Milford chronicle., 1902-12-26

allowed Christ TO lie in a manger that .
you. o children, might copy his life
when Jesus was a little boy. l did this
so that you. o man and woman. could
copy his matured life when you are in
the great struggle of earning Il daily
livelihood. I did this so you might for
ever have before your eyes the power
of a human example. who was tempted
as You are tempted. and yet who by
the power of the Holy Spirit sinned
not" It is not sufficient for us to say
we are as good as average men. We
are not truly good until by the grace
of God, we become like Jesus, the Son
of God.
The Birth of Prince.
1 The manger Christ emphasizes the
fact that infinite results which may af-
+ feet all the heavens and the earth, re-
suits which will startle the outmost
circumferences of the universe as well
/ as the great center, can sometimes be
directly traced to seemingly infnitesi-
NAL causes. When prince or a prin-
cess. the child of a great king, is about
to be born. especially if the prospective
infant is to be the heir to the throne,
member of the cabinet awaits the ar
rival in one of the anterooms of the
royal palace. The artillerymen are de-
tailed to Immediately thunder forth the
news of the princes birth from the
gaping mouths of the great black can
non. The messengers have tUeir steeds
saddled and bridled, ready TO speed
away to announce the arrival to the
different public officials. The tele-
graph wires thrill with joy as soon as
the eXpectant message is sent to the
farthermost parts of the royal do
mains. But no such joyful and nation
al expectancy greeted the earthly birth
Of the Son of God. No messenger that
night carried the news up to the Jeru-
salem palace of Bloody Herod the
Great. No retinue of foreign ambassa-
doris stood near to offer their cOngrat-
ulations to an earthly king. Jesus
birth from worldly standpoint was
an insignificant event. He was born
in an clubhouse. He was born in a
stable. He was born in a Bethlehem
khan. Mary the Virgin in the most
solemn hour of a woman's life had no
bed upon which to lie, no pillow, unless
that pillow was the rough coat of her
noble though humble husband or a pile
of straw pushed under her head by a
sympathetic stablcman; no female at
, tendant unless that woman attendant
, was the kind hearted hostler's wife
, who had come in to aid her troubled
{ sister So our second birth may have
been in the estimation of the world a
/, seemingly insignificant event. But il
D we thereafter only make right use OF
e our lives their spiritual influence viii
+. affect all time and eternity. The news
r of our spiritual birth will be heraldet
= all round the heavenly kingdom. L
e will set again the angels to chanting
. a new song. Our second birth will no
h only be heralded around heaven, but il
l. the great judgment day when all ma
s tions shall be gathered before tn,
: throne the fact of that second brit
d will summon forth Jesus, who wa
= born in Bethlehem of Jud9a, our alton
;. ing Saviour to be our divine advocate
f The Omnipresent God will not for on
It instant, even in the darkest of days
n turn deaf or an unheeding ear to tn
6 weakest and most helpless Of all hi
J. children. One day the baby bov Of
!, distressed father and mother was yer
n sick. When their little girl was abOu
,r to be put to bed ON the night of tn
10 crisis Of the disease she came to he
10 father Then, in her sweet, girlish way
Il she said: Papa, won't you pray
If God tonight that baby brother migr
I get we'll? l am only a wee little bit {
le girl and God might not be willing
4. hear me pray, hut God would alway
ar have time to listen to you pray, for yO
d. are a great big, ssaBng man." Wit
r. that the sobbing father took his litS
% girl into his arms as he said: ooh, III
le darling, God will have time to hes
d, you pray for your baby brother.
you will pray, my darling, for Vol
ne little brother, though you are a lit
= bit of girl, God. if necessary, vi
fe turn to the angels and say: Angel
stop that singing. Stop that singin
right away. For way down on earf
a there is a wee little bit of a girl who
ol- praying for her baby brother, and
IN want to listenr" And as that Chri
,s. tian father spoke to his little girl s.
NO to you. in this Christmas sermon,
ist matter. o man or woman, how h
ur manly helpless you may be; no matt
rs how dark your days may seem to |
-e- God is always ready to listen to yo
,lv cry if you will only call upon him
or help. God is always ready to prote
you with his love, even as his guardi;
M angels and the star of the east hover
fe over the manger on the night th
~ Jesus was born.
- Thus, my dear people, in this Chri
- mas sermon l have tried to preach
=, you a manger of hope and OF go
cheer and of gospel triumph. 1 ha
- tried to preach this kind of serm
= because l want this Christmas to
- - the brightest and the happiest and t
R merriest of all your lives. And now
want to sum up all my parting adv
~ before we separate for the holiday f
NV NV tivities of the coming week. l wa
~ you to carry into your homes two a
nv nv, bitions The first is to make t
JIG Christmas the happiest day, in a te