The Penn's Grove record., 1891-04-10
RIV, DR.. 7ALHAGE'S SERMON.
The Brooklyn Divire's Sunday
Sermon,
Subject; "Come, See the Place Where the
Lord Lay"

Subject; @Come, See the Place Where the
Lord Lay"
TEXT: "Come see the place tcher. The Lori
ldH."-Matthew xviii, 6.
Visiting any great city, we are not salts
fed until we have also looked at its ceme-
terry. We examine all the styles OF como
taph, mausoleum, s~arcophagus, cript and
sculpture. Here lies buried a statesman,
yonder an orator, here a poet, out there an
inventor, i'll some other place a great phi
lanthropist. But with how much greater
interest and with more depth of emotion we
look upon our family plot in the cemetery.
In the one case it is a matter of public in
terest, in the other it is a matter OF private
and heartfelt affection. But around the
grave at which we halt this morning there
are gathered all kinds of ~stupendous in
terest. At this sepulcher, | a to tell you
lin this sepulcher there was buried a king,
a conqueror, an emancipation, a friend, a
brother, a Christ. Monarch of the universe,
but bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh,
and sorrow of our sorrow, and heart of our
heart. 'Come, see the place where the Lord
lay"
1t has for surroundings the manor in the
suburbs of Jerusalem, a manor owned by a
wealthy gentleman by the name of Joseph.
lie was one OF bue COURT OF seventy WIZ HdI
condemned Christ, but L think he had voted
In the negative, oil, being a timid man, had
been absent at the time of the casting OF the
vote. He had laid out the parterre at great
expense. 1t was a hot climate, and | suppos
there were broad brauched trees and wind
ing paths underneath them, while here the
waters rippled over the rock into a fishpool,
and yonder the vines and the flowers clam
bered over the wall, and all around these
were the beauties ofkiosk and arboriculture.
After the fatigues of the Jerusalem court
room, how refreshing to come out in these
suburbs botanical and genealogical!
l walk a little further on in the p~arterre
and | come across a cluster of rocks, and |
see on them the marks of a sculptor's chisel.
/ come still closer and l find that there Is a
subterranean recess, and l walk dow the
marble stairs and come to a portico over the
doorway-an architecture of fruits and
flowers chisled by the hand of the sculptor.
l go into the portico, and on either side
there are rooms, W or four or six rooms OF
rock; in the walls inches, each niche large
enough to hold a dead body. One Of these
rooms of rock is especially wealthy with
sculpture. 1t was a beautiful and charming
spot. Why all this? The fact was that JOS
eph, the owner of the parterre, of that
wealthy manor, had recognized the fact that
he could not always walk those gardens,an
he sought this as his own last resting place.
What a beautiful plot in which to wait for
the resurrectionl
Mark well the mausoleum in the rock. 1t
Is to be the most celebrated tomb in all the
ages; catacombs OF Egypt, tomb of Napoleon,
Mahal Tai of India, nothing compared with
it. Christ had just been murdered, and His
body must be thrown out to the dogs and the
ravens, as was customary with cruciiied
bodies, unless there be prompt aud effective
hindrance. Joseph, the owner of the mauso-
leum, begs for the body of Christ, aud he
takes and washes the poor and mutilated
frame from the blood and the dust, and
shronds 1t and perfumes it.
/ think embalmment was omitted. When
In olden times they wished to embalm a dead
body, the priest with some pretension of
medical skill wonld show the point between
the ribs where the incision was to be made.
hen the operator would come and make the
incision, and then run for his life else
he would be slain for violating the
dead body. Then the other priests
would com with salt or inter, and cassia,
and wine of palm tree, and complete the
embalmment. But | think in this case en-
balmment was omitted lest there be more
excitement and another riot. The funeral
advances. Present, Joseph, the owner of the
mausoleum; Nicodemus, who brought the
flowers, and the two Marys. Heavy bur-
den on the shoulders OF two men as they
carry the body of Christ dow the marble
stairs and into the portico, and lift the dead
weight to the level of the niche in the rock,
and push the body of Christ into the only
pleasant resting place it ever had. These
men coming forth close the door OF rock
against the recess. The government, afraid
that the disciples would steal tho body of
Christ and play resurrection, put upon the
door the seal of the Sanhedrim, the violation
of that seal, like the violation of the seal of
the United States Government or OF the
British Government, always followed with
severe penalties.
A regiment of soldiers from the tower of
Antoniois detailed to guard that mausoleum,
At the door of that tomb a fight took place
which decided the question for all graveyard
Aud cemeteries. Sword of lightning against
WORD Of steel. Angel of God against the
military. The body in the crypt begins to
saove in its shroud of fine linen and slides
Town upon the pavement, moves through
ths portjco, appears in the doorway, comes
sp the marble steps. Christ, having left His
Mortuary attire behind Him, comes forth in
The garb Of a workman, as [ take il, from
Me fact that the women mistook Him for
Ire gardener.
There and then was shattered the tomb so
that it can never be rebuilt. All the trowels
II earthly masonry caunot mend it. For
ever and forever it is a broken tomb. Death
that day taking the side of. the military re-
ceiyed a horrible cut under the angels spear
Of fame, and must himself go Town at the
fast-the King of Terrors disappearing be-
fore the King OF Grace. ''Ths Lord Ia
risen" Hosannal Hosannai
O weep no more, your comforts slainI
The Lord is risen; He lives again.
While staining around the place where
the Lcrd lay l an impressed with the fact
hat mortuary honors cannot atone for
wrongs to the living. II they could hav
afforded Christ such a costly sepulcher they
could have afforded Him a decent earthly
residence. Will they give a piece OF marble
to the dead Christ when they might ave
given a soft pillow to the living Christi IL
they a put half the expense of that
mausoleum in the making of Christ's life
on earth comfortable tho story would not
AVE been so sad. He wanted bread; they
gave Him a stone. Christ, like every other
benefactor of the world, was better appre-
eiated after He was dead.
Standing in this place where the Lord lay
I am impressed with the fact that floral and
~sculptural ornamentation are appropriate
for the places of the dead. We are alt glad
that in the short time of the Savtour's inhu-
nation He lay amid flowers and sculpture. l
cannot quite understand what l see in the
newspapersw where, amid the announcements
n obsequies, the friends request send no
flowers" Why, there Is no place so appro-
pirate for flowers as the casket OF the de-
parted. If your means allow repeat, II
your means allow-let there be flowers on
the casket, flowers on the hearse, flowers on
the grave. Put them on the brow; it means
coronation. Put them in the hand 1t means
victory. Christ was buried in a parterre.
Christ was buried in a garden. Flowers are
types OF resurrection