The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-15
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Sky Anthem
preached at Beyroutl

Subject: "The Sky Anthem"
preached at Beyroutl
TEXT: "Glory to God in the highest, and
on eorM peace, good wtH toacord men,
Luke H.. IA.
At last have what longed for, Christ
mas eve in the Holy Land. This is the time
of year that Christ landed He was Decem-
ber Christ. This is the chill Dir through
which He descended. Hook up through these
Christmas skies, and l see no looSened star
fastening southwark to halt above Bethle-
hem. but all tho stars suggest the Star Of
Bethlehem. No more need that any Of them
run along the sky to point downward. In
quietudo they kneel at the feet of Him who,
though once an exile, is now enthroned for
ever. Fresh up from Bethlehim,
visit to that village. You know that
whole region of Bethlehem is famous in Bible
story. There were the waving harvests of
Boaz, in which Ruth cleaned for herself and
weeping Naomi. There David the warrior
was thirsty, and three men of unheard Of
self denial broke through the Philistne army
to get him a drink II was to that region
that Joseph and Mary came to have their
names enrolled in the census. That is what
the Scripture means when il says they came
ITO be taxed" for people did not in those
days rush after the assessors of tax any more
than they nowdo.
strangers who had come up by the command
of Government to have their names in the
census so that Joseph and Mary were obliged
to lodge in the stables You have seen some
of those large stone buildings, in the center
Of which the camels were kept, while rum
ning out from this center in all directions
there were rooms, in one Of which Jesus was
born. Had his parents been more showily
appareled have no doubt they would have
found more comfortable entertainment.
That night in the fields the Shepherds with
crook and kindled fires were watch
ing their focks. when bark! to
Can it be that the maidens Of Bethlehem have
But now o light stoops upon them like the
morning, so that the focks arise, shaking
their snowy fleece and bleating to their
drowsy young. The heavens are filed with
armies Of light, and the earth quakes under
the harmony as, echoed back from cloud to
cloud, it rings over the midnight hills:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will to men," It seems that the
crown Of royalty and dominion and power
which Christ left behind Him was hung on
the sky in sight Of Bethlehem. Who knows
but that that crown may have been mistaken
by the wise men for the star running and
pointing downward
My subject, in the first place, impresses me
with tho fact that indigence is not always
significant Of degradation. When Princes
arc born, AeEa1lasSa eeEalfalss announce It, and cannon
thunder it, and flags wave it, and illumina-
tions set cities on fire with the tidings. Some
of us in England or America remember the
time of rejoicing when the Prince Of Wales
was born. You can remember tho gladness
throughout Christendom at the nativity in
the 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 in-
digence is not always significant of degrada-
tion.
In all ages there have been great hearts
throbbing under rags, tender sympathies un-
der rough exterior, gold in the quartz, Par
of privation wonders OF excellence that have
been the joy of the heavenly host. All the
great deliverers Of literature and Of nations
were born in homes without aflluence, and
from their own priyation learned to speak
and fight for the oppressed. Many man
has held up his pino knot light from the will
derness until all nations and generations
have seen it, and Off Of his hard crust Of pen
ury has broken tho bread Of knowledge and
religion for the starving millions Of the
race. Poetry, and science, and literature,
and commerce, and laws, and consti-
tutions, and liberty like Christ, were born.
in manger. All the great thoughts which
have decided the destiny of nations started in
obscure corners and had Herods who wanted
to slay them, and Iscariots who betrayed
them, and rabbles that crucilied them, and
sepulchres that confined them until they burst
forth in glorious resurrection. Strong char
acter, like the rhododendron, is an Alpine
plant that grows fastest in the storm. Men
are like wheat, worth all the more for
being failed Some Of the most useful
rcoplo would never have como to posi-
lions of usefulness had they not been
ground and pounded and hammered
in the foundry OF disaster. When l
see Moses coming up from the ark Of bull
rushes to be the greatest lawgiver Of the
ages; and Amos from tending tho herds to
make Israel tremble with his prophecies, and
David from the Sheepcote to sway tho poets
pen and the Kings sccpter, and Peter from
the fishing net to be the great preacher at the
Pentecost, I find proof Of the truth of my
proposition that Indulgence is not always
significant of degradation.
My subject also impresses me with tho
thought that it is while at our useful oc-
cupations that We have the divine
manifestations. Had those shepherds
gone that night into Bethlehem and
risked their locks among the wolves, they
would not havo heard the song of the angels:
In other words, that man sees most Of God
and heaven who minds his own business. We
all have our posts of duty, and standing
there God appears to us. Wo are all shcp-
herds or sheperdesses, and we have our
1ocks Of cares and annoyanceS and anxieties,
and we must tend them.
We sometimes hear very good people say:
"If had month or year or two to do
nothing but attend to religious things
would be great deal better than lam now"
You are mistaken. Generally the best peo-
pie are the busy people. Elisha was plowing
in the field when the prophetic mantle fell
on him. Matthew was attending to his Gus
tom house duties when Christ commanded
him to follow. James and John were mend
ing their nets when Christ called them to be
fishers Of men. Had they been snoring in
the sun Christ would not have called their
Incidence into the apostleShip. Gideon
was at work with the fail on the
threshing floor when he saw the angel.
Saul was with great fatigue hunting up the
lost asses when he found the crown or Israel.
The prodigal son would never have reformed
and wanted to have returned to his fathers
house if he had not first gone into business,
of hundred times will lazy man become
Christian. Those who have nothing to do
are iu very unfavorable circumstances for
the receiving of divine manifestations. 1t is
not whom you are in idlcness, but when you
are;> like the Bethlehem shepherds, watching
your flocks, that the glory descends and there
is joy among the angels Of God over your soul
penitent and forgiven.
My subject also strikes at the delusion that