The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-01-24
TAIN US SERMON.
An T 3quent Liscourse on The
rauce 81 the Gospel"
s ae artist RedoIent of Sweet
pa slins Perfumes that Pence
tra T. the Innermost Recesses
81 the Christian Life.

for his subject "The Fragrance OF the |
&0spel.r His text was:
An Thy garments smell Of myrrh and aloes, |
and cassia out of the ivory palaces.-Psaims |
XIV. 8.
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-
ment; with its trumpeting angels and rls-
ing dead; it's battlements of quarter folli
its sacristy, with ribbed ceiling and stat
ues of saints. But there was nothing in
all that building which more wildly ap-
pealed to my plain republican tastes than
the costly vestmepts 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 browning OF the first Napo--
leon. There was also vestment that had
been worn at the baptism Of Napoleon IL.
AS our guide opened the oaken presses
and brought out these vestments of fabu-
lous cost and lifted them up, the fra
GRANGE of the pungent aromatics in which
thew had been preserved filed the place
with q sweetness that was almost OPP
pressive. Nothing that had been done
In stone more wildly impressed 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 kingly robes of Christ,
and as l lift them, flashing with eternal
jewels, the whole house is filed with the
aroma of these garments, which "smeH OF
myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the
ivory palaces"
In my text the King steps forth. His
10 ia advances.
His pomp, and power, and glory overmas-
ter the spectator. More brilliant is He
than Queen Vashti, moving amid the Per-
sian 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 palace; all beauty
and all pomp forgotten, while we stand in
the presence of this imperial glory.
King of Zion, King of earth, King of
Heaven, King forever! His garments not
worn out, not t-bedraggled; but ra-
diant, and jeweled, and redolent. 1t
seems as if they must have been pressed a
hundred years amid the flowers of Heay-
en-. The wardrobes from which they have
been taken must have been sweet with
clusters of campfire, and frankincense,
and all manner Of precious wood. Doyou
not inhale the odors2 Ay, ay. 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 Abyssinian
plant. 1t 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 infant bed IL
Bethlehem, and the last gift that Chris
ever had was myrrh pressed into the cuI
of His crucifxion. The natives would
take q stone and bruise the tree, and the1
it would exude gum that would saturati
all the ground beneath. This gum wa
used for purposes of merchandise. On
piece Of it, no larger than chestnut
would whelm q whole room with odors
1t was put In closets, in chests, in drawers
In rooms, and its perfume adhered almos
Unfortunately to any thing that was any
where near it. So when in my text rea
that Christ's garments smell of 1Ayrfh,
Immediately conclude the exquisite sweet
ness of Jesus, know that to many He
only like any historical person, anothe
John Howard, another philanthropi
Oberlin, another Confucius, gran
subject for painting, heroi
theme for a poem, a beautiful for1
for statue, but to those who have hear
His voice, and felt His pardon, an
received His benediction, He is music, an
light, and warmth, and thrill, and etern,
fragrance. Sweet as q friend sticking /
you when all else betray. Lifting you u
while others try to push you down. M
so much like morning glories, that blool
only when the sun is coming up, nor lii
''four o'clock's," that bloom only whe
the sun is going down, but like myrrl
perpetually aromatic-the same 1nornini
noon and night-yesterday, to-day, fol
ever, 1t seems as if we can not wear Hi
out. We put ON Him all our burdens, an
afiict Him with our griefs, and set Hi
foremost in all our battles, and vet He
ready to lift, and to sympathize and
help. We have so imposed upon Him tn
one would think in eternal affront T
would quit our soul; and yet to-day He a.
dresses us with the same tenderness
dawns upon US with the same smile, pitt
as with the same compassion.
There is no name like His for us. 1t
more imperial than C@sar's, more music
than BeethOveE's, more eenquering tbs
Charlemagneis, more eloquent thu
Cicero's. 1t throbs with ali life. It wee
with all pathos. It groans with all pal
1t stoops with all condescension.
breathes with all perfume. Who Ii
Jesus to set broken bone, to pity HON
less orphan, to nurse sick man, to take
prodigal back without any scolding,
illumine a cemetery all plowed wi
graves, to make queen unto God out
the lost woman of the street, to catch t
tears Of human sorrow in lachrymato
that shall never be broken? Who has SUI
an eye to see our need, such q lip to ki
away our sorrow, such hand to snat
us out of the fire, such a foot to tramp
our enemies, such heart to embrace
our necessities? l struggle for sor
metaphor with which to express Hi
He is not like the bursting forth of a fl
orchestra; that is too loud. He is u
like the sea when dashed to ra
by the tempest; that IS too boisteroJ
He is not like the mountain, its brC
wreathed with the hghtnings; that is t
solitary. Give us softer type, q gent
comparison. We have seemed to see HI
with our eyes, and to hear Him with O
ears, and to touch Him with our han
Oh, that to-day He might appear to soI
one OF our five senses! Ay, the most
= shall discover His presence. He com