1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,480 Saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say? 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:09,759 Unto him? The Son of David Matthew twenty two forty two, first 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:15,720 published by Drummonds Tract Depot, Stirling, Scotland. Christmas is a season which 4 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:19,960 almost all Christians observe in one way or another. Some keep it as a 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,719 religious season, some keep it as a holiday. But all over the world, 6 00:00:24,879 --> 00:00:28,960 wherever there are Christians, in one way or another, Christmas is kept. 7 00:00:29,559 --> 00:00:33,600 Perhaps there is no country in which Christmas is so much observed as it 8 00:00:33,679 --> 00:00:39,920 is in England. Christmas holidays, Christmas parties, Christmas family gatherings, Christmas 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,960 services and churches, Christmas hymns and carols, Christmas holly and misseltoe. Who 10 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,479 has not heard of these things? They are as familiar to English people as 11 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:55,079 anything in our lives. They are among the first things we remember when we 12 00:00:55,079 --> 00:01:00,759 were children. Our grandfathers and grandmothers were used to them long before we were 13 00:01:00,799 --> 00:01:04,319 born. They have been going on in England for many hundred years. They 14 00:01:04,359 --> 00:01:10,040 seem likely to go on as long as the world stands. But reader, 15 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:15,680 how many of those who keep Christmas ever consider why Christmas is kept? How 16 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,719 many, in their Christmas plans and arrangements. Give a thought to him, 17 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,120 without whom there would have been no Christmas at all. How Many, ever, 18 00:01:23,239 --> 00:01:29,159 remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is the cause of Christmas. How Many 19 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:34,439 ever, reflect that the first intention of Christmas was to remind Christians of Christ's 20 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,400 birth and coming into the world. Reader, how is it with you? 21 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,680 What do you think of at Christmas? Bear with me a few minutes while 22 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:48,200 I try to press upon you the question which heads this tract. I do 23 00:01:48,239 --> 00:01:52,359 not want to make your Christmas merriment less. I do not wish to spoil 24 00:01:52,439 --> 00:01:56,799 your Christmas cheer. I only wish to put things in their right places. 25 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:01,680 I want Christ himself to be remembered at Christs. Give me your attention while 26 00:02:01,719 --> 00:02:07,319 I unfold the question. What think ye of Christ? One? Let us 27 00:02:07,319 --> 00:02:13,879 consider firstly why all men ought to think of Christ? Two, let us 28 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:19,960 examine secondly the common thoughts of many about Christ. Three let us count up 29 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,719 lastly the thoughts of true Christians about Christ. Reader, I dare say, 30 00:02:24,759 --> 00:02:30,599 the demands upon your time this Christmas are many, Your holidays are short. 31 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,240 You have friends to see, you have much to talk about. But still, 32 00:02:35,439 --> 00:02:38,879 in the midst of all your hurry and excitement. Give a little time 33 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:43,039 to your soul. There will be a Christmas some year when your place will 34 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,840 be empty. Before that time comes, suffer me as a friend to press 35 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:53,319 home on your conscience the inquiry, what think ye of Christ? One? 36 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,680 First, then let us consider why all men ought to think of Christ? 37 00:02:58,719 --> 00:03:02,080 This is a question which to be answered at the very outset of this tract. 38 00:03:02,719 --> 00:03:07,360 I know the minds of some people when they are asked about such things 39 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,319 as I am handling today. I know that many are ready to say, 40 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,280 why should we think about Christ at all? We want meat and drink, 41 00:03:15,319 --> 00:03:19,159 and money, and clothes and amusements. We have no time to think about 42 00:03:19,159 --> 00:03:23,400 these high subjects. We do not understand them. Let parsons and old women 43 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:29,280 and Sunday school children mind such things if they like. We have no time 44 00:03:29,319 --> 00:03:32,719 in a world like this to be thinking of Christ. Such is the talk 45 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:38,240 of thousands in this country. They never go either to church or chapel. 46 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,680 They never read their Bibles. The world is their god. They think themselves 47 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,400 very wise and clever. They despise those whom they call religious people. But 48 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,080 whether they like it or not, they will all have to die one day. 49 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:55,719 They have all souls to be lost or saved. In the world to 50 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:00,919 come, they will all have to rise again from their graves and to have 51 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,919 a reckoning with God. And shall their scoffing and contempt stop our mouths and 52 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,280 make us ashamed? No, indeed, not for a moment. Listen to 53 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:15,039 me, and I will tell you why all men ought to think of Christ. 