The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-08-05
THE IVORY PALACES.
Dr.. Talmage on the 6lories Of the
World to Come
The AttEaetivsaess 81 cArisL NA0
opens the Way for His Faithful
FOuOwers-The ChrissIans
GaIde TO Heavea.
tcopyrght lSs Louis KlOpseA.l

forth me etorles OF the world 10 come
and the atiractiveness Of the Christ
who opens the way; text. Psalms, ASS:
"All thy garments smell Of myrrh aud
sloes and easSiA out OF the ivory pal
aces"
Among the grand sdOrnments Of the
city Of Paris Is the church Of Notrs
Dame, with its great towers and elab-
crate rose windows and scuptaring OF
the last judgment with the trumpet
ing angels and rising dead; its battle
ments OF quatre fon; its saeristy, with
ribbed ceiling and statutes Of sAiats.
But there was nothing In all that great
building which more wildly appealed
10 my plain republican tastes than the
costly vestmenA which lay in oaken
presses-robes that had been embroid-
cred with gold and been worn by PoPes
and archbishops on great occasions
There was a robe that had been worn
by Piss VII at the GROWING Of the
first Napoleon. There WA also a vest
ment that had been worn at the bap-
tism OF Napoleon II. As our guide
opened the oaken presses and brought
out these vestments of fabulous cost
and lifted them up the fragrance Of the
pungent sromades N which they had
been preserved filled the place with .
sweetness that was almost oppressive.
Nothing that had been done In stone
more wildly impressed me than these
things that had been done In cloth and
embroidery and perfume. But to-day
l open the drawer Of this text, and I
look upon the kingly robes Of Christ,
and as ! lift them, flashing with eter-
nal jewels, the whole house Is filed
with the aroma Of these garments,
which smell of myrrh and slOes and
cassia out of the ivory palaces"
In my text the King steps forth. His
robes rustic and blaze as he advances.
His Pomp and power and glory over
master the spectator. More brilliant is
He than Queen Vashti, moving amid the
Persian princes; than Marie Antoi-
nette on the day when Louis XIV. put
upon her the necklace Of 500 diamonds;
than Anne Boleyn the day when Henry
VIII. welcomed her to his palace-all
beauty and all pomp forgotten while
w stand in the presence OF this i'm
perial glory. King Of Zion, King Of
earth, King Of Heaven, King ioreverl
His garments not worn out, not dust
bedrsggled, but radiant, and jeweled.
and redolent. II seems as II they must
have been pressed q hundred years
amid the flowers OF Heaven. The
wardrobes from which they have been
taken must have been swester
with clusters Of campfire. and franklin
cense, and all name of precious wood.
Do you not inhsle the odors? Aye, aye,
They smell of myrrh and aloes and
esssia out Of the ivory palaces"
Your first curiosity Il 10 know why
the robes Of Christ are odorous with
myrrh. This was = bright-leaied Abys-
sinian plant. II was trifoliated. The
Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and Jews
bought and sold It at a high price. The
first present that was ever given to
Christ was a sprig Of myrrh thrown on
His infanHle bed In Bethlehem, and the
last gift that Christ ever had was
myrrh pressed into the cup OF His cru
eihxion. The natives would take q
stone and bruise the tree, and then II
would exude a gum that would saturate
all the ground beneath. This gum was
used for purposes Of merchandise. One
piece OF IL no larger than a chestnut
would whelm a whole room with odors.
1t was put in closets, in chests, in draw
ers, in rooms, and It's perfume adhered
almost interminably to anything near
#. So when in my text / read that
Christ's garments smell Of myrrh l i'm
mediately conclude the exquisite sweet
ness Of Jesus.
know that to many He is only like
any historical person-another John
Howard, another p~hilanthropic ober-
lin, another Confucius, a grand subject
for a painting, q heroic theme for a
poem, q beautiful form for a statue,
but TO those who have heard His voice
and felt His pardon and received His
benedictlOn He is music and light and
warmth and thrill and eternal fra
GRANGE, sweet as a friend sticking to
you when all else betray, lifting you up
while others try to push you down, not
so much like morning glories that
bloom only when the sun is coming up,
nor like -four o'clocks," that bloom
only when the sun is going down, but
Ike myrrh, p%erpetually aromatic, the
same morning, noon and night, yester-
day, to-day, forever. II seems as II we
canno wear Him out. We put on Him
all u burdens and afiict Him with
all our griefs and set Him foremost in
all our battles, and yet He is ready TO
lift and to sympathize and to help. We
have % imposed upon Him that one
would think In eternal affront He
would quit our soul, and yet to-day He
addresses us with the same tenderness,
dawns upon us with the SAINT smile,
pities us with the same compassion.
There Ia no name like His for US. il
ls more imperial than Caesars, more
musical than Beethoven's. more con-
quering than CharlemaRne's, more elo.
queDt than Cicero's. 1t tbrobs with all
life. It weeps with all patbos. II
groans with all pain. It stoops with all
condescensiOn. II breathes with ali
perfume. Who like Jesus to set q
broken bone, to pity a homeless or
phan, 10 nurse a sick man, TO take Q
prodigal back without any scoldlng, &c
illumine a cemetery all plowed with
graves, to make a queen unto God out
Of the lost woman, TO catch the tears oil
human sorrow In a laehrymatory thkt
shall never be broken2 Who has Suol
an eye TO see ~ need, such a lip to kisl
away our sorrow, such a hand to snatch
US out Of the fire, such a foot 10 trampl,
our enemies, such a heart TO embrac,
all our necessities2 struggle for som
metaphor with which to express Him
He Is not like the bursting forth OF
full orchestra; that Is too loud. lie Il
not like the sea when dashed to rage By
the tempest; that ia too boisterous
He Is not like the mountain, its brow
wreathed with the lightningsi that Il
too solitary. Give US q softer type,
gentler comparison. We have seemed
to sea Him with our eyes and to heai
Him with our ears and TO touch Hin
with our hands. Oh, that to-day Ill
might appear TO some other one Of ou
FIVE senses! Aye. the nostril shall dis
cover His presence. He comes upon II
like spice gales from Heaven. Yea, Hi
garments smell Of lasting and all per
vasiye myrrh.
Would that you all knew his sweet
nessi How Don you would turn from
all other attractions II the phiioso
pbsr leAped out Of his bath in a frenz,
Of 10y and clapped his haLds Ond rushed