SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

Text: Galatians 4: 1-7

Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.

Dear friends in Christ Jesus!

This, the last day of the old year, is an important day in our lives. Today we, as it were, stand at the border of two great areas, through which the way of our life, the way to salvation, leads us; today we leave the one forever because we have traversed it and we cannot return to it; what's gone is gone; and almost expectantly we enter into the other as into a completely unknown land.

Can we let this day pass, can we take this important step and enter into the new year without casting a glance back into the past? Impossible; to do that we would deny that we are Christians, yes, that we are thinking human beings.

If we today do cast a glance back, what do we see? If we cast a glance at what God has done for us, we see nothing but evidences of his goodness, his love, his mercy, his forbearance, his patience, and we must recognize that we owe him thanks, praise, and glory. Recall how much we and our needed during the past year in the way of food, clothing, and shelter! And behold! the Lord saw to it that we did not lack these necessities; yes, he has led us into this beautiful, blessed land and most of us can say that he has thrown a surplus our way. With Paul we must say: "Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Acts 14,17.

Recall the many dangers to which we were exposed the whole year! How many different kinds of danger could have befallen all the members of our body and all the powers of our soul! But behold! He bore us away from all danger as on wings of an eagle; he was at our side when we were awake, and he watched when we slept; his eye was continually open upon us; he showed that he was the Keeper of Israel. Yes, with pious David we must exclaim: "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Ps 30,4.5.

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And when we think of the many millions who did not hear the Word of grace in the past, but how richly God permitted it to be preached to us; in how friendly a way he offered his grace to us anew, showed us the way to heaven« and invited us into his blessed kingdom, must we not exclaim: Lord how can we repay you for all the mercy and truth which you have shown us?

Dear Father, endless praise I render For- soul and body strangely joined;

I praise Thee, Guardian kind and tender,

For all the noble joys I find So richly spread on ev’ry side And freely for my use supplied. (243,2)

My dear hearers, what do we see when we glance back to see what we have done? Which commandment have we kept perfectly? Which day did we not sin? For which gift did we thank God perfectly and then used it as the heavenly Giver wanted us to use it? For which deliverance from trouble have we perfectly praised God? Which oath did we keep perfectly? Which sermon,or admonition to repent, or enticement to believe, or encouragement to sanctification did we comply with perfectly? Where is the love with which we should have perfectly loved him who first loved us?

Alas, in the face of all these questions do we not have to lower our eyes in shame before the most holy God, smite our breast, and say with the publican: "God be merciful to me a sinner!" and sigh with David: "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand"? Ps 130,3. "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified" Ps 143,2. "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces"? Dan 7,9. Yes, my friends, the most ardent thanks and the deepest humili ty, these are the two things to which a backward glance over the past year calls us. Let no one exclude himself from doing this; it applies to you and to me; it means us all.

If only we would all do that; if only we would all close this year as reconciled children of the heavenly Father; only he who can do that can end the year in a truly blessed and happy way. Today's Epistle reminds us of that.

Quote the text here: Galatians 4,1-7.

In this Epistle the Apostle Paul reminds the Galatians of the great grace shown them when they became God's children through Christ. Let-;me· take this occasion to show you:

HOW BLESSED THEY ARE WHO TODAY CAN CLOSE THE OLD YEAR AS GOD'S CHILDREN

Let me show you two things:

1. What Makes One a Child of God, and

2. How Blessed He is Who Today Can End the Old Year as God's Child.

Oh God, what love you have shown us, that we should be called your children! Let us rightly recognize your love; recognize the inexpressibly great honor to which you want to raise us, recognize the unending blessedness which you which to give us! May we forsake and forget the world's illusory honor and joy and be satisfied in being and remaining your children. To that end bless also today's preaching of your holy Word for the sake of your eternal Fatherly love. Amen.

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I.

Of the many different kinds of false doctrine preached and taught for a half a hundred years in the churches and schools of Germany, one of the most ruinous is this: in the time before Christ people always thought of God as an angry Being; then Christ finally came and taught people that God is the Father of all men and all men are his dear children.

