Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1892-01-21
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
DR.. TALMACE breaches ON
THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.

The Nativity Of Christ and Lessons Drawn
Therefrom--Thcy Came In Haste and
Found Mary and Joseph and the Babe
In . Manger-A Night In Bethlehem.
BROOKLYN, n. T.. Dec ~, ls9l.-Dr. Talmage
preached this morning sermon appropriate to
the Christmas season. Taking up the subject
Of the Nativity he drew from It lessons which,
though perfectly legitimate, are commonly
overlooked. His text was Luke 2: 10, And
they came with haste. and found Mary and
Joseph, and the Babe lying In manger."
Tho black window shutters Of December
night were thrown open, and some OF the best
singers Of . world where they oil sing stood
there, and putting back the drspery OF cloud.
chanted peace anthem, until all the echoes OF
hill and valley applauded ana encored the
hallelujah chorus. Come, let us go into that
! Christmas scene as though We had never be-
fore worshipped at the manger. Here is Ma
donna worth looking At wonder not that the
most frequent name in all lands and in all
Christian centuries is Mary. And there are
Marys in palaces and Marys in cabins, and
though German and French and italian and
Spanish and English pronounce 1t differ
emily, they are oil namesakes Of the one whom
we ind on bed Of straw, with her pale face
against the soft cheek Of Christ in the night OF
the Nativity. All Of the great painters have
tried, on canvas. to present Mary and her child
and the incidents Of that most famous night OF
the worlds history. Raphael in three different
masterpieces. celebrated them. Tintoretto and
Ghirlandaio surpassed themselves in
the alteration Of the Magi. Correggio
| needed to do nothing more than
his Madonna to become immortal The
Madonna OF the Lily, by Leonardo da Vinci,
will kindle the admiration OF all ages. But oil
| the galleries OF Dresden are forgotten when
think Of the small room OF that gallery contain
ing the Sistine Madonna. Yet all Of them were
| copies OF St. Matthews Madonna, and Luke's
Madonna, the inspired Madonna OF the Old
Book, which we had put into our hands when
we were infants, and that we hope to have I'M
der our heads when we die.
Behold, in the first place, that on the first
night of Christ's life God honored 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 camels
kneeling that night before the newborn babe
| And we'll might they kncel! Have you ever
| thought that Christ came among other things TO
| alleviate the suYerings OF the brute creation:
! Was 1t not appropriate that he should, during
the first few days and nights OF his life on earth,
| be surrounded by the dumb beasts, whose moan
! and plant and believing have for ages been
prayer to God for the arresting of their tor
| lures and the righting OF their wrongs 1t did
| not merely happen So that the unintlligent
creatures Of God should have been that night
| In close neighborhood.
| Not o kennel in oil the centuries, not q birds
| nest, not WORKOUT horse on tow-path, not o
| herd freezing in the poorlybuilt cow-pen not o
! freight car in summer time bringing the oeeves
| to market without water through . thousand
| miles OF agony, not surgeons room witness
ing the struggles OF fox, or rabbit or pigeon, or
! dog, in the horrors OF vivisection, but has an
| int in tI,n IA Chrlt in q
stable, surrounded by brutes. He remembers
that night, and the prayer he heard In
their pitiful moan. he will answer
| In the punishment Of those who maltreat
the dumb brutes. They surely have as much
| right In the world as we have. In the nrst
chapter Of Genesis you may see that they were
placed on earth before man was; the fish and
fowl created the NTH day, and the Quadrupeds
the morning Of the sixth day, and man not
until the afternoon Of that day. The whale. the
| eagle, the lion. and oil the lesser creatures OF
their kind we're 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 Of de-
tense all over the land are the faithful watch
dogs. And who can tell what the world owes
to the horse, and camel and o., for
transportation And robin and lark
have, by the cantatas with which
they have filled orchard and for
est more than paid for the few grains they
nave plckeO up IOr tnolr SuStcnAnCc w ucu
you abuse any creature OF God you strike Its
creator and you insult the Christ who, though
. he might have been welcomed into life by
Princes and taken his first infantile slumber
amid Tyrian plush and canopied couches, and
rippling waters from royal aqueducts dripping
Into basins Of ivory and pearl, chose to be born
on the level with cows horn. or a camel
hoof, or dogs nostril, that he might be the
alienation Of animal suffering as well as the
, Redeemer Of man.
Standing then, as imagine now do, in tina,
Bethlehem night with an infant Christ on the
] one side and the speeches. creatures
s Of God on the other cry, looR
, out, how you strike the rOwel into that horses
side. Take OF that curbed bit from that bleed
Ing mouth. Remove that saddle from that raw
{ back. Shoot not for fun that bird that is toe
, small for food. Forget not to put water into
the cage OF that canary. Throw out some
crumbs to those birds caught too far north II
D the winters inclemency. Arrest that man wht
{. Is making that one horse draw load heavy
4 enough for three. Rush in upon that scent
where boys are torturing cat, or transnxint
butterfly and grasshopper. Drive not on thai
old robin, for her nest Is mothers cradle, anC
under her wing there may be three Of
four musicians Of the sky In training
In your families and In your schools
teach the coming generation more mercy thai
the present generation hos ever shown. and II
this marvellous bible picture of tine Nativity
while you point out to them the angel. shov
G them also the camel, and while they hear tn
S celestial chant, let them also hear the cow!
moan. No more did Christ show interest in thu
botanical world, when he said, Consider thu
lilies" than he showed sympathy for the or
astrological when he said, Behold the fowls o
the air." and the Quadrupedal world when b.
allowed himself to be called in once place
lion. and in another place q lamb. Meanwhile
may the Christ of the Bethlehem cattle pei
] have mercy on the suffering stock yards, tina
: are preparing diseased and levered meat TO
our American households
Behold, also, in this bible scene how. or
that Christmas night God hOnored childhood
Christ might have made his first visit to on
I world in o cloud rs he will descend on his mex
, visit in q cloud In what chariot of illumne,
vapor he might have rolled down the sky
! escorted by mounted cavalry with lightning
. for drawn sword Elijah had carriag
Of fire to take him up: why not Jesus
carriage OF fire TO fetch him down? Or
s over the arched bridge of u rainbow tn
) Lord might have descended. Or Christ nigh
have had his mortality built up on earth out o
the dust OF q garden, rs was Adam, in full man