The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-01-13
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE.s SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "rhe Nativity

SuSJCSAs AAC ENdsAtAtys = '".
TEXT: "And they came aoith haste, and
found Mary and Joseph. and the BabS
tyfng in a rndnger."-Luke Ii, 49,.
The black window shutters Of q December
night were thrown open, and some Of the
best singers Of a world where they all sing
stood there. and putting back the drapery OF
cloud, chanted q peace anthem, until all the
echoes Of hill and valley applaudei and en-
cored the ,Hallelujah chorus. Come. let us
90 into that Christmas scene as though we
had never before worshiped at the manger.
Here is a Madonna worth looking at. ]
wonder not that the frequent nama
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 it diff.
ferentIy, they are all namesakes of the one
whom we find on a bed OF straw, with her
pale face against the soft cheek of Christ in
the night Of the Nativity. All the great
painters have tried on canvas to present
Mary and her child and the incidents Of
that most famous night Of the worlds his
tory. Yet all Of them were copies OF st.
Matthew's 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 under 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 Bethle-
hem barn without going past the camels,
the mulhs, the dogs, the oxen. The brutes
Of that table heard tho first cry OF the in.
FAINT Lolf. Some Of the old painters repre-.
sent the Sren and camels kneeling that night
before the newborn babe. And well might
they kneeil Have you ever thought that
Christ came among other things to alleviate
the sufferings Of the brute creation? Was
it not Appropriate that He should, during the
first few days and nights Of His life on earth,
be surrounded by the dumb beasts?
Not q kennel in all the centuries not a.
birds nest, not a wornout horse on q TOW.
path, nor q herd freezing in the poorly built
COW pen, not q freight car in summer tins
bringing the beeyes to market without water
through g thousand miles Of agony, not a
surgeons room witnessing the struggles OF
fox and rabbit or pigeon or dog in the hor-
rors of vivisettion but has an interest In the
fact that Christ was born In o stable SUI.
rounded by tbrutes. They surely have as
much right in this world as we have. In
the first ch1pter Of Genesis you may see
that they web placed on the earth before
man was, thatish and fowl created the fifth
day, and the 4uadrupeds the morning Of the
sixth Day, as man not until the afternoon
Of that aaySSEhe whale, the eagle, the lion,
andall the lei 9r creatures Of their kind were
predecessors Il4 the human family. They
have the woit BY right Of possession. They
have also pakSSSent for the places they occu-
pied. What & Sarmy Of defense all over the
land are the Il thful ~watchdogs. And who
can tell what IL world owes to the horse and
camel and OK 4r transportation! And robin
and lark have by the cantatas with which
they have fll orchard and forest, more
than paid for the few grains they have
picked up flor Dir s~ustenance.
Standing, til !, as + imagine now I do IN
that Bethlehem hight. with an infant Christ
on the one side Ind the speechless creatures
of God on the her, ] cry look out how you
strike the rowsl into that horses side. lake
of that curbed bit from that bleeding
mouth. Remove that saddle from that raw
back. Shoot not for fun that bird that Is
too small for food Borgstnot to put water
In the cage of that canary. Throw o.
some crumbs to those birds caught too Tar
north in the winters ~inclemency. Arrest
that man who Is making that one horse draw
q load heavy enough for three. Rush In upon
that scene where boys are torturing q cat
of transfxing butterfly and grasshopper.
Drive not OF that old robin, Tor her nest Is o
mothers cradle, and under her wing there
NAV be- three or four musicians or the SKY IN
training. No mofedid Christ show interest
IN the botanical world when he said "Con7
sider the lilies . than he showed sympathy
for the ~ornitholoEiea1 world when de SAID
s.Behold the fowls|of the air" and the quad
rupedalw world when de allowed Himself TO be
called In one place a lion n In another
nlaca q lamb. Meanwhile may the Christ
Of tie Bethlehem cattle pen have mercy on
the suffering ~stockHards that are preparing
meat for our American households.
Behold, also, in this Bible scene, how or
that Christmas night God honored child
| hood. Christ might have made his nrst
visit to our world ina cloud, as Hs VIII de.
a chariot Of illumineilvapor he might have
rolled down the sky escorted by mounted
cavalry, with lighting for drawn sword.
Elijah had a carriage II fire to take Him up;
why not Jesus q cSFiage OF fire to fetch
Him down? Or ovart The archsd bridge OF
a rainbow the Lord n dkht have descended.
OR Christ might, hal$ had His MORTALITY
hnilt m ON earth out d 1the dust Of a garden,
as was Adam, In full r4nhood at the start
without the introducp1fy feebleneS OF In
fancy No. moi Chi hood was to be hon
ored nv that event. 3 tmust have q child:
light limbs, and a chilcs dimpled anf
a chiid's beaming eyes, ind a child's fa1er
hair and babyhood wal 10 be honored Tor al
time to come, and q craiate was to mean NOR
than a crave. Mighty Sdod! May the re
Election Of that one child face be seen ID a.
infantile faces. T.
Enough have all those $thers and mother
on hand If they have g G. Hid in the house. a
throne, a crown, q scept9 q kingdom I'm
der charge. Be careful you strike hin
across the head, jarringi pc brain. VIVA,
you say to him will be Cd 4ennial and mil
lenial, and q hundred yea41Aand q thousand
years will not stop the eel and re-echo: d!
not say, ut is only q chilfHD Rather say, u
Is only an immortal" It Monty q master
piece of Jehovah.
It was q child in Eaacc Is kitchen tna
told the great Syrian Vi rior where b
might go and get cured OF leprosY, whlct
at his seventh plunge in thu Jordan was lei
at the bottom OF the river, It was to th
cradle of leaves. in which a hid was laid
rocked by the Nile, that Col called the at
tention Of history. It was fck child tina
evoked Christ's curative sy1 athies. 1t wa
a child that Christ set in tH midst Of tn
sauabbling disciples to teacd4 he lesson o
humility. We ara informed at wolf ano
leopard and lion shall be yet domesticate
that a little child shall lead n. A CALL
decided Waterloo, showin the arm.
OF Butcher how they fould tax
a short cut through he fields
when, if the old road had bee ollowed, tn
Prussian general would havs pine up to-
late to save the destiniss OF 3 ope. AM
today the child is to decide the grsa
battles. make all the laws, sett all the des
TIMES and usher in the worlds walton O
destruction. Men, women, mai ps, all cart
and ALI heaven. behold the chill Is ther
any velvet 80 soft as a child's ci K? Is ther
any sky so blue as a child's eye? there an,
music so sweet as the childs vol Is Their
any plume 50 wavy as a child's r?
Notice also that in this Bible ght seen