The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-03-17

Now, what gold and silver and pre-
cious stones I'm dress mean TO the west
ern mind myrrh and aloes and cassia
In a sense mean to the oriental mind
As l would say 10 you. Her dress was
sparkling with jewels" the oriental, tc
depict sumptuousness and expensive
ness Of apparel, would say. His gar
ments We're aromatic with myrrh and
aloes and cassia." Myrrh was one OF
the treasures Of the east When the
wise men came to bow at the manger
what expensive presents did they
bringf Gold and fanklncense and
myrrh. These oriental sages would not
have offered to a king a present Of
myrrh unless it had been Of great
value. Dr. Ktto tells Us this: "Myrrh
was offered In presents. as natural
products were IN those days. because
such as were procured from distant
countries were very rare In the same
way we often hear Of a rare animal
or bird being presented 10 royalty in
/ the present day" Tile aloes Of
| Cochin China wrote Or Faussett,
"are worth their weight in gold The
/ value Of CaSsia also was enormous. II
was used, as Dr. McClintock in
/ forms US. as an ingredient In the cost
| lest unguents. When the psalmist
tells us that Christs wedding garments
smell Of myrrh and alOes and cassla we
know that he means Us to understand
how precious they will be-
Let US consider what makes them
precious. They are the glory OF our
Lord. He will wear them in JOY and
gratitude for the sacrifices his people
have made I'm his cause They are 90
ing to cost all the moneys we give to
our churches and TO our ref0rmatory
institutions. We must give this money
for Christs robes. lie bids us give.
They are going to cost all the moneys
we send TO foreign missions. Go
teach all men is the Bible command.
Not only have they cost money, but
blood They are going TO cost All the
blood Of the martyrs which has been
shed IN the past. All. now the eX-
pense of those wedding robes Is rolling
up. II the dead body Of a common la-
bOrer slain by an express train in New
York state is worth $1,000, how much
must have been worth the martyred
blood of a Paul. a Peter, a Stephen, a
POlycarp, a Justin Martyr, a Savona-
rola, a Ridley. an Elphege, a Gileyn de
Muller. John Rogers. a Lawrence San
ders a John Harper, n BrebOeuf, Lal-
lermand aud OF the thousands and the
tens Of thousands of men and women
slain by sword and spear and battle
ak or burned at the stake and tortured
with untold agonies in many cham
bers Of horrors" God alone can know
how the value Of Chrst's wedding gar
ments is increasing.
But the supreme element in the cost
Of those wedding garments is the blood
Of Christ himself 1t was by bis own
suffering and death that he won the
right TO wear them. DO you wonder
that Isaiah when IN prophetic vision
he sees these wedding robes describes
them 10y their color-the color Of the
bloody sacrificeI "Who is this" cried
be, that cometh from Edom with dyed
garments from Bozrah-this that is
glorious in his appareli Wherefore
art thou red in thine apparel and thy
garments like him that treadeth in the
wine vatf' All, my friends, am glad
today we can talk about the royal GRIM
son and not the royal purple Of Christs
wedding garments ! am glad that
even IN heaven. when looking upon the
divine face Of Jesus, we shall not be
allowed for one moment to forget the
enormous cost In money and blood Of
the marriage robes in which Christ will
lie clad as the Bridegroom when he
takes tie church as his bride IN eter
nal nuptials
But. drawing near to the Divine Bride !
groom. / find that Christs wedding /
robes have wonderful curative quail |
ity Their touch is like the cool hand |
upon the fevered brow Oh. yes. they |
are more than that. Their touch gives |
spiritual and physical healing. 1t is
Ike the healing power Of Christs
earthly robe when the border Of II was /
pressed just an instant by the fore
finger Of the poor woman who had an /
issue Of blood for twelve years. No /
sooner did her flesh come in contact |
with its folds than Immediately the
woman was made whole from that /
hour" We have read how the ancient
devOtees used 10 travel many miles TO
be cured Of their physical pains at the
tomb Of ST. Ann de Beaupre. or at
the "healing spring" OF Lourdes. or by
the flowing robes Of ST. Anthony.
st. Patrick or St Bernard, but never
did tomb or tabled water or flow
Ing garments Of dead saints have such
curative qualities. spiritual or physical,
as will have the wedding garments Of
Jesus Christ.
How do | know this? The symbols
OF the myrrh and the alOes and the cas-
sla teach it. They were all used medic
inally. "The myrrh. as is well known"
writes an authority, was celebrated
for It's use in medicines. The ancients
prepared wine OF myrrh and also an
OH Of myrrh 1t was found as an in
yredlent I'm many OF the celebrated com
pound medicines" "Myrrh is especial
" Of great use" says another author
along with aloetlc medicines and com
pounds Of iron" The medicinal quality
of aloes Is defined in every dictionary,
and cassia was also used as a drug by
he ancients. Thus when we come i'm
ouch with Christ's wedding garments
we know that they are going TO heal
Ill Of our diseases and assuage all our
pains and be the balm which will take
lway every heartache. In Goethe's
Faust" we are taught that the royal
'obes Of God shall appeal 10 us mostly
ly sight and not by touch. But | would
.hange the wording Of the master poet
II Germany. as I describe the healing