54 00:04:15,199 --> 00:04:18,959 Because of the office Christ fills between God and man. He is the 55 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:24,560 eternal son of God through whom alone the Father can be known, approached, 56 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,800 and served. He is the appointed mediator between God and man, through whom 57 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,439 alone we can be reconciled with God, pardoned, justified, and saved. 58 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:39,279 He is the divine person whom God the Father has sealed to be the giver 59 00:04:39,399 --> 00:04:44,360 of everything that man requires for his soul. To him are committed the keys 60 00:04:44,399 --> 00:04:47,959 of death and hell. In his favor is life. In him alone, 61 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:54,199 there is hope of salvation for mankind. Without him, no child of Adam 62 00:04:54,319 --> 00:04:59,759 can be saved. Quote other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, 63 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,439 which is Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son hath life, And 64 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:09,560 he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. End. First 65 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:15,319 Corinthians three eleven first John five twelve, and ought not man to think of 66 00:05:15,399 --> 00:05:19,079 Christ. Shall God the Father honor him, and shall not man. I 67 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,160 tell every reader of this tract that there is no person, living or dead, 68 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:29,040 of such immense importance to all men as Christ. There is no person 69 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,839 that men ought to think about so much as Christ. All men ought to 70 00:05:32,879 --> 00:05:39,040 think of Christ because of what Christ has done for all men. He thought 71 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:44,600 upon man when man was lost, bankrupt and helpless by the fall and undertook 72 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,519 to come into the world to save sinners. In the fullness of time. 73 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,959 He was born of the virgin Mary and lived for man thirty three years in 74 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,399 this evil world. At the end of that time, he suffered for sin 75 00:05:57,519 --> 00:06:01,759 on the cross as man substitute. He bore man's sins in his own body 76 00:06:02,079 --> 00:06:06,399 and shed his own life blood to pay man's debt to God. He was 77 00:06:06,439 --> 00:06:12,079 made a curse for man that man might be blessed. He died for man 78 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,600 that man might live. He was counted a sinner for man that man might 79 00:06:15,639 --> 00:06:20,519 be counted righteous. And ought not man to think of Christ. I tell 80 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,639 every reader of this tract that if Christ had not died for us, we 81 00:06:25,759 --> 00:06:30,199 might all of us for anything we know be lying at this moment in hell, 82 00:06:30,639 --> 00:06:35,040 all men ought to think of Christ because of what Christ will yet do 83 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:40,519 to all men. He shall come again one day to this earth with power 84 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,160 and glory, and raise the dead from their graves. All shall come forth 85 00:06:45,199 --> 00:06:48,240 at his bidding. Those who would not move when they heard the church going 86 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:53,800 bell shall obey the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. He 87 00:06:53,879 --> 00:06:59,480 shall set up his judgment seat and summon all mankind to stand before it to 88 00:06:59,639 --> 00:07:02,839 him. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that he is 89 00:07:02,959 --> 00:07:10,160 Lord. Not one shall be able to escape that solemn assize, not one 90 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,680 but shall receive it the mouth of Christ, an eternal sentence. Every one 91 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,240 shall receive, according to what He has done in the body, whether it 92 00:07:17,279 --> 00:07:21,519 be good or bad. And ought not men to think of Christ. I 93 00:07:21,639 --> 00:07:27,079 tell every reader of this tract that whatever he may choose to think now, 94 00:07:27,279 --> 00:07:31,800 a day is soon coming when his eternal condition will hinge entirely on his relations 95 00:07:31,839 --> 00:07:36,480 to Christ. But why should I say more on this subject? The time 96 00:07:36,519 --> 00:07:41,199 would fail me if I were to set down all the reasons why all men 97 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,639 ought to think of Christ. Christ is the grand subject of the Bible. 98 00:07:46,079 --> 00:07:49,759 The scriptures testify of him. Christ is the great object to whom all the 99 00:07:49,839 --> 00:07:56,240 churches in Christendom profess to give honor. Even the worst and most corrupt branches 100 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,800 of it will tell you that they are built on. Christ is the end 101 00:08:00,839 --> 00:08:05,639 and substance of all sacraments and ordinances. Christ is the grand subject which every 102 00:08:05,639 --> 00:08:11,319 faithful minister exalts in the pulpit. Christ is the object that every true pastor 103 00:08:11,439 --> 00:08:16,079 sets before dying people on their death beds. Christ is the great source of 104 00:08:16,199 --> 00:08:20,879 light and peace and hope. There is not a spark of spiritual comfort that 105 00:08:20,959 --> 00:08:26,279 has ever illumined a sinner's heart that has not come from Christ. Surely it 106 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:31,519 never can be a small