Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-02-02

touch With Chri0C0 wedding garments
we know that they are going to heal
all Of our diseases and asUuage all our
pains and be the balm which will take
away every heartachc. In Goethe's
"Faust" we are taught that the royal
robes of God shall appeal to us mostly
by sight and not by touch. But would
change the wording Of the master poet
Of Germany, az I describe the healing
qualities Of Christ's wedding garments,
as follows:
Hero at the roaring loom Of time I ply
And weave for God the garment thou
feerst him by.
Pain, sickness. suffering pain Of the
head. pain In the heart, all to disap.
pear before the touch Of Christ's we'd
ding robes. Oh. think OF the blessed
rapture of such a wedding ceremony
with the Divine bridegroom! rcmcm-
Der some years ago I was called to Of
flciate at the saddest wedding Of my
life A young woman was dying. Even
then the summons OF death was pound.
ing at her bedroom door. But before
she loft earth she wnnted as bride TO
clasp tho hand Of the lover by her
aide. We silently entered the sick
room. The breathing was heavy and
low, but the eye Of the sufferer was
bright and happy. A strong young
man stood by the side Of the sickbed.
The nuptial VOWS were spoken. The
young bridegroom could give to tho
bride his love, but he could not give
to her health. The words ''till death
do you part" never had such solemnity
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 I am coming
to court your bride" But at the heav-
emily 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 ulOes and the cassia are curative
robes. They are wedding garments
scented with myrrh. Il medicine. and
with alocs. a medicine. and with cas-
STA. Il medicine.
But have the royal robes of Christ no
higher purpose thnn the mere proven
ton OF pain or Of heartaches? If that
be all the efficacy Of these wedding
garments Of the Divine bridegroom,
then l say let me have my pain and
heartaches. There is sometimes JOY
in suffering. There is sometimes n
peace ia pain. AS Nnnyson writes. "lt
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 It placed there?
1t may be many years ago since the
hand that put It upon your finger was
lnid in the grave. Would You like to
blot out all the memories you have had
with that earthly life? "Oh. no." you
answer "No. no. Ny Joy today is In
living in the beautiful halls OF memo
~ 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
companionship Of such husband
meant to a wife" II you have an in
durable physical pain, would you have
the physician give to you an Opiate to
deaden your sensibilities and your
mind for years to come? "Oh. no." you
answer. then I would be nothing more
than a alternating creature or a log or
a stone Better my thinking mind with
pain than continual Inconsistencies
without pain. " Well then. the we'd
ding robes Of Christ must do more for
US than merely alleviate suffering, else
we would want none Of them. would
not wish to live a thousand years on
earth il to do it would have to endure
the mere animal existence OF an Austria
liam aboriglnc. even though then
might not know physical or mental suf-
fering.
Thus l come TO the climax Of my
subject. The royal robes Of Christ
give to us Il positive assurance that
the marriage ceremony Of the divine
Bridegroom and of the church, his
bride. Is to be 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, "whither art thou 20.
ing? Friend, why is thy countenance so
sad? Why dost thou hug to thy side
that great burden Of Il hundred pound
weight" At once Nicodcmus, the
same Nicodemus who came to Jesus by
night. looks up. and see that his eyes
are filled with tears and his face
drawn down by great sorrow. Il am
going" says he. with this hundred
pound weight OF myrrh and aloes ia
cmbalm the body Of Jesus Christ who
has Just been crucified. We are going
to bury the Saviour's body in the tomb
of Joseph OF AriInathea. | wish his
body to be preserved by these spices as
long as possible" What, Nicode-
mus. will these spices of myrrh and
alocs preserve the body Of Jesus q
eyes," answered the ruler Of the Jews.
they will. II you will examine the
inummies preserved Tor thousands Of
years In tho Egyptian tombs you will
6nd that these spices were the chief
causes Of their preservation" Herod-
otus, the father Of history" nearly
800 years before Christ was crucified,
records that the Egyptians always
preserved the bodies Of their dead with
lhese spices. They then al the body
with powder Of myrrh and nlocs and
cassie and other perfumes, except
fpnnk in~onan Thus mn And no thee