The Penn's Grove record., 1889-01-19

I NrOut Oub VI tilC bChNtuo hh ~
lJupiters and Saturns Of the universe
have chosen our little bit OF a world 10
the achievements Of His only begot
ten Son, when He might have had
vaster scale and vaster worldsp" Blu
my scepticism is all gone as l come t
| the manger, and watch its surround
ings. Now / see all the worlds arr
| sisters, and that when n weeps the
all weep, and when n sings they al
sing. From that supernatural group
| ing in the cloud-banks over Bethlehem
| and from the especial trains that ran
down to the scene, / find that our world
is beautifully and gloriously surround
cd.
THE METEoRs ARE WITH US,
| for one of them ran to point down 10
the birthplace. The heavens are with
us, because at the thought Of our re
demption they roll hosannas out OF the
midnight sky. Oh, yes; | do not know
but our world may be better surround
ed than we have sometimes Imagined
and when a child is born angels fetch
it, and when it dies angels take it. and
when an old man bends under the
weights of years angels uphold him,
and when a heart breaks angels soothe
1t. Angels in the hospital to take care
of the sick. Angels in the cemetery TO
watch our dead. Angels In church
ready to fly heavenward with the news
of repentant souls. Angels above ia
world. Angels under t..c World!
Angels all around the world
Rub the dust of human im~perfectlon
out of our eyes, and look into the
heavens and see angels o fpity, angels OF
mercy, angels of pardon, angels OF help,
angels crowned, angels charioted. The
world defended by angels, girdlei by
angels, cohorted by angels-clouds OF
angels. Hear David cry out: 'The
chariots of God are twenty thousand.
Even thousands of angels" But the
mightiest angel stood not that night in
the clouds over Bethlehem; the mighti-
est Angel that night lay among the
cattle-the Angel of the new covenant.
As the clean white linen, sent in by
some motherly 'villager, was being
wrapped around the little form of that
Child Emperor, not a cherub, not a
seraph, not an angel, not a world, but
wept and thrilled and shouted. On.
yes, our world has plenty of sympathi-
zers! Our world is only n silver rung
of a great ladder, at the top of which is
our Fathers house. No more stellar
solitariness for our world, not a friend
less planet spun out into space to freeze,
but a world in the bosom of divine ma
A star harnessed to a manager.
Again, l remark that that night,
born in that village barn. was
THE OFFENDERS HOPE.
Some sermonizers may say 1 ought TO
have projected this thought at the be-
ginning of the sermon. Oh, mol l
wanted you to rise toward it. l want
ID you to examine the carnelians and
.he jaspers and the emeralds and the
,hrysalis before l showed you the Kohl
crown jewel Of the ages. OIL
hat jewel had a very poor setting. The
'ub of the bear is born amid the grand
I'D pillars of the forest, the whelp of
lie lion takes its first step from the
JINGLE of luxuriant leaf and wild-flower,
lie kid of the goat Is born in cavern,
handeliered with stalactite, and pillar
d with stalagmite. Christ was born in
bare barn. Yet that nativity was the
TENDERS hope. Over the door of
Ieaven are written these words:
None but the sinless enter here'
'.Oh, horror" you say, "that shuts
IS all outl" No. Christ came to the
world in one door, and He departed
another door. He came
the door of the manger, and
lie departed through the door of the
epulchre,
HIS OWN BUSINESS
vas so to wash away our sin that I'M
econd after we are dead there will be
10 more sins about us than about the
ternal God. l know that is putting it
but that is what / understand
y full remission. All erased, all wash
d away, all secured out. all gonel
That undergrinding and overarchiDg
md irradiating and lmparadising posi-
for you, and for me, and for the
ace was given on that Christmas night.
Do you wonder we bring flowers to-
lay to celebrate such an eventp Do you
wonder that we take organ and cornet
md youthful voice and queenly soloist
celebrate it? Do you wonder that
Raphael and Rubens and Titan and
and Ghirlandajo, and all the old
and German painters, give the
nightiest stroke of the pencil to sketch
,he Madonna Mary and her boyp
OH now l see what the manger was.
Not so high the gilded and jeweled and
cradle of the Henrys OF
England, or the Louis of France, or
he Fredericks of Prussia. Now l find,
out of that Bethlehem crib fed not SO
much the x of the stall as the white
horses Of Apocalyptic vision. Now 1
ind the swaddling-clothes enlarging
and ~emblaZoning into an imperial robe
for q conqueror. Now 1 find that the
star of that Christmas night was only
the diamond sandal of Him who hath
,he moon under His feet. Now l come
understand that the music of that
night was
NOT A COMPLETE SONG,
put only the stringing of the instru-
nents for a great chorus of two worlds,
he bass to be carried by earthly nations
'aved' and the soprano by kingdoms of
glory won. oh, heaven, heaven, heavenl
shall meet you there. After all our
mperfections are gone, l shall meet
you there. 1 look out to-day, through
he mist of years, through the fog that
Uses from the cold Jordan, through the
VIDE open door of solid pearl. to that
l expect to gee you there as
certainly as / see you here. What a
lime we shall have in high converse,
over sins pardoned, and SORROWS
and battles triumphant!
1 am going in. l am going to take
my family with me. l am going to
AXE all my church with me. 1 am
,oing to take all my friends and neigh
,ors with me. / have SO much faith in
nanger and cross, l feel sure of it. l
I'm going to coax you in. 1 am going
push you in. BY holy stratagem l
I'm going to surprise you in. Yea, with
IL the concentrated energy of my ma
,ure-physical, mental, spiritual, and
mmortal-I am going to compel you to
% in. 1 like you so well l want to
pend eternity with you'll
Some of your children have already
zone. Some time ago 1 buried one of
hem, and though people passing along
he street and seeing Grape on the door
,ell may have said, "It is