The Forrest City times., 1890-01-04
THE SKY ANTHEM.
Dr. Talmage's Christmas Sermon in the
 Holy Land, at Beyrout.
It Seems to Him That the Grown of Royalty and Dominion and Power Was Hung on The Sky in Sight of Bethlehem


 ward men," on which he delivered the fol lowing discourse:
 At last I havc what longed for, a Christmas eve in tho Holy Land This is tho time of year that Christ landed. He was December Christi This is the chill air through which he descended. look u D through thsso Christmas skies, and 1 see no loosened star hastening southward to halt above Bethlehem, but all the stars sug gest the Star of Bethlehem. No more need that any of them run along the sky to point downward. la quietude they kneel at the feet of him who, though once an exile, is now enthroncd for ever, Fresh up from Bethlehem, am Hull ot tho scenes suggested by visit to that village. You know that whole region of Bethlekem is famous in Bible story There were the waving harvests of Boaz, in which Ruth gleaned for herself and weeping Naomi There David the warrior was thirsty, and three men of un- heard of self denial broke through the Philistine army to get him drink It was to that region that Joseph and Mary came to have their names enrolled in the census That Ia what the Scripture means when it says they came "to be taxed :" for people did not in those days rush after the asses. sors of tax any more than they now do.
 Tho village inn was crowded with the strangers who had come up by the com- mand of government to have their names in the census, so that Joseph and Mary were obliged to lodgo in the stables. You have seen some of those large stone buildings, in the center of which tho camels are kept Whlle running out from this center in all directions there were rooms, in ono of which Jesus was born Had his parents been more showly appareled l have no doubt they would have found more comfortable entertainment That night in tho heids the shepherds, with crook and kindled fires, wore watching their focks. When harkl to the sound of voices strange ly sweet Can it be that the maidens of Bethlehem have come out to serenate the weary shepherdst But now light stoops upon them like the morning, so that the hocks arise, shaking thcir snowy fleece aud bleating 10 their drcwsy young. The heavens are filled with armies of light and the earth quakes under the har. monv as, echoed back from cloud 10 cloud, it rings over the midnight hillss
 Glory to God in the highest, and oe earth peace, good will to nenln It seems that the crown of royalty and dominion and power which Christ left behind him hung ~At NhS ohf th SikHN hl I1GlnlcHeI N no knows but that that crown may have been mistaking by the wise men for the star running and pointing downwardi
 My subject, in tho first place, lmpresses me with the fact that indigeuce is not al ways significant of degredation. When princes are born, heralds announce 1t. and cannon thunder it, aud flags wave it. and iliuminations set cities on fire with the tidings. Some or us in England or America remember the time of re. ioicing when the Prince of Wales was porn You can remember the gladness throughout Christendom at the nativity in the palace at Madrid. But when our glorious Prince was born, there was no re- lolcing on earth Poor and growing poorer. yet the heavenly recognition that Christmas night shows the truth Of the proposi ton that indigence is not always significant of degradation
 In all ages there have been great hearts throobing under rags, tender sympathies under rough exterior. gold in the quartz af1an marble ill the quarry, and in every stable ei priyation wonders of excellence that have been tho joy of the heavenly host All the great delverers of literature anu Of nations were born in homes without aiiiuence, and from their own priya- lion learned to speak and fight for the oppressed. Many n man has held uphis pine knot light from the wilder. ness until all nations and generations nave seen IL and of of his hard crust Of penury has broken tho bread of knowledge and re llglon Tor the starving millions of the race. Roetry, and scieuce, and literature, and commerce, and laws, and constitutions, aud liberty, like Christ were born in manager. All the great thoughts which have decided the destiny of nations started in obscure corners, and had Herods who wanted to slay them, and Iscarlots who betrayed them, and rabbles that crncined them and sepulchers that confined them until they burst forth in glorious resurreo. ton. Strong character, like the rhodaden dron, is an Alpine plant, that grows fastest in the storm. Men are liko wheat, worth all the more for being failed Some of the most useful people would never have come to positions 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 bulrushes 10 bc the greatest lawgiver of the ages. and Amos rom tending tho herds to make israel tremole with his prophecies, and David from the sheepcote to sway the poets pen and the kings scepter, and Peter from tho fishing net to be the great preachor at the Penteeost l find proof or the truth of my proposition that iuiigence is not al. ways significant of degradation
 My subject also impresses me with the thought that it k while at ocv useful oc- equations that we have divine manifesto. hons, Had those shepherds gone that hisht Into Bethlehem and rlsked their Rocks among the wolves, they would not have 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. We are ali shep. herds or shcpherdeSses, and We have our hocks of cares and anuoyances and anx- ieues, and we must tend to thcm.
 My subject also strikes at tho delnsion that the religion of Christ Is riorous and grei infuslng. The music that broke through the midnight heavens was not alrse put m anthem, IL shook joy over the hlsis IL rot only dropped upon the snepherds, but Il sprang upward amoag Inc thrones. The robe oi Savionr's righto ousness is not black The Christian life is not made up of weeping and cross bearing and war waging Through the revelation of that Christmas ulght find that religion is not groan, but a song. In a world of sin and sick bed and sepulchers. we must have trouble; but in the darkest night the heavens part with angelic song You may. like Paul, be shipwrccked but l exhort you to be of good eheer, for you shall all escape safe Co the land Religion does not show itself in Tho elonsation of the face ana the cut of the carb Tho pharisea who puts his religion into his phyla ,tery has none laft for his heart Fretrusnoss ana complaining do net belong 10 the family of Christ an graces which move into tho heart when the devil moves out Chrls. tlanlty does not frown upon amusements anu revreatlons IL Is not a cynic. 1t IS not shrewd, II ehekes no laughter, it quenches no light it defaees no art Among the han py Il is the happicst IL k just as much at homo on the play ground as il is in the church It IS just as graceful tn the charade as t is ia ,he psalm book lt sings just us well in Surry gardens as it irays in St lAufs Christ diei that we might live. Christ walked that We might ride Christ wept that we might laugh.
 Again my subject imnresses me with Tho