A double error lies in this teaching.

It is not true that Christ was the first to picture God as a loving Father, and that in the books of the Old Testament God is described only as an angry Being. Moses spoke this way to the Israelites: "Is he (namely God) not thy Father?" Dt 32,6; and Isaiah says.: "Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not; thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting." Is 63,16. David: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Ps 103,13. And God himself says in Malachi: "A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master; if then I be a Father, where is mine honor? and if I be a Master, where is my fear?" Mai 1,6.

Though it is wrong to say that in the Old Testament God is not described as a father, it is just as wrong to claim that according to the Old Testament no person was a child of God, whereas according to Christ's teaching God is the Father of all men and all men are his children.

What the true teaching really is we learn from our today's Epistle. It begins: " Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world." Vv. 1-3. According to our text, the believers of the Old Covenant were children of God, but, as it were, still minors. Although minors by the last will of their father are his heirs, they are not yet free to dispose of their inheritance, but are under the control of a guardian, who does not treat them as though they were children but servants; so also the believers of the Old Covenant were children and heirs of the promise given to their father Abraham, but the Law of Moses, which God had laid upon them was, as it were, a guardian placed over them, which stopped them from making free use of their inheritance. What happened in the New Testament times? Our text says something of this also, when it continues: " But when the

fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Vv. 4.5.

We see from this that Christ did not, as the rationalists of our day teach, come into the world to reveal to men that they are God's children; on the contrary, he came first of all to earn for them the right of divine adoption, and also secondly, to redeem them from the former guardianship of the Law.

Indeed, according to God's Word there was a time when all men were God's children; all shared the divine nature; they bore the image of their heavenly Father in themselves, had God's mind, and were filled with the Holy Spirit. This was when men were still in paradise in the state of innocence.

But man fell into sin, lost God's image, the divine nature, the divine mind, the Spirit of God, his implanted holiness and righteousness. No person is now born as God's child, but is a child of sin, a child of darkness, or, as Paul

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writes, a child of wrath, death, hell, and damnation.

In unfathomable mercy God had decreed from eternity to make us fallen degenerated creatures his children again. If this was to take place, sin had to be·erased, and we would have to share again not only in divine grace, but also in the divine nature. God therefore sent his only begotten Son into the world, had him become a man, through him erased our sins, and now makes all who believe on his Son share in his divine nature, gives them his Holy Spirit, and renews them to his image.

You see from this that while the number of the children of men in this world is great, the number of God 1 s children is proportionately small. For who is a child of God?

Only he is a child of God who has experienced a double birth, not only the physical birth but also a spiritual one. Christ therefore says: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3,5.

Only he is a child of God whom God has not only created as other men are, but also begotten. James therefore writes: "Of his own will begat he us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures James 1,18.

Only he is a child of God, who not only has the light of natural reason but also another, a higher, divine, heavenly light, which has entered into his soul from above. St. Paul therefore says of the children of God: "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." Ephesians 5,8.

Moreover, only he is God's child who has a twofold life, a natural and a supernatural life; according.to his natural life he lives on earth, according to his supernatural life his walk, is in heaven; according to his natural life he is related to men, father and mother, but according to his supernatural life he is related to Jesus Christ. In the name of all of God's children Paul therefore

writes: "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Galatians 2,20.

Moreover, a child of God is one who is nourished by two kinds of food; his physical nourishment is food and drink, and his spiritual nourishment is God’s Word and the Sacraments. Peter writes: "Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." 1. Peter 2,2.

Only he is God's child who has a double spirit, the spirit implanted in him and the Holy Spirit. The apostle therefore writes: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" L Cor 3,16.

Finally, only he is a child of God who can no longer deliberately and knowingly sin as long as hp is God’s child; John therefore writes: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin·; for his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 1 John 3,9.

Whoever is God’s child is called that not only in a figurative sense, nor because/God loves him as a father and he loves God as a child; no, then he would only seem to be God’s child and God only seem to be his Father; but God’s children are really what their name expresses.

