Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-01-13
REV. DR. TALMACE,
The Eminent Divine's SUNDAY
Discourse.
Subject: "A Prince's Career"

| Tor your sake He became poor"-II Cor.
| lnth ans Will. 2.
That all the worlds which on a cold win
ters night make the heavens one great gilt
ter are without inhabitants is an aburdity
Scientists tell us that many of these worlds
] are too hot or too cold or too rarefied OF at
mosphere Tor residence. But, II not fit for
human ebode, they may be fit for beings
different frt m and superior TO ourselves.
We are told that the world of Jupiter ia
| changing and becoming fit for creatures like
| the human race. and that Mars would do for
| the human family with a little change in the
structure OF our respiratory organs. But
| that there is Il great word swung some
| where. vast beyond imagination, and that it
Is the headquarters of the universe and the
metropolis of immensty and has a popula-
! ton IN numbers vast beyond all statistics
and appointments OF splendor beyond the
capacity OF canvas or poem or angel to de-
scribe is as certain the Bible is authentic
Perhaps some of the astronomers with their
big telescopes have already caught a glimpse
OF 1t, not knowing what it Is. We spell IL
with six letters and pronounced it heaven.
That is where Prince Jesus lived nineteen
centuries ago. He was the Kings Son. 1t
was the old homestead of eternity and all its
castles were rs old as Col. Not a frost had
ever chilled the air. Not a tear had ever
rolled down the cheek of one of its tuhabi-
tants. There had never been a headache or
a side ache or teart ache. Thers had not
D a.
inhabitant. There had never in all the land
been woven black veil, for there had never
been anything to mourn over. The passage
of millions of years had not wrinkled or Grip
Pied or bedimmed any OF its citizens. All
the people there were in a state of eternal
adolescence. What floral and pomonic rich.
ness! Gardens of perpetual bloom and or
chards in unending fruitage. Had some
spirit from another world entered and asked,
What is sin? What is bereavement? What
Ia aNnD L., Al. III
the intelligences would have failed to give
definition, though to study the question
there was silence in heaven for half an hour
The Prince of whom 1 speak had honors,
emoiuments, acclamations such as no other
prince, celestial or terrestrial, ever enjoyed.
As He passed the street the Inhabitants took
of from their brows garlands of white lilies
and threw them in the way. He never en-
tered any of the temples without all the wor-
shippers rising up and bowling in obeisance
In all the professions of the high days He
was the one who evoked the loudest welcome
sometimes on foot, walking in loving talk
with the humbest of the land, but at other
times He took chariot, and among the 20 o o
that the psa'mist spoke Of His was the swift
est and most flaming, or, as when st. John
described Him. He took white palfrey. with
what prance OF foot, and arch of neck, and
roll of name, and CLEAN of eye is only dimly
suggested in the Apocalypse. He was not
ike other princes, waiting for the Father to
die and then take the throne. When years
ago an artist in Germany made a picture for
the royal gallery representing the Emperor
William on the throne and the Crown Prince
as having one foot on the step of the throne,
the Emperor William ordered the picture
changed and said, "Let the prince keep his
foot off the throne till leave il"
Already enlhron' was the heavenly
Prince side by side with the Father What
circle of dominioni What multitudes OF ad-
mirers, What unending round of gloriesi
All the towers chimed the Princes praises.
or all the inhabitants, from the center of the
city on over the hills and clear down to the
beach against which the ocean Of immensity
rolls its biIlows, the Prince was the acknowl-
edged favorite. No wonder my text saws
that HE was ricb." Set all the diamonds
OF the earth in one scepter build all the
palaces of the earth in one Alhambra.
gather all the pearls of the sea In one dia-
dem, put all the values of the earth in one
coin, the aggregate could not express His
affluence. Yes, St. Paul was right. Solo
mon had in gold $50, 600, 900 pounds,
and in silver 1,029, 900, 377 pounds. But
greater than Solomon is here. Not the mill
ionaire, but the owner of all things. To de-
scribe His celestial surroundings the Bible
uses all colors, gathering them in rainbow
over the throne, and setting them as agate in
the temple window, and hosting twelve of
them into wall, from striped jasper at the
base 10 transparent am ethyst in the capstone,
while between are green of emerald, and
snow of pearl, and blue of sapphire, and
yellow OF topaz, gray OF chrysoprase, and
flame of jacinth. All the loveiness Of land
scape in foliage and river and rill and all
enchantment aquamarine, the sea of glass
mingled with fire as when the sun sinks in
the Mediterranean. All the thrill of music,
instrumental and vocal, harps, trumpets,
doxologies. There stood the Prince, sur
rounded by those who had under their wings
the velocity of millions of miles in a second,
N in III
in power. rich In worship, rich in holiness,
rich in ''all the fulluess of the Godhead bod
iy."
But enc day there was big disaster in a
department OF Gods universe. A race fallenl
world in ruins! Our planet the scene of
catastrophe! A globe swinging out into
darkness, with mountains and seas and ISL
ands, an awful centrifugal of sin seeming to
overpower the beautiful centripetal of
righteousness. and from 1t a groan reached
heaven. Such a sound had never been heard
there. Plenty Of sweet sounds, but never an
outcry of distress or an echo Of agony. At
that one groan the Prince rose from all the
blissful circumference and started from
the outer gate and descended into the
night Of this world. Out of what bright
US, cried angel after angel and potentate
after potentate. "No," said the Prince. "I
cannot stay. 1 must be off for that wreck OF
a world. l must stop that groan. must
hush that distress. Imust fat HON that abyss. 1
must redeem those Nations Farewell,
thrones and temples, hosts cherubic, se-
raphic, archangelic! l will come back
again. carrying on my shoulder q ransemed
world. Till this is done 1 choose earthly
scoff to heavenly acclamation, and q cattle
pen to kings palace, frigid zone OF earth
to atmosphere of celestial radiance. have
no time to lose, for bark ye to the groan
that grows mightier while waiti Fare
Welt Farewell!'' Eye know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was
rich, yet for your sakes He became poor."
Was there ever contrast SO overpowering
as that between the MONDAY OF Christ's
celestial departure and the midnight OF HIS
earthly arrival? Sure enough, the angels
were out that night in the sky, and an
especial meteor acted as escort. But all
that was from other worlds, and not from
this world. The earth made no demonstra.
tion Of welcome. II one Of the great princes
OF this world steps out at q depot, cheers
resound, and the bands play, and the nags
wave. But for the arrival of this mission
ary Prince of the skies not torch flared,
not trumpet blew, not a plume fiuttered.
All the music and the pomp were overhead.
Our world opened for Him nothing better
than q barn door.
The Rajah Of Cashmere sent to Queen Vic.
toria bedstead Of carved gold and canopy
that cost s750. 900, but the world had for the
Prince Of Heaven and Earth only q litter Of
straw. The crown jewels in the Tower OF
London amount to S15, ,000, 900, but this MEM
Der Of eternal royalty had nowhere to lay His
head. To know how poor He was ask the
camel drivers, ask the shepherds, ask Mary,
ask the three wise men Of the East who after
ward came to Bethlehem. To know how
poor He was examine all the records of real
estate in all that oriental country and see
what vineyard or what field He owned. Not
one. OF what mortgage was He the mortga-
gee2 OF what tenement was He the landlord?
OF what lease was he the lessee7 Who ever
paid Him rent? Not owning the boat on
which He sailed. nor the beast on which He
rode, nor the pillow on which He slept. Hs
had so little estate that in order to pay His
tax He had to perform a miracle, putting this
amount of the assessment in a flsh's mouth
and having 1t hauled ashore. And after His
deass the world rushed in to take ." two"