A Day for Humble Supplication

At this very moment while I speak, carolers are singing songs of praise in memory of the Babe of Bethlehem as they go from door to door in the chilly night. Fires at many hearths are aglow with cheerful flame while the traditional Christmas tree is being dressed and countless children, sent to bed, await the coming of the dawn with wondering anticipation as to what the day will bring to them in the form of gifts from loving hands.

When the morrow comes some will bow their heads in humble supplication to the Father of Lights for the blessings they have received through the sufferings of his beloved Son, and will read the wondrous story with grateful praise. Others, unfortunately, who know little, if anything at all, of the debt they owe to the Son of God, will celebrate, not in praise and humble prayer, but in blasphemous drunken revelry, without the least thought of the significance of the birth of the Man of Galilee. In the midst of all the celebration, prayers and exhortations, there will be hanging over the people a cloud of sadness because of the present condition of strife, hate and bloodshed which has swept to all comers of the earth. And all of this has come because mankind has forgotten the Son of God and ignored his sacred teachings.

How can anyone read this touching story of the birth of Jesus Christ without wishing to forsake his sins? At this season of the year it is well for one and all--the king in his palace if there are kings in palaces now--the peasant in his humble cottage, the rich and the poor alike, to bow the knee and pay honor to him who was without sin, whose life was spent in sacrifice and sorrow for the benefits of his fellow man; whose blood was shed as a sacrifice for sin, not any sin of his, for he was without sin, but for the sins of all who will repent and obey his voice that they might be redeemed from their transgressions.

There is no story quite as beautiful, or which can stir the soul of the humble quite to the depths, as this glorious story can of the birth of our Redeemer. No words that man may utter can embellish or improve or add to the eloquence of its humble simplicity. It never grows old no matter how often told, and the telling of it is by far too infrequent in the homes of men. Let us try to imagine ourselves out with the shepherds who were watching over their flock that memorable night. These were humble men who had not lost the faith of their fathers, whose hearts had not become hardened as were the hearts of the rulers of the Jews in the days of our Lord's ministry, for had they been, the angels would not have appeared to them with their glorious message. Let us repeat this wondrous story

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

Can any soul read this and not be touched with the spirit of humility and be impressed with the simple truth of the story? If so, then that man's soul surely is calloused with unrepentant sin. Cunningham Geikie, in his excellent work, "Life and Words of Christ," in commenting on this glorious scene, has said: With this ever-memorable anthem--the first and last melody of heaven ever heard by mortal ears--the light faded from the hills, as the angels went away into heaven, and left earth once more in the shadow of night, knowing and thinking nothing of that which so supremely interested distant worlds. Wondering at such a vision, and full of a simple trust, the shepherds had only one thought --to see the babe and its mother for themselves. Climbing the hill, therefore, with eager haste, they hurried to Bethlehem, and there found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger, as had been told them.

No details are given: no heightening of the picture of this first act of reverence to the new-born Savior. Nor are they needed. The lowliness of the visitors, the pure image of the Virgin Mother and her Child, are better left in their own simplicity. Infancy is forever dignified by the manger of Bethlehem: womanhood is ennobled to its purest ideal in Mary: man, as such, received abiding honor, in the earliest accepted homage to her Son being that of the simple poor.

But what of this wonderful story? Have we permitted it to permeate and influence our lives? Have we accepted it in its full meaning without reservations? Do we believe that this babe was in very deed the only begotten Son of God in the flesh? Do we have abiding faith in his mission and are we willing to obediently follow him? If the world had so believed and had sincerely heeded his teachings, then it would not have been torn asunder by strife and wickedness all down through the ages. If the present world had sincerely believed in his mission; if the inhabitants of the earth who have boasted that they were Christians had sincerely followed the Prophet of Galilee, and in the spirit of faith and humility had truly believed in him, then this great and terrible conflict which has brought sorrow, mourning and misery to many thousands of homes never would have been inflicted upon the world. There has been too much lip-service among the professed followers of the Son of God and too little real worship based upon the integrity of his teachings. The World's Refusal to Heed the Message

The angel declared to the shepherds on that glorious night, that he brought tidings of great joy which were for all people, but quite generally the people everywhere on the face of the earth, have refused to receive the blessings of those tidings. They have not been willing to forsake their sins, to humble themselves and place their lives in harmony with the Master's teachings. The Lord said to his disciples as he sent them forth to declare the words of eternal life: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And a man's foes shall be those of his own household. Matt. 10:34-35. Do you find in this a conflict with the message delivered by the angel thirty-odd years before? There is no conflict. The coming of the Son of God was the message of good tidings of peace and it has been the blessing of peace to all those who sincerely have followed his teachings; but among the wicked, those who have rejected his teachings, even though with their lips they have professed to believe in him, there has come the sword.

The preaching of the gospel has brought strife, hatred, bloodshed among those who have failed to grasp the significance of his mission and among those who have opposed it. Moreover, this strife and bloodshed has not been confined to those who have not professed belief in his name. The greatest number of wars and the greatest misery through wars, during the past 1,000 years, have been between those who have professed to be his followers. The Nations Without Divine Guidance This fact has definitely proved that the contending nations were without the guidance of his Spirit and verily, they have not been his followers, for Paul declared: "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth"; and again, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." Certainly these great qualities have been lacking in the hearts of men and nations through the intervening centuries and because of this there has come to the world an overwhelming spirit of hate, bloodshed and war. It seems, as one reflects upon the present world conflict, that the mission of Jesus Christ has not been understood; or if understood, then there has been a most wickedly wilful disregard of all that he gave his life to accomplish, thus putting him again to an open shame.

All of the European nations, as well as our own, now at war, have professed to accept the Son of God as their Redeemer, but those professions of faith have fallen like wormy apples to the ground.

The mission of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed in clearness in the scriptures, but to an unbelieving world. Men have loved darkness rather than light and the consequences of such action is now being felt by every nation, tongue and people.

Jesus Came to Die The only begotten Son of God in this world came in it primarily to die. He is spoken of in the scriptures as the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The meaning of this is that he was chosen to his mission as Redeemer of a fallen world, even before the foundations of the earth were laid. His great mission is twofold. First, to redeem all men from death irrespective of their obedience or disobedience, their willingness to keep his commandments, or their rejection of those commandments, and this is done because since Adam, all men have been innocent of the cause of death in the world. Therefore they are redeemed from its consequences irrespective of their belief or lack of belief in the Son of God. Secondly, he came into the world to save all men from the consequences of their own sins if they are willing to repent.

He has said to the people in this generation: For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink -Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

No man can be saved in the kingdom of God who will not repent, but all men shall receive the resurrection after the death of the body, and then they will be assigned to their proper place according to their works.

Here are some of the teachings of the Son of God: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your SOULS. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.--Matt. 11:28-30.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.--John 4: 14.

I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. --John 6:35.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come unto condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.--John 5:24.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.--John 6:47-48.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.--John 6:63.

My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:16, 17.

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.--John 8:31-32.

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.--John 11:25-26.

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.--John 14:6.

These are a few of the testimonies which Jesus bore of himself and his mission. What a pity it is that they could not have been followed! What a world of strife and misery could have been averted! Now again in these days which the Lord himself has called the days of "wickedness and vengeance," he has again spoken and called upon men everywhere to repent. He has said through his servant, Joseph Smith, in this present dispensation: O ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!

How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day tong, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!

Once again I plead to all men everywhere: Turn from your evil ways to the true worship of the Son of God, that your souls may be saved in his kingdom.

Joseph Fielding Smith, The Restoration of All Things, p.286