The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-29
:: DR TALMAGES: SERMON ::
lcopyrisht, 1901. Louis Klopseh. N. Y.l

Y e iei iei Ase% 1 the chiidi
 Gods Honored Science.
 Notice also that iN this Bible night 1 scene God honored science. Who are the three wise men kneelIng before the Di- | Vine Infant? Not boor. not ignoramuses,
 but Caspar. Balthasar and Meichior. rIen
 who knew all that Was to be known.
 They were the Isaac Newtons and Her
 sSdsd,a sshels and Farsdays of their time. Their lime chemistry, their astrology the moth- | CT of our magnificent astronomy. And when I see these scientists lowing be- ecy of the time when all the telescopes, and microscopes and all the Leyden jars
 and all the electric batteries and all the
 obseryatories and all the universities
 shall bow to Jesus. It Is much that way
 already. Where is the college that does not have morning prayers. thus lowing
 at the manager? Who have been the
 greatest physicians? Omitting the names
 of the living lest we should be invidious. men like James Y. Simpson and Rush
 nave we not had among them Christian
 ana valentine Mott and Abercrombie and
 Abernathy? Who have been our greatest scientists? Joseph Henry. who lived and died In the faith of the gospels and
 Agassiz, who. standing with his students
 said. Young gentlemen. before we study these rocks let us pray for wisdom to the
 God. who made the rocks" All geology will yet bow before the Rock of Ages. sharon. All astronomy will yet recog- Eize the Star of Bethlehem.
 Behold also in that first Christmas
 night that God honored the fields. Come in, shepherd boys, to Bethlehem and see
 the child. "No," they say; we are not
 dressed good enough to come in" Yes, you are. Come in." Sure enough, the storms and the night dew and the bram- vkyifh fhp1r | apparel, but none has a better right to
 come in. They were the first to hear the music of that Christmas night. The hrst announcement of a Savior's birth was made to those men in the fields. There were wiseacres that night in Beth lehem and Jerusalem snoring in deep
 sleep, and there were sslaried officers of government who hearing of it after
 ward, may have thought that they
 ought to have had the first news of such great event. some one dismounting
 knocking till at some sentiners question.
 Who comes there"' the great ones of
 the palace might have been told of the
 celestial s arrival. No; the shepherds
 the first in the major key and the last
 in the subdued minor, Glory to God in
 the highest and on earth peace, good
 Will to men" An, yes, tho fields were Following the Shepherds.
 The old shepherds. with plaid and crook. have for the most part vanished.
 but We have grazing on our United States pasture fields and prairie about 42, ,0O0 000
 sheep. and all their keepers ought to fol- low the shepherds of my text and all those who toll in fields-all vine dressers. all orehardists. all husbandmen. Not | only that Christmas night. but all up and down the worlds history. God has been honoring the fields. Nearly all the mes siahs of reform and literature and elo-
 auence and law and benevolence have l fNaN1 AhA AllA It the fields. Jefferson from the fields. The presidential martyrs. Garfield and Iin-
 coin and Mckinley. from the fields Hen
 " Clay from the fields. Daniel Webster | from the fields. Martin Luther from the fields: Before this world is right the | overfowing populations of our crowded cities will have to take to the fields. In- | stead of ten merchants in rivalry as to who shall sell that one apple we want at least eight of them to go out and raise | apples. Instead of ten merchants desir- | ing to sell that one bushel of wheat we want at least eight of them to go out | and raise wheat The world wants now | more hard hands. more bronzed cheeks. more muscular arms. To the fields! God honored them when he woke up the
 shepherds by the midnight anthem. and | he will while the world lasts continue to hnpor. the fields. When the shepherd S crook was that famous night stood | 1t was a prophecy of the time when l thrasher's fail and farmers blow and | woodman's aX and ox's yoke and sheaf l flinders rake shall surrender to the God
 who made the country as man made the | town.
 1 Behold also that on that Christmas | night God honored motherhood. Two an infant Savior to Bethlehem without | Marv's being there at all. When the villagers on the morning of December | 26 awoke. by divine arrangement and in
 some unexplained way the child Jesus might have been found in some comfort l able cradle of the village. But no. no! | Motherhood for all time was to be con
 secrated. and one of the tenderest rela-
 tions was to be the maternal relation
 and one of the sweetest words mother"
 In all ages God has honored good moth-
 erhood. John Wesley had a good mother. | St. Bernard had good mother, Samuel | Budgett good mother, Doddrldge a
 good mother. Walter Scott good moth
 CT. Benjamin West a good mother. In
 a great audience. most of whom were
 Christians, I asked that all those who
 had been blessed of Christian mothers | arise, and almost the entire assembly
 stood up. Do you not see how import
 ant 1t is that all motherhood be conse-
 crated? Why did Titan, the Italian art 1 iEt. when he sketched the Madonna make | 1t an Italian face? Why did Rubens the | German artist, In his Madonna make it
 German face? Why did Joshua Rey-
 holds. the English artist. in his Madonna
 make 1t an English face? Why did Mu-
 rillo. the Spanish artist, In his Madon- ma make IL d 0pdnlSn never | heard. but I think they took their own | mothers as the type of Mary the moth- | CT of Christ. When you hear some ono | in sermon or oration speak in the ab stract of a good, faithful, honest moth
 CT. your eyes fill up with tears, while
 you say to yourself. That was my
 mother"
 The Influence of Mother The first word a child utters is apt to | be ''Mother!" and the old man in his dying dream calls, Mother, mother! 1t | matters not whether she was brought l up in the surroundings of a city and In l affiuent home and was dressed apprepri- ately with reference to the demands of | modern life or whether she wore the old | time cap and great round spectacles and 1 apron of her own make and knit your | socks with her own needles seated by the | broad fireplace, with great backlog | ablaze. on a winters night: 1t matters
 not how many wrinkles crossed and re- l crossed her face or how much her shoul- ders stopped with the burdens of a long life. if you painted a Madonna hers
 would be the face. What a gentle hand she had when we were sick and what a voice to soothe pain, and was there any one who could so fill up a room with peace and purity and light? And what a l sad day that was when we came home | and she could greet us not. for her lips were forever still Come back. mother,
 in these Christmas times and take your old place and as ten or twenty or fifty ! years ago come and open the old Bible |