God’s children are amazing! They are a riddle, a mystery to the world. The world looks only at external things, does not know them, knows still less how

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to value them, despises them even more as people about whom God is the least concerned. But in the eyes of the angels, God’s children are an object of great amazement.

II.

Let us therefore in the second place ponder, how blessed they are who today can close the old year as a child of God.

Our text closes with the following words: " And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Vv. 6.7.

With these words the Apostle Paul indicates only two important points, which point out the extremely blessed state of God's children. One concerns this life, the other the life to come. Their great joy is this world consists chiefly in the fact that, free of all slavish fear of God, they possess childlike confidence in God as their gracious God and loving heavenly Father. In the world to come their great joy consists in the fact that they will be endowed with the perfect enjoyment of their inheritance which their great, glorious God has provided, namely eternal life.

In order that the lot of God's child in his glory be seen in the right perspective, let us compare his lot with one who today closes the year without being God's child.

Whoever is not God's child today is a most miserable person; the good things of the past are gone whereas the evil of the past has remained with him. With a child of God the very opposite is true today; the evil has gone and the good remains.

If anyone is not God's child he does not have a gracious God. God does not love him as a father; God has no pleasure in him; yes, God must hate him as his foe. Therefore if he does not wish to begin the new year under God's wrath, he must repent. On the other hand, if you are God's child, you need not seek God's grace; God is highly pleased with you; what the heavenly Father said about Christ applies in a certain sense also to you: Behold, you are my dear son, you are my dear daughter, in whom I am well pleased.

If anyone is not God's child, he does not have the forgiveness of his sins; they still lie upon his conscience like a heavy burden; they exclude him from heaven; they condemn him. On the other hand, if anyone is God's child, he need not seek forgiveness; he has it. He balances accounts with God, and behold! he finds that everything which he owed God has been paid for by Christ, his Savior.

If anyone is not God's child, the entire past year is a year lost forever; he knows for certain that he will never again find this period in eternity. On the other hand, if anyone is God’s child today, the past year was a time of sowing for which God has promised an eternal harvest in the world to come.

If anyone is not God's child, all the experiences of the past year, all the sorrows, all the joys have been in vain; in vain has God knocked; his heart has not become softer but harder, not more open but more tightly closed. On the other hand, if anyone is God's child, he takes a great treasure of experiences into the new year.

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If anyone is not God's child, he must become terrified when he thinks that he has again come considerably closer to eternity; for with eternity the judgment, the sentence of damnation, the final eternal rejection from God has come closer. But whoever is God's child can only rejoice that he has drawn closer to eternity; for when eternity draws closer the final complete redemption from all evil, yes heaven with all its blessedness also approaches. Yes who is able to describe the blessedness of those who are God's heirs? What kind of glory does the inheritance of the rich Father in heaven comprise?

What does it therefore matter to God’s child if he lives in the lowest station of life? He is nevertheless in the highest a man can attain. What does it matter to God's child, if he possesses little of this world's goods? He is nevertheless so rich, that no one can reckon up nor imagine his wealth. What does it matter to God's child if even his father and mother have died? He can say with David: "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." Ps 27,10. Even if God's child seems to be forsaken, rejected, all

heaven, the holy angels, and the Holy Trinity have their eyes on him.

If anyone today is not God's child, this is true of him: "A ll 's evil that ends evil." Though the past year may have brought him the richest blessings, they will be turned into a curse because he did not end the year in God's grace. On the other hand, if anyone is God's child, this is true of him: "All's well that ends well." He may have had many evil days in the past year, but because he ends the year in God's grace, it means: The world thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good for me.

So, then, rejoice, you who are closing this year today as God's children! See what blessed people you are! Erect a memorial today in your heart; on the one side write: "The Lord hath helped us hitherto. Hallelujah!" and on the other: "He will continue to help. This is m o st certainly true."

But you, whose conscience says, that you are not God's reborn children, do not close this year in your tragic condition' A few precious hours still remain; use the few remaining hours of the old year for that very purpose; do not squander the remainder of this year of grace, which you have so far wasted, with the world which forgets about God. Look back over it with shame and bitter regret; happy will you then bei As the Lord in the parable of the vineyard hired even in the eleventh hour those who were idle in the market-place the whole day, and as he called them in to give them their pay, so God is still ready out of grace for Christ's sake to give you even in the last remaining hours of this year that very blessing which he had offered you before in vain.

