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Show e $ ' i V - IteNM i Church 4 Church' Section i Section I SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, DECEMBER 14, 1 940. I ! engaged In the activities of public and Lamanites and Nephltes strove ministry. He was brought to death for supremacy as only brothers with by violence before He had attained brothers can contend. However, there what we now regard s the age of were periods of truce, and durlngjhe manhoods prime. As an individual decade immediately preceding the He was personally known to buf few, birth of Christ many among the and His fame as a world character Lamariites showed increasing right- became general only after his death. eousness, while the Nephltes fell into r. Nevertheless, man never lived of iniquity. Evils ' that flourish best whom more has been said and sung, amidst the indolence of luxury, wickednone to whom is devoted a greater ness that thrive on the abuse of pros' of the majesty of Bethlehems Babe. proportion of the worlds literature. perity, had corrupted the white naIndividual birth and death, whether He Is extolled by Christian and tion so that many became less acceptof pauper, aristocrat or monarch, the alike, by skeptic and infidel, able than their redskinned brethren setting up of thrones and the downby the worlds greatest poets, philosoin the eyes of the Lord." fall of dynasties, the wars of nations, phers, statesmen, scientists and hisSIGNS IN THE WEST PREDICTED the fluctuations of trade, the achieve torians." Even the profane sinner in A Lamanite prophet, Samuel, came ments of men and the. convulsions of the foul gacrilege of his oath acclaims commission with and prodivine nature, are all fixed as to time by refthe divine supremacy of Him whose claimed against the Nephite city of. Son. erence to the birth of Marys name he descrates Jesus the Christ. Zarahemla a second Jonah warning SUPREMACY OP JESUS OP ANCIENT NATIONS IN AMERICA another Nineveh.-- In stirrjng tones NAZARETH forcefulness he upbraided the the birth occurred holy Although To the student of history this Man for their, wickedness and 'prepeople wita to in Judea, with but few bear among men stands first, foremost and dicted their eventual destruction. Unalone, as a directing personality in ness from first hand knowledge like the Nlnevites, the majority of the the worlds progression. Mankind has those few comprising humble sheppeople of Zarahemla turned pot from never produced a leader to rank with herds and men of high estate it had their sins but scorned the prophet and Him. Regarded solely, as a historic been divinely decreed that the Natistrove to take his life. , One part of the message delivered by Samuel has" personage He is unique. Judged by vity should be acclaimed by the standard of hurtian estimation, agencies to- - nations afar, to especial reference to our present subJesus of Nazareth is supreme among peoples who had been long sequester- ject Thus he spake: men by reason ,of the excellence of ed beyond jhe western oceans, whose Behold I give unto you a sign, for five His general character, the symplicity. existence was unknown to the eastern years more cometh, and behold then comelh Son of God to redeem all those who world. Eor six centuries prior to the the beauty and genuine worth of His preshall believe on his name. And behold, this Lords birth the American continent will I give unto you for a sign at the lime cepts, and the influence of His exhad been occupied by the posterity of of his coming; for behold there shall be ample and doctrines in the advancea body of immigrants who had been great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the ment of the race. To these distinguishhe cometh there shall be no , brought hither from Jerusalem. Down night before ing characteristics of surpassing great' centuries those adds soul Christian devout prophets through ness, the ' ... an attribute that far exceeds the sum foretold in great-plaiThere ore. there shall be one day end night and a day as if it Were One day of all the others the divinity ' of ness the earthly advent of Christ, and and there were no night; and this shall bo Christs birth and ministry and the had specifically set forth circumstancunto you for a sign ; for ye shall know of eternal reality of His status as Lord es of time and place. the rising of the sun and also of its setting; and God. The original colony had been led therefore they shall know of a surety that days and a night; neverJesus was born in Bethlehem of from Jerusalem by Lehi, a prophet thfre shall be twoshall theless the night not be darkened, and divine under as constructed as a In vessel had . foretold, Judea, prophets it shall be before he is born. behold, there shall a new star prophets have attested. .His earthly, "direction these people had crossed the life covered a period of 33 years: and ocean and had become established on rlit, such an one as ye never have bethe Western Continent' From