Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-12-27

ed that night to Christ. This planet for
Christ. The solar system for Christ.
Worlds ablaze and worlds burn out-all
worlds for Christ.
INTENsEsT MICROSCOPE CANNOT SEE
the one side of that domain. Farthest
reaching telescope cannot find the other
side Of that domain. But l will tell
you how the universe is bounded. 1t is
bounded on the north and south and east
and west by God, and that God is Christ,
and that Christ is God, and that God is
ours. o, does not it not enlarge our ideas
of Sayiour's dominion when / tell you
that all the worlds are only sparks struck
from his anvil, that all the worlds are only
f1eecy flocks following the one Shepherd,
that all the islands of light in immensely
are one great archipelago belonging to our
King?
But this scene also impresses me with
the fact that the wise men of the East
came to Christ. They were not fools, they
were not imbeciles. The record distinctly
says the wise men came to Christ We
say they were the magi, or they were the
alchemists, oi they We're the astrologists,
and we say it with depreciating accentua-
ton. Why, they were the most splendid
and magnificent men OF the century. They
were the naturalists and the scientists.
They knew all that was known. You
must remember that astrology was the
mother of astronomy, and that alchemy
was the mother of chemistry, and because
children are brighter than the mother you
do not despise the mother.
1t was the lifelong business of these as
trologers to stduy the stars. Twenty-Five
hundred and fifty years before Christ was
born the wise men knew the procession of
the equinoxes, and they had calculated
the orbit and the return of the comets
Professor Smith declares that he thinks
they knew the distance of the earth from
the sun. We find in the Book Of job that
the men OF olden time did not suppose the
world was fiat, as some have said, but that
he knew, and the men of his time knew,
the world was globular. The Pyramids
were built for astrological and astronomi-
cal study.
THEN, THE ALCHEMIsTs
spent their lives in the study OF metals,
and gases, and liquids, and solids, and in
filling the worlds library with their won
derful discoveries. They were vastly wise
men who came to the East They under
stood embalment as our most scientific
men cannot understand it. After the
world has gone on studying hundreds OF
years, it may come up to the point where
the ancients began TO forget. believe
the lost arts are as mighty rs the living
arts.
They were wise men that came from the
East, and tradition says the three wiscst
young man; Balthazar, n
man in midlife; and Melchoir, an octoge-
marian. The three wisest men Of all the
century. They came TO the manger. So
it has always been-the wisest men come
TO Christ, the brainiest men come to the
manger. Who was the greatest metaphy-
sician this country has ever produced?
Jonathan Edwards. the Christian. Who
was the greatest astronomer Of the world?
Herschel, the Christian. Who was the
greatest poet ever produced? John Mil
ton, the Christian. Who was the wisest
writer oflaw? Blackstone, the Christian.
Why is it that every college and university
in the land has chapel? They must have
a place for the wise men to worship.
Come now, let us understand in ounces
and by inches this whole matter. In post
mortem examinations the brain of distin-
guished men has been examined, and
will find the largest, the heaviest, the
mightiest brain ever produced in America,
and will ask what that brain thought Of
Christ There it is, the largest brain,
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, believe; help Thou mine unbelief
Whatever else do, Almighty God receive
me TO Thysclf for Christ's sake This
night shalt be in life, and JOY, and bless
edness" So Daniel Webster came to the
The wise men OF the East followed
by the wise men of tho West
Know also in this scene that
1T WAS A WINTER MONTH
that God chose for His Sons nativity
Had il been for the month Of May-that is
the season of blossoms. Had il been in
the month of June-that is the month of
roses Had it been in the month of July
that is tire seasons OF great haryests.
Had it 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
I,r IN lao. NJ l..K he.
there are no flowers blooming out Of doors,
and when all the harvests that have not
been gathered up have perished, and when
there are no fruits ripening on the hill,
and when the leaves are drifted over the
bare earth. II was in closing December
that He was born, to show this is q 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 80 often
found among the destitute. You can see
Him on any night coming of 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 wind whistled around the caravan
sary in Bethlehem that December night,
and He is in sympathy with all those who
in their poverty hear the shutters clatter
on a cold night.
II was this December Christ that Wash
ington and his army worshiped at Valley
Forge. when without blankets they lay
down in the December snow. IT was this
Christ that the Pilgrim Fathersappealed 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
a December Christ, not Christ for fair
weather, but Christ for dark days cloud-