Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1890-12-29

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torn e. sks~ tat tAi5 y CARES ~ 49,.
pie u SHARP saAsz. fex s,>esis under sleessd
sky. fa3 people vita fFussod key~s. fer
neopax with thereeeaes<r tx.ow xero
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saonx sAs destitute lo9 CO eaa AHA
90 sEy nssht eaninx oc tie Eaeers Yea
ca SO hln sAy nlsht esmiax shreaxA the
dark lAnss ~ lhs city. lee cAn see hssn
putting his kAad endsr the fsintiax heal
Ia tAs pzapsr's e<hsa- He remembers ho~
ths sfn1 whlssIcd around the esrasansAry
ia Bsthlshsna tlkat Deo<mh<r night, and lie
= la sympathy with al those who Ia their
poverty hear the skaters clzgtxT % oold
nisht.
Il vas this December Christ that Wash
ingtss ana LA army vcrshiped ~ Valley
Forge. when without blankets they lay
dswn in the pccegDber snow II was this
Christ that the Pilgrim Fathers appealed
70 when the Msyeower wharfed al Ply
rsuth Rock, aud 10 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 q Christ for dark days
ciouaed with sick ness. and chilling with
disappointment. and saffocsting with be
resvement. and terrific with wide open
graves. Not a springtime Christ, not a
summer Christ. not an aatumnal Christ,
but . winter Christ. Oh. this suffering
and struggling world needs TO be hushed
and seothcd and rocked aud iuliahied In
the arms Of symparhe,ie Om1ipotenee!
No mother ever with more tenderness put
her foot on the rocker Of the cradle Of a
sick child than Christ comes down To US,
TO this invalid world. and he rocks II into
placidity and quie,ness as he says. my
peace l give unto you; not as the world
givetb give I unto you"
WHY He WAS BORN IN 1AsoER
Notice also fact which no one seems To
notice--.hat this Christ was born among
the sheep. and the cattle, and the horses,
and the camels In order that he might he
an alleviating influence 10 the whole ami
nal creation. IL means mercy for over
driven, underfed, poorly sheltered. CALLED
and maltreatcd animal creation. Hath
the Christ who compared himself TO dove
no care for the cruelties OF tho pigeon
shootingi Hath the Christ who compared
himself TO 4 lamb no care for the sheep
that are tied and contorted, and with neck
over the sharp edge of the butchers cart,
or the cattle train in hot weather from
Omaha to New York, with no water-iif
teen hundred miles of agony
Hath the Christ whose tax was paid by a
fish, the coin taken from its mouth, no care
for the tossing fms in the fish market,
Hath the Christ who strung with his own
hand the nerves Of dog and cat no indigna-
ton for the horrors of vivisections Hath
the Christ who said go To the ant" no
watchfulness for the trans1xed insects.
Hath the Christ who said Behold the
fowls of the air" himself never beheld the
outrages heaped upon the brute creation
which cannot articuiatc it's grief? This
Christ came not only 10 lift the human
race out of its trouble, but to lift out of
pang and hardship the animal creation.
In the glorious milennial time the child
shall lead the lion and play with the cock
atrice only because brute and reptile shall
have no more wrongs to avenSe. To ale
viate the condition Of the brute creation
Christ was born in the cattle pen The
first bleat of the Lamb Of God heard
amid the tired focks of the Bethlehem
shepherds. The white horse of eternal vic
tory stabbed in barn.
ALL THE WORLD is HIS.
But notice also In this account the three
Christmas presents that are brought to
the manger-gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Gold to Christ-that means all the afffu-
ence of the world surrendered 70 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. Mill
ions of dollars for Christ where there are
now thousands for Christ. Railroads
owned by Christian stockholders, and gov
erned by Christian directors, and carrying
passengers and freight at Christian prices
George Peabodys and Abbott Lawrences
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 OF Joseph
and Mary and the divine fugitive into
Egypt, but II 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. Australia,
Nevada and Golconda for Christ. The
bright, round, beautiful jewel OF world
set like solitaire on the bosom of Christ
But l notice that these wise men also
shook out from the sacks the myrrh The
did not cat it because il 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. Myrrh. That il what they
put into his cnp when he was dying.
Myrrh. That Is what they put under mis-
head in the wilderness. Myrrb. That is
L L. III L
way from the cattle pen in Bethlehem 10
the mausoleum at Joseph's country seat.
Myrrh. Yea, says the Psa'mist. "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 a cruciicd
Christ. The myrrh. Oh, the height, the
depth, the length, the breadth of the
Saviour's sorrow Well might the wise
men shake out the myrrh.
FRASKIScEssE MEANS WORSHIP.
But notice also from another sack they
shake out the frankincense Clear up to
the rafters Of the barn the air is filed with
perfume, and the bostlers and the camel
drivers in the fsrthest part Of the building
inhale it, and il floats out upon the air
us,il passersby wonder Who la that rough
place could have by accident dropped box
Of alabaster Fransincense. That's What
they burned in the censor in the ancient
temple Frankincenss. That means wor-
ship. FrankinoeGstA That is to fll all the
homes, and ~ the churches. aud oil the
capitals. and all the nations frca, cellar of
stalsctited cave clear upto the silvery raft
ere Of the stsriit dome. Franxincens~
That is what we shake cut from our hearts
today so that the postrils of Christ once
crirnsnred nth the han.orr hare Of tie