The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-12-29


worldf H-rschel, the Christian Who was
the greatest poet ever producedf John Mil
ton, the Christian Who was the wisest
writer on lawf Blackstone, the Christian.
Why Is it that every college and university
in the land has chapeli They must have
place for the wise men TO worship.
Come now, let rs understand in ounces and
by inches this whole matter. In post moTtem
examination the brains Of distinguished men
have been examined, and I viii find the
largest, the heaviest, the nightiest brain ever
produced in America, and / viii ask what
that brain thought Of Christ There it is,
the brain weighing sixty-three ounces, the
largest brain ever produced in America
Now, let me find what that brain thought Of
Christ In the dying moment that man said:
Lord, l believe; help Thou mine unbelief
Whatever else do, Almighty God, receive
me 10 Thysef for Christ's sake. This night
shall be In life, and joy, and blessedness.
SO Daniel Webster came TO the manager. The
wise men Of the east followed by the wise
men OF the west.
Know also in this scene that it was a win
ter month that God chose for His sons ma
tivity. Had it been the month of May-that
is the season of blossoms. Had it been In the
month of June-that is the month Of roses.
Had it been in the month of July-that is the
season Of great harvests. Had il been in the
month Of September-that is the season Of
ripe orchards. Had it been in the month Of
October-that is the season Of upholstered
forests But he was born in the month Of
December, when there are no flowers bloom
ing out Of doors, and when all the harvests
that have not been gathered up have per
ished, and when there are no fruits ripening
on the hill, and when the leaves are drifted
over the bare earth. 1t was in closing Decem-
Der that He was born, TO show this is a Christ
for people in sharp blast, for people under
clouded sky, for people with frosted hopes,
for people with thermometer below zero, for
people showed under. A December Christ
That is the reason He is SO often found among
the destitute. You can find him on any
night coming Off the moors. You can see
Him any night coming through the dark
lanes Of the city. You can see Him putting
His hand under the fainting head in the
pauper's cabin. He remembers how the
the wind whistled around the caravansary in
Bethlehem that December night, and he is in
sympathy with all those who in their poverty
hear the shutters chatter on a cold night.
1t was this December Christ that Wash
ington and his army worshiped at Valley
Forge, when without blankets they lay down
in the December snow. 1t was this Christ
that the Pilgrim Fathers appealed to when
the Mayfower wharfed at Plymouth Rock,
and in the years that went by the graves
digged were more in number than the houses
built Oh, tell you, we want December
Christ, not Christ for fair weather, but a
Christ for dark days clouded with sickness,
and chilling with disappointment, and suffo-
eating with bereavement, and terrific with
wide open gravesi Not Springtime Christ,
not a Summer Christ, not an Autumn Christ,
but Winter Christ
Oh, this suffering and struggling world
needs to be hushed and soothed and rocked,
lullabied in the arms of sympathetic omnip-
otencel No mother ever with more tender
ness put her foot on the rocker of a sick
child, than Christ comes down to us, to this
invalid world, and He rocks it into placidity
and quietness as He says: "My peace l give
unto you; not as the world giveth, give |
unto you" Oh, you broken hearted oh, you
prosecuted and tried soulsl oh, you burden
bearers, this day l declare unto you De-
cember Christ!
Notice also fact which no one seems TO
notice, that this Christ was born among the
sheep and the cattle and the horses and the
camels, in order that He might be an allie
ton. 1t means mercy for overdriven, under
fed, poorly sheltered, CALLED and maltreated
animal creation.
Hath the Christ who compared Himself to
a dove no care for the cruelties of the pigeon
shootingl Hath the Christ who compared
Himself to lamb no care for the sheep that
are tied and contorted land with neck over the
sharp edge of the butchers cart or the cat
tie train in hot weather from Omaha to New
York, with no water, 500 miles of agonyl
Hath the Christ whose tax was paid by fish,
the coin taken from its mouth, no care for
the tossing fins in the fish market? Hath the
Christ who strung with His own hand the
nerves of the dog and the cat no Indignation
for the horrors of vivisection! Hath the
Christ who said $50 to the anti no watch
fulness for the transfixed insects2 Hath the
Christ who said "Behold the fowls of the air, y
Himself never beheld the outrages heaped
upon the brute creation, that cannot articu-
late its griefi This Christ came not only to
lift the human race out of its trouble, but to
lift out of pang and hardship the animal crea-
ton.
In the glorious millenial time the child
shall lead the lion and play with the cock
atrice only because the brute and reptile
shall have no more wrongs to avenge. To
alleviate the condition of the brute creation
Christ was born in the cattle pen. The first
bleat of the lamb of God was heard amid the
tired fiocks of the Bethlehem shepherds. The
white horse of eternal victory stabbed in a
barn.
But notice also in this account the three
Christmas presents that are brought to the
manager. Gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Gold to Christ. That means all the afiuence
of the world surrendered to him For lack of
money no more asylums limping on their way
like the cripples whom they helped, feeling
their slow way like the blind people whom
they sheltered. Millions of dollars for Christ
where there are now thousands for Christ
Railroads owned by Christian stockholders,
and governed by Christian directors, and
carrying passengers and freight at Christian
prices. George Peabodys and Abbot Law
FENCES and James Lenoxes no rarity. Bank
of England, Bourse of France, United States
treasury, all the moneyed institutions of the
world for Christ The gold for Christ.
Gold not merely paid the way for Joseph
and Mary and the divine fugitive into Egypt,
but it was typical of the fact that Christ's
way shall be paid all around the world. The
gold for Christ, the silver for Christ, the
jewels for Christ. The bright, round, beauti-
ful.jewel of world set like solitaire on the
bosom of Christ
But notice that these wise men also shook
out from their sacks the myrTh. The cattle
came and they snuffed at it. They did
not eat it, because it was bitter The pungent
gum resin of Abyssinia called myrrh brought
to the feet of Christ. That means bitterness
Bitter betrayal, bitter persecution, bitter
days of suffering, bitter nights of woe
Tho& & A.
when He was dying. Myrrh. That is what
they put under his head in the wilderness.
Myrrh. That is what they strewed His path
with all the way from the cattle pen in Beth
lehem to the mausoleum at Joseph's country
seat. Myrrh. Yea, says the Psalmist, ''all
thy garments smell of myrrh." That is what
the wise men wrapped in the swaddling
clothes of the babe. That is what the Marys
twisted in the shroud of crucifed Christ
The myrrh. Oh, the height, the depth, the
length, the breadth of a Saviouris sorrowi
Myrrh. Well might the wise men shake out
the myrrh.
But notice, also, from another sack they
shake out the frankincense. Clear up to the
rafters of the barn the air Is filed with the
perfume, and the hostlers and the camel
drivers in the further part of the building
inhale 1t, and it floats out in the air until
passers by wonder who in that rough place
could have by accident dropped a box of
alabaster
Frankincense. That is what they burned
In the censor in the ancient temple. Franklin
cense That means worship. Frankincense.
That is TO fill all the homes, and all the
churches, and all the capitals, and all the
nations, from cellar to stalactited cave clear
up to the silvery rafters of the starlit dome.
FEankincense That is what we shake out
from our hearts to-day, so that the nostrils Of
Christ, once crimsoned with the hemorrhare
OF the cross, shall be flooded with the perfume
OF worlds alteration Frankincense. Frank
incense in song, and sermon, and Misunderstanding,
and decoration Praise Him, mountains and
hills, valleys and seas and skieS and aarth