Newspaper Page Text
December 20, 1911]
First Christmas Ca
"And suddenly there was with the
ungel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God."
In all literature there is no more
astonishing narrative. The greatest
events have given birth to the greatest
songs. The Watch on the Rhine,
the Marsellaise, God Save the Queen,
and My Country 'Tis of Thee are all
vibrant with the birth throes of na
nuns. i ne seige of Troy inspired the
sowg of Homer , the Fortunes of Aeneas
that of Virgil, the fall of man, that immortal
epic, "Paradise Lost",Miriam's
enraptured hymn got its thrill from the
~ed Sea Triumph.
Due to Bethlehem's Babe.
"Handel's Messiah owes its life to
the life of the babe of Bethlehem. The
magnificat of Mary and the Nunc Demittla
of Zacharias are the natural accompaniments
of the outbursts of this
celestial choir, appearing the second
time in the most impressive drama of
me woria'8 history.
'What a song! We would expect
ch an event to be hymned by the
tngels. The loftiest history utters Itself
In the loftiest poetry. This music
has thrilled men through the centuries.
It is realizing itself in the world
to-day. It is unearthly, yet real and
true, as are the shining seraphs who
are startling the midnight with their
music of it.
"If Shakespeare did not produce the
drama* that bear his name and If the
crown is torn from the brow of this
imperial dramatist, we must find another
whose genius will account for
these marvelous productions. So those
who furnish the music for such a stupendous
incident must be real musicians,
harpers of God, singers for eternity".
Born a Savior.
"It is not strange that a hush fell on
the sheepkeepers when the strange
viaiumi saia, -rear not, ror behold I
bring you good tidings of great joy
which Bhall be to all peoples for unto
you is born this day In the city of
David a Savior Who is Christ the
Lord. And the glory of the Lord
shone around about them and they were
sore afraid.' This fear evidenced the
greatness of the poor sheepkeepers.
While their flocks were undisturbed
they were awestruck. Only man has
vast fears. He touches the spiritual
and unknown. His vague prostrating
terror is at once the sign and the gauge
of his grandeur. It is the throb of the
immortal, with its infinite reach within
him. An unquiet conscience is at
the bottom of all our fears. Guilt is
the secret of our misgiving and our
misery. We yearn for a Daysman, a
Savior.
"The tidings made melody in the
hearts of those men because it was
vocal with the joy of the Savior who was
called Jesus because he should save
his people from their sin."
The Lord our rightousness? Who
can speak peace to our fear stung
hearts by putting into them His peace,
that in me ye may have peace?'
Christ indeed is the very Saviour we
need. This poor earth is sin-cursed and
filled with shame and sorrow. The
Saviour comes to touch the race and
pour into its veins a new life, Joyous
with forgiveness, health and hope, and
to deliver them who through fear of
death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage.
The Divine 8nvIonr.
"The divine Saviour, which Is Christ
the Lord. Look! A helpless Infant, a
babe wrapped In swaddling clothes!
And Christ? Lord? Impossible! But
see that babe In the light of today.
Balk not at the despised acorn, but
look at the oak whose spreading
THJS H?8B YT?Ki
Rev. & W. MeCorkle, D.D
brandies fill the earth.
"Out of a stable has grown the
Twentieth Century civilization. The
stone that Daniel saw cut out of the
mountain without hands has filled the
world.
"Gibbon, In his eloquent introduction
to the 'Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire,' refers to the considerations,
wnicn, in his Judgment, account for the
rapid rise and progress of the Christian
religion. Among them he places a
'belief in a supernatural Saviour.'
That alone can account for the fact that
in three centuries a few Galilean fishermen,
with their cross of wood, should
have climbed the throne of the Caesars.
Manger Mightier Than Throne.
"The manger was mightier than the
throne; the babe than the kings of the
earth. That humble grotto witnessed
the birth of the force that undermined
the religions of the Old World and of
the movement that has made a new
earth and will eventually usher in a
new heaven.
- ?? - ?*.?*
uii me in a (j ol oiraiio uie civilization
of the then known world hovers about
the Mediterranean. After an interval
of nineteen centuries the map of todav
represents the civilization of the world
with a foothold on every continent and
in the Islands of the sea. "What Influence
has been at work In the meantime?