matter whether we have any thoughts about Christ. Reader, 107 00:08:31,679 --> 00:08:35,559 I leave this part of my subject here. There are many things which 108 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,679 swallow up men's thoughts while they live, which they will think little of when 109 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:46,080 they are dying. Hundreds are wholly absorbed in political schemes and seem to care 110 00:08:46,159 --> 00:08:50,240 for nothing but the advancement of their own party. Myriads are buried in business 111 00:08:50,279 --> 00:08:56,440 and money matters, and seem to neglect everything else but this world. Thousands 112 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,120 are always wrangling about the forms and ceremonies of religion, and are ready to 113 00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:05,080 cry down everybody who does not use their shibaleths and worship in their way. 114 00:09:05,879 --> 00:09:11,559 But an hour is fast coming when only one subject will be minded, and 115 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:16,320 that subject will be Christ. We shall all find, and many, perhaps 116 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,600 too late, that it mattered little what we thought about other things, so 117 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,080 long as we did not think about Christ. Reader, I tell you this 118 00:09:24,279 --> 00:09:28,759 Christmas, that all men ought to think about Christ. There is no one 119 00:09:28,799 --> 00:09:33,879 in whom all the world has such a deep interest. There is no one 120 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,240 to whom all the world owes so much. High and low, rich and 121 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:41,879 poor, old and young, gentle and simple, all ought to think about 122 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:50,360 Christ. Two, let us examine secondly the common thoughts of many about Christ. 123 00:09:50,399 --> 00:09:54,639 To set down the whole list of thoughts about Christ would indeed be thankless 124 00:09:54,720 --> 00:10:00,279 labor. It must content us to range them under a few general heads. 125 00:10:00,639 --> 00:10:03,960 This will save us both time and trouble. There were many strange thoughts about 126 00:10:05,039 --> 00:10:07,919 Christ when he was on earth. There are many strange and wrong thoughts about 127 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,320 Christ now when he is in heaven. The thoughts of some people about Christ 128 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:20,240 are simply blasphemous. They are not ashamed to deny his divinity. They refuse 129 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,960 to believe the miracles recorded of him. They pretend to find fault with not 130 00:10:24,039 --> 00:10:28,720 a few of his sayings and doings. They even question the perfect honesty and 131 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,279 sincerity of some things that he did. They tell us that he ought to 132 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:39,039 be ranked with great reformers and philosophers like Socrates, Seneca, and Confucius, 133 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:46,120 but no higher. Thoughts like these are purely ridiculous and absurd. They utterly 134 00:10:46,159 --> 00:10:52,039 fail to explain the enormous influence which Christ and Christianity have had for eighteen hundred 135 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,200 years in this world. There is not the slightest comparison to be made between 136 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:03,399 Christ and any other teacher of mankind lived. The difference between him and others 137 00:11:03,759 --> 00:11:07,120 is a gulf that cannot be spanned, and a height that cannot be measured. 138 00:11:09,039 --> 00:11:11,879 It is the difference between gold and clay, between the sun and a 139 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:18,720 candle. Nothing can account for Christ and Christianity but the old belief that Christ 140 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,440 is very God. Reader, are the thoughts I have just described your own? 141 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,679 If they are take care. The thoughts of some people about Christ are 142 00:11:28,799 --> 00:11:33,720 vague, dim misty, and indistinct that there was such a person. They 143 00:11:33,759 --> 00:11:39,320 do not for a moment deny that he was the founder of Christianity and the 144 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:43,240 object of Christian worship. They are quite aware that they hear of him every 145 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:48,240 time they go to public worship, and ought to have some opinion or belief 146 00:11:48,279 --> 00:11:52,480 about him, they will fully admit, but they could not tell you what 147 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,600 it is they believe. They could not accurately describe and define it. They 148 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,000 have not thoroughly considered the subject. They have not made up their minds. 149 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:07,159 Thoughts such as these are foolish, silly, and unreasonable. To be a 150 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:11,720 dying sinner with an immortal soul, and to go on living without making up 151 00:12:11,759 --> 00:12:16,080 one's mind about the only person who can save us, the person who will 152 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:20,159 at last judge us. Is the conduct of a lunatic or an idiot, 153 00:12:20,519 --> 00:12:24,519 and not of a rational man. Reader, are the thoughts I have just 154 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:30,519 described your own? If they are take care. The thoughts of some men 155 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:35,720 about Christ are mean and low. They have no doubt a distinct opinion about 156 00:12:35,759 --> 00:12:39,440 his position in their system of Christianity. They consider that if they do their 157 