The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-02-10
A JOYFUL MESSAGE.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Tells of the
First Christmas Morn.
The Tidings the shepherds Heard.
God II God OF Lsve-Appli-
cation of the Christ
mas story.

copyright. 1904. by Louis Klopschl
LOS ANGELES, Cal, Dec. 25.-In
this sermon the Christmas theme ia
presented with a new and picturesque
setting, and the preacher finds in 1t an
application to the universal needs Of
our modern life. The text is Luke II,
10. Il bring you good tidlngs Of great
JOY
Blessed. thrice blessed, Is the advent
of the messenger bringing tidlnes Of
great Joy! Benjamin Disraeli was well
coined back to England's capital by a
surging sea Of happy faces, which
blocked the streets about the lord
mayors Official residence as far as
the eve c0Ild see, when he rett rned
from the most famous OF European
conclaves Of the representatives OF
many nations. Whyl He came back
with the memorable sentence upon hls
lips, Il bring back to you peace with
honor" No wonder the English multi
tudes applauded their premier wher-
ever he went Had Disraeli not
brought back peace with honor Eu-
rope would have been cOnyulsed with
an awful international war. When the
treaty of Client" was signed by the
English and American commissioners
on Dec. "a, 1914, the people Of two ma
tions were expecting that the war OF
1912 would soon be terminated. The
ship which bore the news. Peace,
peace. with honor" sailed into New
York harbor covered with bunting. 1t
was welcomed with the shouts Of a
cheering people and the booming Of
war guns, which were now to become
the guns Of peace. OF course many a
tear WAS shed because Andrew Jack
son had fought his battle OF New Or
leans fifteen days after the signing
Of that treaty, but those tears do not
prevent the glorious news which the
ship brought from joyfully flying over
the country with the wings Of the
morning. Everywhere the message
met with glad acclaim, Peace, peace
peace. with honor!' But, though there
have been many messengers OF glad
tidings welcomed with joyful hosan-
mas. no messenger Of good tidings
was ever so much needed as he who
appeared on the first Christmas dawn
Of the worlds history. That was the
Christmas morn when Jesus lay sleep
Ing. a little babe in the manger OF
Bethlehem Of Judaea.
Let me describe the events which
preceded the advent Of this angelic
messenger. First, the topographic po-
sition Of this angelic messenger. We
are standing upon the Judaean Nils
overlooking the little village OF Beth
Iehem. This is sacred ground. Here
Jacob mourned and would not be com
forted. Here Benjamin was born ana
Rachel died. Here Boaz watched Ruth
as she CLEANED after the reapers. Here
Samuel came to the home Of Jesse to
anoint David king Of Israel. On the
night Of the Nativity the Bethlehenites
could almost see the lights Of Jefusa-
lem. only six miles away, and almost
hear the chanting In the temple and
the music in the palace Of Herod the
Great were It not for the height OF yon-
der mountain, which obliterated those
lights and stopped the echolng sounds.
On that frst Christmas eve the cities
and towns were crowded with men and
women. The fat had gone forth that
q census must be taken. Caesar want
ed 10 know how many soldiers he could
depend upon in the provinces and how
much taxes ought to be paid. Rome
was then the mistress and the queen
Of the world. The Jewish census was
to be taken by families. Thus Joseph,
the descendant of the great psalinist,
David. headed toward the little village
Of Bethlehem, where once the future
warrior as q shepherd boy tended his
sheep. played upon his harp and prac-
ticed with his sling at a mark until he
could take that deadly aim which was
to slay the mighty Philistine.
Joseph is now climbing the lime
rocks upon which is built the town Of
Footsore and weary and
Iad, his face Is drawn and anxious. He
IS Fastening along, dragging by the bri-
ile a beast Of burden. which, with the
stubbornness Of Its kind,
IS holding back, merely because its
)wner Jerks the head and wants TO hur-
" along. The village is long and mar
row. Most Of the houses line the one
street. Crowds Of men stand
upon the street corners or gather in
arge numbers and with vehement ges-
tures whisper curses among themselves
gainst Herod, who was building a
iea then temple in honor Of the Roman
emperor. The door Of the inn is block
ID with rustics who are trying to nnd
lodgings. The owner Of the hotel IS In
sulung the people because they viii not
stop bothering him. II does not taEe a
hotel clerk long to get ugly II he has
more customers than rooms. Joseph |
stops and asks some bystanders where |
le can find lodgings They all shake
heir heads and shrug their shoulders.
Some rldicule him for asking such a
question. when he can see for himself |
he crowds clamoring to get into the
village hotel.
Joseph turns and looks at his young |
wife seated upon the beast Of burden |
which be is leading. She has a beauh- |
Iul face, a sweet face. loving face, a /
pure face. she is Mary, the Virgin. |
Finally some man, more sympathetic |
han the rest. seeing Joseph's troubles. !
points him to a khan, or public stable, |
md says. Perhaps you may find room |
here" Mary's strength has almost Civ
IN out when they enter tbe low arch
way. Joseph tenderly lifts her down
rom the beast Of burden. Some one
dicks the oxen to make them arise be-
,ause they are taking too much rom.
Even here space is at a premium. Aft