Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-12-25
THE DAYS MEANING.
-FOUR RICHMOND PASTORS DISCUSS
CHRISTMAS.
"IS WORTY OF ROYAL CELEBRATION.
ole Was the Mightiest Among tho
Holy and the Hottest Among the
Mighty"-"The Anniversary of the
Greatest Man OF Centuries"

On this day we celebrate the birth Of
the greatest man Of the centuries. Look
ing at Jesus from the human standpoint
He excels in every manifestation Of great
ness.
Intellectually He was marvellous. He
was clear, simple, graphic. and compre-
hensive. without any Of the advantages
of academic training, yet He poured forth
a wealth Of thought on spiritual things
that has enriched and transformed the
centuries.
AS a man of action who has excelled
Him? During His short ministry Of three
years-He was restlessly active. He left
the temple with its retinue Of priests and
sacred memories, II came into living
touch with suffering and sin-bruised hu-
manity, healing the sick, giving sight to
the blind, relieving the distressed. raising
the dead, and proclaiming the Gospel.
Only three years. but what vast amount
of energy was liberated in that time.
Only three years, and yet the centuries
throb with the giant forces He set In
motion.
Morally He was matchiess. Just as
yonder mountain lifts It's shoulders into
the clouds, and cloud-capped, snow
crowned. and thunder-riven with the light
Of the sun flashing in brilliant displays
from its perpetual SHOWS, proclaims itself
by the very majesty Of its appearance
the monarch of the mountain chain, 30
does Christ. by the self-evidencing
grandeur of His character, proclaim HIS
supremacy. BY His intense love for
the race; by His devotion TO duty;
by His loyalty TO conviction; by
His supreme patience under suffering;
by His victory over the world; by His
answering adherence 20 truth; by His
womanly tenderness; by His lofty spirit
uality. by His inimitable self-sacrihce,
He proves His moral grandeur, and justi-
hes Jean Paul Richter when he says,
'That He was the mightiest amongst the
holy. and the hottest among the mighty,
lifting with His pierced hand empires
from their hinges, turned the stream of
the centuries out of its channels, and
still governs the ages"
We ought to celebrate the birth of
Christ with intense JOY, because His life
and teachings made the lives of all other
great-men possible. 1t is a profound truth
that the history OF human advance is the
biography of great men. History Is a
vast orchestra where the majority play
second fiddle. Every institution is the
heightened influence Of some great man.
Moses was Judaism embodied; Luther
was the Reformation i%ncarnate; Jefferson
summarized In himself the Democratic
party; the Pope is Romanism e~pitomized:
Wesley is Methodism vitalized, and
Jesus Christ is the incarnation Of Chris
tianity. He was the inspiration Of Moses;
the maker of Luther; without Him JEFF
ferson never would have written that i'm
mortal document Of human rights; with
out Him the Pope would be robbed OF his
- -. H. WALL NNLr
would have stood forth the flaming evan
gel Of Reform. This Nazarene changed
the moral. social, political, and chrome
logical points OF the universe. Under HIS
touch the religions of the past crumbled,
the idolatry of Rome vanished. He smote
the shackles from the slave. gave dignity
10 labor, diffused the mellow light or
love over the home. emancipated woman, !
lifted the pail Of ignorance from the race. :
dashed tyranny from the throne, hbe-
rated the human mind, and is the inspira-
ton Of all the splendid philanthropies OF
the present age. :. X. MAXWELL
what il Commenorated.
Christ came to the Garden Of Eden in
4 promise. As the omnipresent God OF the
He was there. Forty centuries
passed away. One night the same Christ
to earth In human form. The Mes
siah was born In fulhlment OF the pro-
phecy and hope OF prophet and priest.
The rescue plan OF the great Jehovah
took OH a new shape. out OF the shadow
the temple service there walked forth a
wins man. Mortal met Him and talked
With Him. They found His sensitive heart
o be a fountain Of sympathy for suffer-
humanity.
lie struck sin as with the battle-axe
# a God-but he saved the sinner. When
he sorrowing drew near with trembling
,tep, He drove AVA fear with beautiful
that seemed 10 ripple from
lis sacred lips. The tenderness or His
reat soul for other human souls won the
Of the wondering throng-
While the miracles He wrought startled
multitude with the new conviction
hat they were In the company OF a God.
he people listened 60 catch the sound Of