The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-25
CHRISTMAS THEME DEPICTS SCENE OF BIRTH IF. CHRIST
"The 0ldRock Stable" Birth place of Prince of Creation,
 pr. George Stuart'S
 Sunday Text

Sunday morning at the First Meth odist church Dr. George R. Stuart preached remarkable sermon on the subject, "The old, Rock Stable" :" using as his text Luke. Chapter 2. Verse 15, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing that is come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us.' Dr. Stuart spoke substantially as follows;
 want you to como with me to Bethlehem thls morning and con- template the scene enacted there more than nineteen hundred years ago. A decree had gone out from Caesar Augustus for all the world to be taxed People from far and wide journeyed to the city of their nativity to register according to the decree. Among the travellers were Joseph and Mary en route to Bethlehem to reg ister, The little city was crowded with visitors and lodging places were scarce. No one met these plain peas ants of Palestine nor did any one aid in securing lodging for them. As q last resort Joseph took Mary to the barn and secured place for her to sleep in the stable among the cattle. There on that memorable nigl-t child was born who was to be- come the Savior of the world.
 Twelve Great Stones
 There are those who might won der why God didn't prepare for the coming of His Son. For hundreds of years God had been preparing for the advent of Jesus into the world He laid the foundation of the Old -l- Hi l.. 4.N. There are 12 great preparatory stones underlying this stable. These l shall give you.
 l. Bethlehem itself. Seven hun dred years before Ills coming the prophet spoke these significant words, And thou. Bethlehem of Judea. art not the least of these, for out of thee shall come One who shall rule my people. Israel" It was by no means accidental that He should be born In Bethlehem.
 2. The country. That Jesus was born in Palestine was not accidental. God had prepared the country for His coming.
 3. That Jesus should be born of the stock of Abraham was no ac- cident. It was well planned by the eternal God. He called Abraham and sent him forth to become the head of the nation which should give Jesus to the world.
 4. The next stone underneath thls Rock Stable Is the old Testament. All through 1t are stories prefiguring the coming of Christ.
 5. The next stone Is prophecy. Do you think that prophecy is acci- dental? The great old prophets spoke with authority of tho coming of the Prince of Peace.
 6. The social and religious life of the country were ripe for His coming. The world had gone about as far as 1t could on it's own power. People were looking for some ono 10 come who could speak peace to the troubled earth.
 2. The civil government was ready for the coming of the Prince of Peace, as for the first time in years the nations were at peace with one another.
 8. Tho Greek language was at tho height of it's purity and accuracy which language Jesus used. The lam guage God had prepared especially as a vehicle to carry the words of Jesus.
 Age of tho Cnesars
 9. Jesus was born in ono of the
 
 the Caesars has scarcely been sur passed for great things. There were three great stem-nations then. Jewish. Greek and Latin.
 10. From these three great nations testimonials may be had as to the historic Jesus. Josephus speaks for the Jewish nation: Such man lived and it Is reputed that He arose from the dead" For the Latin Tacitus speaks: Such a man Is reported to have lived" For the Greeks Pliny speaks; Such man lived and 1t is reported that He arose from the dead"
 II. Heaven was prepared for this event. The star appeared. went and stopped over the little city of Bethle- hem The angelic host sang songs of joy and thanksgiving at the advent of the King of Kings.
 12. John the Baptist came forth as the connecting link between the Jewish and the Christian dispensa- ticns. He exclaimed: Behold ths Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world"
 So these are the stones which God had prepared and placed underneath