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:45,200 best and live moral lives, and go to church pretty regularly and use the 158 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:50,320 ordinances of religion, Christ will deal mercifully with them. At last and make 159 00:12:50,399 --> 00:12:56,080 up any deficiencies. Thoughts such as these utterly fail to explain why Christ died 160 00:12:56,159 --> 00:13:00,879 on the cross. They take the crown off Christ's head and degrade him into 161 00:13:00,879 --> 00:13:05,720 a kind of make weight to man's soul. They overthrow the whole system of 162 00:13:05,759 --> 00:13:09,879 the Gospel and pull up all its leading doctrines by the roots. They exalt 163 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:15,080 man to an absurdly high position, as if he could pay some part of 164 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,960 the price of his soul. They rob man of all the comfort of the 165 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:24,399 Gospel, as if he must needs do something and perform some work to justify 166 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,759 his own soul. They make Christ a sort of judge, far more than 167 00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:33,919 a savior, and place the Cross and the Atonement in a degraded and inferior 168 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:39,120 position. Reader, are the thoughts I have just described your own? If 169 00:13:39,159 --> 00:13:43,759 they are take care. The thoughts of some men about Christ are dishonoring and 170 00:13:43,919 --> 00:13:48,759 libelous. They seem to think that we need a mediator between ourselves and our 171 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:54,200 Savior. They appear to suppose that Christ is so high and awful and exalted 172 00:13:54,240 --> 00:14:01,039 a person that poor sinful man may not approach him, that we must employ 173 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,279 an episcopacy ordained minister as a kind of go between to stand between us and 174 00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:11,879 Jesus and manage for our souls. They send us to saints, or angels 175 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,440 or the Virgin Mary, as if they were more kind and accessible than Christ. 176 00:14:16,279 --> 00:14:22,639 Thoughts such as these are a practical denial of Christ's priestly office. They 177 00:14:22,679 --> 00:14:28,720 overthrow the whole doctrine of his peculiar business as man's intercessor. They hide and 178 00:14:28,759 --> 00:14:33,279 bury out of sight his especial love to sinners and his boundless willingness to receive 179 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:39,000 them. Instead of a gracious savior, they make him out in austere and 180 00:14:39,159 --> 00:14:43,440 hard king, Reader, are the thoughts I have just described your own? 181 00:14:43,919 --> 00:14:48,320 If they are take care. The thoughts of some men about Christ are wicked 182 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,960 and unholy. They seem to think that they may live as they please because 183 00:14:54,039 --> 00:14:58,480 Christ died for sinners. They will indulge every kind of wickedness and yet flatter 184 00:14:58,559 --> 00:15:03,600 themselves that they are not blameworthy for it, because Christ is a merciful savior. 185 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,279 They will talk complacently of God's election and the necessity of grace, and 186 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:15,440 the impossibility of being justified by works, and the fullness of Christ, and 187 00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:20,279 then make these glorious doctrines, an excuse for lying, cheating, drunkenness, 188 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:26,120 fornication, and every kind of immorality. Thoughts such as these are as blasphemous 189 00:15:26,159 --> 00:15:31,919 and profane, as downright infidelity. They actually make Christ the patron of sin. 190 00:15:31,799 --> 00:15:35,840 Reader, are these thoughts I have described your own? If they are 191 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:43,039 take care? Reader. Two general remarks apply to all these thoughts about Christ 192 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,720 of which I have just been speaking. They all show a deplorable ignorance of 193 00:15:46,759 --> 00:15:52,039 scripture. I defy anyone to read the Bible honestly and find any warrant for 194 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:56,799 them in that blessed book. Men cannot know their Bibles when they hold such 195 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:02,639 opinions. They all help to prove the corruption and darkness of human nature. 196 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,759 Man is ready to believe anything about Christ except the simple truth. He loves 197 00:16:07,759 --> 00:16:11,240 to set up an idol of his own and bow down to it, rather 198 00:16:11,279 --> 00:16:17,840 than accept the savior whom God puts before him. I leave this part of 199 00:16:17,879 --> 00:16:22,480 my subject here. It is a sorrowful and painful one, but not without 200 00:16:22,519 --> 00:16:27,279 its use. It is necessary to study morbid anatomy if we would understand health. 