Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1899-08-11
TAIMAGE'S SERMON.
THE IVORY PALACES" LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
"AII the Garments Smell of Myrrh, and
AIoes, and Cassia. Out OF the Ivory
Palaces"-From the Book of Psalms,
Chapter xl, Verse 3.

City OI fdIlS Is TIC OuulCA vi ANOllO
Dame, with it's great towers and elab-
crate rose windows, and sculpturing of
the last judgment, with the trumpeting
angels and rising dead; its battlements
of quatre-foil; its sacristy, with ribbed
ceiling and statues of saints. But there
was nothing in all that building which
more wildly appealed TO my plain re-
publican tastes than the costly vest
ments which lay i'll oaken presses
robes that had been embroidered with
gold, and been worn by popes and arch
bishops on great occasions. There was
a robe that had been worn by Plus
VII. a. the browning of the first Ma
poleon There was also a vestment
that had been worn at the baptism of
Napoleon III. AS our guide opened the
oaken presses, ana brought out these
vestments of fabulous cost, and lifted
them up, the fragrance of the pungent
aromatics in which they had been pre-
served filled the place with a sweet
ness that was almost oppressive. Moth
ing that had been done in stone more
wildly impressed me than these things
that had been in cloth, and embroidery
and perfume. But today l open the
drawer of this text. and l look upon
the kingly robes of Christ and as l lift
them, flashing with eternal jewels, the
whole house is filled with the aroma of
these garments, which smell Of
myrrh, and aloes. 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 An
toinette, on thu day when Louis XVI.
put upon her the necklace of 500 dia-
monds; than Anne Boleyn, the day
when Henry VIII. welcomed her TO his
palace-all beauty and all pOmp for
gotten while We stand in the presence
of this imperial glory, king of Zion,
king of earth, king of heaven, king
forever, His garments not worn out,
not dust-bedraggled; but radiant and
jeweled and redolent. 1t seems as if
they must have been pressed hundred
years amid the flowers of heaven. The
wardrobes from which they have been
taken must have been sweet with clus-
tiers of campfire al frankincense, and
all manner of s wood. Do you
not inhale the Ay, ay, They
smell of myrrh, a. aloes, and cassia,
out of the ivory pa aces"
Your first curiosity is to know why
the robes of Christ are odorous with
myrrh. This was a bright-leafed 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 infantile bed in Bethlehem, and the
last gift that Christ ever had was
myrrh pressed into the cup of his cru
cifxiOn. The natives would take a
stone and bruise the tree. and then
it would exude a gum that would satu-
rate all the ground beneath. This gum
was used for purposes of merchandise.
One piece of it, no larger than a chest
nut, would whelm whole room with
odors. 1t was put in closets, in chests,
IN drawers, in rooms and its perfume
adhered almost interminably to any
thing that was anywhere near it. So
when in my text | read that Christ 5
garments smell of myrrh, | Immediate
ly conclude the exquisite sweetness OF
Jesus.
| know that to many he is only like
any historical person: another John
Howard; another philanthropic ODER
lin; another ConfuciuS; grand sub
ject for painting. a heroic theme for
poem; beautiful form for a statue;
but to those who have heard his voice
and felt his pardon, and received his
benedictiOn, he is music and light, and
warmth, and thrill, and eternal fra
grance-sweet as a friend sticking tc
you when all else betray; lifting you
up while others try to push you down;
not so much like morning-glories, thai
bloom only when the sun is coming up
nor like 'four-o'clocks," that bloom
only when the sun is going down, bu
like myrrh, perpetually aromatic-tht
same morning, noon and night; yes
terday, today, forever 1t seems as il
we cannot wear him out. We put or
him all our burdens, and afilict hin
with all our griefs, and set him fore
most in all our battles; and yet he i.
ready to lift, and to sympathize and t.
help. We have so imposed upon hin
that one would think in eternal affroD
he would quit cur soul, and yet toda,
he addresses us with the same tender
ness, dawns upon us with the same
smile, pities us with the same com
passion.
There is no name like his for us.
is more imperial than Caesars, NOR
musical than Beethoven's, more con
quering than Chariemagnes more elo
guent than Ciceros. 1t throbs with al
life. 1t weeps with all pathos. /
groans with all pain. Ii stOops with al
condescension. 1t breathes with al
perfume Who like Jesus to set
broken bone. to pity a homeless or
Dhan, to nurse a sick man, to take
Drodigal back without any scolding
20 illumine a cemetery all ploughe
with graves, to make queen unit
,sod out of the lost woman. to cate
the tears of human sorrow in
lachrymatory that shall never b
broken? Who has such an eye to Sc
our need, such a lip to kiss away on
toI,