The Penn's Grove record., 1895-12-27
REV. DR.. TaLuaGE.
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject: "rhe ChristmastIde.''

Al Midnight from n OF the galleries oil
the SKY a chant broke. To an ordinary OBJ
server there was no reason for such a celes-
tial demonstration. A poor man and wife
travellers. Joseph and Mary by name-had
lodged in an clubhouse of an u~nimportant
village. The supreme hour Of solemnity had
passed, and upon the pallid forehead and
cheek of Mary. God had set the dignity, the
grandeur, the tenderness, the everlasting and
divine significance Of motherhood.
But such scenes had often occurredin Beth.
lahem, yet never before had q star been un.
fixed or had a baton Of light marshaled over
the hills winged orchestra Hthere had been
such brilliant and mighty recognition at au
advent in the house Of Pharaoh. or ut an ad.
vent in the house of Cesar, or the house Of
Hapsburg, or the house OF Stuart, we would
not 80 much lave wondered; but a barn
seems too poor a center for such delicate and
a~rchangelic circumference Tit stage seems
too small for so great an act, the music toe
grand for such unappreciative auditors, the
window of the stable too rude to be serenaded
by other worlds.
1t is my joy TO tell you what was born that
night in the village barn, and as / want to
make my discourse cumulative and cllmac-
teric l begin in the first place by telling you
that that night in the Bethlehem manger was
born encouragement for all the poorly start.
ed. He hat only two friends-they His par
ents. No satin lined cradle. no delicate at
tentions, but straw and the cattle and the
coarse joke and banter of the camel drivers.
No wonder the medieval painters represent
the oxen as kneeling before the infant Jesus,
for there were no men there at that time to
worship. From the depths of thst poverty
He rose until to-iay He is honored In all
Christen ION an | sits on the imperial throne
In heaven.
What name Is mightiest to-day in Chris.
tendon? Jesus. Who has more friends on
earth than any other being? Jesus. Before
whom do this most thousands kneel In
chapel and church and cathedral at this
hour? Jesus. From what depths OF poverty
to what height OF renowni And so let all those
who are poorly started remember that they
annot be more poorly born or more disad-
~vantageously thar this Christ. Let then
lookup to His example while they have ims
and eternity to initiate 1t.
Do you know that the vast majority OF the
worlds deliyerers had barnlike ~birthplacesi
Luther the emancipation of religion, born
among the mines. Shakespeare, the eman-
oipator of literature, born In a humble home
at Standardization. Columbus, the dis
coverer of a world, born in.povertya at Genoa.
Hogarth, the discoverer Of how to make art
accumulative and administrative of virtue,
born in a humbl, home in Westmoreland.
Kitto n Prideaux, whose keys unlocked
new apartments in the holy Scriptures which
had never been entered. born In want. Yes
/ have to tell you that nine out OF ten of the
worlds deliverers were born In want.
l stir your holy ambitions to-day, and /
want to tell you, although the whole world
may be opposed to you, and inside and out
side of our occupations or professions
there may be those who would hinder your
ascent. on your side aud enlisted In your be.
half are the sympathetic hcart aud the
almighty arm of n who le Christmas
Sf,h. ,hn,xk \ or ~ ~ aakAaina l.
swaddilng clothes and laid in a manager. oh,
what magnificent encouragement for thu
poorly started
Again, l have to tell you that in that vii
lage barn that night was born good will to
men, whether you call 1t kindness or fore
bearanee or forgiveness or genialty or affec.
tion or love. II was no sport of high heaven
to sen Its favorite to that humiliation. II
was sacrifice for a rebellious world. After
the calamity In Paradise not only did the OK
begin to gore, and the adder to sting, and
the elephant to smite with his tusk, and the
lion to put to bad use tooth and paw, but
under the very tree from which the forbid
den fruit was plucked were Matched out war
and revenge and malice and envy and zeal.
ousy and the whole brood OF eockatrices.
