News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-12-13
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR. TALMAGES
STERLING DIsCOURSES.
Subject: The Fragrance of the
Gospel

ana dtoeS, ana cdSStd, QUE or the trory pa
oceS-"-Psalmsx XIV, S.
Among the grand adornments of the city
OF Paris is the Church of Notre Dame, will
Its great towers, and elaborated rose
windows, and ~sculpturing of the last judg
ment, with the trumpeting ange'S and rising
dead; its battlements of quarterfoil; it
SacriSty, with ribbed ceiling and statue.
OF saints. But there was nothing in all that
building which more wildly appealed to my
plain republican tastes, than the costly
vestmentS which laid in oaken presses
robes that had been embroidered with gold
and been worn by popes and archbishop:
on great occasions There was a robe thai
had been worn by Plus VII. at the browning
OF the first Napoleon. There was also a vest
ment that had been worn at the baptism oil
Napoleon IL As our guide opened the
oaken presses and brought out thest
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. Moth ne 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 l open the
drawer of this text. and | look upon the
klngly robes of Christ, and as | lift them,
flashing with eternal jewels, the whole house
is filled with the aroma of these garments,
which smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,
out OF the ivory palaces
IN my text the King steps forth. Hisrobes
rustic and blaze as He advances. His pomp
ana power and glory overmaster the specta-
TOR More brilliant is He than Queen Nashti,
moving amid the Persian Princes; than
marie Antolnette on the day when Louis
ANL put upon her the necklace of eight
nundred diamonds; than Anne Boieyn, the
DAY when Henry VIII. welcomed her to his
paiace; al beauty and all pomp forgotten,
Whue we stand in the presence of TINS i'm
eerIal glory, King of Zion, King of earth,
King OF Heaven, King forever! His gar
ments not worn out, not dust-bed-
ragged; but radiant, and ieweled,
and redolent. 1t seems as if they
must have been pressed a hundred years
amid the flowers of heaven The wardrobe
from which they have been taken must have
been sweet with clusters of campfire and
frankincense, and all manner of precious
wool. Do o not inha!et the odors? Ay,ay.
They smell of myrrh, and alces, and cassia,
out of the ivory palaceS.n
Your first curiosity is to know why the
robes of Christ are odorouS with myrrh.
This was a bright-leafed Abyss:nian plant.
IL was trIfoliated. The Greeks, Egyptians,
Romans and Jews bought and sold it at
. high price The first present
that was ever given to Christ was a
sprlg of myrrh, thrown on his i~ufantile bed
In Bethlehem. and the last gift that Christ
ever had was myrrh pressed into the cup of
his cruciixion. The natives would take a
stone and bruise the tree, and then
1t would exude a gum that would
saturate all the ground beneath. This gum
was used for purposes Of merchandise. One
piece of it, no larger than a chestnut, would
whelm a whole room with odors. 1t was put
in closets. in chests, in drawers, in rooms,
and its perfume adhered almost intermin-
ably to anything that was anywhere near
1t. So when in my text | read that Christ's
garments smell of myrrh, l Immediately
conclude the exquisite sweetness of Jesus.
know that to many He is only like any his
torlcaI person; another John Howard;
another philanthropic Cberlin; another Con-
1uclus; a grand subject for a painting: a
form for a 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 a friend sticking TO
you when all else betray. Lifting YOU up
while Others try to push you down. Not
so much like mOrning-glorieS, that boom
when the sun is coming up, nor like
-four clocks that bloom only when the sun
IS going down, but like myrrh, perpetually
aromatlc-the same morning, nool and night
yesterday, to day, forever 1t seems as if
we cannot wear Him out. We put on Him
I'll our burdens, and adiict Him with all
our griefs, and set Him foremost in all our
battles, and yet He is really to lift, and to
synpathize, and to help. We have so i'm
posed upon Him that one would think in
eternal affront He would quit our soul; and
vet 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 us. 1t is
more imperial than Cesar's, more musical
han Beethovenfs, more ~conquering than
.harlemagne's, more eloquent than Cicero's.
Ii throbs with alllife. 1t weeps with all pathos.
all condeScension. 1t brcathes with all
ick man, to taakaes n a prodfe eaPh 6acsk TO n ipEoe G
my scolding. to illumine a cemetery all
with graves, to make a Queen unto
rod out OF the lost woman of the street, to
the tears of human sorrow in a
achrYmarOry that shall never be broken?
