The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-08-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourse Of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
Sub.jcct; The Bower OF Free
IBrauchcs." preached at
the lIamptOns, Long
lsland.)

TEXT: 700 forth unto the mount ana |
fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and
myrtle branches, and pain. branches, and
branches Of thick trees, TO make booths."-
Nehemiah viii, 10,
1t seems as il Mount Olivot were I'M
moored, The people have gone into the
mountain and havo 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
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 thatl Well,
Il Is q 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 are necessarily
typical, but highly suggestive-of our march
toward heaven, and Of the fact that we ar3
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 tho Jews literally
may to-day be said figuratively to all this au-
dience. Go forth into tho mountain, and
fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and
| ulyEble DIauCneS, DsItll AMI
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, New
York, have passed away, and their residences
are now the fields of cheap merchants.
Where are the men who fifty yeass 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 arDors, 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.
We'll, ROW we are to-day to construct o
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 go 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
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 ono 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 tho war KNAPP
, sacks. 1t is but beautiful way Of saying
Peacel
Now, If we are to-day going to succeed ii
c building this gospel arbor, we must go int
the Mount of Gods blessing, and fetch the
&, olive branches and whatever else We must
i have. We must have at least two oliv'
t branches-peace with God and peace will
man. When l say peace with God, do moi
mean to represent God as bloody chiefta1n
having grudge againstus, but do mean tc
s affirm there is no more antagonism between {
hound and hare, between hawk aud pull
. let, between elephant and swine, than there
: is hostility between holiness and sin. And i
c God is all holiness, and we are all sin, ther'
must be readiustment, there must be q re
=" construction, there must be treaty, Their
II must be stretching forth of olive branches
s There is great lawsuit going on now, ant
;, 1t is lawsuit which man is bringing agains
L his Maker; that lawsuit is now on the cal
e endar. It is the human versus the divine
y it is iniquity versus the immaculate; it il
weakness versus omnipotence. Man begaI
it; God did not begin the lawsuit. We be
VI gan it; we assaulted our Maker, and tn
is sooner we end this part of the struggle il
a which the finite attempts to overthrow tn
infinite and omnipotent, the sooner we end i
er the better.
At Travellers tell us there is no such place a
ghilchft n that rit Is anlsXIs hiIl, 2nl
it the mount of Gods divine mercy and love
Of far grander than any other place ON earth
Is grander than the Alps or Himalayas, AM
, there are no other hills as compared with it
l. and have noticed in every sect where th
Or cross of Christ is set FORTH it is planted wit
N olive branches. And all we have to do
v, to get rid Of this war between God an
y ourselves of which we are all tired
We want to back out of the war. W
IN want to get rid Of this hostility. All W
u have to do is just to get up on the mount Q
N GODS blessing, and pluck these div
&c branches and wave them before the throne
f. Peace through our Lord Jesus Christ
- Oh, it don't make much difference wha
% the world thinks of you-what this Kina
lc that Queen, that Senator thinks of you. Blu
IT come into the warm, intimate glowing an
everlasting relationship with the God Of tn
round universe; that is the joy that makes
hallelujah seem stupid. All, why do we wan
70 have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ
Why, If we had gone on in ten thousan
- years OF war against God, we could not hav
10 captured so much as sword or cavalry stil
rup, or twisted off one of the wheels of til
> chariot of his omnipotence. But the momen
we bring this olive branch God and all heave
come on our side Peace through our Lor
y Jesus Christ; and no other kind of peace
worth anything.
But then we must have that other DIV
If branch, peace with man. Now 1t is YER
IA easy to get up quarrel. There are CUR
~ powdery Christians all around us, and on
match of provocation will set them off.
W is easy enough to get up quarrel. But, m
!! brother don't you think you had better hav
/ your horns sawed OFF? Had you not bette
NIT H to fittles 'humiliationa Oh You say say
"a until that man takes the first step 1 willneve
10 be at peace with him; nothing will b
done until he is ready to take tn
first step. You are a pretty Christian
t, When would this world be saved if Chris
" had not taken the first step? We were i
, the wrong, Christ was in the right-all RICH
and forever right. And yet He took the frs
"a step. And instead of going and getting
~ knotty scourge with which to whip your al
+ tagonist, your enemy, you had better get u
- on the radiant mount where Christ suffere
rs for His enemies, and just take an olive brancl
leaves but leaving them all on, and then tr
y. on them that gospel switch 1t won't hui
Is them, and it will save you. Peace with Goo
, peace with man II you cannot take thos
:" doctrines you are no Christian.
y Blcst be the tie that binds
Our hearts In Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
r Is like to that above.
,r From sorrow, toll and pain,
u And sin we shall be free;
n And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.
But my text goes further. It says: G
s. up into the mountain and fetch olive brancht
N and pine branches. Now what is suggeste
3, by the pine branches3 The pine tree
10 hea2thl 1t is aromatic; it is evergreen. Ho'
often the physician says to his invali
!. patients: eco and have a breath of II
: pines! That will invigorate YOU" Why d
70 ouch thousands of people oSouth every yea
N 1t Is not merely to get to a warmer climat'
but to get to the influence of the pine. TheI
is health in it, and this pine branch OF tt
IN text suggests the healthfufness Of our hol
u religion: 1t is full of health, health for al
20 health for the mind, health for the SOUL
knew an aged man, who had no capitt
of physical health. He had had all the dis
As eases you could imagine; he did not ca
a. enough to keep child alive; he lived on
NJ beverage of hosannas. He lived high, 10
at he dined every day with the King: He wa
kept alive simply by the force of our hoi
religion. It is healthy religion; health
10 for the eye, healthy for the hand, health
r for the feet, healthy for the heart, health
at for the liver, healthy for the spleen, health
- for the whole man. 1t gives a man such peac'
es such uuietness, such Independence OF cil
\ mol oh fba