Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-04-15
EMBLEM OF TRIUMPH.
DR.. TALMAGE ON THE MARCH
TO JERUSALEM.
The Triumphal Entry OF JesC= and
the Despoliation of the Palm
Graves-Every Victory Must Have Its
Carnage.

l
and that fact gave direction to Dr. Talmage's
sermon. Among tho hymns sung was the
hymn
| Clad in raiment pure and white,
Victor palms in every hand.
Text: John IL: 10, "They took branches OF
palm trees and went forth to meet him"
How was that possible? How could
palm branches be cast in the way of
Christ as he approached Jerusalem?
There are scarcely any palm trees in
Central Palestine. Even the one that
was carefully guarded for many years
at Jericho has gone. went over the
very road by which Christ approached
Jerusalem, and there are plenty of
olive trees and fig trees, but no palm
trees that could see You must re-
member that the climate has changed.
The palm tree likes water, but by the
cutting down of the forests, which are
leafy prayers for lain, the land has be-
come unfriendly to the palm tree. Jeri-
cho once stood in seven miles of palm
grove. Olivet was crowned with palms
The Dead sea has on its banks the
trunks of palm trees that floated down
from some old-time palm grove and are
preserved from decay by the salt which
they receive from the Dead sea. Let
woodmen spare the trees of America, if
they would not ruinously change the
climate and bring to the soil barren
ness, instead of fertility. Thanks to
God and the Legislatures for Arbor
Day, which plants trees. trying to atone
for the ruthlessiness which has
destroyed them. Yes, my text Is in
harmony with the condition of that
country on the morning of Palm Sun
day. About three million people have
come to Jerusalem to attend the re-
hgious festivities. Great news! Jesus
will enter Jerusalem today. The sky
is red with the morning, and the peo-
pie are flocking out to the foot of Oil
vet, and up and on over the southern
shoulder of the mountain, and the pro-
cesslon coming out from the city meets
the procession escorting Christ, as he
comes toward the city. There is turn
in the road, where Jerusalem sud-
denly bursts upon the vision.
Long before that morning the palm
tree had been typical of triumph.
Herodotus and Strabo had thus de-
scrjbed it. Layard finds the palm leaf
cut in the walls of Nineveh, with the
same significance. In the Greek ath-
letic games the victors carried palms.
am very glad that our Lord, who five
days after had thorns upon his brow,
for little while, at least, had palms
strewn under his feet. Oh the glorious
palm! Amarasinga, the Hindoo scholar,
calls it "the king among the
grasses. Linneus calls it "the
prince of vegetation" Among all the
trees that ever cast a shadow or yielded
fruit or lifted their arms toward
heaven, it has no equal for multitudin-
Gus uses Do you want flowers? One palm
tree will put forth hanging garden of
them, one cluster counted by scien-
fist containing 2O7, 900 blooms. Do you
want food? 1t is the chief diet of whole
nations. One palm in Chile will yield
ninety gallons of honey. In Polynesia
It is tie chief food Of the inha bitants.
In India there Are multitudes of people
dependent upon it for sustenance.
Oh, the palm! It has veriety of en-
dowments, such as no other grow III
that ever rooted the earth or kissed the
heavens. To the willow, God says:
"Stand by the water courses and weep"
To the cedar, he says: "Gather the
hurricanes into your BOSOM" TO the
fig tree, he says: ''Bear fruit and put
1t within reach of all The people,"
But, to the palm tree, he says: ''Be
garden and storehouse and wardrobe
and rope-wallS and chandlery and bread
and banquet and mandatory, and,
then, be type of what l meant when /
inspired David, my servant, to say:
The righteous shall flourish like
palm tree" Oh, Lord God, give MS
more palm trees-men and women made
for nothing but to be useful; DISPOSE
tons all abfoom; branches of influence
laden with fruit; people good for every
thing, us the palm tree. If kind words
are wanted, they are ready to utter
them. If helpful deeds are needed,
they are ready to perform them. If
plans of usefulness are to be laid out,
they are ready to project them, If
planes of usefulness are to be forwarded,
they are ready to lift them. People who
say, Eyes! Yes!" when they are
asked for assistance by word or deed,
instead of "No! No!' Most of the mys-
teries that bother others, do not bother
me, because 1 adjourn them, but the
mystery that really bothers me is why
God made so many people who amount
to nothing so far as the worlds better
ment is concerned. They stand in the
way. They object They discuss
hindrances. They suggest posi-
bilities of failure. Over the
road of life instead of pulling
in the traces, they are lying back in
breechings. They are the everlasting
No. They are bramble trees; they are
willows, always mourning, or wild
cherry trees, yielding only the bitter
or crab apple trees, producing only
the sour, while God would have us all
flourish like the palm tree. Planted in
the Bible that tree always means use
fulness. But, how little any of us or
all of rs accomplish in that direction.
We take twenty or thirty years to get
fully ready for Christian work