APART FROM THE COMING OF JESUS THE EARTH IS DOOMED. Without Christ all is hopeless and dark. There is everything in our hearts to cast us down, and fill us with dejection; daily we meet with things in the world, or the family, or the church, to make us sorrowful: but the gospel brings us glad tidings of great joy. It sets before us a Saviour, and what a Saviour! One who is God and can deliver us, one who is man and will sympathise with us; One who knows by experience what our trials mean, and who brings all the resources of God to meet our need; so that we may well ask, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" In His blood there is a full, a certain pardon for all sin; in His obedience, a righteousness to justify us freely and forever before God; in His fullness, an endless variety of blessings to supply our needs; and in His promises, comfort to cheer us in our most gloomy hours. He is a Saviour for sinners; all He did, He did for sinners, just such sinners as we daily feel ourselves to be. For such He obeyed the law; for such He now pleads before His Father; it is just such sinners that He invites to His bosom, and for such He is preparing mansions in heaven. O believing reader, go today and declare the good tidings of great joy, that Jesus saves, and He has saved you.

For Meditation:
This love exceeds our highest thought;
Its length and breadth in vain are sought:
No tongue can tell its depth and height,
The love of God is infinite.