Milford chronicle., 1893-12-29


Great Redeemer-Herald of the Dawn o
SIillenniaI GIory-An Eye on the Morn
ing star.
Brooklyn, Dec. 24-In the Brooklyn
Tabernacle today a great audience assem-
bled to participate in the Christmas serv
ices. Standing before the organ. festooneC
with Christmas greens, this sermon wa,
delivered by Rev DR.. Talmage after the
throngs had sung, THE Star of Bethle
hem" Text, Revelations xxi, 16. Il an
the bright and the morning star"
This is Christmas eve. Our attention
and the attention of the world is drawn tC
the star that pointed down to the caravan
sary where Christ was born. But do not
let US forget that Christ himself was a star
To that luminous fact my text calls MS.
It seems as if the natural world were
anxious to make up for the damage it did
our race in furnishing the forbidden fruit
If that fruit wrought death among the ma
tions, now all the natural products shall
become a symbol of blessing. The shower
ing down of the wealth of the orchard will
make us think Of him whom Solomon de
scribes as the apple tree among the trees OF
the wood, and the flowers Of tangled glen
and cultured parterre shall be the dew
glinted garland for the brow Of the Lord
Jesus. Yea, even the night shall be taxed,
and its brightest star shall be set as gem
in the cOrOnet of our holy religion.
THE MORNING STAR.
Have you ever seen the morning star ad-
vantageously2 If it was on your way home
from a nights carousal, you saw none Of
its beauty. If you merely turned over on
your pillow in the darkness, glancing out
of the window, you know nothing about
the cheerful influence of that star. But
there are many in this house tonight who
in great passes of their life, some of them
far out at sea, have gazed at that star and
been thrilled through with indescribable
gladness. That star comes trembling as
though with the perils of the darkness
and yet bright with the anticipation of the
day. It seems emotional with all tender
ness, its eyes filled with the tears Of many
sorrows. 1t is the gem on the hand of the
morning thrust up to signal its coming.
Other stars are dim, like holy candles in
a cathedral, or silver beads counted in su-
perstitious litany, but this is a living star,
a speaking star, a historic star, an evan
gelistic star-bright and brilliant and tri-
umphant symbol Of the great Redeemer.
The telegTaphic operator puts his finger on
the silver key of the electric instrument
and the tidings fly across the continent,
and so it seems to me that the finger of in
spiration is placed upon this silver point
in the heavens, and it thrills through all
the earth: Behold, ! bring you good It'd
ings of great joy, which shall be to all peo-
pie. Behold, l am the bright and morning
star" The meaning Of my text is this: Ae,
the morning star precedes and promises0 81
6 = IL 81
ural and spiritual dawn.
In the first place, Christ heralded the
coming of the creation. There was a time
when there was no order, no sound of beau
ty. No wing stirred No word was ut
tered. No light sped. As far as God could
look up, as far down, as far out, there was
nothing. Unreasonable solitude. Height
and depth and length and breadth of moth
ingness, Did Christ then exist? Oh, yes.
by him were all things made that are
made-things in heaven and things in earth,
and things under the earth"
Yes, he antedated the creation. He led
forth ArctuIus and his sons He shone be-
fore the first morning His voice was heard
in the concert when the morning stars SER
enaded the advent of our infant earth,
when, wrapped in swaddling clothes of
light, it lay in the arms of the great Je-
hOvah. He saw the first fountain laid. He
saw the first light kindled That hand
which was afterward crushed upon the
cross was thrust into chaos, and it brought
out one world and swung it in that orbit;
and brought another world and swung it
In another orbit, and brought out all the
worlds and swung them in their particular
orbits. They came like sheep at the call Of
a shepherd. They knew his voice, and he
called them all by their names.
Oh, it is an interesting thought to me to
know that Christ had something to do with
the creation. l see now why it was so easy !
for him to change water into wine; he first |
created the water. see now why it was |
so easy for him to cure the mania; he first |
created the intellect. l see now why it was |
so easy for him to hush the tempest; he |
sank Gennesaret. see now why it was so |
easy for him to swing fish into SimOn's net; |
he made the fish. see now why it was so |
easy for him to give sight to the blind man; |
be created the optic nerve.
l see now why it was so easy for him to |
raise Lazarus from the dead; he created the |
body of Lazarus and the rock that shut |
him in. Some suppose that Christ came a
to Bethlehem. Oh, no. He Gre
ated the shepherds, and the hocks they
and the hills on which they pas
sured, and the heavens that Overarched their
heads, and the angels that chanted the
chorus on that Christmas night. That
hand which was afterward nailed to the
cross was an omnipotent and creative
land, and the whole universe was poised
IN the tip of one of his fingers. Before the
world was, Christ was All the worlds
,ame trooping up out of the darkness, and
ne greeted them, as father greets his chill
iren, with Good morning." or Good
hight" Hail, Lord Jesus, morning star Of
he first creationl
COMFORT FOR CHRISTIANS.
Again, Christ heralds the dawn of COM