The Forrest City times., 1892-01-01
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
pH. rALMAoE BREACHES ON
 THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.
The Nativity of Christ and Lessons Drawn Therefron-Ihey Came in Haste ana Found Mary and Joseph and the eabs h M.nger-A Night In BeshIehsm-

E-e8E EcX rEI< U4orCll4 9 erI AAtA fFf-
 ins Cnristnas season. Taking up the saolees If tas ~ariTify he drew from it lessons which. tnou<h perfectly legitimate, are conmonAy overlooked His text was Luke z- is. Ana taey came with haste. ard f0Und Mary ana Joseph. and the Babe iyinE h Eas1sef-
 The black window shutters Of DeeeHDe. uixhf were thrown open, and some cf the oes. singers Of world where they all sing stood taeys. and p1tting back the draPery cf eicon, cnxr-ed p~sce anthern until all the echoes or hsn and valley sppiauded and encoreo me hsi1eius4h choruS Come, let rs SO into t1a, Christmas scene ss though Te had never oe | fore worshippe1 as she usnEer- Hcrets Ma dcuuz worth Looking at wonder not that the | most freouenf name in all lands and in sh | Christian centuries is Mary And there are Marys in palaces and Msrys in cabins, ana thczfh German and French and Italian ana | spanish and English pronounce II diher- ently. they are all nameszkes of the one whom re Ind on bed Of straw. with her pale race against the soft cheek of Christ fin the night of the Nativity. All of tke great painters have tried. oa canvas. to present Mary and her cniio and The incidents Of that most famous nignt oi the worlds history. Raphael In three canertat masterpieces. celebrated them Tinforefto ana Ghirlsnda5o surpassed themselves m the adora.ion of the Mag. Corregzio his Madonna to become immortal The Madonna of the Lily. by Leonardo da slnci. will sindie the admiration oz all ages Bat all the galleries of Dresden are forgotten when think of the small room of that gallery con tain ing the Sissine Madonna Yet all of them were copies Of st Mathews Madonna. and Luke s Madonna, rhe inspired Madonna of the Old Book, which we had put into our hands when we were infants and that ue hope to have un- der our heads when we die
 { Behold. ia the first place. that on the first night of Christs life God hozored the brute creation You cannot get into that Bethlehem barn without going past the camels, the mules the dogs. the oxen. The brutes Of that stable heard the first cry of the infant Lord Some of the old painters represent the oxen and caneis kneel.ng that night before the newborn babe And well might they kneeli Have you ever thought that Christ came among other things 70 alleviate the su1erinxs of the brute ereauons Was il not appropriate that ne should, auIlns the first few days and nights of his life oneartn' bs surrounded hy the dumb beasts, whose moan and pIsinf and believing have for ages been 2 prayer 10 God for the arresfing of their tor lures and the righting of their wrongs: II did not merely happen SO that the uniniiigeni creatures Of God should have been that night { in close neighborhooc-
 Not kennel in all the centuries. not bird r=sE, not a worn-ont horse oz tox-path. not a herd freezing in the pooTly-buil eow-pen- noi a freight ear in summer time bringing The oeeFes to market without water through thousand miles of agony not surgeons room witness tnx the struggles of fo1, or rabbit or pigeon, or dor in The horrors of yfviseciion- but has an { interest in the fact that Christ was born in a stable surrounded by nrutes- He remembers that night, and the prayer he heard ID their pitifBl moan he will answer in the punishment of those who maltrest the dumb brufes- They surely have as much right in the world we have In the nrsi chapter of Genesis you may see that they were ~.sn -kn Euf<s rEa fowl created the fifth day, and the quadrupeds { the morning of the sixth day, and man moi until the afternoon Of thatuay. The whale, the eagle the lion. and all the lesser creatures oi their kind were predecessors of the human family They have the world by right Of pos session They have also paid rent for the places they occupied What an army o' de fense all over the land are the faithful watch degs. And who can tell what Inc world owes 10 the horse, and camel. and OK, for trznsportztions And robin and lark have. by the esntsiss with which they have filled orchard and for est, more than paid for the few grains they have picked up for their sustensnce. When yoa abuse any creature Of God you strike lts creator and you insult the Christ who, though be might have been welcomed into life by Princes and taken his first infaniile slumber s..id Tyrizn plush and canopied conches, and ripping waters from royal aqDeduefs dripping into basins 5f ivory and pearl, chose so be born CT the level with COW s horn or a camel 5 hoof. or a dogs nostriI, that he might be the slleylalion of animal suffering well as the Redeemer of 1sE-
 Standing then, as imagine now do, in that Bethlehem night with an infant Christ on the one side and the speeches. creatures Of God on the other, I cry, look cut, how you strike the rowel Into that horse s side. Take or that curbed bit from that bleed ing mouth Remove that saddle from that raw back. Shoot not for fun that bird that IS too small for food Forget not to put water into | the cage of that canary Throw ont some crumbs to those birds caught too far north in the winters inelemency. Arrest that man who is making that one horse draw load heavy enough for three. Rush in upon that scene where boys are torturing cat. or transnxins butterfly and grasshopper Drive not on that old robin, for her nest is a mothers cradle. and under her wing there may be three or l four musicians of the sky in training ] In your families and in your schools, teach the coming generation more mercy than the present generation has ever shown and ir thls marvellous bible picture of the Nativity while you point out to them the angel, show them also the camel, and while they hear ths celestial chant. let them also hear the cows moan No more did Christ show interest In ths botanical world, when he said Consider the Mics" than he showed sympathy for the or nithologicaI when he said, Behold the fowls o the air. and the quadrupedal world when hs allowed himself 10 be called in once place q lion, and in another place a lamb Meanwhile may the Christ Of the Bethlehem csttie-per have mercy on the suffering stock-yards. ths are preparing diseased and leyered meat fol our American households
 Behold, also, in this bible scene. how, on | that Christmas night God honored childhood | Christ might have made his first visit 10 oul ! world in a cloud, as he will descend on his mex | visit in a cloud. In what chariot of illuminct yapor he might have rolled down the sky escorted by mounted cavalry, with lightning for drawn sword Elijah had carriage 1 Of fire to take him up; why not Jesus carriage of fire to fetch him downs Or ! over the arched bridge of a rainbow thu l Lord might have descended Or Christ migh have had his mortality built up on earth out o the dust of garden. as was Adam, in fall man hood at the start without the introductor, feebleness of infancy No. mol Childhood wal to be honored by that advent He must have child's light limbs, and chiIds dimpled hand and chiid's beaming eye, and child's faxei hair; and babyhood was 10 be honored for al time to come and cradle was to mean mor' than grave. Mighty Godi May the reflection of that one child's face be seen in all infantil' faces.
 Enough have all those fathers and mother, on hand if they have a child in the house. 4 throne, crown. a sceptre, a kingdom unde charge. Be careful how YOU strike him acros, i the head. iarring the brain. What you say ts him will be centennial and millennial, and hundred years and a thousand years will no
 stop the echo and re-echo. Do not say. "It i. only child" Rather say. Tt is only an i'm
 mortal" IL is only masterpiece of Jehovah It is only being that shall outliv' sun and moon and star, and ages 4 Awflla fnt Gnd hnS Inf