Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-02-02

SldHuhlolHNls NuN one VI us hllpNS
anything about our great-grandpar-
ents, although they may have been in
describably better than their children
or grandchildren,
Another shadow of the Christie cradle
was that it stood under depravcd
king Hcrod was at that time ruler
and the complete impersonation of all
depravities. II was an unfavorable time
for innocence to expect good treatment.
So dark was the shadow dropping on
the cradle from that Ubiquitous throne
that the peasant mother had to lift her
babe out of ii and make hasty flight.
Depraved habits of those in authority
are apt to be copied by subjects, and
from the minerals Of the Hcrodic
throne judge of the immorals of a ma
ton. There was n malaria of sin in the
air when the infant Christ first breathed
it. Thickest shawl could not keep the
babe warm when in that wintry month,
with his mother, he became fugitive.
1t was while the peasant and his wife
hNiC ou a NlslN lOl pun llOsNo VI VIA
ment that Jesus was born. The Bible
transators got the wrong word when
they said that Joseph and Mary had
gone to Bethlehem to be taxed" Peo-
pie went no farther then to get taxed
than they do now, The effort Of most
people always has been TO escape taxa
ton. Besides that, these two humble
folk had nothing TO tax. The mans
turban that protected his head from the
sun was not worth taxing; the woman's
sandals which kept her feet from being
cut by the limestone rock, of which
Bethlehem is mostly made up, were not
worth taxing. No; the fact is that
proclamation had been made by the
emperor that all the people between
Great Britain and Parthia and of those
lands included should go to some APP
pointed place and give their names in,
be registered and announce their loyal
~ to the Roman emperor. They stood
up before the officer of the government
and answered the questions: what is
your name? Where were you born?
Where do you live now? Lift your hand
and swear that you will support the
empire of Caesar Augustus" During
that patriotic and loyal visit the first
cry of the Divine Boy was heard.
They had walked so miles over
rough road to give in their names and
take the oath of allegiance. Would we
walk so miles 10 announce our ale
glance to our King, one Jesus? Caesar
Augustus wanted to know by the rec
ord on which that man and that woman
wrote their names, or had them writ
ten, just low many people in his en-
pire be could depend on in case of eXig-
ency. How many men would unsheath
sword for the Roman eagle. and how
many women could be depended on TO
take care of the wounded on battle
fields? The trouble is that in the king
dom of Christ we do not know how
many can be depended on. There are
so many men and women who never
give in their names. They serve the
Lord on the sly.
In all our churches there are so
many half and half disciples, so many
one-third espousers. They rather think
the Bible is true, at any rate parts Of
it, and they hope that somehow Chris
tianity will discnthrall the nations
They stay away from church on COM
munion days and hope when they have
lived as long as they can in this world
they can somehow sneak into Heaven.
Oh, give in your names! BE registered
in the Lambs Book of Life up there.
Let all the world know where you
stand. If you have 10 go as far as Joseph
and Mary walked, if you have 10 go
so miles before you find just the right
form of worship and Just the right
creed, start in this modern December.
as those villagers started in an ancient
December, and amid the congratula-
tons of church militant and church tri-
umphant give in your names. 1t was
while Joseph and Mary were on visit
of duty and obeying a reasonable com
mand of Emperor Augustus that the
star pointed to the place of nativity.
Christ's oratory was unlike anything
that went before or came after. Even
the criticism of the world said: "Never
man spake like this man." Dramatic?
Why, He took up a child out of the au-
dience and set him on table, and by
the embarrassed look of the child
taught humility. lie sent the prosecu-
tors of a poor, sinful woman, blush
ing and COMPOUNDED, out of the room by
one sentence of sarcasm. Notice His
power of emphasis, and enunciation
when He revealed Himself after His
Resurrection, by the peculiar way He
pronounced the one word MARY" His
power of look shown by the way Peter,
the great apostle, wilted under il. The
book says: "The Lord turned and
looked upon Peter" 1t was an ON
nipotent facial expression. He looked
upon Peter. Power of distinct utter
ance, so that every one could hear "He
opened His mouth, saying" No num-
bling and indstinct utterance. He
opened his mouth. His voice, which had
been developed by open-air speaking,
was a resonant and sonorous voice, or
He would not have taken the top OF
the rocks of the Mount of Beatitudes
| for pulpit, for that pulpit is so high
as | declare from observation, that nc
speaker that | have ever known could
have from that point made any au.
dience hear one word of a sermon.
His power of hyperbole: a camel
trying to crowd its hump through the
eye of sewing woman's needle and
all that learned talk about a gate
called the needles eye" only BELT
thing the hyperbole. Power of sar'
casm: The hypocrite styled by Him