Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-05-23
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S Sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: The Ascension of Christ


and be ye hfted olO. ~ ecer'asting doors
and the King Of Glory snail come tn."-Ps
XIV, T.
In olden times when a great conquerer re
turned from victorious war the people il
wild transport would take hold Of the gate
Of the city amt lift them from their hinge
much as to say: This city needs Nc MOI
gates to defend it since this conqueror has
got home. OF from the hinges with the gates
David, who was the poet Of poets fOrCells IL
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
hOis: them from their hinges Of gold! Lift
up your heads. . ye gates; and be ye lifted
up, We everlasting doors: and the King of
Glory shall come in"
Among the mountains Of Palestine no one
Is more uplifting than Mount Ohvet 1t was
the perOratlOn OF our Lords ministry. On
the roof OF a house in Jerusalem [ asked,
(which IS Oiivetz' and the first glance trans
fixed 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 acTid waters Of the Dead Sea that crvs-
tai sarcOphagus Of the buried cities Of the
plain, and waded down into the deep and
swift Jordan 10 baptlZe a 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 Oivet2 On
that solemn and suggestive ridge! 1t is
limestone hill, a mile in length and 800 feet
high, and 200 feet above the level of the
sea. Over it King David fed with a broken
heart Over it POmpey led his devaStat-
ing hosts Here the famous Tenth Legion
built their batteries il besiegement. The
Garden of Geth5elnane 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 bOugns were torn off and thrown into
the path OF Christi trlumphal procession. Up
AMI 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: 20 Jerusalem, JeruSalemw From its
height Jesus took flight hOneward when He
had finished His earthly mission. There IS
nothing more for Him to do. A sacrifice
was needed to make peace between the
recreant earth and the outraged heaven, and
He had offered it. Death nee1ei to be con-
quered, and He had put His resurrection foot
upon it. The thirty three years of voluntary
exile had ended. The grandest, tenderest,
mghtiest good-5y ever heard was now TO be
uttered
On Mount Oivet Jesus stands in a group
of Galilee fish rmen. They had been to-
gether in many scenes of sadness and perSe-
CutiOn and had been the more 9ndeared 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 a scepter mightier, and
rule a dominion wider than any Pharoah,
than any David than any Cesar. But now
all these anticipatiOn5 collapse. Christ has
given His last advice. He has offered His
last sympathy. He has spoken His last word.
His hands are spread apart one is apt TO
do when he prOnOuces a benedictiOn, when
suddenly the strongest and most stupendOus
law of all worlds is shattered. 1t is
the law which, since the 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 whrlng
around our sun, and our solar system whirl-
ing around other systems, and all the sys-
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 60 That law had laid hold of Him
thirty-three years before, when He descended.
1t had relaxed its grip Of Him but once, and
that when it declined TO sink Him from the
top of the waves on Lake Galilee, 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 hold the
law are about to open to let so the most illus
trious Being the world has ever seen, and
whom it had worst maltreated. The strong
est law of nature which philosophers ever
weighed or measured must at last give way.
1t will break between the rock Of Olivet and
the heel of Christ's foot. Watch it, ali We
disciples, Watch it, all the earth Watch
il, all the heavens! Christ about to leave
this planet How? His friends will not con-
sent to have Him 60 His enemies catching
Jir,,yu only ar nv al
to put Him into some other tomb. will tell
YOU how. The chain of the most tremen-
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
upHfted eyes, the disciples their Lord ris-
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 1t 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 baptized, and the Golgotha where
He was slain. Higher, until on stairs of
feecy cloud He steps Higher, until into
sky buer than the lake that could not sink
Him, lie disappears into sea of glory
whose billowing splendOrS hide Him. The
fishermen watch and watch, wondering if
the law Of nature will not reasSert itself
and He shall III few moments come back
again and they shall see Him descending
f5 sf s aE s t ta f2 sirr n s bF t aa4
they may take again His Scared hand. But
the moments pass by and the hours AMI no
reappearance. 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 Christmas night escorted Him
down, but all maven turns out u greet Him
home. and the temples have especial anthem.