The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-03-17
FARMvILLE VA, FRIDAY, MARCH Il, 1905.

young bridegroom could give to the
bride his love, but be could not give
to her health. The words It'll death
do you part" never had such solemnlty
for me as at that service. Even then
death was saying to the couple being
wed: you must part. You must part
at once. / am death, and | am coming
10 court your bride" But at the heav-
enly marriage of the Divine Bride
groom there shall be no pain on any
face, no heartache in any breast, no
hacking cough, no fearful eye. The
garments that smell Of the myrrh and
/ the al0es and the csssia are curative
robes. They are wedding garments
scented with myrrh. a medicine, and
| with al0es, a medicine, and with cas-
sia, a medicine.
But have the royal robes Of Christ no
higher purpose than tile mere preven-
| ton Of pain or Of heartaches? II that
be all the efficacy OF these wedding
garments OF the Divine Bridegroom,
then l say let me have my pain and
hesrtaches. There Is sometimes Joy
In suffering There is sometimes
peace in pain. As Tennyson writes. 1T
is better to have loved and lost than
never TO have loved at ALL" That we'd
ding ring upon your hand-would you
wish never to have had 1t placed thereI
1t may be many years ago since the
hand that put it upon your finger was
laid in the grave. Would you like TO
blot out all the memories You have bid
with that earthly life? "Oh, no" you
answer. mo no. My joy today is in
living I'm the beautiful halls OF memo
ry and in thinking over again all the
happy days we spent together. would
sooner have had a dear husband as he
was and have had him taken away
than never TO have known what the
companionshlp Of such husband
meant 10 wife"
Thus come to the climax Of my
subject The royal robes Of Christ
give to MS a positive assurance that
the marriage ceremony Of the Divine
Bridegroom and Of the church. his
bride, is TO be a beginning Of never
ending JOY. not the mere end OF sor-
row or pain or suffering or death.
Prove this. you say. ! will. "HO. Mic
odemus," ! cry. whittier art thou go
lng? Friend, why is thy countenance 30
sad? Why dost thou hug to thy side
that great burden Of hundred pound
weghtT' At once NicOdemus. the
same NicOdemus who came 10 Jesus by
night, looks mp. and see that his eyes
are filed with tears and his face
drawn down by a great sorrow. Il am
going" says he with this hundred
pound weight Of myrrh and aloes TO
embalm the body OF Jesus Christ who
has just been crucihed. We are going
TO bury the Saviour's body in the tomb |
OF Joseph Of ArImathea | wish his
body TO be preserved by these spices as
long as possible" What. Nlcode-
mus, will these spices Of myrrh and |
aloes preserve the body OF JesusF" |
Yes" answered the ruler Of the Jews, |
they will. II you will examine the |
mummles preserved for thousands OF |
years In the Egyptian tOmbs you will /
find that these spices were the chief /
causes Of their preservation" Hered
otus. the father of history" nearly |
800 years before Christ was cruched, /
records that the Egyptians always
preserved the bodies Of their dead with
these spices "1hey then All the body |
with powder Of myrrh and aloes and
cassla and other perfumes. except
Thus we find by these
two statements that the wedding gar
ments Of Christ not only have cura-
tive, but also preservative. quality.
That means. carrying the figure up TO
It's acme Of symbol that the wedding
Of Christ will never fade or
grow old.
No they will never become yellow
and worn. as are some Of the bridal
dresses that were worn many years
ago. They will never be put aside as
useless. The wedding songs that we
shall sing at the marriage Of the Lamb
shall never have an end. The raptur-
ous joy with which we greet our dear
ones on the other side Of the Jordan
shall never grow monotonous. The
owing kiss which the Divine Bride
groom places upon the lips OF his bride
shall never become cold and indffer-
mt. The myrrh and the aloes and cas-
,ia shall preserve and increase Joy,
wen as the wedding garment Of Christ
shall halt and cure and kill sorrows
)h. yes. these wedding robes Of Christ
IRE TO be- aromatic robes. symbolical OF
never ending peace. The ever increas-
ng Joy Of earth shall roll and swell
md continue 10 increase through all
he coming ages. "Hosanna, blessed is
he king Of Israel that cometh IN the
lame Of the Lord, Hosannaw