Oh may we all end this year as God's children; may we awaken in the morning as God's children and thereafter walk as God's children until the Lord will call us home; we will then also come to the full enjoyment of our imperishable and unspotted and unfading inheritance which is kept for us in heaven above, through Jesus Christ. Am en.

SYLVESTER EVE Genesis 32: 10 4 5 ()

Eternal God, another year of our time here upon earth is drawing to a close. You have given us this year also as a field from which we are to reap an eternal harvest. If we have used it to sow for the heavenly harvest, happy are we! If we have neglected it, then alas! woe is us! No tears of regret can recall the year lying behind us. What's done is done. The year is lost.

But not! the year is not yet completely gone; there is still one hour left. Oh gracious, patient, long-suffering God grant that none of us will lose this last, precious hour; let it become an hour of grace which engulfs all the sins of the past year and turns it into a blessed year of salvation. You did not reject even the malefactor on the cross, who turned to your grace in the last hour of his life but you accepted him. Oh then do not reject us, who flee to your grace in the last hour of this year, and accept us also. We will thank you for it throughout the new year, live a different life, and give our hearts completely to you until we are finally in heaven with you, where time ceases, but where there is fullness of joy and pleasures at your right hand for evermore. Amen.

Quote the text here: Genesis 32,10.

Beloved in the Lord.

To arrange for an earnest preparatory service before celebrating a festival of joy is an old Christian custom. Whenever a festival neared, the old Church was accustomed to gather the evening before, and fasting, praying, and singing, watch throughout the whole night. Before one of the so-called high festivals they even set aside several weeks in order to prepare for the festival. Our Advent and Lenten services originate from that custom. The old Church was of the opinion that one could reap the full blessings of such a festival only if it was preceded by a period of earnest penitential exercises.

Undoubtedly they were perfectly correct in this opinion. As the true living faith proceeds only from true repentance, so spiritual joy arises only from spiritual sorrow. "The full soul," says Solomon, "loatheth an honeycomb." Prov 27,7a. It is therefore not surprising that our most glorious festivals so seldom leave behind a lasting impression. Filled with joy in the empty things of this world, or burdened with earthly cares, or with a soul already filled, they appear at divine services and hence they remain cold to the preaching of the great deeds of God, or they experience a joy which after they leave God's house quickly dies out like a fire of straw. On the other hand, when the Christians of olden times in the period of their first love sighed and wept with crushed heart throughout the night in a service during which they prepared themselves, and on bended knee had humbly and ardently sung the Kyrie Eleison, the Christmas message the next morning: "Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy," or the Easter message: "The Lord is risen! Hallelujah!"

made an entirely different impression. It filled the heart with heavenly joy.

Well, then, since a new year of grace opens its gates tomorrow, and since it is at the same time a festival of joy, permit me during this blessed evening hour as our preparation for it to present to you on the basis of the text just read:

THE GOD-PLEASING WAY TO END THE YEAR

It consists of two parts:

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1. In a Person's Earnest Repentant Judging of Himself, and

2. In a Confident Fleeing for Refuge to God ’ s Mercy and Faithfulness.

I.

When Jacob had finally come to the borders of his homeland, after a twenty-year absence in a foreign country, he suddenly stopped, and, before he crossed the boundary line, he in spirit looked back; and after everything which he had done and experienced in the last twenty years had passed by in review, his heart deeply moved, he exclaimed: " I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant. 11 The first thing which he did at the end of his journey home was to take an earnest, repentant accounting of himself. Since he wished to know only the " mercy and truth " which he had experienced, he confessed that he had nothing of which to boast before God, Really all the blessings which had come to him were completely undeserved. When at the same time he testified that he was unworthy of the least of all mercies and truth, he also confessed that he deserved only God 1 s wrath and curse rather than grace and blessing; if God wanted to enter into judgment with him, he would be right in rejecting him for time and eternity.