Whatever It be it counts, for Christen,
dom practically shuts in the civilization
of the world of today. Civilization with
Its light and culture. Is not found where
Christ Is not. And the 'regions of darkness'
practically speaking, are bevond
the pale of the Christian civilization.
Why the difference?
The Prophetic Pnnoramn.
"The prophet In vision beheld this
wonderful development of the ages
when he saw the Wonderful, the Counsellor,
the Mlehty God, the Everlasting
Father, and the Prince of Peace.
"In the first aee he saw the Startler
or Wonder Worker, the next ushering
In the Counsellor, the era of learning.
"with schools, colleges and nnlvers'tle*
opening the way for the era of power,
that of the MIghtv God holding In h:*
hand all the agencies of commerce, wlt'i
Its laws, letters and wealth, the very
concentration of all power: this In torn
yielding to the philanthropic period w'th
the Everlasting Father, the Snlrlt of
Tx)ve, as shown In orphanages, asylums
and all eleemosvnary Institutions, to
he followed by the Prince of Peace,
Christianity's grand consummation tc
the fulfillment of the angels' chorus,
'And on earth peace, among men Iti
whom God Is well pleased.'
"The Golden Age Is In the future,
where all peoples dwell together In the
Temple of Peace to worship the Prince
of Peace.
"This Is the evolution of the cradle
and carries with It the stamp of dlvln.
Uif rI"h /> mnnnrof* 4a a onltr rotUrnl
li v. i uc maiigci 10 cue uuij lanuiiai
explanation of all succeeding history.
For In It was born the Saviour who is
Christ the Lord.
Walt Coming of the Son.
"The people of the North Cape In
Norway, when the long night of winter
is ending, and the sun is about to
re-appear, are seen gaily dressed on the
tops of the mountains, awaiting with
eagerness the first beams that herald
the coming of the King of Day. When
he appears they all exclaim: 'Behold
the Sun.' So, after the long night
whose hours had been counted by cen.
turies, In the full splendor of the me
rldian of the Son of Rlgbteouaness, we
also cry: 'Behold the Son.'
" 'Fear not, for behold I bring you
tidings of great joy.'
"'For the day spring from on high
hath visited us to give light to them
that sit in darkness.'
AN Of THE SOUTH
"The Divine Saviour, God manifest In
the flesh, justified In the Bpirlt, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up
Into glory.
To All People.
"Good tidings of great Joy which
shall be to all people. It has been said
that a nation is not created by men
but by a man. One man, like Mahomet,
arising out of an obscure and unorganized
people, by his extraordinary power
and prowess, welds feeble scattered
tribes Into a great conquering empire.
Men like Washington and Napoleon
have changed the map of the world;
Caxton changed the Intellectual power
of the world; Newton and Darwin the
science of the world.
"Men like our own Fitch of Bardstown,
with Watt and Stephenson, have
revolutionized the Industrial world.
This remark Is strikingly true of the
spiritual sphere. Guttenberg, with his
printing press, Ganlen w'th his telescope,
Columbus with his compass.
Shakespeare with bis dreams, are not
grouped about a great orator, a great
warrior, or some mlehtv man of science
or letters, but around that monk
of "Wittenberg who stands with an unchained
Bible in his hand.
"This Book that revealed this Universal
Sav'our, this peasant child born
among the Judean hills, at whose birth
angels sang, and at whose feet millions
bow todav. Alexander. Caesar and Napoleon
founded empires on force and
they perished. But this Son of a car.
penter built an empire on love pnd millions.
at this moment, would die for him.
Cemented bv the ties of a universal
brotherhood thev kneel toeether at his
shrine at th's Christmas time.
"Under the inf uence of his Gosnel the
Nineteenth Oentnry saw the world one
neighborhood, under the same Influence
the Twentlety Century will see It one
brotherhood.
World Restored by Christ.
"The spectroscope proves that the
sun. moon and stars are fashioned out
of the same constituents, the big,
bright brotherhood of stars of every
magnitude, position, and co'or, are all
of one. Nor are thev dwelling In isolation,
but are all neighbors because of
tbe subtle ether that fills all space. So
the universe Is one, heaven sympathizes
with earth, angels with men. The
great are not devoid of Interest In the
snipll, those at the top are helping those
at the bottom and the good rejoice In
the saving of the bad.
