New-York tribune., 1874-12-28
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.
TIE Rer Thomas Arnage, d. d., at the fVih Ar.aw Ba2

Church
The Rev. DR.. Armitage preached yesterday
morning at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church from the
text "Jeslls having born In Bethlehem of Judea
in thu days of HerOd tho King behold there came wise
men from the East to Jerusalem saying, Where Ia he
that Ia born King the Jews For we saw his star III
the East and come do him homage" Matt XII, l.
Light ia the ysterous fluid, said the preacher whose
waving rays make all things visible. We know that the
sun exists the heavens only BY bis unduatng beams
which strike Our so the moon aud the stars,
whether their light is original or reflected, make them
selves known to us in the same way 1he
moon and the planets borrow their light from tho
ann and reflect It upon u.s. the and the stars
luminous bodies and forth their own inherent Dr
liancy their rays fall upon distant from us
their FERNS ana beauties
Now scientific investigation makes US acquainted with
the fact these travel with an Immense velocity
raw OF light travels at the rate OF 9j,f0 miles In
second. The suns hight therefore, reaches us In eight
minutes. II Will take three years Tor kht 10 reach us
from the nearest xcd STAR aud from star OF the tenth
acnludc ls0 years and from one OF the twelfth mag
nltude 1000 years. Such star then throws OIL Its light
1000 years before the first ray from can reach the
earth tell that God has lighted ITS stellar flames
But the spot where such eta s1ar ns Snrs IS rs,n Gny Of
space Beyond that there are such naneiess stretches
mea suremen such inhute leagues OF lntnity, peopcd
With worlds on worlds that 1t must take 2GOCOOOO OF
years before the light from certain ncDula could DC
being back 900 900 years when his fugers formed
those and his voice said 10 each star-word as he
formed there be light Take any gve6 ,o star
ago and reached the earth last night The first ray that
struck the eye OF man from tat Old no, ons
where all before, but IT brings with 1t some
knowedg &c Of surface and actions and relations and
governing forces of this individual star, telling us a
about that newfound floating island OF light. not as
But aa 9oS another date still further back requiring say
800 years travel from more distant sta star and to them
Stretch the distance still further back In tho stellar
S6 M Ta ana % M the
the yingieht, then some watchers in the stars have
only Just discovered light over the b nuoe nome IN
pressing to her breast the Son glvon and Dy whom
point of time that its correspondent: pOint Of
space, where the light from oao piauef Is not pne-
trap0 Man at first believed the earth to be 'l2 cicr
of the solar system. he knows star has ~
own outsretching universe anu glory P"i. Proctor
scone THESE myriad worlds and syacn,s wrra in Inc
words Of Paul speaking OF Christ al created "ior lin
No Question on tho Interpretation OF til" cvGnscll.s
has awakened greater diversity OF 0pih'n tnah he
that 1t was merely meteor itng through the hca,
another thinks 1t panet created Tor tho OCCASION ny
the ordinary laws OF the hoavcnlv boiIes: white -
another holds to have been remarkable conjunction
Of the planets Jupiter. Saturn. ahd Mars WhcDevcr
may be the true ory sthe phrase HIS star lives
denitcness and personality TO tho srahSc orb that
this star OF tue S
fitting witness summoned to attest the SnghOOd OF the
King, 1t testified that Jehovah IA covenant keeping
God After creating he great body OF the stellar system
the general use Of his children he reserved one
himself The simple fact that new star had been dis
covered not iii Itself sufficient to attract the atteD
ton OF the mag. New stars being discovered
nuay nut they Mere @ lsr on ana a nU eurn %tnn
The camness OF the heavenly bodies IL only seeming
Tue activities OF earth sluggish compared with em
Speeding with frghtful velocity through space depth
swallowed up IN aby sma depth, and hight insurmOunt
able piled upon hight We lose oil sense Of gravitatiOn
ascending and descending, pushing on from umnary to
breath u whirlwnd, and the dlatin2 th0u.ht
audible football making the flesh shudder aud tho spirit
| faint at its own daring.
H. This star WAS summoned forth to be the fitting
image OF the Holy Child whose birth 1t heralIed. Sin
has no such expressive emblem darkness. and light
the fitting Image Of the warrior king who born Of
Mary When the Day Star first breaks the vision
of human spirit only sparkling point bedecks the
moral armament. But every honest man, like the magi
will level faith like telescope to MS eye to bring the
this picture OF the night visit TO our newborn Lord
As the inagi strike out through the gates OF Jeru.
salem into the dreary night, suddenly to their as
holy awe set their hearts throbbinR as their
eager eyes caught the supernatural symbol.
the narrow psth into Davids towD where the
King had fed his focks; where Rachel had wept and
Ruth had cleaned; when loi the guiding orb stood still
over the house where the young child breathed and
laughed and wept and loved. TWAS over little Bethle
hem of Judea she lay with Gods brightest towel
sparkling on her breast among thS sleeping sister VT
thrones and domnions, and prncpalties and powers,
through gigantic gates archways Whose builder
and maker is God" where tfiumphai armies Of
orbs had swept: but 1t had never turned
to right left abated pace, stopped
til It's rays xpOsed the form OF babe span long ly-
ing on the breast OF virgin mother, the blood Of man
corsDg through his veins and the God OF heaven ncar
mated flesh The star stopped TO admire Its
salvation. As tho sun and the moon halted while
Joshua scattered lsraes 0es so the Kings stood
still witness and an emblem OF Him VINO conquered
the enemies Of God nd mau.