The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-03
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THE 0D0R OF THE GOSPEL
WHY THE ROBES OF CHRIST
SMBLLED OF MYRRH.

Geu5e-IE6 Sm9ll OF AlOSS.
BROOKLYN, Dec. New members were
received at the Tabernacle this morning,
making the commitment membership
4,l92 Multitudes of strangers from all
parts Of the earth were present, and all to-
gether led on by organ aud cornet, united
in singing William Cowper's hymn:
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Emanuel q veins:
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains"
The Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage. D. D.,
preached an eloquent sermon on THE Fra
grance of the Gospel" taking for his tex
"All thy garments smell Of myrrh and al IS
and cassla out of the ivory palaces"--
Psalms XIV, g. Ho said:
Among the grand adornments Of the c.;y
OF Paris is the church of Voter Dame, with
its great towers and elaborate rose-win-
dows, and sculpturing of the last dgment,
with the trumpeting angels and rlsi <
dead. its battlements of quarterfoir IL
sacristy with ribbed ceiling and statue Ut
saints. But there was nothing in all that
building which more vividly appealed 10
my plain republican tastes than the C SLY
vestments, which laid in oaken press So
robes that had been embroidered with so d.
and been worn by popes and archbshopS on
great occasions. There was a robe that
had been worn by Plus VII. at the crown
ing of the first Napoleon. There was also a
vestment that had been worn at the bapt sm
of Napoleon ii. As our guide opened the
oaken presses and brought ont these
vestments of fabulous cost and lifted
them up, the fragrance Of the punes mt
aromatics in which they had been pre-
served filled the place with "A sweetnes that
was almost oppressive. Nothing that lad
been done in stone more vividly impre. d
me than these things that had been done in
cloth, and embroidery, and perfume. But
to-day / open the drawer of this text, and
| look upon the kiDgly robes of Christ, aud
as | lift them, flashing with eternal jewels,
the whole house is filed 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. His
robes rustic and blaze as g advances. His
pomp and power and glory overmaster the
spectator. More brilliant is he than Queen
Vashti, moving amid the Persian princes;
than Marie Antoinetto on tho 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 palace; ali beauty and all pomp forgot
ten, while we stand in the presence of this
imperial glory, King Of Kon, Ziig of earth,
King Of heaven, King foreverl His gar
ments not worn out, not dust bedraggled;
but radiant, and 1eweled, and redolent. It
seems as il they must have been pressed
hundred years amid the flowers of heaven.
The wardrobes from which they have been
taken must have been sweet with clusters
of campfire and frankincense, and all man.
ner of precious wood. Do you not inhale
the odorsl Ay, ay. They "smell of myrrh
and aloes, and cassia, out Of the ivory pal
ncssn
Your first curiosity is to know why the
robes of Christ are Odorous with myrrh.
This was bright-leafed Abyssinian plant.
IL was tri-foliated. The Greeks, Egyptians,
Romans and Jews bought and sold 1t at a
high price. Tho first present that was ever
given to Christ was sprig of myrrh,
thrown on his infantile bod in Bethlehem,
and the last gift that Christ ever had was
myrrh pressed into the cup of hi, crucihx-
ion. The natives would take a stone and
bruise the tree, and then ii would exude a
gum that would saturate all the ground be-
meath. This gum wns 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, la
chests, in drawers, in rooms, and its per-
fume adhered almost interminably to any,
thing that was anywhere near it. SO when
in my text j read that Chrisvs garments
smell of myrrh, j Immediately conclude the
exquisite sweetness OF Jesus. know that
to many he is only like any historical per-
son; another John Howard; an
other philanthropic Oberlin; another
Confucius; grand subject for a
painting; heroic theme for a poem;
n beautiful form for statue; but to
those who have heard his voice, and felt
his pardon, aud received his benediction, hs
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 bloom only when the sun Is
coming up, nor like -four oclocks, y that
bloom only whom the sun is going down, but
like myrrh, perpetuaily hromatic--the same
morning, noon and mighty yesterdAy, to-day.
forever IL seems II we cannot wear him
out We put on him all our burdens and
afiiict him with all our griefs. and set him
foremost In all our battles, aud yet ho 10
ready to lift, and TO sympathze, and to
help. We have 80 imposed upon him that
ono would think in eternal affront he
would quit our soul; and yet to-day he ad-
dresses us with tho same tenderness, dawns
upon us with the same smile, pitles us with
tho same compassion
There is no name like his for us. 10 il
more imperial than Csesar's, more musical
than Beethoven's, more conquering than
Charlemagnes, more eloquent than Ct-
ceros. Ii throbs with all life. IL weeps
with all pathos 10 groans with all pain.
II stoops with all condescension. It
breathes with all perfume. We like Jesus to
set broken bone, 10 pity "A homeless or
phan, TO nurse IA sick man, to take prodi-
gal back without any scoding, 10 illurnine
a cemetery all ploughed with graves, TO
make a queen unto God out Of the lost
woman of the street, TO catch the tears of
human sorrow In a lachrimatory that shall
never be broken9 Who has such an eye to
SEQ our need such lip 10 kiss away our
sorrow, such hand 10 snatch US out of the
fire. such a foot 30 trample our enemies,
such heart to embrace all our necessi-
tissi I struggle for some metaphor with
which 20 express him. H0 Is not like the
bursting forth OF full orchestra; that Ia
too loud. He Is not like the sea when
lashed to rage by the tempest; that is too
boistorous. He Is not like the mountain,
its brow wroathed with the hghtnings; that
is too solitary. Give us softer type a
eentler comparison. We have seemed to
SEQ him with our eyes, and 10 hear him
with our ears, and 10 touch him with our
hands Oh, that today he might appearto
some other one OF our five sensesi Ay, the
nostril shall discover bis pl esence. He comes
upon us like spice gales from heaven. Yea,
his garments smell OF pungent, lasting, and
all-pervasivo myrrh.
Oh, that you all knew his sweetness.
How soon you would turn from your
novels III the philosonhar iaanad ont Of