a dove, descends upon Jesus and a voice from heaven declares him to be God's well-beloved Son. If heaven opens first, hell opens immediately afterward, and the temptation follows. Now and to the end of the gospel our attention is riveted upon the swift movements of this Son of man as he goes about doing acts of mercy, teaching truth and revealing divine powers. We follow him until he ascends to the right hand of God, after sending forth his disciples to preach the gospel to all the world. From this briefest record we learn nothing of the origin of Jesus. We return to the first gospel, the work of Matthew, the Jew, and before we begin to watch the wise men from the 9 East coming to the manger at Bethlehem, we must needs open "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." The holy mother and the holy thing in her arms appear now in the foreground of a wonderful picture. Far distant lie the Chaldean hills from which Abraham, the friend of God, is seen setting out on his journey of faith, to possess the land of promise for himself and his seed forever. Patriarch and law-giver, priest and prophet, appear upon the scene. The smoke of endless sacrifices ascends and the blood of countless victims flows. around the altars. Sin and sorrow enter and we can watch the dreary exile in Babylon where the songs of King David cannot be sung in a strange land. The beauty of the first temple disappears and another takes its place. Jewish history and hope are suggested to us in the genealogy which links Joseph and Mary with David and Abraham. We trace the history of this great Son of David and Son of God until he rises from the dead and appears to his disciples. We hear him saying, "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations." But still another picture is given us of the nativity by Luke, the Gentile and the beloved physician. The background of the picture is immensely deepened and broadened. Back of Abraham and all Jewish history stands the history of the whole human race. The lineage of Jesus is now traced through the family of the faithful, back to the first man, Adam, the epitome of humanity. Creation's morning is suggested, and the glad, young, fair world which God pronounced good and over which he placed Adam in charge. The song of the morning stars still floats in the air. The breezes of Eden are blowing. The prosaic, historical fact is recited that a decree went forth from Cæsar Augustus that all the world should be taxed and that Joseph and Mary went up to be enrolled at their ancestral |