Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1890-05-17
DR.. ThLNAGE'S SERMON.
The Brooklyn Divine breaches on
1.-The Ascension of Christ
The Grandest, Tendercst, NIishtiest Good
Bye Ever Heard.

Bye ENcr fhSNru'
TEXT: 'Lift up your heads, 0 ne gates,
and be ye lifted ,.p. ye ecertuStiny doors;
and the King of Glory shall come ms.
xiv. Z.
In ol6en times when great conquerer 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 no more
gates to defend it since this couqueror has
got home. Off from the hinges with the gates.
David who was the poet of poets fortells in
his own way the triumphal entrance OF
Christ into heaven after His victory over sin
and death and hell 1t was as if the celestial
inhabitants had said. Here He comes. Make
way for Him. Push back the bolts of dia-
mond! Take hold of the doors OF pearl and
hoist them from their hinges of gcldl Lift
up your heads. o We gates; and be We lifted
up, ye everlasting doors; and tho King or
Glory shall come in.
Among the mountains of Palestine no one
is more uplifting than Mount Olveu. 1t was
the peroration of our Lords ministry. On
thereof OF house in Jerusalem l asked,
(Which is Olivet:' and the first glance trans
fixed me- But how shall l describe
my emotions, when near the close OF
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 Sea, that crys
raj sarcophagls of the buried cities of the
plain ana waded down into the deep and
swift Jordan TO baptiZe man. and visited
the ruins OF the house of Mary and Martina
and Lazarus, we found ourselves III stilrupS
and on horse, lathered with tine long and
difficult way ascending Mount Olivet? On,
that solemn and suggestive ridge 1t is Il
limestone HILL 81 mile in length, and 309 feet
high, and Zoo feet above the level of the
sea- Over il King David fed with broken
heart Over it Pompey led his devastat-
ing hosts. Here the famous Tenth Legion
built their batteries in besiegement The
Garden of Gethsemane weeps at the
foot of it. Along the base OF this hill flashed
the lanterns and torches of those who came
TO arrest Jesus. From the trees on this hill
the boughs were torn oil and thrown into
the path of Christ'S triumphal procession. Up
and down that road Jesus had walked twice
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 lamenta-
ton: 80 Jerusalem, jerusalem From its
height Jesus took flight honewari when lie
hail finished His earthly mission There is
nothing more for Hin To do. \ s.lcriica
was needed to make peace between the
recreant earth snd the outraged heaven, AMI
He had offered it. Death nesle.l 10 be con-
uuerei aud He had put His resurrection foot
upon it. The thirty-three years OF voluntary
exile had ended. The giandest, tendsrssr,
mightieSs good-oy ever hcar, WAS now TO be
uttered
On Mount Oiivet Jesus stanis in IA group
of Galiee fish rmen They had been to-
gether in many Scanes Of Sildness AMI perss-
cuton and had been the more endeared by
that brotherhood OF suffering. They mad
expected Him to stay until the day OF coro-
nation when He would take the earthly
throne and wave Il Scepter nlghtier. and
rule dominion wider than any Pharoah
than any David, than any Cesar. Bat now
all these anricipatious COLLAPSE Christ has
given His last advice He has offered His
laStsyinpathy Hehas spoken His last word.
His hands are spread apart rs one is ant TO
do when he proncuceS benedic3icn. when
suddenly the strongest and most stupendous
Ian of all worlds is shattered. 1t is
the law which, since tho worlds were created.
hold 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 willr:-
ing around other systems, and all the syS-
TENS whirling around the throne of Cod
the law of gravitation That law is sus-
pended. OF relaxed. Or broken, to let the body
of Jesus &C. That law had laid hold OF Him
thirty-three years before. whom He descended.
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 Gaiiles, on which
He walked, to the bottom OF the lake That
law Of gravitarion must now give way to
Him who made the law. 1t may hold ths
other stars. but it cannot longer hold the
Mold the noonday sun But It cannot hold the
Sun OF Righteousness The fingers OF that
law arc about to open to letgo the most illus,
trious Being the world has ever seen, ana
whom it had worst maltreared. The strong
est law of nature which philosophers ever
weighed or measured must at last give way
II will break between the rock OF Olivet and
the heel of Christs foot Watch 1t, all ye
disciples Watch it, all the earth Watch
it. ali the heavens, Christ about to leave
this planet. How His friends will not con-
sent TO have Him 90. His enemies catching
Him would only attempt by another Calvary
to put Him into some other tomb. Twill tell
you how. The chain OF the most trenen,,
dous natural law is unlinked. The sacred
foot OF our Lord and the limestone rock part,
and part forever.
Leaning back. and with pallid cheek and
uplift4d eyes the disciples see their Lord us
ing from the solid earth. Then, rushing for
ward. they would grasp His feet to hold HIM
fast but they are out Of reach and II IS
too late TO detain Him. Higher than the
tops of the tig trees from which they had
plucked the fruit. Higher tnan the olive
trees that shaded tine mount. Higher,
until lie is within sight OF the Bethlehem
wkere He was born. end the jordan where
He was baptized, and the tzoigotha where
He was slain. Higher, until on stairs OF
flcecy cloud He steps. Higher, until into
sky bluer than the lake that could not SINK
Him, He disappears into sea OF glory
whose biilowing splendors hide Him. Ihs
fishermen watch and watch, wondering Il
the law of nature will not reassert itself
and He shall in few moments come back
again, and they shalt see Him descending,
first His SCARED feet coming IN slgnv, then
the Scared side, then the scar:s1 brow, anu
thew may take gain His Scared hand. But
the moments pass by and the hours, AMI no
temperance. Gone out Of sight OF eartn,
but come within sight OF heaven. And rising
still. not welcomed by one angelic choir hike
those who one Christmas night escorted him
down. but all heaven turns out 70 great HIM
home and the temples have especial anthem.
and the palaces especial banquet, and the
streets especial throngs; AMI all along the
line to the foot of the throne, for years va
Gated but now again TO be taken, there are
arches lifted. and banners waved, and trum-
nets sounded, and doxologias chanted, and
coronets cast down.
The angels throug'd His chario. wheels.
And bore Him to His throne;
Then swept their golden ilirps and sung
The glorious work is done
Itwas the greatest day III heaven. As He
goes u the steps of the throne ta25 th!r6y-
Three wears before He alb licated for our ad.
vantage. there rises from all the hosts OF