Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1889-08-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Y esklY Discourse OF the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
Subject: "The Bower ofTree
Branches.s ISrencIae at
the HampIOEs, Long
Isiand.)

TEXT: "Go forth unto the mount and
fetch oliUe branches and pine breaches, and
myrtle branches, and palm branches and
branches Of thick trees, TO make boOthS."-
Nehemiah viii, Is.
1t seems as il Mount Olivet were I'M
moored. Tho people havo gone into the
mountain, and have cut or tree branches,
and put them ON their shoulders, and they
come forth now into the streets Of
Jerusalem, and on the house tops, and
they twist these tree branches into
arbors or booths. Then the people come
forth from their comfortable homes,
and dwell for seven days in those booths
or arbors. Why do they do that2 Well,
it is a great festal time. 1t is the
feast of tabernacles; and these people are
going to celebrate the desert travel OF their
fathers and their deliverance from their
troubles, the experience of their fathers
when travelling in the desert they lived in
booths on their way to the land of Canaan.
And SO these booths also become highly sug-
gestive-I will not say they arc necessarily
typical, but highly suggestive-of our march
toward heaven, and of the fact that we are
only living temporarily here, as it were, in
booths or arbors on our way to the Canaan
Of eternal rest.
And what was said to the Jews literally
may to-day be said figuratively to all this au-
dience. Go forth into the mountain and
fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and
myrtle branches, and palm branches, and
branches of thick trees to mako booths. Yes
we are only here in temporary residence
We are marching on The merchant princes
who used to live in Bowling Green, New
York, have passed away, and their residences
are now the fields of cheap merchants
Whore are the men who fifty years ago owned
New York; Passed on
There is no use in our driving our stakes
too deep into the earth; we are on the
march. The generations that have preceded
us Enve gone so far on that we cannot even
hear the sound of their footsteps. They have
gone over the hills, and we are to follow
them. But blessed be God, We are not in
this world left out of doors and uusheltered
There are gospel booths, or gospel arbors, in
which our souls are to be comforted. Go
forth unto the mountain, and fetch olive
branches, and pine branches, aud myrtle
branches, and palm branches, and branches
Of thick trees, aud build booths.
Well, now we are to-day TO construct O
gospel arbor, or gospel booth; and how shall
we construct it2 Well we must get all the
tree branches and build. According to my
text we must go up into the mount and bring
olive branches, What does that mean9
The olive tree grows in warm climates, and
1t reaches the height Of twenty or twenty-five
feet, straight stem, and then an offshoot from
that stem. And then people come and they
strip off these branches sometimes, and when
In time of war the General of one army takes
one OF these olive branches and goes out to
the General of another army, what does that
mean? Why, it means unsaddle the war
chargers. 1t means hang up the war KNAPP
sacks. 1t is but beautiful way of saying
Peacel
Now, If we are to-day going to succeed in
bv ding this GOSPEL arbor, we must go into
TIC Mount of Gods blessing and fetch the
olive branches and whatever else we must
have. We must have at least two olive
branches-peace with God and peace with
man. When l say peace with God, do not
mean to represent God as c bloody chieftain,
having grudge against us, but do mean to
Affirm there is no more antagonism between q
mound and hare, between hawk and pull
lot, between elephant and swine, than there
is hostility between holiness and sin. And if
Tod Is all holiness and we are all sin, there
must be readjustment, there must be re-
construction, there must be treaty, there
must be stretching forth of olive branches.
There is great lawsuit going on now, and
1T is lawsuit which man is bringing against
his Maker; that lawsuit is now on the cal
endar. 1t is the human versus the divine
it Is iniquity versus the immaculate; 1t Is
weakness versus omnipotance. Man began
Ae1 wv uAl INV DSSiu bLl6 ldNoulb we Dc
gan it; we assaulted our Maker, and the
sooner we end this part of the struggle in
which the finite attempts 10 overthrow the
infinite and omnipotent, tho sooner we end it
the better
Travellers tell us there is no such place as
Mount Calvary, that it is only hill, only
an insignificant hill; but persist in calling
it the mount Of Gods divine mercy and love,
far grander than any other place on earth,
praO1nr than tho A Inc nj
there are no other hills as compared with it;
and have noticed in every sect where the
cross of Christ is set forth, it is planted with
olive branches. And all we have to do is
to get rid of this war between God and
ourselves, Of which we are all tired.
We want to back out of the war, we
want to get rid of this hostility. Ali we
have to do is just to get up on the mount of
Gods blessing, and pluck these olive
branches and wave them before the throne.
Peace through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, 1T don't make much difference what
the world thinks of you--what this King,
that Queen, that Senator thinks of you. But
come into the warm, intimate, glowing and
everlasting relationship with the God of the
round universe; that is the joy that makes q
hallelujah seem stupid. All, why do VIC want
to have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Why, II we had gone on in ten thousand
years of war against God, we could not have
captured so much as a sword or cavalry stir.
rup, or twisted off one of the wheels of The
chariot Of his omnipotence. But the moment
we bring this olive branch God ard all heaven
come on our SIDE Peace through our Lord
Jesus Christ; and no other kind Of peace is
worth anything
But then we must have that other olive
branch, peace with man. Now 1t is very
easy to get up quarrel There are gum
nOw6nrv ChYig1iaOa oil around no nd
match Of proyocation will set them off. II
is easy enough to get up a quarrel. But, my
brother, don't you think you had better have
your horns sawed Off? Had you not better
make an Apology Had you not better sub
init to q little humiliationS Oh, you say,
until thatman takes the first step | willnever
be at peace with him; nothing will be
done until he is ready to take the
first step. You are a pretty Christian
When would this world DO saved IL Christ
had not taken the first step2 We were in
the wrong, Christ was in the right-aH right
and forever right. And yet He took the first
step. And instead of going and getting q
knotty scourge with which to whip your an
tagonist, your enemy, you had better get up
on the radiant mount where Christ suffered
for His enemies, and just take an olive branch
not stripping off the soft, cool, fragrant
leaves, but leaving them all ON, and then try
on them that gospel switch. 1t won't hurt
them, and it will save you Peace with God
peace with man. If you cannot take thost
two doctrines you are no Christian.
Blest be the tic that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
IA like ~ that above.
From sorrow, toll and pain,
And sin we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reirn
Through all eternity.
But my text goes further. It says: Gt