201 00:16:27,919 --> 00:16:33,960 The ground must be cleared of rubbish before we build. Three. Let 202 00:16:34,039 --> 00:16:40,320 us now count up lastly, the thoughts of true Christians about Christ. The 203 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,080 thoughts I am going to describe, are not the thoughts of many. I 204 00:16:44,159 --> 00:16:48,000 admit this most fully. It would be vain to deny it. The number 205 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,440 of right thinkers about Christ in every age has been small. The true Christians 206 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:59,600 among professing Christians have always been few. If it were not so, the 207 00:16:59,639 --> 00:17:03,119 Bible would have told an untruth. Straight is the gate, says the Lord 208 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,440 Jesus. And narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there 209 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:11,319 be that find it. Why does the gate? And broad is the way 210 00:17:11,519 --> 00:17:18,359 that leadeth to destruction? And many there be which go in thereat many walk, 211 00:17:18,559 --> 00:17:22,519 says Paul, of whom I tell you even weeping, that they are 212 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,200 enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose end is destruction. Matthew seven thirteen 213 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:34,039 and fourteen, Philippians three, eighteen and nineteen. True Christians have high thoughts 214 00:17:34,039 --> 00:17:40,839 of Christ. They see in him a wondrous person far above all other beings 215 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,200 in his nature, a person who is at one and the same time perfect 216 00:17:45,279 --> 00:17:49,680 God, mighty to save, and perfect man able to feel. They see 217 00:17:49,759 --> 00:17:55,880 in him an all powerful redeemer who has paid their countless debts to God and 218 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,960 delivered their souls from guilt and hell. They see in him and almighty friend 219 00:18:00,279 --> 00:18:04,160 who left heaven for them, lived for them, died for them, rose 220 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:10,279 again for them, that He might save them forevermore. They see in him 221 00:18:10,319 --> 00:18:15,039 an almighty physician who washed away their sins in his own blood, put his 222 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,440 own spirit in their hearts, delivered them from the power of sin, and 223 00:18:18,599 --> 00:18:23,880 gave them power to become God's children. Happy are they who have such thoughts? 224 00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:32,079 Reader? Have you true Christians have trustful thoughts of Christ? They daily 225 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,279 lean the weight of their souls upon Him by faith for pardon in peace. 226 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,680 They daily commit the care of their souls to Him, as a man commits 227 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:45,240 a treasure to a safe keeper. They daily cling to Him by faith, 228 00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:48,799 as a child in a crowd clings to its mother's hand. They looked to 229 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,039 Him daily for mercy, grace, comfort, help, and strength, as 230 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,440 Israel looked to the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness for guidance. 231 00:18:59,279 --> 00:19:03,000 Christ is the rock under their feet and the staff in their hands, their 232 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:07,680 ark and their city of refuge, their son and their shield, their bread 233 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,359 and their medicine, their health and their light, their fountain and their shelter, 234 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,599 their portion and their home, their door and their ladder, their root 235 00:19:18,799 --> 00:19:22,960 and their head, their advocate and their physician, their captain and their elder 236 00:19:23,039 --> 00:19:27,960 brother, their life, their hope, and their awe. Happy are they 237 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:36,279 who have such thoughts? Reader? Have you true? Christians have experimental thoughts 238 00:19:36,279 --> 00:19:40,279 of Christ? The things that they think of Him. They do not merely 239 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:45,160 think with their heads. They have not learned them from schools or picked them 240 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,440 up from others. They think them because they have found them true by their 241 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,519 own heart's experience. They have proved them, and tasted them, and tried 242 00:19:53,599 --> 00:19:59,480 them. They think out for themselves what they have felt. There is all 243 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,880 the difference in the world between knowing that a man is a doctor or a 244 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:07,720 lawyer while we never have occasion to employ him, and knowing him as our 245 00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:11,400 own because we have gone to him for medicine or law. Just in the 246 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:17,200 same way, there is a wide difference between head knowledge and experimental thoughts of 247 00:20:17,279 --> 00:20:22,039 Christ. Happy are they who have such thoughts? Reader? Have you? 248 00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:27,319 True? Christians have loving and reverent thoughts of Christ. They love to do 249 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:32,440 the things that please Him. They like, in their poor weak way, 250 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,079 to show their affection to Him by keeping his words. They love everything belonging 251 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:41,480 to him, his day, his house, his ordinances, his people, 252 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:47,839 his book. They never find his yoke heavy, or his burden painful to 253 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:52,720 bear, or his commandments grieve us. Love lightens all. They know something 254 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,279 of the mind of mister Standfast in Pilgrim's progress, when he said, as 255 00:20:57,279 --> 00:21:02,160 he stood in the river, I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of. 256 00:21:02,599 --> 00:21:04,519 And whenever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth, 257 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:10,400 then I have coveted to set my foot over it. Happy are they who 258 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:15,559 have such