Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-12-22
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYS DIvINE,s SUNDAY
SERMON



TEXT: al TN garments smell Of myrrh,
aud dioes, and cossia out Of the fUorD pal
dces.n-Psalms XIV, ..
Among the grand adornments of the city
OF Paris is the Church Of Notre Dame, with
its great towers and elaborated rose
windows. and sculpturing Of the last judg-
inent, with the trumpeting angels and rising
dead; IFS battlements of quarterfoil; its
sacristy, with ribbed ceiling and statues
OF saints. But there was nothing in all that
building which more wildly appealed to my
plain republican tastes, than the costly
vestInents which laid in oaken presses,
robes that had been embroidered with gold,
and been worn by popes and archbishops
on great occasions. There was a robe that
had been worn by Plus VII. at the GROWING
Of the first Napoleon There was also vest
ment that had been worn at the baptism OF
Napoleon IL As our guide opened the
oaken presses and brought out these
vestments Of fabulous cost, and lifted
them up, the fragrance Of the pungent arc
MATES in which they had been preserved,
filled the place with a sweetness that was al
most oppressive. Nothing that had been done
in stone more wildly impressed me than these
things that had been done in cloth, and en-
broiGery and perfume. But to-day open the
drawer of this text and l look upon the
kingly robes of Christ, and as i lift them,
flashing with eternal Jewels, the whole house
which ''smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,
out of the ivory palaces
In my text the King steps forth His robes
rustic and blaze as He advances. His pomp
and power and glory overmaster the specta-
tor. More brilliant is He than Queen Vashti,
moving amid the Persian Princes; than
Marie Antoinette on the day when Louis
XVI. put upon her the necklace of eight
hundred diamonds, than Anne Boleyn, the
day when Henry VIII welcomed her to his
pa'ace; all beauty and all pomp forgotten,
while we stand in the presence of tins i'm
perial glory, King of Zion, King of earth,
King of Heaven, King. foreverl His gar
ragged; but radiant, AMI jeweled,
and redolent 1t seems as if they
must have been pressed hundred years
amid the flowers of heaven The wardrobe
from which they have been taken must have
been sweet with clusters of campfire and
wood. Do you not inhale the odorsl Away.
They smell of myrrh. and aloes, and cassia,
out of the ivory palaces"
Your first curiosity is to know why the
robes of Christ are odorous with myrrh.
This was a bright.leafed Abyssinan plant.
1t was trifolated. The Greeks, Egyptians,
Romans and Jews bought and sold it at
that was ever given to Christ was
sprig OF myrrh, thrown on his infantile bed
in bethlehem. and the last gift that Christ
ever had was myrrh pressed into the cup of
his crucifixion. The natives would take a
stone and bruise the tree, and then
it would exude gum that would
saturate all the ground beneath. This gum
was used for purposes of merchandise. One
piece OF 1t, no larger than chestnut, would
whelm whole room with doors 1t was put
in closets, in chests in drawers, in rooms,
and its perfume adhered almost intermin-
ably to anything that was anywhere near
it. So when in my text read that Christ's
garments smell Of myrrh, / Immediately
conclude the exquisite sweetness of Jesus l
know that to many He is only like any his
torical person. another John Howard;
another philanthropic Oberlin; another Con-
fucius; a grand subject for a painting; a
heroic theme for a poem; a beautiful
form for statue; but to those who have
heard His voice, and felt His pardon, and re-
ceived His benediction, He is music and
light, and warmth, and thrill, and eternal
fragrance. Sweet as friend sticking to
you when all else betray. Lifting you up
while others try to push you down Not
50 much like morning-glories, that bloom
only when the sun is coming up, nor like
-four clocks " that bloom only when the sun
is going down. but like myrrh, perpetuaIly
aromatic-the same morning, noon and night
yesterday, TO day, forever. It seems as if
we cannot wear Him out. We put on Him
all our burdens, and aiiiict Him with all
our griefs, and set Him foremost in all our
battles, and yet He is ready to lift, and to
sympathize, and to help. We have so inn
posed upon Him that one would think in
eternal affront He would quit our soul; and
yet to-day He addresses us with the same
tenderness dawns upon US with the same
smile pities us with the same compassion.
There is no name like His for u.s. 1t is
more imperial than Caesars, more musical
.MNN
Charlemagne's, more eloquent than Cicero's
ltthrobs with alllife. 1t weeps with all pathos.
II groans with all pain. IL stoops with
all condescension 1t breathes with all
perfume Who like Jesus to set a broken
bone, to pity homeless orphan, to nurse a
sick man. to take a prodigal back without
any scolding, to illumine a cemetery all
plowcd with graves. to make a Queen unto
God out of the lost woman of the street. to
catch the tears Of human sorrow in
lachrymaCory that shall never be brokenl
Who has such an eye to see our need. such a
lip TO kiss away our sorrow, such a hand to
snatch us out OF the fire, such a foot to
all our necesstiesl struggle for some
netapl pr with which TO express Him He is
not IL j the bursting forth of full or
chestrl: that is too loud. He is not like
the sea when dashed IN race by the tempest
that is too boisterous He Is not like, the
its brow wreathed with the
lightnings; that is too solitary. Give US
q softer type, gentler comparison.
We have seemed to see Him with our
eyes, and to hear Him with our ears, and to
touch Him with our hands. Oh, that to-day
He might appear TO some other one of our
five sensesi Ay. the nostril shall discover
His presence He comes upon us like spice
gales from heaven. Yea, His garments smell
Of pungent. lasting and al pervasfve rnyrrh.
M, fI.nk ufir ali httarv HE euvonfuarc Hou
soon you would turn from your novels II
the philosopher leaped out OF his bath
IN a frenzy Of Joy and clapped
bis hands. and rushed through the
Itreefs, because he had found the solution Of
a mathematical problem how will you feel
leaping from the fountain Of a Savi0urs
mercy and pardon. washed, clean, and made
white as snow, when the question has been
solved: How can my soul be savedfn Naked,
fro,t bitten, storIn-lnshed soul, let Jesus this
hour throw around thee the garments that
smell Of myrrh, and nioes and cassia, out OF
the ivory palaces
Your second curiosity Is to know why the
robes OF Jesus are odorous with aloes. There
. some difference OF opinion about where
lheee alocs grow, what is the color OF the
Hover, what is the particular appearance Of
he herb. Suffice It for you and mo 70 know
that aloes mean bitterness the world
Dvef, and when Christ comes with garments
bearing that particular odor, they suggest 70
ne the bitterness Of a Saviouris sufferinRs
We're there ever such nights as Jesus lived
on the mouufaiua nights on