Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-05-15
THE LORD is RISEN!
WONDERFUL SERMON ON THE AS.
cENsION BY DIR. TALMAGE-



Scripture. and the usual prayers and musica
exercises. DIR. Talmage preached the fol
lowing sermon In the Academy Of Music
Brooklyn, Sunday morning. May IL, from
the words. Lift up your heads. o ye gates
and be ye lifted up. ye everlasting doors
and the King Of Glory shall come in" Ps
xxiv.7.
In olden times when great conqueror re-
turned from victorious war. the people in
wild transport would take hold Of the gates
Of the city and lift them from their hinges
as much as TO say: This city needs nc
more gates to defend itsince this conquerol
has got home. on from the hinges with the
gatesl" David. who was the poet of poets
foretells in his own way the triumphal en-
trance of Christ into Heaven, after his vic
tory over sin and death and he'll. 1t twas as
II the celestial inhabitants had said Here
He comesl Make way for Himl Push bach
the bolts of diamoudl Take hold of the
doors of pearl and hoist them from theil
hinges Of goldl Lift up your heads. o ye
gates; and be ye lifted up. ye everlasting
doors; and the King of Glory shall come
in"
Among the mountains of Palestine no one
is more uplifting than Mount Olivet. 1t was
the peroration OF our Lords ministry. On
the roof of q house in Jerusalem I asked
which is Olivet?" and the first glance
transflxed me. But how shall describe my
emotions, when, near the close Of a journey
in which we had for two nights encamped
amid the shattered masonry Of old Jericho
and tasted of the acrid waters Of the Dead
cities Of the plain, and waded down into the
deep and swift Jordan to baptfze man, ,and
visited the ruins Of the house of Mary and
Martha and Lazarus, we found ourselves in
stirrups and on horse, lathered with the
long and difficult way. ascending Mount
Ohvet, Oh, that solemn and suggestive
ridgel 1t has a limestone hill. mile in
length, and 800 feet high; and 2,700 feet
above the level of the sea.
Over it King David fed with a broken
heart. Over it Pompey led his devastating
hosts, Here the famous Tenth Legion built
their batteries in besiegement, The Gar
den Of Gethsemane weepS at the foot of it.
Along the base of the hill flashed the Ian
terms Of those who came to arrest jest 8.
From the trees on the hill the boughs were
torn off and thrown into the path of Christ s
triumphal procession. Up and down that
road Jesus had walked twice a day from
Bethany to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem
to Bethany. There, again and again, He
had taught His disciples. Half way up this
mount He uttered His lamentation, 20 Jer-
usalem, JerusalemI" From its heights Je-
sus took fight homeward when He had fin
ished His earthly mission. There is Moth
IHOF6 lOE 10 uOs a SdcElHC6 was
needed to make peace between the recreant
earth and the outraged heaven, and He had
offered it. Death needed to be conquered.
and He had put His resurrection foot upon
1t. The thirty-three years of voluntary ex-
lie had ended. The grandest, tenderest,
mightiest Good-by ever heard was now to
be uttered.
On Mount Olivet Jesus stands in group
of Galllee fishermen. They had been
AA kA,n t. -nf n
persecution and had been more endeared
by that brotherhood of suffering. They had
expected Him to stay until the day of coro-
nation when He would take the earthly
throne and wave scepter mightier, and
rule dominion wider, than any Pharaoh,
than any David, than any Caesar. But now
all these anticipations collapse. Christ has
given His last advice. He had Of
fered S His His last %; ,4 sympathy I He He
hands are spread apart as one is apt to do
when he pronounces benedietion, when
suddenly the strongest and most stupendu-
GUS law of all worlds is shattered.
1t is the law which, since the worlds were
created, holds them together. 1t is the law
which holds everything to the earth, or.
temporarily hurled from earth, returns it;
the law which keeps the planets whirling
around our sun, and our solar system whirl-
TENS whirling around the throne of God
the law of gravitation. That law is sus-
pended. or relaxed. or broken. to let the
body of Jesus go. That law had laid hold
of Him thirty three years before. when He
decended. 1t had relaxed it's grip of Him
but once, and that when it declined to sink
Him from the top of the waves on Lake Gal
lice, on which He walked, to the bottom of
the lake. That law of gravitation must now
give way to Him who made the law. 1t may
hold the other stars. but it cannot longer
hold the Morning Star of the Redemption.
1t may hold the monday sun, but it cannot
no Id the Sun of righteousness.
The fugers Of the law are about to open to
let go the most illustrious Being the world
had ever seen, and whom it had worst mall
treated. The strongest law of nature which
philosophers ever weighed or measured
must at last give way. 1t will break be-
tween the rock Of 0livet and the heel of
Christ's foot. Watch it, all ye disciplesi
Watch it. all the earthl Watch it, all the
Heavensl Christ about to leave the planet.
How? His friends will not consent to have
him go. His enemies catching him would
only attempt by another Calvary, to put
him into some other tomb. I will tell you
how. The chain of the most tremendous
natural law is unlinked. The sacred foot of
our Lord and the limestone rock part. and
forever.
Leaning back, and with pallid cheek and
uplifted eyes, the disciples see their Lord
rising from the solid earth. Then, rushing
forward. they would grasp his feet to hold
him fast, but they are out Of reach. and it is
too late to detain him. Higher than the tops
of the fig trees from which they had plucked
the fruit. Higher than the olive trees that
shaded the mount. Higher, until he is
within sight of the Bethlehem where he was
born, and the Jordan where he was bap-
tized, and the Golgotha where he was slain.
Higher, until on stairs of feecy cloud he
steps. Higher, until, into q sky bluer than
the lake that could not sink him, he disap-
pears into a sea Of glory whose billowing
splendors hide him.
The fisherman watch and watch, wonder
ing if the law Of nature will not reassert it.
self, and he shall in few moments come
back again, and they shall see him descend
ing; first his SCARED feet coming in sight,
then the Scared side, then the SCARED
brow, and they may take again his sacred
hand. But the moments pass by, and the
hours, and no temperance. Gone out Of
sight of earth, but come within sight OF
Heaven. And rising still. not welcomed by
one angelic choir like those who one Christ
mas night escorted him down. but all
Heaven turns out to greet him home, and
the temples have especial anthem, and the
palaces especial banquet. and the streets
especial throngs; and all along the line to
the foot of the throne. for years vacated.
but now again to be taken, there are arches
lifted, and banners waved, and trumpets
sounded. and doxologies chanted, and cor
onets cast down.
The angels throngd his chariot wheels.
And bore him to his throne;
Then swept their golden harps and sung
"The glorious work Is DONE"
1t was the greatest day in Heavent As
He goes up the steps of the throne that
thirty three years before He abdicated for
our advantage. there rises from all the
hosts Of Heaven shout sanity. cherubic.
seraphic. archangelic, "Hallelujahl Amenl'