The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-08-01
DIR. TaImage's Sermon onVest.
ments of the Saviour.
MYRRH AND AL0ES AND CASSIA
Meaning of saving Grace as Shown in the
by the Prescher-Graud Robes of NotT-
Dame. which Popes and High Dlgeit--
ries Have Wern-Paisees OF Ivory nat
Were the Glory of Ancient Times.

Rev- 7. De Witt Taluage chose as rhe
subject OF his sermon Sunday "--he
| Ivory Palaces" from the text. Psalms,
| xiv:S, "All thy garments smell Ct myrrh,
and aloes, and cassia, ont OF he ivor.r
palaces" He said:
Among the grand adornments of .ne
! city Of Paris is the Church OF Notre
Dame. with its great toters and elaborate
rose windows. and sculpturlns Of The last
( Judgment, with the trumpetiag 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 vividly
| appealed 70 my plain republican tastes
/ than the costly vestments which lay in
/ caken presses-rotes that had been EN-
/ broidered with gold. and been worn by
Popes and Arehbishops on great occasions
| There was robe that had been worn by
! Plus VII at the crowning OF the first Ma
I pcleon. There was also vestment that
had been worn az the baptism Of Napoleon
| II. As our guide opened the oaken presses
and brought out these vestments cf fahul-
Gus cost and lifted them up, the fragrance
OF the pungent arcmatics in which thew
had been preserved filed the place with
a sweetness that was almost oppressive.
Nothing that had been done in stone more
vividly impressed me than these things
that had been done in cloth, and embrOid-
cry, and perfume. But today / open the
drawer Of this text, and I lock 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 myrrh, and
aloes, and cass!a, out of the ivory palaces
Robes that Rustic and Blaze.
I'm my text the King steps forth. His
robes rustic and blaze as he advances
His pomp and power and glory overmas-
ter the spectator. More brilliant Is He
than Queen Vashti, moving amid the Per-
sian Princes; than Marie Antoinett6 on
the day when Louis XVI put upon her
the necklace OF 500 diamonds; than Anne
Boieyn the day when Henry VIII well
coined her to his palace-all beauty and
all pomp forgotten 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 ieweled.
and redolent 1t seems as II they must
have been pressed a hundred years amid
the flowers Of heaven. The Wardrobes
from which they have been taken must
have been sweet with clusters Of cam
rhire, and frankincense, and all manner
of precious wood. Do you not inhale the
odors? Ay, ay, they smell of myrrh, and
aloes, and cassa, out of the ivory palaces
Your first curiosity is to know why the
robes Of Christ are odorous with mvrrh. |
This was a bright-ieaved Abysslnian
plant. II was trifoliated The Greeks, |
Egyptians, Romans, and Jews bought and |
sold Ii at a high price. The first present |
that was ever given TO Christ was a sprig |
OF myrrh thrown ON his infantile bed I'm |
Bethlehem, and the last gift that Christ |
ever had was myrrh pressed into the cup |
OF, his crucifixion. The natives would |
take stone and brlIise the tree and then
II would exude gum that would saturatc |
all the ground beneath. This gum was |
used for purposes of merchandise. One
piece of IL, no larger than chestnut.
would whelm a whole room with odors |
II was put In closets, in chests in draw
eTs, IN rooms; and its perfume adhered |
almost unfortunately to anything that was
anywhere near II. So when in my text /
read that Christ's garments smell of /
myrrh, / Immediately conclude the ex-
Guisite sweetness of Jesus
Odor Lasts Forever.
81 know that TO many He is only Ike
any historical person; another John How
ard; another philanthrOpic OberIIn: an
other COnfucius; a grand subject for n !
painting; a heroic theme for a poem. a |
beautiful form for a statue; but to those |
who have heard His voice, and fen His
pardon, and received His benedictioH He
is music, and light, and warmth. ana
thrill, and eternal fragrance-sweet as a
friend sticking 10 you when all else be-
tray; lifting you UP while others try 70
push you down; not so much like morn
that bloom only when the sun
is coming up, nor like 'four-o'- clocks that
bloom only when the sun is going down,
but like myrrh, perpetually aromatIc-the
same morning, noon, and night; yester-
day, to-day, forever II seems as If we
cannot wear Him out. We put on Him
all our burdens, and affliCt Him with all
our griefs. and set Him foremost I'm all
our battles; and yet He is kady to lift,
and TO sympathize, and TO help. We have
so imposed upon Him that one Would /
think in eternal afIront He would |,
quit our soul; and yet to-day He
addresses us with the same tenderness
dawns upon US with the same smile.
pities US with the same compassion.
There is no name like His for us. II
is n-re imperial than Caesars, more
musical than Beethoyen's more cOn0uar-
Ing than Charlems gne's, more eloauent
than CicerO's. II thrObs with all lie n
weeps with all pathOs- IL groans with
all pain. 1t stoops with all condescension-
IL oreathes with all perfume Who ike
Jesus 10 set a broken bone, 10 pity a (