The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1893-01-06
A HOLY DAY.
An Interesting Sermon Appropriate to
the Holiday Season.
Christmas Commemorates the Birth Of
the Greatest Being That Ever Walked
the Earth-Dr. TalInRgo's
Discourse.

The text selected by DR.. Talmage
Sunday was Colossians IL, 16: "In re-
spect Of a holy day"
What the Bible here and elsewhere
calls a holy day we. by change of one
letter and change of pronunciation, call
holiday. But by change of spelling and
accentuation we can not change the
fact that holidays have great signih-
canoe AS long as the world stands
Christmas day and New Years day and
Easter day will be charged and sur
charged with solemn suggestiveness
and holy mirth- Whether you take the
old style of my text and call them holy
days, or the modern style and call them
holidays, they somehow set all my
nerves a-tingle and my deeper emotions
into profoundest agitation. i am glad
that this season we have holidays COM
pletely bounded
For years Christmas day, starting in
the midst of one week, and New Years
day, starting in the midst of another
week, we have been perplexed to know
when the holidays began and when
they ended, and perhaps we may have
begun them too soon or continued them
too long. But this year they are
bounded by two beaches of gold-Sab-
bath, December IS, 1892. and Sabbath,
January 1, 1898. The one Sabbath this
year commentaries the birth of the
greatest being that ever walked the
earth; tho other celebrates the birth
of that which is to be one of the great
est years of all time, the one day super
natural because of an unhinged star
and angelic doxology, and the other
day natural, but part of procession
that started with the worlds existence
and viii go on until the world is
burned up; both the first and the last
days of these holidays coming In with
Sabbatical splendor and solemnity, and
girdling all the days between with
thoughts that have all time aud all
eternity in their emphasis How shall
we spend them? At haphazard and
without special direction, and they
leaving, as they go away from us,
physical fatigue and mental ex-
haustion, the effect OF late hours and
recklessness of diet, adding another
chapter to the moral and spiritual and
eternal disasters which have resulted
stout and resounding no! for al the
eight days.
1 propose that we divide this holiday
season, the two Sabbaths of the holt
day and the six days between, into
three chapters-the first part chapter
of illustrious birthday; the second part
chapter of annual decadence; the
third part a chapter of the chronology
ical introduction.
First then, a chapter Of illustrious
birthday. Not n day of any year but
has been marked by the nativity of
some good or great soul. Among dis
coverers the birthday of Humboldt was
September IA, and of David Livingston,
March 10. Among astronomers the
birthday of Isaac Newton was Deem
Der 25, and OF Herschel, November IT.
Among orators the birthday of Cicero
was January 5, and of Chrysostom,
January II. Among prison reformers
the birthday of John Howard was Sep
TENDER 3, and of Elizabeth Fry, May 1.
Among painters the birthday of Raphael
was March %, and of Michael Angelo,
March 8.
Among statesmen the birthday of
Washington was February %; of Ham
ilton, May s, and of jefferson, April 2
Among consecrated souls the birthday
of Mrs. Hemans was September IS; of
Lucretia Mott, January 8, and of Isa-
bella Graham, July 20. But what are
all those birthdays compared with De-
| cember %, for on or about that day was
born one who eclipsed all the great
names of all the centuries-Jesus of
Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus of
| Golgotha, Jesus of Olivet, Jesus Of the
Heavenly throne
The greatest pictures have been made
about scenes in his lifetime. The great
est sacrifices on field of battle or in hos
pital or on long march or in martyrdom
have been inspired by his self abnega-
| ton. The finest words OF eloquence
ever spoken have been uttered in the
proclamation of His Gospel The grand
est oratorios that have ever rolled from
orchestras were descriptive of his life
and death. There have been other ora
tors, but none like Him who ''spake as
never man spake" There have been
other reformers, but none like Him who
will not have completed His mission
until the last prison Is ventilated, and
the last blind eye opened. and the last
deaf ear unstopped, and the last lame
foot bounds like a roe, and the last
case of dementia shall come to its right
mind.
There have been other discoveries,
but none like Him, able to find bowman
may be just with God. There have
been other deliverers, but none like
Him, the rescuer of nations There
have been other painters, but none like
Him who put the image of God on lost
soul. No wonder we celebrate His
birth-Protestant church, Catholic
church, Greek church, st. lsaac's of St
Petersburg, St. Peters at Rome, the
Madeline at Paris, ST. Paurs in London,
joining all our American cathedrals and
churches and log cabin meeting houses
and homes in keeping this pre-eminent
birth festival.
Elaborate and prolonged efforts have
been made to show that the star that
pointed to the Manager in which Christ
was born was not what it appeared to
be, but conjunction of Jupiter and
Saturn. Our wise men of the west say
that the wise men Of the east were mis-
taken. Astronomers, you know, can
calculate backward as we'll as forward,
and as they can tell what will occur a
hundred years from now among the
heavenly bodies, SO they can accurately
calculate backward and tell what oc-
CURED eighteen or nineteen hundred
years ago. And it is true that before
Christ in Chaldea, about three hours
before day dawn, there was conjunc-
tion of Jupiter and Saturn.
Standing in Jerusalem and looking