The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-01-07
MANNING, S. c., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY Z. 1891

Christ. The gold for Christ. Gold no
merely paid the way of Joseph ant
Mary and the divine fugitive int
Egypt, but it was typical of the fac
that Christ's way shall be paid al
around the world. The gold for Christ
the silver for Christ, the jewels TO-
Christ Australia, Nevada and Golcon
da tor Christ. The bright, round, beau
tiful jewel of a world set like solitair,
on the bosom of Christ.
Butt notice that these wise men alst
shook out from the sacks the myrrh
The cattle came and they snuffed at it
They did not eat it because it was bit
ter. The pungent gum resin of Abys
Siana called myrrh brought to the feet
of Christ. That means bitterness. Bit.
ter betrayal, bitter persecution, bitter
days Of suffering, bitter nights of woe
Myrrh. That is what they put into hi:
cup when he was dying. Myrrh. That
is what they put under his head in tht
wilderness. That is what they strewec
his path with all the way from the cat
tie pen in Bethlehem to the mausoleum
at Joseph's country seat. Myrrh. Yea
says the Isalmist. 'All thy garments
smell Of myrrh." That is what the
wise men wrapped in the swaddline
clothes of the babe. That is what the
Marys twisted in the shroud of cruel
fed Christ. The myrrh. Oh, the
height, the depth, the length, the
breadth of the Saviour's sorrow! Well
might the wise man shake out the
myrrh.
FRANKINCENsE MEANS WORSHIP.
But l notice also from another sack
they shake out the frankincense. Clear
up to the rafters of the barn the air is
filed with perfume, and the hoStlers
and the camel drivers in the farthest
part of the building inhale it, and it
floats out upon the air until passersby
wonder who in that rough place could
have by accident dropped a box of ala.
baster. FraDkincense. That is what
they burned in the cenSer in the an.
cient temple. Frankincense. That
means worship. Frankincense. That
is to fill all the homes, and all the
churches, and all the capitals, and all
the nations from cellar of stalactited
cave clear up to the silvery rafters OF
the starlit dome. Frankincense. That
is what we shake out from our hearts
to-day, so that the nostrils OF Christ
once crimsoned with the hemorrhage
of the cross shall be flooded with the
perfume of a worlds alteration.
Frankincense. FrankincenSe IN song
and sermon and offertory and hand
shaking and decoration.
Praise him, mountains and hills, val
leys end seas, and skies and earth and
heaven-cyclone with your trumpets,
northern lights with your flaming en-
sign, morning with your castles of
cloud, and evening with your billow-
ing clouds of sunset. Do you know
how they used to hold the censer in the
olden time, and what it was made of ?
Here is metal pan and the handle by
which it was held. In the inside of
this metal pan were put living Goals,
on the top of them perforated cover.
In square box the fraDkincense was
brought to the temples This franklin
cense was taken out and sprinkled over
the living Goals, and then the perfora-
ted cover was put on, and when they
were all ready for worship, then the
cover was lifted from the censer and
from all the other censers. and the per-
fumed smoke arose until it hung amid
all the folds and dropped amid all the
altars, and then rose in great columns
of praise outside Oh above the temple,
rising clear up toward the throne of
God. So we have two cenSers to-day of
Christmas frankincense. Here is the
one censer of earthly frankincense.
On that we put our thanks for the
mercies of the past year, the mercieS of
all our past lives, individual mercies,
family mercies, social mercies, national
mercies, and our hearts burning with
gratitude send aloft the incense of
praise toward the throne of Christ.
Bring on more incense, and higher and
higher let the columns of praise as
cend. Let them Wreathe all these pill
lars and hover amid all these arches,
and then soar to the throne. But here
is the other censer OF heavenly thanks
giving and worship. Let them bring
all their frankincenSe-the cherublm
bring theirs, and the seraphim theirs
and the one hundred and fcrty-four
thousand theirs, and all the eternitieS
theirs, and let them smoke with per-
fume on this heavenly censer until the
cloud canopies the throne of God.
Then I take these two censers-the
censer of earthly frankincense and the
censes of heavenly frankincense-and
l swing them before the throne, and
then clash them together in one great
halleluiah uoto him to whom the wise
meu of the east brought gold and the
myrrh and the frankincense. Blessed
be his glorious name forever!