The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-07-31
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
TUE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.

Subject: The Bower of Tree Branches.
preached at the Hamptons,
Long Island9
TEXT: "Go forth unto the mount and
fetch oliue branches, and pine branches, and
myrtle branches, and palm branches, and
branches of thick trees, to make booths."-
Nehemiah viii, 15
It seems as If Mount Olivet were un-
moored. The people have gone into the
mountain, and have cut off tree branches,
and put them on their shoulders, and they
come forth now into the streets Of
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 that? Well,
it is 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
wher 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 are 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 fguratively 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 make booths. Yes,
we are only here in temporary residence.
We are marching on. The merchant princes
who used to live in Bowling Green, Now
York, have passed away, and their residences
are now the fields Of cheap merchants:
Where 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 have 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 unsheltered.
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, and myrtle
branches and palm branches, and branches
of thick trees and build booths.
Well, now we are to-day to construct q
gospel arbor or gospel booth; and how shall
we construct it? Well, we must get all the
tree branches and build. According to my
text we must 90 up into the mount and bring
olive branches. What does that mean?
The olive tree grows in warm climates, and
it reaches the height of twenty or twenty-five
that stem. And then people come, and they
strip of 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 knnp-
sacks. It is but beautiful way Of saying
Peacel
Now, if we are to-day going to succeed in
the 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 ard peace with
man. When say peace with God, l do not
mean to represent God as bloody chicftain,
having grudge againstus, but do mean to
affirm there is no more antagonism between q
hound and hare, between hawk and pull
let, between elephant and swine, than there
is hostility between holiness and sin. And if
God is all holiness and we are all sin, thero
must be O readjustment, there must be a re-
construction there must be treaty, there
must be stretching forth of olive branches.
There is O great lawsuit going on now, and
it is lawsuit which man is bringing against
bis Maker; that lawsuit is now On the cal
endar. It is the human versus the divine;
it is iniquity versus the immaculate; it is
weakness versus omnipotence. Man began
it, God did not begin the lawsuit. We be-
gan it; we assaulted our Maker, and the
sooner we end this part of the struggle in
which the finite attempts to overthrow tie
infinite and omnipotent, the sooner we endit
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 tho mount of Gods divine mercy and love,
far grander than any other place on earth,
grander than the Alps or Himalayas, and
there are no other hills rs 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. All 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, it 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
hallelujah seem stupid. All, why do we want
to have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ?
Why, if we had gone on in ten thousand
years Of war against God, we coId noS;lave
captured so much as a sword or cavalry STIR
rup, or twisted off one Of the wheels Of tho
chariot of his omnipotence. But the moment
we bring this olive branch God and all heaven
come on our side; Peace t Ugh our Lord
Jesus Christ; and no other Ind Of peace is
worth anything.
But then we must have that other olive
branch, peace with man. Now it is very
easy to get up quarrel. There are gun
powdery Christians oil around us, and one
match of provccation will set them of. 1t
is easy enough to get up quarrel. But, my
brother, don't you think you had better have
your horns sawed off? Had you not better
NIT NIT to "a a fitties humiliation? Oh, you say,
until that man takes the first step willnever
be at peace with him; nothing will be
done until he is ready to take tho
first step. You are a pretty Christian.
When would this world be saved if Christ
had not taken the first step? We were in
the wrong, Christ was in the right-all right
and forever right And yet He took the first
Step. Anu lnSCcaQ Oh gong anu SetIlnS
knotty scourge with which to whip your an
tagonist; your enemy, you had better get up
on the radiant mount where Christ suffered
for Els enemies, and just take an olive branch
not stripping off the soft, cool, fragrant
leaves, but leaving them oil on, and then try
on them that gospel switch: 1t won't hurt
them, and il will save you. Peace with God;
peace with man. If you cannot take those
two doctrines you are no Christian.
Blcst be the tie that binds
Our hearts In Christian love;
The fellowship OF kindred minds
L. like to that above.