Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-07-25
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
BOWER OF TREE BRANCHES,
A Discourse Delivered ut Hamptons
Long Island.

TEXT: "Go forth unto the mount and
fetch oliue branches, and pine branches, and
myrtle branches, and palm branches, and
6rdnches Of thick trees, TO make booths."-
Nehemiah viii, Is.
It seems as IL Mount Olivet were un.
noored. The people have gone into tho
mountain, and have cut off tree branches,
and put them on their shoulders, and they
como 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 como
forth from their comfortable homes,
and dwell for seven days in those booths
or arbors. Why do they do thatf Well,
It is q great festal time. It Is tho
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 are necessarily
typical but highly suggestive-of our march
toward heaven, and of the fact that we arc
only living temporarily here, as it were, in
booths OF 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 make booths. Yes,
we are only here in a 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
ns have gone so far on that we cannot even
hear the sound of their footsteps They have
kone over the hills, and we arc 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
gospel arbor, or gospel booth; and how shall
ve construct itf Well, we must get all the
tree branches and build. According to my
text We must 90 up into the mount and n bring
olive branches. What does that mean?
I The olive tree grows in warm climates, and
u reaches the height of twenty or twenty-two
feet, Q straight stem, and then an offshoot from
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
6ne Of these olive branches and goes out to
the General of another army, what does that
peanf Why, it means unsaddle the war
chargers. 1t means hang up the war knap-
sacks. 1t is but beautiful way of saying
Reacel
+ Now, il we are to-day going to succeed in
building this gospel arbor, we must go into
the Mount of Gods blessing, and fetch the
Plive branches and whatever else we must
pave. We must have at least two olive
pranches-peace with God and peace with
man. When I say peace with God, do not
mean to represent God as bloody cbiaftain,
having grudge againstus, but do mean to
affirm there is no more antagonism between a
pound and hare between hawkaud pull
let, between elephant and swine, than there
Ls hostility between holiness and sin. And if
God is all holiness, and we are all sin, there
must be readjustment, there must be re-
construction, there must be treaty, there
must be a stretching forth of olive branches.
There is a great lawsuit going on now, and
1t is lawsuit which man is bringing against
his Maker; that lawsuit is now on the cal-
endar. It is the human versus the divine;
1t is iniquity versus the irnmaculate; 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 tho
infinite and omnipotent, the 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,
grander than the Alps or Himalayas, and
there are no otherhills 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 thinksof you. But
come into the warm, intimate, glowing and
everlasting relationship with the God Of the
round universe; that is the joy that makes o
hallelujah seem stupid. All, why do we.want
to have peace through our Lord Jesus Christi
Why, If We had gone on in ten thousand
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 and all heaven
come on our side. Peace through our Lord
Jesus Christ; and no other kind Of peace 10
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 gum
NhStcf oil nj
match of provocation will set them OFF. 1t
Is easy enough to get up quarrel But, my
brother, don't you think you had better havo
your horns sawed of? Had you not better
make an apology? Had you not better sub
init to little humiliation? Oh, YOU saw.
until that man takes the first step willnever
pe 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 be saved If Christ
nad 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
soep pI And instead Of going and getting
knotty scourge with which to whip your an
Cagonlst, your enemy, you had better get up
On Gne radiant mount whero Christ suffered
Tor has enemies, and just take an olive branch,
not stripping or the soft, cool fragrant
teaycs, but leaving them all on, and then try
on them that gospel switch. It won't hurt
Them, and it will save you. Peace with God;
peace with man. If you cannot take those
kWo doctrines you are no Christian.
Dest be the tie that binds
Our hearts In Christian love;
9ho Fellowship of kindred minds
~ hko to that above.
From sorrow toll and pam,
And sin we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through oil eternity.
But my text goes further. Il says: Go