"As Babel's confusion found Its concord
at Pentecost, so the world shattered
by sin ?s restored by Christ. The
Child that lay In Mary's arms prayed
before he died that they all might be
one. And tbe world-wide pulsations of
the Christmas tide throb in the answer
to that prayer. On that account this
joyous Christmas time brings good tidings
of great joy to all people- Glory
to God in the Highest and peace on
earth among men in whom. God Is well
pleased.
"The incarnation is the pledge of
God's good will to man and further of
Ma purpose to bring them in perfect
harmony with himself as well as with
one another. That result is accomplished
when he is well pleased with
them. Then they are one with him in
this Son and in him they have real
peace.
"Renan Bpoke thus at the grave of
Edmond About. 'To tell the truth I
doubt whether the temple of my dreams
is not the cemetery.'
"Peace which elsewhere is only a
chimera, here becomes a realitv. Soon
I believe, we shall say with the preach,
er, 'Happy are the dead.' Yes, happy
are the dead, who die In the Lord, and
happy are the living who live In the
Lord. The reallratlon of our dreams la
not In the cemetery but In the Saviour.
(1217) 17
In the dream not of death but of ever
lasting life. 'Because I live ye shall
live also.'
"Therefore he has said. 'In me ye
shall have peace.'
"Fear is not the word for this glad
Christmas time. There was not much
joy before Christ came and there is
not much joy now where he is not
known. But as the weary men, sick
with sin, turn towards this Chri3t Child
today, there is a strange Bweet song in
their hearts.
"He is indeed the Saviour, yes the
Divine Saviour, the Universal Saviour,
and altogether worthy of the praise of
saints as well as angels.
" 'For unto you is born th's day in
the city of David the Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord. And suddenly there
vas with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God and saying
'Glory to God in the Highest, and on
earth peace among men in whom God
is well pleased.'"
SOME HOW-DO-YOU-DO'S.
American and English?How do you
do?
French?How do you carry yourself?
Italian?How do you stand?
German?How do you find yourself?
Dutch?How do you fare?
Swedish?How can you?
Chinese?How is your stomach? or,
have you eaten your rice?
Polish?How do you have yourself?
Russian?How do you live on?
Persian?May thy shadow never be
less.
They all mean pretty much the same
things.
A Fine List of Books
for Christmas Giving
AT PRICES FAB BELOW TFE ORIGINAL.
IF YOU WILL ENCLOSE THIS
Al> A NO MAIL TO US WE WILL SEND
YOU ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING
BOOKS POSTPAID FOR (50 CENTS
EACH. MARK YOUR CHOICE AND
M"T. *T ONCE. NOTE PUBLISHED
PRICES.
Listening to God. Hugh Black... .$1.25
Paths to the City of God. F. W.
Gunsalus 1.25
The Rise of a Soul. Rev. Jas. I.
Vance $1.00 Net
The Threshold of Manhood. W. J.
Dawson. D. D 1.25 Net
The Two-fold L'fe. A. J. Gordon.
D. D 1.25 Net
Christ and Progress. David J.
Burrel. D. D 1.20 Net
The Making of a Man. James W.
Lee 1-00 Net
The Modern Crisis in Religion.
Geo. C. Lorlmer 1.00 Net
Getting One's Bearings. Alexander
McKenzle. D. D 1.25 Net
Times of Retirement. Geo. Matheson
1.25 Net
The Blind Spot. W. L. Watkin.
son 1.00 Net
Man and Morals. Jas. Stalker.... 75
Life?Power. Arthur T. Plerson,
D. D 1.00 Net
The Culture of Chr'stlan Manhood.
Wm. H. Sallmon 1.50 Net
Giving a Man Another Chance.
Wilton Merle Smith 1.00 Net
The Principles of Jesus. Robert
E. Sneer 80 Net
True Estimate of Life. G. Campbell
Morgan 80 Net
Bible Criticism and the Average
Man. Howard Agnew Johnston
1.00 Net
Will the World Outgrow Christianity.
Robt. P. Kerr, D. D... 1.00 Net
Hits and Misses. Charles F. Goss.
1.00 Net
Couraee of the Coward. Chas. F.
Aked 1.25 Net
Our Redemption. Frederick A.
Noble 1.00 Net
A r? IJ o
roaiiicia iui xxi i u v*o. v>. n. opur
geon 1.00 Net
Be snre to enclose this ad with your
order, and mail to
Presbyterian Committee
of Publication
Richmond, Ya. Tmrlma, Irk.-Tex.