The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-01-05

over the hills. 1t sounded the triumph.
1t came not only down among the shep-
herds, but spTang upward among the
| thrones. The robe of Righteousness is
not black. Religion is not all weeping,
crOss-bearing and war-waging. Around
the temple of grace in the heart let us
not plant weeping-willow and night
shade, but cedars and triumphal palms
| Our subject teaches us that Christianity
| is not a grOaD, but a song. In world
of sin and sick beds and sepulchers we
must have trouble; but Christ breaks
| through with infinite consolation, and
! in the darkest night the heavens part
with angelic SONS. Like Paul and his
comrades, you must sometimes be
wrecked hut II eXhOrt you to be OF good
cheer" for, trusting in Gods help, you
/ shall ''all escape safe 10 land" True re-
| lipiOn does not show itself in the elOnga-
| tiOn of the face or the cut of the garb.
The Pharisee who puts his religion on
his phylacteTy has none left for his
heart. FretfulneSS and complaining
are not members of that family of Chris
tian graces which move into the heart
when the devil moves out. True Chris
tianity does not frOwn upon amusements
and recreatiuns. Religion is neither a
shrew nor cynic. 1t chokes no
=
no art. Among the happy it Is the
happiest.
Again, this Christmas story suggests
that grand endings sometimes have in
significant beginnings. The straw pal
let was the humble starting, but the
shout in the sky indicated what would
be the magnificent completion. Begin
ming with Christ on Mary's lap, il shall
end with Christ on the throne of uni
Il Do
often begins feebly. Ii is hut taper,
and the Savior holds both hands over il
to keep il from extinction. Faith bends
under the pressure of miSfOrtuneS. The
cross almost breaks the mans lack. He
sees men only as trees walking. What
an humble starting! Afterward behold
the same man in the kingdom of heaven
No earthly crown could express his roy
atty, or palace his wealth, or scepter his
dominion. Drinking from fountains
where they first drip from the everlast-
ing rock, among harpers with their
harps, on a sea of glass mingled with
fire, beneath the throne of God, to go out
no more fOreYer-that spark over which
! the Savior must hold both hands to keep
ii from extinction, how it hath famed
up into glory, honor and immortality.
The New Testament Church began on a
small scale. Fishermen watched it.
Against Ille uprising wall Cdllt lllt
crash of Internal enginery. The world
cried anathemal And when moment
airy defeats came upon the church there
We're multltuueS to say: AHA, so we
would have it," Martyrs on fire lifted
their hands, eXclaimiug: How long,
o Lord. how lOngp So it started. But
we shall see a difference when the chains
of an enslayed earth have snapped un-
der the right arm of God Almighty.
Himalaya shall become Mount Zion, and
the Pyrenees, MOriah, and oceans the
walking place of him who trOd the wave
cliffs of stOrmed Tiberias; and island
shall call to island, sea to sea, continent
to continent. and the song of a worlds
redemption rising up, the great heavens
like a sOunding-bOard, shall echo back
The shout of salvation to the earth, till
it rebound again to the abode of the in
finite, and all rising on their thrones,
heat time with their scepters. What an
humble beginning! What insignih-
canoe! What glorious ending! Throne
linked to a manger. Heavenly mansions
to a Bethlehem stable! King of kings,
ami Lord of lOrds
- Furthermore, let our subject teach us
what is to be the effect of the SayiOr's
missiOn-glOry to God, peace to man.
When God sent his son to earth, angels
discovered something in God they had
never seen before. 1t was not power, it
was not wisdom, it was not love; these
were known long before. The stars
themselves were bUt pebbles on the shore
of his bOundless wisdom and power. A
willingness for seif-denial was discOY-
cred i'm God. His love had, until then, |
cost him nothing. If he loved the sim |
uer, il would be at infinite expense. 1t |
Is far easier TO love an angel on his |
throne 3an a thief on the cross; and a |
spraph in his worship than an adUlter- |
ess i'm her crime What an astOnishment |
to heaven when God who would not |
have allowed the least attractive angel |
TO be harmed, gives up his only begOt- |
ten son. Beside the new that was seen !
in God the old came to greater illustTa- |
ton. That power which first made man |
out Of dust, was not so great as that is |
which out of the wreck and ruin of his |
soul, makes a new creature in Jesus |
Christ. Yea, that power which Struck |
TebelEOus angels to ruin was only the |
same power which is seen, when from !
the regenerate heart he hurls the prin-
cipalities Of darkness. We can not Won
der that on the night of the SayiOr's
birth, as angels saw the commencement |
of that pilgrimage which was so greatly
to honor the attributes of Deity, they
clapped their wings in triumph, and
called on the hosts of heaven to celebrate
it, singing till He shepherds them
"GlOry to God in the highest"
But peace to man was another mis-
sion. Christ was to bring heaven and
earth into treaty. What difference be-
tween God and man, between infinite
holiness and accumulated depravity!
The Gospel was to bridge this separation
so that God could consistently come to
the sinner and the sinner go to God. Be
hold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called the sons of GOd We are inter-
locked with divinity. God in us and we
in God. Glorious atOnement! Justice
satisfied, sins forgiven, everlasting life
secured, pardon proclaimed, heaven
built on a manger! "Peace and good
will to men,"
Individual and national animOsities
are to be pacified. Multitudes are actu-
ated by intense seIfishness. Those who
labor for the good of others are the ex-
ceptiOns. Have you ever thought how
strangely the song of peace must have
sounded to the Roman Empire? Why,
that Roman Empire slOried in its arms,