But against that scene / set the Bethlehem
Manager, which says, "Bless rather than
curse, endure rather than assault" and that
Christmas night puts out vindictiveness. II
says, 'Sheathe your sword. dismount youi
guns, dismantle your batteries, turn the
warship Constellation that carries shot and
shell into a grainship to tax food to fam.
ishing Ireland, hook your cavalry horse TO
the pillow, use your deadly gun-powder In
blasting rocks and In patriotic celebration,
stop your lawsuits, quit writing ANONYMOUS
letters, extract the sting from your sarcasm,
let your wit coruscate but never burn, drop
all the harsh words out OF your vocabulary
Good will to men,"
"Oh," you say. ~ can't exercise 1t; I wonr
exercise II until they apologize; l won't for.
give them until they ask ms to forgive
them" You are no Christian then-I say
you are nc Christian, or you are a very in
consistent Christian. II you forgive not
men their trespasses. how can you expect
your heavenly Father to forgive you2 For.
give them IL they ask your forgiveness and
forgive them any how. Shake hands ali
around. "Good will to men,"
o my Lord Jesus, drop that spirit into al
our hearts this Christmas time. I tell you
what the world wants more than anything
else more helping hands, more sympathetic
hearts, more kind words that never die, more
disposition TO give other people a ride, and
to carry the heavy end Of the load and give
other people the light end, and to aseribe
good motives instead Of bad, and to find ouI
happiness in making others happy.
Out Of that Bethlehem crib let Che bear and
the lion eat straw Tx the OF. ''Good will
to men," That principle will yet settle all
controversies, and under 1t the world will
keep on improving until there will be only
two antagonists In all the earth, and they
will side by side take the jubilant sleigh ride
infimated by the prophet when he said,
''Holiness shall be on the bells ofthe horses u
Again, / remark that born hat Christmas
night In the village barn was sympathetic
i Ia rrN-lAa T.1.n 49,
natural grouping Of the cloud banks over
Bethlehem, and from the special trains that
ran dow to the scene / and that our world
Is BEAUTIFULLY and ~gloriously and magnih-
Gently surrounded. The meteors are with
us, for one Of them ran to point down to
the birthplace. The heavens are with us,
because at the thought Of our redemption
they roll hosannas out OF the midnight sky.
Oh, yes, l do not know but our world may
be better surrounded than we have some.
times imagined, and when a child is born,
angels bring 1t, and when II dies, an Il
take 1t, aud when an old man bends u
the weight Of years, angels uphold -. and
when a heart breaks, angels soothe il. Angels
In the hospital to take care of the sick.
Angels in t's cemetery TO watch our dead.
Angels in church ready to fly heaven
ward with the news OF repentant souls.
Angels above the world. Angels under the
world. Angels all around the world.
Rub the dust Of human imperfeetions out
OF your eyes, and look into the heavens and
see angels Of pity, angels OF mercy, angels OF
pardon, angels OF help, angels crowned,
angels charioted. The world defended by
angels. girdled by angels. cohorted by angels
clouds of sp~ Hear David cry out;
"Tbe chsr God are 10000. Even
thouss GELS" But the mighttesi
mat night in the clouds over
ne mighiiest angel that night
the cattle-the angel Of the new
at.
the clean white linen was being
. raped around the little form of that child
emperor, not a cherub. not a seraph, not an
angel, not u world but wept and thrilled and
shouted. Oh, yes, our world has plenty OF
sympathizers! Our world Is only a silver
rung OF a great ladder at the top of which is
our Fathers house. No more stellar %solitari-
ness FOR our world, no other friendless plan
els spun out into space to freeze, but a world
In the bosom OF divine maternity. A stu
harnessed to a rnanger.
Again, I remark that that night born In
thai village barn was the offenders hope,
Some sermonizers may say I ought to have
projected this thought at the beginning Of
the sermon. Oh, mol / wanted you TO rise
toward 1t. I wanted you TO examine the car
nelians and the isspsrs and the crystsls be;
1000 -