Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1901-09-19
IS EVERGREEN
DR. TALMAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON.
h Olive Branch of Peace, the Pine
Bough of Consolation, the ram
Branch of Victory.
rCopyright 1901

tCopyright 1901
wAsu1NeroN. D. C.-This discourse OF
DIR. Talmage is full OF the Dreath o. -.
hills and fields and is a summer sermon,
text, Nehemiah, VIII; 10 ii. o1;re 1of hran che
end "a IN branches and branches OF thick
trees to make booths"
r. seems as if Mount Olivet were I'M
moored. The people have gone into Ine
mountain and have cut off tree branches
and mt them on their shoulders, and they
come forth now into the streets OF Jeru-
salem and on the housetops ana they
twist these tree branches into arbors or
booths Then the people come forth from
their comfortable homes and dwell TOT
seven DAYS in these booths or arbors.
WIN do they do that? Well, it is a great
fastal time. It is the feast of tabernacles,
and these people are going to ceienrate
the desert travel of their fathers n thelr
deiverance from their troubles, the e2pe-
1ience of their fathers when, travelling IN
The desert. thew lived in booths on their
wav to the land of Canaan. And so these
booths also became highly suggestlve-.oI
our march toward heaven and OF the tact
that we are only living temporarily here,
as it were. in booths or arbors, on our
way to the Canaan of eternal rest; And
what was said to the Jews literally may
be said fguratively to all this audience.
(TO t1OICH lut CuC OAA0 w.
olive branches and pine branches and
myrtle branches and palm branches ana
branches of thick trees to make booths.
Yes, we are only here in a temporary
residence. We are marching on. The
merchant princes who used to live IN
Bowling Green, New York, have passed
away, and their residences are now the
fields of cheap merchants. Where are
the men who fifty years ago owned Wash
ington and New York? Passed on. There
is no use in our driving our stakes too
deep into the earth; we are on the march.
The generations chat nave preceded us
have gone so far on that we cannot even
hear the sound of their footsteps. They
have gone over the hills, and we are to
follow them.
But, blessed be God, we are not in this
world left out of doors and unsheltered
There are gospel booths or gospel arbors
in which our souls are to be comforted.
i Go forth unto the mountain and fetch
olive branches, and pine branches, and
! myrtle branches, and palm branches and
branches of thick trees and build booths.
Well, now, we are to-day to construct a
gospel arbor or gospel booth, and how
shall we construct it? Well. we must
get all the tree branches and build. Ac-
cording to my text, We must go up into
the mount and bring olive branches. What
does that mean? The olive tree grows in
warm climates and it reaches the height
of twenty or twenty-five feet, a straight
AND then people come and they strip off
these branches sometimes, and when in
time of war the general of one army takes
one of these olive branches and goes out
to the general Of another army, what does
that mean? Why, it means unsaddle the
wal chargers; it means hang up the war
knapsacks. It is but a beautiful way of
saving peace!
Now, if we are to-day going to succeed
in building this gospel arbor we must go
into the mount Of Gods blessing and fetch
the olive branches, and whatever else we
must have we must have at least two olive
branches--peace with God and peace with
man. When [ say peace with God, I dc
not mean to represent God as an angry
chieftain having a grudge against us, but
l do mean to affirm that there is no more
antagonism between a hound and a hare
between a hawk and a pullet, between ele
plant and swine than there is hostility
between holiness and sin.
And if God is all holiness and we are al
sin there must be a readjustment, there
must be a reconstruction, there must be {
treaty, there must be a stretching fortl
of olive branches.
There is a great lawsuit going on now
and it is a lawsuit which man is bringing
against his Maker; that lawsuit is now OF
IN SdlCuudI. IL i CIlC uuIudQ VERSUS Cle
divine; it is iniquity versus the immacu
J late; 1t Is weakness versus omnipotence
Man began it; God did not begin the Jaw
suit. We began it; we assaulted our Ma
ker, and the sooner we end this part O
the struggle in which the finite attempt
to overthrow the infinite and omnipoten
the sooner we end it the better. Trav
Mount Calvary; that it is only a hill, onl,
an insignificant hill, but I persist in calm,
it the mount of Gods divine mercy an
love. far grander than any other place O,
earth, grander than the Alps or the Hi
malayas, and there are no other hills a
every sect where the cross of Christ is Sc
forth it is planted with olive branches.
And all we have to do is to get rid O
this war between God and ourselves. O
which we are all tired. We want to bacl
out OF che war; we want to get rid of thi
hostility: All we have to do is just to pc
up on the mount of Gods blessing an,
pluck these olive branches and wave Their
before the throne. Peace through GU
Lord Jesus Christ!
On, it does not make much diferenc
what the world thinks of you! But com
into the warm. intimate. glowing an,
everlasting relationship with the God O
the whole universe; that is the JOY tina
makes a halleluiah seem stupid. WHY d
we want to have peace through our Lor
Jesus Christ? Why, if we had gone on i
10000 years of wal against God we coul
not have captured so much as a sword O
a cavalry. stirrup or twisted off one Of tn
wheels Of the chariot of His omnipotencf
but the moment we bring this olive branc
god and all heaven come on our side
feace through our Lord Jesus Christ. an
no other kind Of peace is worth anythint
But then we must have that other DIV
~branch-peace with man. Now, it is yer
easy to geI up a quarrel. There are pur
Powdery Christians all around us. and on
match OF provocation will set them of
1t IS easy enough to get up a quarrel. Blu
my brother, do you not think YOU ha
better have your horns sawed of? Ha
mot you better make an apology? Ha
J. not you better submit to, a. little humiI;
:. ton? oh" you say, until that ma
taxes the. first step I will never he :
. peace with him! Nothing will he. dor
until he is ready to take the first stem
You are a pretty Christian. When Won
this world be saved if Christ had NJ
taken the first step? We were in II
, wrong; Christ was in the right. ali r;ol
/ and forever right, and yet He tool. Fl
! nrst step And instead of going and ge
[ ting a knotty scourge with which to WI;
I your antagonist, your enemy. YOU had ba
] ter get up on the radiant mount whe,
- Christ suffered for IT.. w