My friends, there you see the first part of ending the year in a God- pleasing way! That is done by earnestly, repentantly judgment oneself.

Of course, only a few believe that this is true. After most have spent the whole year "as a tale that is· told," as Psalm 90 says, either they close it in dumb indifference, without even thinking of the important change in their time of grace, or they deem a Sylvester Eve spent in intoxicating the sensed as the only way to end the year; in the last hours of the old year they think Only of once more emptying the foaming cup of joy to the very last drop. The Book of Wisdom introduces such as saying: "Come on, let us have a high old time, as long as it is here, and use our body while it is still young. We will drink the best wines and use the best ointments; let us not miss the blossoms of May; let us wear the wreaths of fresh roses, before they wither. Let us all be sparkling gay that men everywhere may see, that we are happy. This is all we'll get out of life." Thus the children of this world; drunk with joy, playing, dancing, laughing, and joking, stagger from the old year into the new.

Undoubtedly you yourselves will say that this is not the God-pleasing way to close the year; your very presence in the house of the Lord in this last hour proves that. You will all admit: if God ever did, then in this hour he calls in warning to all children of the world: Stop a moment and think who you are; remember that your will, which loves the world's vanities, which clings to the world, will mislead you at last.

When in their life's journey they have come to the beginning of a new year, not only those who obviously are children of this world, but also those who are not and wish to pass for Christians, have compelling reasons for pausing with Jacob and joining in his confession: " I am not worthy of the least of all

the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant."

Those who do not belong to the out-and-out children of the world fall into two classes; either they are not yet true Christians in spite of appearances, or they actually are.

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What must you do in these last hours of the year who in the past year associated with and passed for Christians, but still remained unchanged and unconverted? Oh, do not think that you keep the end of the year in a God-pleasing way because you take part in our Sylvester Eve service and join in Jacob's confession with your mouth: " I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." That does not dispose of the matter.

Only he can say these words without hypocrisy who earnestly, repentantly judges himself. You should above all bear in mind what a fearful debt you have placed upon your conscience in again passing an entire year in your unconverted state; in the year gone by God had knocked countless times upon your heart and called you to repent but you did not open your heart to him. Today you should think of that fire which according to Scripture is not quenched and of that worm which does not die. This thought should practically frighten you to death.

Or, do you wish to let even this closing hour of the year, which God has still given you,expire without quickly repenting? Would it not be frightful to slip into the new year with your unforgiven sins and awaken tomorrow burdened with God's wrath? Would it not be blasphemy to want to wait until that hour when God will say: I am tired of showing you mercy? Oh, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Oh, "today, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Heb. 3,7.8. "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Eph 5,14.

However, not only hypocrites but also true Christians close the year in a God-pleasing way only if they have with Jacob earnestly, repentantly judged themselves.

Shouldn't a baptized Christian live in daily repentance? Shouldn't he end each day with true repentance and humility before God? When does a Christian have a greater reason to open his account book, balance his accounts with God, and truly repent than when he comes to the end of the year?

Or is it that you Christians do not know of what you should repent? Well, then, permit me in this last hour of the old year now quickly drawing to its close to remind you of only one thing. One's Christianity does not stand still. If one has not gone ahead, one has gone backwards. And what do you find if you examine yourself?

I ask you: Is your faith more mature and more active in love in this past year than in the previous year? Has your love to God become more ardent and your love to your neighbor and your brethren purer and more unselfish? Has your humility over against God and men and your submission to God's providence become more sincere? Have you become better acquainted with your sinful failings in the past year? do you more bitterly regret and deplore them, more earnestly battle against them, and are you more often the victor than formerly? Have you become more zealous in the use of the means of grace and prayer in the house of the Lord as well as in your family circle and in the quiet of your chamber? Have you learned in the past year to guard your heart and mouth better, think or speak no evil of your brother? Have you in the past year freed yourself more from the love of earthly things and become more heavenly minded? In your earthly calling, in your business and business deals have you become more faithful, honest and honorable? Have you become more concerned not to sin against your conscience, not to act like the world, and give none offense?

