The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-10-06
CHRISTS ANNIVERSARY.
Dr. Talmage Advises a Great
Christian Celebration
zze Proposes That the Nineteen Hundredth
Anniversary of the Birth of Christ
Be a Great Celebration by the
Christian World

enee, the subject being 1.-The Nineteen
E1ndredth Anniversary; Proposition
<1acerning it." The text was taken
fuau Isaiah tx 6: ITO US child is
bGru-" He said:
That is tremendous hour in the his
zEY of any family when an immortal
Spzrit is incarnated. Out of a very
4assrz cloud there descends a very
.SEiEht morning. One life spared and
=zna1her given. All the bells of glad
1esx ring over the cradle. i know not
vEizy any one should doubt that of
cid = star pointed down to the Saviour's
d7rthplace, for a star of joy points
d1wn to every honorable nativity. A
-<ew eternity dates from that
ES1rr, that minute. Beautiful and ap-
9r0priate is the custom of celebrating
&ae anniversary of such an event, and
<cti.ax on into the eighties and the nine
esES the recurrence of that day of the
yez< In an old mans life causes recog-
aifIon and more or less congratulation.
Ss1, also, nations are accustomed to
<2ctEbCate the anniversary of their birth
and the anniversary of the birth of
Sheir great heroes or deliverers or ben
<.GzrEors The 22d of February and the
eth of July are never allowed to
yss.Es IN our land without banquet and
-rzEien and bell ringing and cannon
=aEzs- But al other birthday anniver-
szzr5Ss are tame compared with the
Christmas festivity, which celebrates
tH- birthday described in my text
Erutestant and Catholic and Greek
churches, with all the power of music
znd garland and procession and dox-
oiaEy, put the words of my text
nrE7 national and continental and
hemisphere chorus: ITO us child is
Bora" On the 25th of December each
yezz that is the theme in St Pauls and
81. Peters and St Marks and St
ISac's and all the dedicated cathe-
<izzks. chapels meeting-houses and
-cEzurches clear round the world. We
zS11I soon reach the nineteen hum
s1res5th anniversary of that happiest
-e1.zt of all time. This century is dy-
Eng- The death of one century and
tho birth of another century will be
Sublime and suggestive and stupendous
beyond all estimate. To stand by the
E-xVe of one century and by the cradle
OF another will be an opportunity such
as whole generations of the worlds in
hzbitants never experienced l pray
God that there may be no sickness or
casualty to hinder your arrival at that
goal, or TO hinder your taking
paxt in the valedictory of the de-
parting century and the salutation of
the new. But as that season will be
size nineteenth anniversary of the
-saEiour's birth, l now nominate that
Eucat international jubilee or exposi
S1n be opened in this cluster of cities
<sv the sea coast on Christmas day, the
sch of December, 1900, to be continued
tux at least one month into the year
IsQ1- This century, closing December
III, 1000, and the new century, begin
niGg January 1, 1901, will it not be
time for all nations to turn aside for a
few weeks or months from everything
else and emphasize the birth of the
greatest being who ever touched our
pkznet; and could there be more ap-
propriate time for such commemora-
ton than this elimination of the CEN
-fnries which are dated from his nativ-
iGy9 You know that all history dates
either from before Christ, or after
Ca-ist, from B. c. or A ID. 1t will be
the year of our Lord, 1900, passing into
tire year 1901.
1lhs three or four questions that
ss0uli be asked me concerning this
destination of time and place, proceed
In answer. What practical use would
- L L. LII,
Answer: The biggest stride the world
oyer took toward the evangelization of
all cations That is grand and won
efeTfzl convocation, the religious con-
;gress at Chicago. 1t will put intelli-
;gesSly before the world the nature of
false religions which have been brutal
xsz4g the nations, trampling woman
Es1rsd into the dust, enacting the hor-
Ez<z of infanticide, kindling funeral
zy-es for shrieking victims, and rolling
iuF-gernauts across the mangled bodies
az their worshipers But no one sup
Pos=s that any one will be converted to
Christ by hearing Confucianism or
Bz5dhism, or any form of heathenism,
-enxygized. That is to be done afterward.
Ard how can it so well be done as by a
celebration of many weeks of the birth
and character and achievements of the
ux0ndrous and unprecedented Christ?
Ec such an exposition the kings and
queens of the earth would not send
<z5rI- representatives; they would come
themselves The story of Saviour
szEtre1t could not be told without telling
the story of his mission All the world
-wCzid say: why this ado, this uuiver-
al demonstration" What vivid pre-
sanitation it would be, when at such a
cnuvocation, the physicians of the
Szzzrld should tell what Christ had done
Eoc hospitals and the assuagement OF
Ezzzsn pain, and when Christian law
yezrs declare what Christ has done for
seEr establishment of good laws, and
CHRISTIAN conquerors should tell what
Christ had done in the conquest OF
sSz&ions, and Christian rulers of the
9srEh would tell what Christ had done
In the government of earthly domin-
k1zs- Thirty days of such celebration
Eeuld do more to tell the world who
Ehist is than any thirty years. Not a
Ez1d on earth but would hear of it and
3lscEss it Not an eye so dimmed by
the superstition of ages but would see
the illumination.
The difference of Christ's religion
from all others is that its one way OF
dissemination is by simple telling.
not argument, not skillful exegesis,
Y1oiemics or the science of theological
-ssstzcuffs, but telling" Tell We the
.dazghter of Zion, Behold, thy King
<rneth." go quickly and tell Hi:
Disciples that He has risen from the
dead" $50 home to thy friends and