The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-12-25

to carry the heay end of the load and
give other people the light end, and to
ascribe good motives instead of bad,
and to find our happiness in making
others happy.
Out of that Bethlehem crib let the
bear and the lion eat straw like an OK.
"Good will to men" That principle
will yet settle all controversies, and
under it the world will keep on i'm
proving until there will be only two
antagonistists in all the earth, and
they will side by side take the jubilant
sleigh ride intimated by the prophet
when he said, Holiness shall be on
the bells of the horses"
Again, remark that born that
Christmas night in the village barn
was sympathetic union with other
worlds. From that supernatural
grouping of the cloud banks over
Bethlehem, and from the especial
trains that ran down to the scene, 1
find that our world is beautifully and
gloriously and magnifcently sur
rounded. 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 re-
demption they roll hosannas out of the
midnight sky.
Oh, yes, do not know but that our
world may be better surrounded than
we have sometimes imagined and
when child is born angels bring it,
and when it dies angels take it, and
when an old man bends under the
weight of yeers angels uphold him,
and when heart breaks angels soothe
it. Angels in the hospital take care of
the sick. Angels in the cemetery to
watch our dead. Angels in the church
ready to fly heavenward with the news
of repentant souls. Angels above the
world. Angels under the world. An.
gels all around the world.
Rub the dust of human imperfection
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, gir-
died by angels, cohorted by angels
clouds of angels. Hear David cry out:
THE chariots of God are 10000, even
thousands'of angels. But the mightiest
angel stood not that night in the
clouds over Bethlehem; the mightiest
angel that night lay among the cattle
the angel of the new covenant.
AS the clean white linen was being
wrapped around the little form of that
child emperor, not cherub, not
seraph, not an angel, not a world but
wept and thrilled and shouted. Oh,
yes, our world has plenty of sympa-
thizers! Our world is only silver
rung of great ladder at the top of
which is our Fathers house. No mere
stellar solitariness for our world, no.
other friendless planets spun out into
space to freeze, but world in the
bosom of Divine maternity, star har-:
messed to manger
Again, l remark that that night born
| in that village barn was the Offenders
hope. Some sermoniZers may say l
aught to have projected this thought,
at the beginning of the sermon. Oh,
no, wanted you to rise toward it. 1.
! wanted you to examine the comedians,
and the jaspers, and the crystals, be-
fore l showed you the Kohinoor-the'
crown jewel of the ages. Oh, that
jewel had a very poor setting The
cub of bear is born amid the grand old
pillars of the forest, the whelp OF lion
takes its first step from the jungle of
luxuriant leaf and wild flower, the kid
of goat is born in cavern chandeliered
with stalactite and pillared with stall
agmite. Christ was born in a bare
barn.
Yet that nativity was the offenders
hope. Over the door of Heaven are
written these words: None but the
sinless may enter here" ''Oh, horror"
you say, that shuts us all out" No.
Christ came to the world in one door
and He departed through another door.
He came through the door of the man
ger, and He departed through the door
of the sepulcher, and His business was
| to wash away our sin that after we are
dead there will be no more sin abont
us than about the eternal God. / know
that is putting it strongly but that is
what l understand by full remission.
All erased, all washed away, all
secured out, all gone. That under
girding and overarching and irradiat-
ing and imparadising possibility for
you, and for me, and for the whole
race-that was given that Christmas
night.
Do you wonder we bring flowers to-
day to celebrate such an event? Do
you wonder that we take organ and
youthful voice and queenly soloist to
celebrate it? Do you wonder that
Raphael and Rubens and Titan and
Giotto and Ghirlandajo, and all the old
Italian and German painters gave the
mightiest stroke of their genius to
sketch the Madonna, Mary and her
boy?
Oh! now see what the manger was
Not so high the gilded and jeweled
and embroidered cradle of the Henrys
of England, or the Louis of France, or
the Fredericks of Prussia. Now |
find out that that Bethlehem crib
fed not SO much the oxen of the
stall as the white horses of Apocalyp-
tic vision. Now 1 find the swal-
ding clothes enlarging and cmblazon-
ing into an imperial robe for con-
queror. Now find that the star of
that Christmas night was only the
diamonded sandal of Him who hath
the moon under his feet. Now l came
to understand that the music of that