Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-09-29

Ign tabernacle this forenoon, Rev. DR..
Talmage preached a sermon OF unusual in
terest 10 a vast audience, the subject being
THE Nineteen Hundredth Anniversary; A
Proposition Concerning It." The text was
taken from Isaiah go; ITO us a child is
born"
That is a tremendous hour in the
history of any family when an inn
mortal spirit is incarnated. Out of
very dark clouo there descends a very
bright morning. One life spared and
another given. All the bells of glad
ness ring over the cradle. | know not
why any one should doubt that of old
star pointed down to the Savior's
birthplace, for a star of Joy points
down to every honorable nativity. A
new eternity dates from that hour,
shat minute. Beautiful and appro-
pirate is the custom of celebrat ng
the anniversary of such a - event. and
clear on in the eighties and the
nineties, the recurrence of that day
of the year in an old mans life causes
recognition and more or less congratu-
lation. So, also, nations are accus-
toned to celebrate the anniversary of
their birth and the anniversary of the
birth of their great heroes or deliverers
or ben factors. The 22d of February and
the Fourth of July are never allowed
to pass in our land without banquet
and grafton and bell ringing and can
nonade. But all other birthday ami
versaries are tame compared with the
Christ mas festivity, which celebrates
the birthday described in my text
Protestant and Catholic and Greek
churches, with all the power of music
and garland and procession and doX-
ologv, put the words of my text into
national and continental and hemi-
spheric chorus: ITO us a child is
born" On the 25th of December each
year that is he theme in st. Pauls
and st. Peters and st. Marks and St.
Isaac's and The dedicated cathedrals,
chapels, meeting houses and churches
clear round the world. We shall soon
reach the nineteen hundredth ami
versarv of that happest event of
time. This century is dying. Only seven
more pulsations and its heart will cease
to beat The fingers of many of
you w ii write at the head of your let
tiers and the foot of your important
do uments, 1880" 1t will be phys
ical and moral sensation unlike any,
thing else yoi have before expert
enced. Not one hand that wrote
";sO1" at the induction of this century
wi ! hsve cunning left to write ''l90l''
at the induction of another The
death of one century and the birth of
another century will be sublime and
suggestive and stupendous beyond all
estimate. To stand by the grave of
one century and by the cradle of
another will be an opportunity such
as whole generations of The worlds
Inhabitants never experience. / pray
God thai there may be no sickness or
casualty 20 hinder your arrival at that
goal, or to hinder your taking part in
the valedictory of the departing CEN
fury and the sa utation of the new
But as that season will be the
nineteenth hundredth anniversary
of Savior's birth, now
nominate that great inter
ma ional jubilee or exposition be
opened in this cluster of cities by the
sea coast on Christmas Day the 25th
of Deem Der, 100, to be continued for
at least one month into the year 1901.
This century closing Dec 81, 1900, and
the new century beginning Jan. /,
1901, will it not be time for all nations
to turn aside for few weeks or
months from everything else and en-
phasiZe the birth of the greatest being
who ever touched our planet, and
could there be more appropriate time
for such commemoration than this Gull
minat on OF the centul les which a e
dated from his nativity. You know
that all history dates ither from be-
fore Christ or after Christ. from b c.
or a. d. 1t will be the year of our Led
1000, passing into the year 1901. We
have had the Centennial at Philadel-
phia, celebrative of the one hundredth
annivers airy of our nations birth. We
have hand the magnificent expositions at
~ n..I 4 Al
and st. Louis. We have the present
Worlds Exposition at Chicago, cele-
brative OF the four hundredth ami
versary of this continents emergence.
and there are at least two other great
celebrations promised for this country,
and other countries will have their
historic events to com memorate, but
the one event that has most to do with
the welfare of all nations is the arrival
OF Jesus Christ on this planet, and all
she enthus asm ever witnessed in Lon
don or Vienna or Paris or any of our
American cities would be eclipsed by
the enthusiasm that would celebrate
the ransom of all ltions, the first
steps towards the accomplishing of it
being taken by an infantile foot one
winters night, about five miles from
Jerusalem, when the clouds dropped
the auEcllC hlOTy 10 OOu IN
the highest and on earth, peace, good
will to men"
The three or four questions that
would be asked me concel ming this
nomination of time and place proceed
to answer What practical use would
come fsuch in ternational cele bration?
Answer: The biggest stride the world
ever took toward the evangelization of
all nations. hat is. a grand and
wonderful convocation, the religious
congress at Chicago 1t will put i'm
telligeutly before the world the nature
of false religions which have been
brutalizing the nations, trampling
womanhood into the dust, enacting
the horr RS of infanticIde, kin ling
funeral pyres for shrieking victims,
and rolling juggernauts across the
mangled bodies of their worshipers
But no one supposes that any one
will be converted TO Chri I by
hearing Confucianism or Budd-
hism or any form of heath
enism eulogized. That is TO b. ne
afterward. And how can IL so well be
done as by n celebration of many
weeks of the birth and character and