"Glory to God in the highest, On earth peace, good will toward men."
Friends, doesn't this verse, this song of angels, stir your hearts with happiness? When I read that, and found the angels singing it, I thought to myself, "Then if the angels ushered in the gospel's great Savior with singing, shouldn't I preach with singing? And shouldn't my hearers live their lives with singing? Shouldn't their hearts be glad and their spirits rejoice?" Well, I thought, there are some gloomy "religious" people who were born on a dark night in December, that think a smile on the face is wicked, and believe that for a Christian to be glad and rejoice is to be inconsistent. I wish these gentlemen had seen the angels when they sang about Christ; for if the angels sang about His birth, though it was no concern of theirs, certainly men ought to sing about it as long as they live, sing about it when they die, and sing about it when they live in heaven forever. I long to see in our churches more of a singing Christianity. The last few years have been breeding in our midst a groaning and unbelieving Christianity. Now, I don't doubt its sincerity, but I do doubt its healthy character. I say it may be true and real enough; God forbid I should say a word against the sincerity of those who practice it; but it is a sickly religion. It has been well said,
