Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-04-15

| The long, broad, green leaves that were
strewn under the feet of the colt, and
in the way of Christ were torn eff from
the trees. What pity, some one might
say, that those stately and graceful
trees should be despoiled. The
sap oozed out at the places
where the branches broke. The glory
of the palm tree was appropriate
| ly sacrificed for the Saviour's triumphal
procession. So it always was, so it al
ways will be in this world-no worthy
triumph of any sort without the tearing
down Of something else. Brooklyn
Bridge, the glory of our continent,
must have two architects Frustrated,
for lifetime invalided. The greatest
pictures of the world had, in their
richest coloring, the blood of the ar
fists who made them. The mightiest
oratorios that ever rolled through
the churches, had, in their pathos,
the signs and groans of the composers,
who wore their lives out in writing the
| harmony. American Indenendence was
| triumphant, but it moved on over the
| lifeless forms of tens of thousands of
men who fell at Bunker Hill and York
| town and the battles between, which
were the hemorrhages of the nation.
The Kingdom of God advances in all
| the earth, but it must be over the lives
| of missionaries who die of malaria in
the jungles or Christian workers who
preach and pray and toll and die in
| fri,, nj, in,
all directions-but beauty and
strength must be torn down from
the palm trees of Christian hero
ism and conservation and thrown in
his pathway. TO what better use could
| those palm trees on the Southern
shoulder of Mount Olivet and clear
down into the Valley of Gethsemane
put their branches than to surrender
them for the making Of Christ's journey
toward Jerusalem the more picturesque,
! the more memorable and the more
triumphant? And 10 what better use
could we put our lives than into the
sacrifice foe Christ and his cause and
| the happiness Of our fellow creatures?
Shall we not be willing TO be torn down
that Righteousness shall have triumph
ant way? Christ was torn down
for us. Can we not afford to be torn
down for him? If Christ could suffer
so much for us, can we not suffer a
little for Christ? If he can afford on
Palm Sunday to travel to Jerusalem to
carry cross, can we not afford few
leaves from our branches TO make,
emerald his way?
The process is going on every mo-
ment in all directions. Christ is again
on the march, not from Bethpage TO
Jerusalem, but for the conquest
of the world. He will surely
take it, but who will furnish the palm
branches for the triumphant way?
Self-sacrifice is the word. There is
more money paid to destroy the world
than to save it. There are more build
ings put up to ruin the race than
churches to evangelize it. There is
more depraved literature to blast men
than good literature to elevate them.
Oh, for a power to descend upon us all
like that which whelmed Charles g.
Finney with mercy, when, kneeling in
his law office, ahd before he entered
upon his apostolic career of evangelical
ton, he said: 1.-THE Holy Ghost de-
scended on me in q manner that
Seemed to go through me, body
and soul. / could feel the impression
like a wave of electricity going through
and through me. Indeed it seemed to
come in waves and waves of liquid
love. 1t seemed like the breath of
God. can recollect distinctly that it
seemed to fan me like immense wings.
l wept aloud with joy and love. These
waves came over me and over me, one
after another, and, until, l recollect, 1
cried out: Il shall die if these waves
continue to pass over me- l said
Lord, / cannot bear any more" And,
when a gentleman came into the Office
and said: ''Mr. Finney, you are in
pain?" he replied: "No, but so happy
that cannot live"
My hearers. lifetime will come when
upon the whole church of God will &C.
scend such an avalanche of blessing,
and then the bringing of the world to
God will be matter of a few years,
perhaps few days, or few hours.
Ride on, o Christ! for the evangelization
of all nations. Thou Christ who didst
ride on the unbroken colt down the
sides of Olivet, on the white horse of
eternal victory ride through all
nations, and may we, by our
prayers and our self-sacrifices
and our contributions and our consecra-
ton, throw palm branches in the way.
I clap my hands at the coming victory
l feel this morning as did the Israelites.
when on their march to Canaan, they
came not under the shadow of one palm
tree, but Of seventy palm trees, stand
ing in an oasis among dozen gushing
fountains, or as the Book puts it:
"Twelve wells of water and three score
and ten palm trees" Surely there are
more than seventy such great and glo-
rious souls present to-day. Indeed it is
a mighty grove Of palm trees, and
feel something of the raptures which
shall feel when our last bat