Telegram-herald., 1889-12-30
TALNlCElyBEYROUT
HIS CHRIS 1ss Tlms sermon o.
Christs Earthy $ + gdom.


4nI ~ sarlh pe.re. god wln toward men
9u ahth - delivered lhe following dis
e0.rae
At last lays vtat lcnzed for q Car.s1
mas eve Ia Ets HeY Isn1 MS Is Toe tiua
~ vear thst Clriss lsn1ed 81. sss De-
e=rn-er Christ iu's Is the chii ar throgsa
si4cl ~ fescsadet I loaA ap through
theas ChrtsEsnas 81 ses and ( 49, u9 looseuesi
sta hzstsnins - Ith ward - hsit above Beth.
lshe8l tat al tie stars suggesE The star ~
bef fhiehaan 10 more ne-sl taat anv II them
run along ths So 10 point do~nsard Ia
gsietlls thsy 2ns-i az the feet Of him who,
though 0rce sn exile. II nov enfhruned for
ever Freh up from Bsthlrhsfn am full
of rhs scens~ s1ggssted by yisit e. that yil-
aga Noa know that whole region ~ Beth
ielsen r. famous in Bible story. There we're
The waving narvssss q Boas, ia which Ruth
cleaned for herseif and weeping Naomi
There David the warrior. was thirsty. and
three msa " unheard of self denial broke
t6roegh the fhiAs,iue army 20 get h.m a
drtlk i, was ID taat region that Joseph
aud Msry cams % have their names enrollei
in tie osnstis. That l. What the scripture
means when it SAYS they came TO De taxed "
Tor people did not in those days rush after
the assessors of TAX any more than they uo y
20.
The village inn was crowded with the
strangers 10 had come up by the command
Of government 70 have their names iu the
census, - that Joseph and Mary were obliged
q lodge IA the stables. Yon have seen some
or those large stone buildings, la the conter
Of which the clrnsls were kept, while run
ming out from this center In all directions
there were rooms, in one Of which Jesus was
born Had his parents been more showilv
sppareled, / have no doubt thev would have
found more comfortable Entertainment
That night ia the teids the shepherds with
cro0k and kindled fires were watching their
tocks, when bark 10 the sound OF voices
strangely sweet Can 10 be that the maideus
OF Bethlehem have como out 10 serenads tho
weary shepherdsl But now light stoops
upon them ike the morning. SO that the
hocks arise, shaking their snowy heeco and
bleAting 10 their drowsy young. The heav-
ems are filed with armies Of light, and the
earth quakes under tho harmony, as, echoed
back from cloud 10 cloud, il rings over the
midnight hills; GLORY 20 God in the highest.
and on earth peace, good will to men It
seems that the crown OF royalty and do
mlnion aud power which Christ left behind
him was hung on the sky in sight OF Bethie-
hem. Who knows but that that crown may
have been mistaken by the wise men for the
star running AM pointing downward
PURITY IL POVERTY
Ny subject, in the first place, inpresses mo
with the fact that indulgence is not always
significant of degradation. When princes are
born heralds announce 1t, and cannon thun-
der II, and flags wave 10, and iiluminations
set cities on fire with the tidings. Some Of
us III England or America remember the time
OF rejoicing when the Prince Of Wales was
born You can remember the gladncss
throughout Christendom at tho nativity in
toe palace at Madrid. But when our glorious
Prince was born there was no rejoicing on
earth. Poor and growing poorer. yet the
heavenly recognition that Christmas night
shows the truth Of the proposition that indi-
gence Is not always significant OF degradation.
Ia all ages there have been great hearts
throbbing under rags, tender sympathics un-
der rough exterior, gold in the quartz,
farian marble in the quarry, and In every
stable q privation wonders Of excellence that
have been the joy OF the heavenly host. All
the great deliyereTs OF literature and OF ma
tious were born in homes without affluence,
and from their own privetion learned 70
speak and fight for the oppressed. Many
man has held up bis pine knot light from the
wilderness until all nations and generations
have seen it, and OF Of his hard crust of
penury has broken the bread of knowledge
and religion Tor the starving millions OF the
race. Poetry, and science, and literature,
and commerce. and laws, and constitutions,
and liberty, like Christ, were born in n man
ger. All the great thoughts which have de-
cSded the destiny Of nations started in OBJ
scure corners, and bad Herods, who
wunted 10 slay them, and IScariots, who
betrayed them, and rabbles that cruel
feel them, and sepulchers that conGned
them until they burst forth n glorious rssur-
rection Strong character, like the rhodo-
1aGdron, Is an Alpine plant that grows fastest
in the storm Hen arr lSIe wheat, worth az
the more f0r being nailed Sotne II the most
d 7eful people would never have come to posi-
sons ~ usefuluess had they not beSn ground
and pounded and hammered in the foundry Of
disaster When | SO Moses coming up from
he ark q bulrushes 10 be ths greatest law
yiver Of the ages. and Amos from tending
he herds % make Israel tremble with bis
prophecies, and David from the sheep cote to
'way tie poets psn and the kings snepter,
md Peter from tho fshing net 70 he the great
preacher at the Pentccost, I find proof Of tho
ruth q nay proposition that Indulgence Is not
\ ways significant q degradation
hy sublect also Impress me with the
thought that Il Is while a. our useful occupa-
ious that ve have the divine manifestations
.iad those shepherds gone that night into
BET hIshen, and rissed thoir focSs among tho
Folvcs they would not have heard tra eru~