one held; and this also shall bo a sign unto of these but three were spentvby Him you. And behold this is not all, there shall small camp two nations had sprung, be as an acknowledged Teacher topenly many signs and wonders in heaven." Christ Appeared, Too, To His People In This Hemisphere Birth Of Savior non-Christi- Marked By Signs In Western Land (Following are excerpti from the writ-inof the late Dr. James . Talmage of the Council of the Twelve, dealing with the theme of Christmas Christmas in its real, religious espect as the observance of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Ed.) -- By the late Dt. James E. Talmage Of the Council of the Twelve THEREFORE the Lord himself shall Behold a virgin give you a. sign: shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name 'Immanuel,' (Isa, 7:H) For unto us a child is born, unto us a ten is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder i and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty Cod, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of - Peace, ( Isa. 9:6) . . uper-mortal . Christmas Day is celebrated and should be more generally solemnized as an anniversary, a birthday, commemorating the earthly embodiment of the greatest and holiest Personage who has ever lived and died upon this plane t.- - As each annual xecurrenepis known as Christmas there can be no impropriety in applying that designation to the event itself; and so we shall speak of the birth of the Christ Child as the First Christmas. ' t Birthdays of those who- - have attained prominence, of men who have been accorded membership in the very brotherhood called Great-ar- e generally observed as memorial occasions among practically all nations. lives of the great And this is well-f- or should be remembered in honor of their worthy achievements and for the lessons they convey as examples and incentives to the yet living. If such be the custom with respect to men who have wrought well in worldly" affairs there is sublime fitnessin tnus commemorating the earthly adVent of Him who is acknowledged and - acclaimed as the Greatest of the great, ' the Man Supreme. THE MERIDIAN OP TIME As to the precise time of our Lords birth into mortality, discussion has been long and strong; but alFsuch we may well pass over at this, time at least, remembering only that the weight of authority indicates a month in Spring, at or near the beginning of the Jewish New Year. , . The birth of Jesus of Nazareth occurred atvhat has been impressively and authoritatively called The Meridian of Time. This revealed designation is profoundly significant; and the expression is no less choice 'as to rhetorical figure than as a description . striking in its plainness .and forceful In Its simplicity, As Indicating a principal division of time or space the term meridian has an exact meaning. Thus we divide the hours of the day as occurring before or after noon (a.m.) or post meridian (p.rn.): and so the years and the centuries .of. human history are reckoned from the central point or chrono-logic-record as before pr after-Chr- ist. , . . . n- , 5 (Helamak 14:1) THE FULFILMENT Nephltes resented the proclamation of the Lamanite prophet, and in their anger assailed him; but others, touched by his inspired acclaim, believed In him and his message and sought to make . reparation for their sins.. The records tell of the eagerness! with which the believers "awaited the appearing of the - promised sign- s- andof their, bitter J persecution by their unregenerate fellows. Following the delivery of his d proclamation the prophet had as suddenly as he had come and his later doings are unknown to history. So the repentant Nephltes watched, waited, prayed and suffered, while the rest persecuted and blasphemed. As the end of the five year , interval approached, the persecutors announced a day on which all who . professed belief In the prophecies of Samuel should be put to death, pro vided the supernatural signs had not appeared. . The principal minister among the Nephites of that period was Nephi son of Nephi, and grandson of He ,was greatly troubled over the threatened destruction of his people and sought the lord in mighty prayer; with what effect let the sacred record Itself speak: - Most of the sin-lade- n . X disap-peare- , . , Hela-mai- l. 1 . . "Behold, the voice of the Lord can. . him, saying: Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign bo given, and on the morrow come f into the world to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that sehich I have caused to be tprjcen by the mouth of my holy prophets ." (J Nephi lilt) n . the ages in their acknowledgement , the-nigh- t - r. ' Mohammedan and infideVboasting atheist and passive unbeliever, Christian and Jew, add to the homage of . J(I -' ante-meridia- ...... jtL Shepherds in adoration abound the newly born Christ child, as ; picted by an artist . de- . Lords premise was literally (Conti ad m Page T ) The .1 t4- or |