The Messiah, whose arrival had been anticipated with poignant longing, came to earth not in glory as expected but as a babe born in a manger in Bethlehem of Judea, President Gordon B. Hinckley said at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.

Speaking Dec. 1 in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, addressed a congregation that filled the building to capacity. The Tabernacle's balcony, podium and organ area were decorated with Christmas trees, boughs, garlands and lights.President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, conducted the devotional and delivered brief remarks.

The devotional was telecast by the Church satellite network to some 3,000 meetinghouses in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Music was provided by the Tabernacle Choir, with Jerold D. Ottley directing and John Longhurst and Richard Elliott at the organ. Associate director Donald Ripplinger led the choir and congregation in singing four well-known Christmas hymns: "With Wondering Awe," "The First Noel," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "Silent Night."

President Hinckley , referring to a hymn sung by the choir, "O Come, O Come Emanuel," quoted Isaiah 7:14, in which the ancient prophet said: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

He said the Savior was not accepted as Immanuel. "He was not accepted as the Savior, the Redeemer, the promised Messiah. A handful believed Him, but the multitude scorned Him, He who had come to save them from their sins and bring to them peace and love and everlasting life. He was betrayed and mocked and spit upon. He was crowned with a crown of thorns and crucified, dying for the sins of all mankind.

"His was the great atoning sacrifice. He was the Lamb without blemish who was offered for the sins of all mankind. He who was guiltless took upon Himself the guilt of all men of all generations. He who was the Prince of Life, He who had power over death, submitted Himself to the unspeakable pain and agony of Calvary that He might come forth as the first fruits of the resurrection, bringing the gift of salvation to all of the posterity of Adam. He who had taught, `Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,' cried on the cross a plea of mercy not alone for His tormenters but, as I believe, for all mankind when He said, `Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

"Somehow, this man Jesus who was born in the humblest of circumstances, who lived without ambition for the things of the world, whose message was the message of the second mile, of submissiveness, of returning good for evil, and who bowed His back to the lash of His persecutors, has become the greatest and mightiest figure of all mankind. He was the only perfect man to walk the earth. He has become our exemplar, our teacher, our salvation, our Redeemer, our hope of eternal life."

President Hinckley said almost 20 centuries have come and gone since the Savior walked the earth, and with each passing year, His dominion grows larger. "Particularly at this Christmas season, we remember Him with a special sense of gratitude. We look to Him with love as the ideal we seek to emulate. Our efforts are stumbling and awkward and so often result in failure because of our selfishness, our greed, our pride, our arrogance. But we try. And the world is better for our effort."

He said tens of thousands "little things" are done by those who follow the Savior. "Many of them are small and may appear to be of no great consequence," he noted. "But in the doing, a certain refining influence comes into our lives. There is more of kindness, there is more of courtesy, there is more of understanding and a reaching out to help and lift and soothe and heal."

President Hinckley cited a story by Connie Wilcox, published some years ago in the Deseret News about an early childhood memory of Christmas. The author recalled that when she was in the 4th grade she became friends with another girl, Emmy Lou, who was sad, shy and apparently poor. The author learned after a while that Emmy Lou's father was a child abuser. The authorities "kicked him out of town." Older girls in the family were sent to live with relatives, leaving Emmy Lou and her mother alone.

When she didn't go to school at all the week before the Christmas holiday, the author and her father went to the girl's home, and saw no smoke coming out of the chimney.

The author and her father found Emmy Lou sitting by her mother's bed in the cold house. She cried and said, "Mama's going to die, and I haven't been able to leave her." The author's father went for a doctor, who arranged for Emmy Lou's mother to be taken to the hospital. Emmy Lou stayed with her friend's family for two weeks, all through the Christmas holiday, until her mother was able to go home.

"We played and laughed and had fun and got to be best friends," the author wrote. "We also visited her mom everyday. A miracle actually took place in Emmy Lou's mother because we could see a sad, desolate face change into one with a pleasant, contented expression.

Stories of that kind could be told over and over again, President Hinckley said. "They are stories of the great moving power of Christmas.

"As we meet tonight, it is still very early in the Christmas season. There is time for each of us to reach out in help to others in the spirit of Him who bought us with a terrible price. There are so many in distress, so many in pain, so many who walk in loneliness whose lives we can bless, even with a small touch. This is the hour to make resolution to do so."

President Hinckley then spoke about vicarious temple work for "the vast concourse of the dead who must become beneficiaries of His redemption." That work, he said, is "an enlarged prototype of a work . . . which will make it possible for the sons and daughters of God of all generations to partake of that glory which is promised to the obedient.

"May His Father, who is also the Father of our spirits, bless each of us at this Christmas season with enlarged understanding of the greatest of all gifts, the gift of Jesus, the Savior of mankind; and out of gratitude, may we become a little kinder, a little more generous, a little more thoughtful, a little more merciful. As He came with healing in His wings, may we reach out to heal with the balm of His everlasting love."

In his remarks, President Monson said, "Christmas is a glorious time of the year. Simple in origin, deep in meaning, beautiful in tradition and custom, rich in memories and charitable in spirit, it has an attraction to which our hearts are readily drawn.

He recounted a story told to him by President Harold B. Lee about the experience of a stake president, a member of the Ballantyne family who grew up in Star Valley, Wyo., a harsh country where summers are short and fleeting, and where winters linger and chill.

Pres. Ballantyne recounted that his father had a large family, and sometimes after the harvest there was not much left after expenses were paid. His father had to hire out to some of the big ranchers for maybe a dollar a day. Even then, he had little to send home to his wife and children.

President Monson said that Pres. Ballantyne recalled hearing his mother pray one night, confiding to the Lord there was no food in the house and asking that the heart of somebody be touched so that her children would not be hungry the next day. The mother, upon discovering her son had overheard her prayer, assured him everything would be all right.

The next morning, the children awoke to the sounds of pots and pans in the kitchen and the aroma of cooking food. The only explanation of where the food came from, was the mother's question, "Didn't you think the Lord would answer my prayer?"

President Monson said years passed before Pres. Ballantyne discovered what happened that Christmas. A Bishop Gardner, then in advanced years, recounted how he, having finished his chores, was sitting by the fireplace reading the newspaper, when he heard a voice that said, "Sister Ballantyne doesn't have any food in her house." The bishop thought his wife had spoken, but when he discovered she had not, he loaded in a wagon a sack of flour, a quarter section of beef, some bottled fruit, and loaves of newly baked bread. The bishop told Pres. Ballantyne: "The weather was cold, but a warm glow filled my soul as your mother welcomed me, and I presented her with the food. God had heard a mother's prayer."

President Monson said: "Brothers and sisters, Heavenly Father is ever mindful of those who need, who seek, who trust, who pray, and who listen when He speaks.

"As one observed: `Where Christmas stands watching/And faith holds wide the door/The dark night wakes, the glory breaks/And Christmas comes once more.' "

Concluding, President Monson told his listeners, "May this Christmas be the best ever for each of us is my prayer."