Smyrna times., 1893-12-27
THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST
A CHRISTMAS SERMON BY REV. G. w,
DAME, PREACHED IN ST. PETERS
CHURCH.
God with us"-St. Matt / %


DAME, PREACHED IN ST. PETERS
CHURCH.
"God with s."-St. Matt. l, %.
Yes, God is with US here to-day in
helpless childhood and we come to
this, His temple, on this Christmas
morn, to look, not now with Joy iutO a
chill but empty Sepulchre, nor yet with
grief up to "a tortured Christ, but with
fresh gladness at manger where the
Virgin Mother holds her own and our
Emmanuel. 1t is a sweet story, this
that she has to tell to those assembled
there in that lowly cave-tO Joseph,
the Shepherds and the wise men from
the East; story strange indeed to all,
but stranger still to men, themselves
impure, untrue; for when it falls on
ears of menSof this dark mental mould
they try to turn it into blasphemy.
An angel came to her from God while
yet she lived in Nazareth, aud these
words fell from his light-touched lips {:
Hail, highly favored, thou shalt bear
son and call him Jesus" A story
passing wonderful; it sounded like a
snOw-pure legend which has drifted to
US from the golden days of man. But
not incredible.
There's testimony apart from hers
for those dark souls disposed to doubt.
Joseph, shaken himself at first, be-
liCVed her simple tale. He Was her
kinsman and had known her from a
Il child. Besides, he too had had IA Wis.
ion from the Lord; while troubled
about the matter, an angel came to
him and spoke the self-same words /:
''She shall bring forth a son and thou
shalt call his name Jesus"
And from this time thro' all the com. .
ing years in which he lived in Naza-
reth he took this infant for his son and
God. And those two simple peasants /!
could they, deceived themselves, de-
ceiVe u world about this Holy One with
scheme SO deep that untold critics who
have lived since then, us-eyed in all
things else, should not have fathomed
this Que fraud, had it been but vision
of those peasant minds? Not so. I'm
possible on its face is such wild sus.
piciOn. Besides, we have their testi-
mOny corrObOrated. Shepherds come
to this dark cave and tell a tale as
wonderful as theirs. An angel spake
to them in cabalistic words: ito YOU is
born this day a Saviour who is Christ
the Lord and straight they haste to
Jesus in the manger, and certain it was
he of whom the angels sang; they went
back to their sheep, glOrifying and
praising God. Let US pile old Ossa
upon PeliOn and tell how Magi came
from far TO find a prince, and when
they saw this infant, fell upon their
faces to the earth aud worshinped
Him. Gould evidence be fuller !:
would any jury fail to say; "Thy
dream is proven true. We place thy
story, Virgin, OF the Immaculate Con.
oeption, among the stars of truth which
shine down upon a sinful world. ,"
Then God is really with US in human
form. But let US state the case. In
Jesus being born into the world, the
Lord OF heaven aud earth blended our
nature with His own; he took our
manhood into Ged and set our God,
like vast kOhinOoT, into humanity.
That little infant then, on whom we
look to-day, fresh as drop Of glory
from the sky above, Is the bright aud
morning star of the ApOcalyptio vision,
frame the first and only perfect man
besides, as though 1t were OF adaman.
tine rock, it holds the fire of the beat
lhc light which until now burned only
IN the circle Of the eifulRent splendor
in the throne of God. We call this the
doctrine of the Incarnation.
THE scErTIC ANSWERED.
Is hn = I -,
the lmpOssbility of SO great q miracle
lie would no doubt like to do So but he
cannot consistently do it when he accepts
phenomena in the physical world equally
as startling and capable of less clear expls-
nation. The immaculate Christ the
incarnation, are no more difficult for the
mind to grasp than the revolution of the
earth every day; we accept the one on
the testimony of the astronomer, in spite of
the fact that our senses assure us that the
earth Is standing still we must accept the
other upon the testimony of as reputable
witnesses, especially when that testimony
IS cOrroborated by the universal expecta-
ton on the part of the nations of the world
that one day in their history thore would
be union of the divine and the human in
one man. Let US look at this expectation.
The restless desire after manifestation
OF God in the flesh belongs, | say, to Nil
well as to ancient Egypt. The numberless
metamOrphoses of Grecian mythology, the
1ncarnations of BrRhma, the avatars of
Nlshnu, the human form of Krisha, the
election and worship of the Lama of Thibet
or the wilder worship Ofthe abOrigines of
America, all show us that the idea of an
incarnation was by no means an unfamiliar
thought to the human race. But not for
moment will we venture to compare these
heather dreams, grown into myths. with
the one, only historical incarnation of God
IN Chrlst. Ours is incompatible not only
because II is historically true but because
1t Is the most sublime of all manifestations
OF human genius, of which the mind has
conceived. Men of great talent arc con-
tinually making new, fresh manifestations
IN the world of art or nature or philosophy |
put all such are eclipsed by the wOrld-en- |
elrcling splendor of the incarnation of the |
Son of God. The creations of Raphael. |
an Angelo, Newton, sparkle with bright |
ness. The visible poetic fire which burned |
IN Homer or or a Milton was wonderful |
indeed: Material nature has shown in |
splendid proportions too, in the temple of |
Diana, the temple Of Jerusalem, the mag |
nliicence of Babylon and Persia, of Greece.
oi Rome, to say nothing of later nations. |
denius mas manifested herself in stature
and painting.
But they are nothing in comparison with
hat fact of facts that climax Of originality:
And she brought forth her frst-born son
md wrapped him in swaddling clothes and
aid him in a manger beause there was no
'oom for them in the inn." This was the
srandest Of all because it was a manifesta-
ion of infinite wisdom, Of divine commas
ION, OF the righteousness of God in the
aviation of the lost, of the moral glory of
he sodhead Of mercy to meet the helpless
less OF human misery. And as it IS the
'randest so will it outlive all those lesser
'lories ofthe world. The temples, the stat
res OF Phidias, the pictures Of Angelo. the
u6llme etfusions Of historian, Of poet, are
estined one day to pass away. Experi-
nee even now teaches us the sad lesson
hat the most stupendous facts of history
re growing misty with ages; and all things
human origin are floating down the
'ream OF time, and will by and by be car
ca INTO the great ocean beyond, and be 1
,St to human sight. But the fact that {
Inc Word was made flesh and dwelt