Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-05-02
EASTER AROMATICS.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage Dis
courses on the Resurrection.
The Gospel Full. of Sweetness-The World
the Lords Flower Garden-The Grand
eur of the ResurrectIOn-The
Judgment Day.

On Easter Sunday DR.. Talmage preached
to a vast coacourse at the Brooklyn Taber-
nacle. his subject being '.Aromatics for
Easter" DR.. Talmage took two text
Luke xiv. /: Bringing the spices which
they had pre- pared" and l Corinthians
Nv. 50: The trumpet shall sound" He
said:
Enchanting work have l before me this
Easter morning, for, initiating these
women of the text who brought aromatics
to the mausoleum of Christ, am going to
unroll frankinc-nse and balm and ottar Of
roses and cardamon from the East Indies
and Odors from Arabia, and when we can
inhale no more of the perfume then we
will talk of sweet sounds and hear from
the music that shall wake the dead Hav-
ing ON other casters described the whole
scene, l need only in four or five sentences
say: Christ was lying fat on His back,
lifeless, amidst sculptured rocks, rocks
over Him, rocks under Him and a door of
rocks all bounded by flowers and fount-
aims of Joseph's country seat Then a
bright immortal, having descended from
Heaven quick and flashing as a falling
meteor, picks up the door of rock
and pats it aside as though it were a
chair and sits on it. Then Christ
unwraps Himself of His mortuary ap-
parel and takes the turban from His
head and folds it up deliberately and lays
it down in one place and puts the shroud
in another place and comes out and finds
that the soldiers who had been on guard
are lying around, pallid and in dead
swoon, their swords bent and useless.
The illustrious prisoner of the tomb is dis
charged and five hundred people see him
at once. An especial congress of ecclesi-
astics called to pay bride to the resuscl-
tated soldiers and to say that there was no
resurrection and that while they were
overcome of slumber the Christians bad
played resurrectionists and stolen the
corpse. The Marys are at the tomb with
aromatics.
Why did not these women of the text
bring thorns and nettes. for these would
have more thoroughly expressed the pierre
ing sorrow of themselves and their Lord?
Why did they not bring some national en-
sign, such as that of the Roman eagle,
typical of conquest? No they bring aro-
mates suggestive to me of the fact that
the Gospel is to sweeten and deodoriZe
the world. The world has so much of
putrefaction and malador that Christ is
going to roll over it waves of franklin
cense and sprinkle it all over with sweet
smelling myrrh. Thousands Of years be-
fore this Solomon had said that
Christ was a lily and Isaiah had
declared that under the Gospel the desert
would bloom like the rose but the world
was slow to take the floral hint And so
now the women of the text bring hands
full and arms full of redolence aud per-
haps uRwittingly confirmed and empha-
he 81
Christ's Gospel has conquered the earth
the last offense to the olfactories will
have left the world; sweet pure air will
have blown through every home, and
churches will be freed from the curse of
ill ventilation and the world will become
two great gardens, the empurpled and
emblaZoned and emparadised hemi-
spheres. Sin is q buZzard, holiness is a
dove. Sin is night-shade, holiness is
flower. If you are trying to reform the
world open the windows of that tenement
house and pour through it draught of
God'S pure atmosphere and set geranium
or heliotrope on the window sill, cleanse
the air and you will help cleanse the soul.
How dare this world so often insult that
feature of the human race which God has
made the most prominent feature in hui
man physioCnomy? To prove how He
Himself loves aromatics i bring the fact
that there are millions of flowers on
prairies and in mountain businesses the
fragrance of which no human being ever
breathes. and He must have grown there
for His own regalement. And for the COM
pliment the world paid Christ by giving
Him a sepulcher in Joseph's garden He will
yet make the whole earth a garden. Yes,
He expressed His delight with fragrance
II
said, The Lord smelled sweet savor;"
and He filled the air of the ancient taber-
nacle and temple with sweet incense; and
there are small bottles of perfume in
Heaven described in Revelation as golden
vials full of odor. l preach an ambrosial
gospel which will yet extirpate from the
world all foulness and rancidity and the
last noisomeness and the last mephitic
gas Glad am L that though the world
had chiefly spikes for the Saviour's feet
and thorns for the Savour's brow
the magi put frankincense upon his cradle
and the Marys brought frankincense to
his grave.
Notice also that Christ's mausoleum was
opened by conclusion. 1t was a great
earthquake that put its twisted key into
the involved and labyrinthine lock of that
tomb. ConcussiOn! That is the power
that opens all the tombs that are opened
at all. Tomb of soul and tomb of nations
Conclusion between England and the
thirteen colonies, and forth came free
government in America. Conclusion be-
tween France and Germany, and forth
comes republicanism in France. Concus-
sion among the rocks on Mount Sinai and
on two of them was left perfect law for
all ages. Conclusion among the rocks
around Cavalry and the crucifixion was
made the more overwhelming. Conclusion
between the United States and Mexico and
a vast area of country becomes ours
Conclusion between England and France
and most of this country west of
the Mississippi becomes the property
OF the American Union. Conclusion be-
tween iceberg and iceberg, between
bowlder and bowlder aud a thousand
conclusions put this world into shape for
mans residence. Conclusion between
David and his enemies and out came the
psalms which otherwise would never have
been written. Concussi ion between Gods |
will and mans will and, ours overthrown,
we are new tcreatures in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion Of misfortune and trial for |
many of the good and out comes their
especial conservation. Do not, therefore,
be frightened when you see the great Up
heavals the great earthquakes, whether |
among nations or in individual expert
ence. Out of them God will bring best
results and most magnificent conse-
Quences- Hear the crash all around the |
Lords sarcophagus and at the glorious
termination of its dead inhabitant- Con-
cussion! If ever general European war,
which the world has been expecting for