Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-07-24
THE BOWER OF TREE BRANCHES.
THE LAWSUIT OF MAN AGAINST
HIS MAKER.
THE OLIVE BRANCH, THE. PINE
BRANCH, AND THE PALM.


THE HAMPToNs, N. Y, July 1.-THE
i subject of the Rev. DR.. It. De Witt
Talmsge's sermon to-day was: ''The
Bower of Tree Branches" His text was
Nehemiah viii, Is, $50 forth unto the
Mount and fetch olive branches, and pine
bran ches, and myrtle branches, and palm
bran ches, and branches of thick trees, to
make booths" Following is the sermon:
1t seems as if Mount Ulivet were unmoor-
ed. The people have gone into the noun
tain, and have cut off 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 these
booths or arbors. Why do they do thatf
Well, it is a great festal time. 1t is the
feast of tabernacles; and these people are
going to celebrate the desert travel of theil
| fathers and their deliverance from theil
troubles, and experience of their fathers,
when, travelling in the desert, they lived ir
booths on their way to the land of Canaan
And so these booths also become highly
suggestive-I will not say they are neces
sarily typical, but highly sdegestive-ol
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 tc
the Canaan of eternal rest
And what was said to the Jews literally
may to-day be said iguratively to all this
audience. Go forth into the mountain, anC
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 resi-
dence. We are marching on. The merchant
princes who used to live in Bowling Green
New York, have passed away, and theil
residences are now the fields of cheap mer.
chants. 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 preced
ed 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 ano
unshel6ered. There are gospel booths, OF
gospel arbors, in which our souls are to be
comforted. Go forth unto the mountain,
and fetch olive branches, and piue branches
and myrtle branches, and palm branches
and branches of thick trees, and builG
booths.
Well, now we are to-day to c.nstruct &
gospel arbor, or gospel booth; and how
| shall we construct ii? Well, We must gel
all the tree branches aud build. Accord
| ing to my text We must go up into thu
mount and bring olive branches. Wha
| does that mean?
| The olive tree grows in warm climates,
and 1t reaches the height of twenty or TWEEN
| - e. oh iOht al
offshoot from that stem. And then people
come, and they strip off these branches
sometimes, and when in time of war th'
general of one army takes one of these oliv'
branches and goes out to the general of an
other army, what does that mean? Why
means unsaddle the war chargers. 1t mean
hang up tho war knapsacks. 1t is but
beautiful way of saying, Peace.
Now, if we are to-day going to succeed il
building this gospel arbor, we must 60 intt
the Mount of Gods blessing, and fetch tht
olive branches, and whatever else we mus
have, we must have at least two Oliv
branches-peace with God and Ieaee witt
man. When say peace with God, l d.
not mean to represent God as blood.
chieftain, having grudge against us, bu
l do mean to affirm there is no more antag
onism between q hound and hare, be
tween hawk and a pullet, bs.ween ele
phant and swine, than there is hostility be
tween holiness and sin. And if God is a.
holiness, and we are all sin, there must b
a readjustment, there must be recor
struction, there must be treaty, there mus
be stretching forth of olive branches.
There is great lawsuit going on nov
and it is lawsuit which man is bringin
, against his Maker; that lawsuit is now o
the calendar. 1t is the human versus tn
divine; it is iniquity versus the immaculate
it is weakness versus omnipoteuce. Ma
began it; God did not begin the lawsuit
We began it, we assaulted our Maker, an