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VOL. LXXXVH. RICHM(
JESUS, CORNEF
OF NEW CIVIL
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising Ood and saying,
Olory to Ood in the highest and on earth
peace, good will towards men."?Luke 2: 13-14.
"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 nations. The siege of Troy inspired the
song of Homer. The fortunes of Aeneas that of
Virgil. The fall of man that immortal epic, Paradise
Lost. Miriam's enraptured song got its thrill
from the Red Sea triumph.
INSPIRATION OF WORLD'S MUSIC.
"Handel's Messiah owes its life to the life
of this babe of Bethlehem. The magnificat
of Maiy and the Nunc Demittis of Zecharias
are the natural accompaniments of the outburst
of this celestial choir, appearing for the
second time in the impressive drama of the
world's history. What a song? We would
expect such an event to be hymned by the
angels. The loftiest history utters itself in
the loftiest poetry. This song has thrilled
men through the centuries and is realizing
itself in. the world today; it is unearthly, yet
real and true as are the brilliant choristers
that are startling the midnight with their
music.
"If Shakespeare did not write the dramas
that bear his name, and if this imperial dramatist
'is dethroned, we must find another
whose genius will account for these marvelous
productions. So those who render the
music for such a stupendous incident must
be real musicians, harpers of God, singers
for eternity.'
HUSH FALLS ON SHEPHERDS.
"It is not strange that a hush fell on the
sheepkeepers when this strange visitant said,
'Pear not, for behold I bring you good tidings
of great joy which shall be to all people,
for unto you is born this day in the city of David?
a Saviour which is Christ, the Lord.'
" 'There is born to you a Saviour.' 'And the
glory of the Lord shone round about them and
they were sore afraid.' This fear evidenced the
greatness of these poor sheepkeepers. While their
flocks went on grazing quietly they were awestruck.
Only man has vast fears. He knows the
spiritual and unknown. His vague prostrating
terror is at once a sign and guage of his grandeur.
An unquiet conscience is at the bottom of all our
fears. Guilt is the secret of our misgiving and
misery. We all yearn for a daysman, a Saviour.
CHRIST THE SAVIOUR NEEDED.
"The Lord, our righteousness, who can speak
peace to our fear-stung hearts by putting his
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peace into them. 'That in me ye might have
peace.'?Horn. 16:33. Christ indeed is the very
Saviour we need. This poor earth is sin cursed and
filled with sin and shame and sorrow. The Saviour
COmeS to touch the race and nnnr intn ita voina 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.'?Heb.
2:15.
"The Divine Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Look! A helpless infant, a babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes! And Christ the Lord! Impossible.
But look at that babe in the light of today.
Balk not at the despised acorn, but consider the
oak whose spreading branches fills the earth.
"It Is More Blessed.'*
Give! as the morning that flows out of heaven;
Give! as the waves when their channel is riven;
QlT?n ? nci 4-Ua ??J * ?:
aa iuc ucc an auu. Bunsiiixie are given;
Lavishly, utterly, joyfully give:?
Not the waste drops of thy cup overflowing,
Not the faint sparks of thy hearth ever glowing,
Not the pale bud from the June loses blowing;
Give as he gave thee, who gave thee to live.
Pour out thy love, like the rush of a river
Wasting its waters, forever and ever,
Through the burnt sands that reward not the giver
Silent or songful, thou nearest the sea.
Scatter thy life, as the summer showers pouring!
What if no bird through the peal-rain is soaring?
What if no blossom looks upward adoring ?
Look to the life that was lavished for thee!
A 1 ~~X XU~ J1 xl ?*?* *
xiimusi, nit; uh) oi tiiy giving is over;
Ere from the grass dies the bee-haunted clover,
Thou wilt have vanished from friend and from love
What will thy longings avail in the grave?
Give, as the heart gives, whose fetters are breaking,
Life, love, and hope, all thy dreams and thy waking
Soon heaven's river thy soul-fever slaking,
Thou shalt know God, and the gift that he gave.
?Anonymous.
CIVILIZATION FROM A STABLE.
"Out of that stable has grown the twentieth century
civilization, the stone that Daniel saw cut out
without hands has filled the earth. Gibbon in his
eloquent introductory chapter to the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire refers to the considerations
which, in his judgment, account for the
rapid rise and establishment of the Christian religion.
"Among them he places a belief in a supernatural
Saviour. That alone can account for the
fact that a few fishermen from Galilee, without
wealth, without learning, without a sword, should
have, with their cross of wood, in three centuries
climbed the throne of Caesars.
" 'The manger was mightier than the throne, the
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9AL PRESBYTER/AN *
'THERM PRESBYTEJPMR
,R 24, 1913. . No. TSl- r 7
i
eat Song and Great Singers
E. W. McCorkle,D.D.
swaddling clothes than the imperial purple, the
oabe than the kings of the earth.' That humble
grotto witnessed the birthplace 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.
"In the map of Strabo the civilization of the
then known world hovered about the Mediterranean.
After an interval of nineteen centuries the
map of today represents the civilization of the
world with a foothold on every continent and in
the islands of the sea.
INFLUENCE THAT HAS BEEN AT WORK.
i4Whflf inflnonno Kqq Knon ???
.? ..?v a^uo uwu ai> nuiik UJL UiC UietUltime?
Whatever it be it accounts for Christen
dom, for it practically shuts in the civilization
of the now known world.
"That line at the same time shuts out what
is known as the 'regions of darkness.' Is this
not remarkable to say the least? The prophet,
in his panoramic vision, beheld this
development of the ages when he saw the
'Wonderful,' the 'Counselor,' the 'Mighty
God,' the 'Everlasting Father,' the 'Prince
of Peace.'
<*T-T~ IL ~ A x
aa.c oaw uie ursi, age witn its startler and
Wonder Worker, the next ushering in, as
Counselor, the era of learning with schools,
colleges and universities, opening the way
for the era of Power, that of the Mighty
God, holding in his hand all the agencies of
commerce with its laws, letters and wealth,
the very concentration of all power * this in
turn yielding to philanthropic period with
the Everlasting Father and the spirit of love
as shown in orphanages, asylums and all
r; charitable institutions, to be followed by
'The Prince of Peace,' Christianity's grand
consummation, the fulfillment of the ancrels'
chorus, 'Peace on earth, among men good
will/
EVOLUTION OF THE CRADLE.
"This is the evolution of the cradle and
carries with it the stamp of divinity. The
manger is the only rational explanation of all succeeding
history. For in it was born the Saviour,
Christ the Lord.
"The people of the North Cape in Norway, when
the long night of winter is closing and the sun is
about to reappear, are seen gaily dressed on the
tops of the mountains awaiting with eagerness his
first beams. When they appear they all exclaim, .
'Behold the sun.' So after the long, dark night,
in the full splendor of this day of the Sun of Righteousness,
we can say, 'Behold the sun!' For the
dayspring from on high hath visited us 'to give the
light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death/?Luke 2:78-79. 'God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of
angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in