The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-12-20
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a SERMON A<sS.>. &sfs
81 THE REV. As,sssSse
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CHRISTMAS DISCOURSE.
CHRISTMAS DISCOURSE.

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CHRISTMAS DISCOURSE.
Theme: The Significance of the Birth
of Christ.
Brooklyn, n. Y.-Preaching at the
irving Square Presbyterian Church
on the theme, The Significance Of
the Birth of Christ" the Rev. Ira
Wemmell Henderson, pastor, took as
his text Luke all: "For unto you
is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord"
He said:
The coming Of the Christ is the
axis of Western chronology and the
inspiration Of uncounted souls.
When, on that starry night amid the
fextile fields of Judea, the angel OF
{ the Lord stood beside the watching
shepherds and the multitude OF the
heavenly host sang hosanna to the
living God, the sweetest, most en-
trancing soul among the sons of men
began His earthly history. The wise
men from afar, who laid at the feet
s4ef the manger babe the royal, costly
gifts, were but the precursors OF a
glad, rejoicing host who, in every
epoch and every cline, have rendered
! homage to the Christ. The sudden
light that bathed the quiet plain that
peaceful Christmas eve beams to-day
s with undimmed radiance into multi
tudes Of hearts. The voices that sang
from heaven to earth still sing to
listening ears, The angel of the Lord
still speaks. The babe whom Mary
loved is with US. The Son of God is
here.
The birth of Christ is historic. The
presence Of Christ yesterday and to-
{ day is fact. Nothing is more Ger
tain than that Christ once lived. The
Gospels attest it Contemporaneous
) records recognize it. The Christian
world around us is a consequential
evidence of His reality and His in-
fluence. Men may dispute concern
3 ing the exact day and month and
year of His coming into the affairs
of men; they may speculate concern
ing the exact place OF His birth; they
may argue, as they will, over the
manner of His coming; but they can
{ not, they have not and they will not
deny His actuality- Jesus is a fact;
s the most momentous fact OF history.
Let US consider the significance Of
the birth Of Jesus in the light Of the
ages.
The birth OF Jesus is significant as
we consider it to be the fulfllment
OF Hebrew prophecy; as we under
stand it to be the culmination OF a
divine self revelation; as we study its
effect on humanity.
The birth OF Jesus was the fulfill
ment OF prophecy Except we glance
down the long record Of the prophetic
= hopes of Israel We cannot understand
the Christ. Christ, apart from jew
ish history, is lnexplicable. Jesus Is
not an isolated, but, rather, a result
Z ant fact The Saviour is the fulA7E
ment OF nations hope, Though SO
! largely unaccepted He is the con-
summation OF the efforts. OF a na-
tion's sanity men to lead their peo-
( pie nea- to God. The messages of
Isaiah are the adumbrations OF. the
s Christ The visions OF the prophets
are the fore-gleaEas Of the gentle
Gaii1ean. Israel looked with expect
( aney AMI. with hope unquenchablc
for Immanues-the presence of Je-
hoyah in the midst OF His people.
! Having been It'd out OF physical and
bondage they looked forward
with eagsrness at a later day to a
Jesus, Saviour. who, clothed with
divine power and enriched with d-
vine commission, should lead the sim
sick people OF God cut of the thrall
dom OF spiritual slavery into the free
dom and the blessedness of an eternal
and sufficient salvation from their
Gins. Jesus was the 1dllment OF that
hope and prophecy What the faith
ers had declared, He was. The chos-
en- people Of God yearned for an
earthly king, a Messiah anointed Of
God, set apart to a holy leadership,
divinely dedicated to the consumma-
Stfon OF a national existence in right
eot1sness and truth. And in Jesus
was this other nope fulfilled, and
with a nobler purpose and with a
larger scope. Within the spiritual
kingdom that He came to institute
lay the secret Of kingdom which
should rule the world Far grander
than any prophecy and hope Of Is
rael was the plan that, in Jesus
Christ, God unfolded to His chosen
people. WHAT a pity it is that nine,
teen centuries ago Israel did not see
the beauty o. the plan OF God, that.
she did not recognize that broader
and that grander mission OF q world
wide ministration and universal do
minion to which God, in Jesus, called
her. And how sad it is to-day that
the race to whom the principles of
Jesus; are most easily understandable
Ifs so opposed to the system Of relie-
ious truth that in our times is termed
distinctively Christian. The appro-
priation by the Jew of those princi-
pies OF pure and central Christianity
that are the glory of the truth as it
has, been revealed of God in Jesus
Christ would be the exceeding story
OF the coming ages and. the fairest
: possession OF the chosen people of
the Lord.
The birth of Jesus was the cul-
mination of divine self-reyelation. In
the personality and the message OF
the Christ: God gave the fullness of