' no has such an eye to see our need. such a
p to kiss away our sorrow, such a hand to
match US out of the fire, such a foot to
rampie our enemies, such a heart to embrace
our neceSSitiesl L struggle for soma
metaphor with which to express Him. He is
like the bursting forth of a full or.
that is too loud. He is not like
he sea when dashed to rage by the tempest
nat is too boisterous. He is not ike the
fountain, its brow wreathed with the
ghtnings; that is too solitary. Give US
softer type, a gentler comparison.
have seemed to see Him with our
yes, and to hear Him with our ears, and to
ouch Him with our hands. Oh, that to-day
lie might appear to some other one of our
I've senses! Ay. the noStril sha1 discover
lis presence. He comes upon US like spice
'ales from heaven. Yea, His garments smell
pUngent, lasting and all pervasive myrrh.
Oh, that you all knew His sweetness. How
DON you would turn from your novels. If
philosopher leaped out of his bath
| a frenzy of joy and capped
is hands, and rushed through the
5reetS, because he had found the solution of
mathematical problem, how will you feel
,aplnS from the fountain of n Saviour's
lercy and pardon, washed, c ami made
Inte as snow, when the qUca-.Vn has been
Olved: How can my soul be saved:' Naked,
70 t-bItten, stOrm-iaShed soul, let Jesus this
our throw around thee the garments that
neil of myrrh, and aioeS, and cassia, out of
he ivory palaces
Your second curiosity is to know why the
of Jesus are odorous with aloes. There
some difference of opinion about where
1es9 aloes grow, what is the color of the
over, what is the particular appearance of
he herb. Suffice 1t tor you and me to know
a4oeS mean bitterness the world
yer, and when Christ comes with garments
caring that particular odor, they suggest to
Re the bitterness of a Saviour's sufferings.
ERE there ever such nights as Jesus lived
irough-nights on the mountains, nights on
lie sea, nights IN the desert! Who ever had
lch a hard reception as Jesus had? A hos
,lry the first. an unjust trial in oyer and
min another. a foul mouthed, yelling
lob the la {. Was there a space on His
ack as wide as your two fingers where He
as not whlppeds Was there a space on His
49," o1 hAA-A o1blAC "uClt II was LOb tuD |
f the briers. When the spike struck at the
lstep. did It not go clear through to the
ollOw of the foot! Oh, long, deep, bitter
lgrimage. AlOeSl Aloesi
John leaned his head on Christ. but who
id Christ lean on! Five thousand men fed
y the Saviour; who fed Jesus! The SYM
athy of a Sav.our's heart going out to the
per and the adulteresS; but who sOothed
hristl Denied both cradle and death
d, He had a fit place neither to be
Nrn NOR 70 lie I.L~H
Dor lad! Apoor young man! Not so much
a taper to cheer his dying hours. Even
le candle of the sun snutfed out oh, was
not all aloes. All our sins, sorrows, be-
'avements, losses, n all the agonies of
irth and hell picked up as in one clus-
II and squeezed into one cup, and that
reSsed to His lips, until the acrid,
auseating, bitter drdUght was swallowed
a distorted countenance, and a shudder
hea I to foot, and a gurg,ing ~strangula-
Oh. AlOeSl Alossl Nothing but aloes.
Ii this for Himself. Ali this to get the
Ime in the world of being a martyr! All
lis in the spirit of st~ub5ornness, because he
id not Ike Cesar! MOI no! All this because
Le wanted to pluck you aud me from hell.
He wanjel to raise you and me to
-eaven- Because we were lost and He
US found. Because we were blind
nj he wanted US to see. Because we we're
and He wanted US manumitted Oh, We
whose cup of life the saccharine has pre-
Onlnatei; oh, ye who have had bright and
1arkllng beverages, how do you feel toward
i'm VINO IN your stead, and to purchase
our observation-disclosures, took the alOes, the I'M
IVORY a.Oes, the bitter aloesl
Your third curiosity is to know why these
of Christ are odorous with caSsia.
MS wa a plant that grew in India and the
iioining islands. You do not care to hear
hat kind OF a flower it had or what kind of
lax 1t is enough for me to tell you that
was used incidentally. In that
md and in that age, where they
new but little about pharmacy, cassia was
sed to arrest many forms of disease. So
hen in my text we find Christ coming with