Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-08-09

Rev. DR.. Calmlage
Subject: The Glories of Heaven-Christ' q
Attractiveness Painted In Glowing Col
ors-From Ivory Palaces to the Agony
of the Crucifxion.
Copyright, Louis Klopsch 1891
WASHINGTON, d. Gin this discourse DR..
Talmage sets forth the glories of the world
to come and the attractiveness OF the
Christ, who opens the way; text. Psalms,
XIV. 8. CAN Thy garments smell OF myrrh
and aloes and cassia out Of the ivory pal
aces"
Among the grand adornments OF the city
of Paris Is the Church OF Notre Dame, with
great towers and elaborate rose windows
and sculpturing of the last Judgment, with
the trumpeting angels and rising dead; its
battlements OF quatre foil; its sacristy
with ribbed ceilings and statues OF saints.
But there was nothing in all that build
ing which more vividly appealed to my
plain republican tastes than the costly
veetments which lay In oaken presses
robes that had been embroidered
with gold and been worn by Popes and
archbishops on great occasions. There was
a robe that had been worn by Plus VII at
the crowning OF the first Napoleon. There
was also vestment that had been worn at
the baptism 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 aro-
matics in which they had been preserved
filed the place with a sweetness that was
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done in stone more vividly impressed me
than these things that had been done in
cloth and embroidery and perfume. But
to-day open the drawer OF this text, and
Hook upon the kingly robes of Christ, and
as lift them, flashing with eternal Jewels
the whole house Is filed with the aroma OF
these garments. which "smell Of myyrh
and aloes and cassia out of the ivory pal.
aces"
In my text the King steps forth. His
robes rustic and blaze as He advances. His
pomp and power and glory overmaster the
spectator. More brilliant Is He than Queen
Vashti moving amid the Persian princes;
than Marie Antoinette on the day when
Louis XVI. put upon her the necklace Of
800 diamonds; than Anne Boleyn the day
when Henry VIII. welcomed her to his
paiace-all beauty and all pomp forgotten
while we stand In the presence OF this i'm
perial glory, King OF Zion, King OF the
garments not worn out, not dust be-
draggled. bat radiant and jeweled and re-
dolent. It seems as IL they must have
been pressed 100 years amid the flowers of
heaven. The wardrobes from which they
have been taken must have been sweet
with clusters OF camphor and franklin
cense and all manner Of precious wood.
Do you not inhale the odors? Aye, aye.
"They smell OF myrrh and aloes and cassia
out OF the ivory palaces"
Your first curiosity Is to know why the
robes Of Christ are odorous with myrrh.
This was bright ieafed Abyssinian plant.
1t was trifoliated. The Greeks. Egyptians,
Romans and Jews bought and sold it at a
high ,nrice. The first present that was
ever Christ was sprig of myrrh
thrown on Iia irfantile bed In Bethlehem,
and the last gift tGss Christ ever had was
myrrh pressed into the cup of His cruci-
dxion. The natives woulG "te stone
and bruise the tree, and t.I, Md
exude gum that would satura
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u Il no largck than chestnut v. -
whelm q whole room with odors. 1t was
put in closets, in chests, In drawers, in
rooms, and its perfume adhered almost in
terminah!T tc anything that was anywhere
near it.. So when in my text 1 read that
Chrfst's garments smell of myrrh / imme-
diately conclude the exquisite sweetness
of Jesus.
Would that you all knew His sweetnessl
attractions! II the philosopher leaped out
of his path in frenzy of joy and clapped
his hands and rushed through the streets
because he had found the solution of a
mathematical problem, how will you feel
leaping from the fountain of a Sayiour's
mercy and pardon, washed clean and made
white as snow, when the question has been
solved, How can my soul be saved?"
Naked, frostbitten, storm-lashed soul, let
Jesus this hour throw around thee the
garments that smell of myrrh and aloes
and cassia out of the ivory palace"
Your second curiosity is to know why tn.
robes of Jesus are odorous with aloes.
There Is some difference of opinion about
where these aloes grow, what is the color
of the flower, what Is the particular ap
pearance OF the herb. Suffice 1t for you
and me to.know that aloes mean bitterness
the world over, and when Christ comes
with garments bearing that particular odor
they suggest to me the bitterness of
Saviour's sufYerings. We're there ever such
nights as Jesus lived through-nights on
the mountains, nights on the sea, nights in
the desertf Who eyer had such hard re-
ceptiop as Jesus had? hostelry the first,
an unjust trial in oyer and terminer an
other, a foul mouthed, yelling mob the last.
Was there a space on His hack as wide as
your two fingers where He was not whippedp
Was there a space on His brow an inch
square where He was not cut OF the briers2
When the spike struck at the instep, did it
not go clear through to the hollow of the
Aloes! Aloesl
John leaned his head on Christ, but who
I'D Christ lean on? Five thousand men
led by the Saviour; who fed Jesus? The
sympathy of o 6aviour's heart going out to
the leper ana the adultress; but who
soothed Christi He had fit place neither
to be born noAto die. A poor babel A
poor ladl A poor young mani Not so
much as a taper to cheer His dying hours.
Even the candle Of the sun snuffed out.
Was 1t not all aloes? Our sins. sorrows,
tereavements, losses and all the agonies of
earth and hell picked up as In enc cluster
and squeezed into one cup, and that
pressed to His lips until the acrid, nauseat-
Ing, bitter draft was swallowed with a dis
torted countenance and shudder from
head to foot and gurgling strangulation.
Aloes, aloes! Nothing but aloes. All this
for Himself? All this to get the fame in
the world Of being a martyr? All this in
spiri. of stubbornness, because He did not
Ike CRsar7 No, no! All this because He
wanted to pluck me and you from he'll.
Because He wanted to raise me and you to
heaven. Because We were lost and He
wanted us found. Because We were blind,
and He wanted US to see. Because we
were serfs, and He wanted US manumitted.
Oh, ye in whose cup Of life the saccharin
has predominated; oh, ye who have had
bright and sparkling beverages, how do
you feel toward Him who in your stead
and to purchase your disenthrallment,
took the aloes, the unsavory aloes, the
bitter aloesf
Your third curiosity is to know why
these garments OF Christ are odorous with
cassia. This was a plant which grew in
India, and the adjoining islands. You do
not care to hear what kind of a flower it
had or what kind of stalk. 1t Is enough
for me to tell you that 1t was used
In that land and in that age,
where they knew but little about pharmacy,
cassia was used to arrest many forms Of
disease. So, when in my text we find Christ
coming with garments that smell of cassfa,
it suggests to me the healing and curative
power of the Son OF God. "Oh," you say,
"now you have superfuous idea! We
are not sick. Why do We want cassia?
We are athletic. Our respiration is per-
feet. Our limbs are 1.-the, and on bright
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