thoughts? Reader, have you true? Christians? Have hopeful thoughts 259 00:21:15,599 --> 00:21:21,359 of Christ. They expect to receive far more from Him one day than they 260 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:25,480 have ever received. Yet. They hope that they shall be kept to the 261 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,319 end and never perish. But this is not all. They look forward to 262 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,480 Christ's second coming and expect that then they shall see far more than they have 263 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:40,160 seen, and enjoy far more than they have yet enjoyed. They have an 264 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:44,799 earnest of an inheritance now in the spirit dwelling in their heart, but they 265 00:21:44,839 --> 00:21:48,799 hope for a far fuller possession when this world has passed away. They have 266 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,960 hopeful thoughts of Christ's second advent of their own resurrection from the grave, of 267 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,640 their reunion with all the saints who have gone before them, of eternal blessedness 268 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:04,000 in Christ Rist's kingdom. Happy are they who have such thoughts? They sweeten 269 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:10,039 life and lift men over many cares. Reader, have you such thoughts? 270 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,880 Reader? Thoughts such as these are the property of all true Christians. Some 271 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,359 of them know more of them, and some of them know less, But 272 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:23,000 they all know something about them. They do not always feel them equally at 273 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,720 all time. They do not always find such thoughts equally fresh and green in 274 00:22:27,759 --> 00:22:33,039 their minds. They have their winter as well as their summer, and their 275 00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:37,960 low tide as well as their high water. But all true Christians are more 276 00:22:37,079 --> 00:22:42,680 or less acquainted with these thoughts in this matter. Churchmen and dissenters, rich 277 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:48,920 and poor, are all agreed if they are true Christians. In other things 278 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,960 they may be unable to agree and see alike, but they all agree in 279 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,559 their thoughts about Christ. One word they can all say, which is the 280 00:22:56,599 --> 00:23:03,119 same in every tongue. That word is Hallelujah, praise to the Lord Christ. 281 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:07,519 One answer they can all make, which in every tongue is equally the 282 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:12,119 same. That word is amen, So be it. And now, reader, 283 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:17,599 I shall wind up my Christmas tract by simply bringing before your conscience the 284 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:22,680 question which forms its title. I ask you this day, what think ye 285 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,799 of Christ? What others think about him is not the question now. Their 286 00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:32,960 mistakes are no excuse for you. Their correct views will not save your soul. 287 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,519 The point you have before you is simply this, what do you think 288 00:23:37,599 --> 00:23:42,400 yourself? Reader? This Christmas may possibly be your last? Who can tell 289 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,519 you, but you may never live to see another December come round? Who 290 00:23:47,559 --> 00:23:52,160 can tell? But your place may be empty when the family party next Christmas 291 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,880 is gathered together. Do not I entreat you put off my question or turn 292 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,680 away from it. It can do you no harm to look at it and 293 00:24:00,839 --> 00:24:06,920 consider it. What do you think of Christ? Again? I beseech you 294 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,359 this day to have right thoughts of Christ, if you never had them before. 295 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,960 Let the time past suffice you to have lived without real and heartfelt religion. 296 00:24:17,759 --> 00:24:22,839 Let this present Christmas be a starting point in your soul's history. Awake 297 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,400 to see the value of your soul and the immense importance of being saved. 298 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:32,559 Break off sharp from sin in the world, Get down your Bible and begin 299 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,400 to read it, Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer and beseech him 300 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,720 to save your soul. Rest not rest not till you have trustful, loving, 301 00:24:41,839 --> 00:24:48,960 experimental, hopeful thoughts of Christ. Reader, mark my words, If 302 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,720 you will only take the advice I have now given you, you will never 303 00:24:52,839 --> 00:24:56,720 repent it. Your life in future will be happier, your heart will be 304 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:03,359 lighter, Your Christmas gathering will be more truly joyful. Nothing makes Christmas meetings 305 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:08,079 so happy as to feel that we are all traveling on towards an eternal gathering 306 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:12,319 in heaven. Reader, I say, for the last time, if you 307 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:17,240 would have a happy Christmas, have right thoughts about Christ.