If you must answer no to these questions, you have gone backwards in your Christianity; you are on the downgrade; if you do not arouse yourself it will threaten you with apostasy.

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Alas, my brethren, who of us can answer yes to all these question? I fear only one — a blinded hypocrite. What are Christians to do, in order that they can end the year in a God-pleasing way? Repent, heartily repent.

II.

When in his journey the patriarch Jacob came to the borders of his homeland, he not only sat in earnest judgment upon himself, but he also took refuge in God' s mercy and faithfulness. Therefore taking refuge in firm faith in God's mercy and faithfulness which is in Christ Jesus is also a most important part of closing the year in a God-pleasing way. Permit me in the second place to add a few words about this.

Yes, my friends, it is true that an honest penitent is not satisfied with a fleeting emotion; but it is just as true that without faith the most earnest regret is in vain, as another hymn says, it helps the unbelieving sinner not as all

"E’en though in his great grief He shed a sea of tears."

When God in his Word commands us to perceive the host, greatness, and abominableness of our sins, he does not do that to have us despair, or have us' struggle with and wait for God for a long time until he is gracious; it is our God's intention that the moment we are frightened over our sins we should in firm faith flee for refuge to his grace, mercy, and faithfulness in Christ Jesus, which has already been won for us. The moment fallen David said with a crushed heart to Nathan: "I have sinned against the Lord," the prophet in turn said to him: "The Lord hath also put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." 2 Sam 12,13. The moment the sinful woman drew near to Christ, wet his feet with her tears of repentance, and dried them with her hair, Christ immediately uttered the sweet words: "Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace." Lk 7,48.50. The moment the trembling jailer, who wanted to commit suicide, replied to Paul's warning call: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" he received the answer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16,30.31.

If someone here, who has lived through the old year as a manifest child of the world, or as a hypocrite and is now heartily terrified, let him not think that the year 1877 must be eternally lost to him, that he must today go to bed with unforgiven sins and begin the new year tomorrow burdened with God's wrath. No, no my dear hearer; if you have spent this year in sins and vanities, if, you have even gone so far as to ridicule Christianity, repentance, and conversion]] or, if you only acted like a Christian but secretly served this or that sin, or if you were not serious about your Christianity, then know this: Your Savior is here at the end of the year and says to you: Soon the bell, which announces the end of the old year, will strike; oh, come quickly to me before it strikes; only come as a poor sinner and I will have mercy on you; for "him that cometh unto: me",no matter who he may be, and if he were the greatest of all sinners, "I will in no wise cast out." Oh, my dear hearer, accept this friendly invitation of your God and Savior! Flee, my poor sinner, flee confidently to God's mercy and faithfulness in Christ Jesus, and God will remove the burden of your sins; and today there will be joy over you in heaven among the angels of God; and though you may have squandered all the rest of the year 1877, it will still be the most blessed year of your whole life; it will be the year of your spiritual birth; and when the next dawn opens the go1den gates of the new year, you will greet it joyfully as a pardoned child of God.

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But you, my dear Christians, who can say to Christ with Simon Peter: "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee," Jn 21,17 but who must complain in looking back over the past year with tears in your eyes: This is my pain, this vexes me, that I can not love you the way I want to love you, oh, do not be satisfied with this complaint with this complaint of your unfaithfulness. See, now that you have in this hour come to the close of the old year, your Jesus has come once again to you in his Word, as he came to Jacob when he had come to the borders of his father's country. Do as Jacob did; fall on your knees; seize the Lord with the arms of faith; hold him fast and say to him: "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me: with grace and the forgiveness of my sins. Gen 32,26. He will then bless you and this church will this night become your Peniel and your soul will be the mend. What a blessed, what a God-pleasing way to end the year!

Now my friends, only a few minutes remain; when these are gone, the sun according to God's promise will once again travel its orbit around the earth and our bells will loudly announce the coming of new year of grace. May then every member of our congregation, when he hears their sound, honestly say with Jacob from the depths of his heart: " I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." Amen.