The Red Cloud chief., 1891-05-22
ALL THINGS NOW A
d.. Talmage Discoursee on the
Greatest Of Banqueta
The Saviour Ever Ready q Receive All
I'M Church Open to All Who Desire To
Enter-No Invitation Necessary
Come Now.

In q late sermon at Brooklyn Rev.
I. Dewitt Talmage's subject was: I'm
vitation to Q Wedding" and his text
Luke xiv. IL: Come; for all things are
nov ready" He said:
Holy festivities to-day. We gather
our sheaves into the spiritual garner.
Our joy is like the JOY OF Heaven.
Spread the banquet, fill all the chalices.
We are not to-day at the funeral of a
dead Christ; we are celebrating the
marriage of the Kings SON
1t was an exciting time in English
history when Queen Elizabeth visited
Lord Leicester at Kenilworth castle.
The clocks in all the towers and
throughout the castle were stopped at
The moment of her arrival, SO continu-
ing to point to the moment az the one
surprising all others in interest. The
door OF the great banquet hall was
opened The queen marched in 10 the
sound Of the trumpets. -Four hundred
servants waited upon the guests II
was a scene that astonished all nations
when they heard of it Five Thousand
dollars a day did the banquet cost as it
went on day after day. She was
greeted to the palace gates
with floating islands and
torches, and the thunders of cannon and
fireworks that set the night abiaze, and
a burst Of music hat lifted the whole
scene into enchantment Beginning in
that way, it went on from joy to Joy.
and from excitement TO excitement, and
from rapture TO rapture. That was the
great banquet that Lord Leicester
spread in Kenilworth castle.
Cardinal Wolsey entertained the
French ambassadors in Hampton court
The best cooks Of all the land provided
for the table. The guests were kept
hunting in the parks all the day so that
their appetites might be keen. and then
in the evening hour they weres shown
into the b~anqueting hall, with table
aglitter with imperial plate and ablush
with b very costliest wines, and the
second course of the feast was made of
food in all shapes, of men and birds and
beasts, and dancing groups, and joust-
ing parties riding upon each other with
uplifted lances. Lords and princes and
ambassadors, their cups cleaning to
h brim, drank first to the health of
the king of England, and then to the
health of the emperor of France. That
was the banquet that Cardinal Wolsey
spread In Hampton court.
But to-day, my brothers and sisters
j invite youto a grander entertainment
My Lord the King Is the bangueter.
Angels of God are the cup-bearers; all
the redeemed are the guests; the halls
of eternal love, frescoed with light and
paved with Joy and curtained with I'M
fading beauty are the b~anqucting place;
the harmonies of eternity are the music:
the chalices of God are the plate; and
am one of the servants come ont with
invitations to all the people: and o. that
you might break the seal Of the invita-
ton and cad in ink Of blood and with
the tremulous hand of a dying Christ:
''Come. come, for all things are now
ready"
Sometimes there have been great dis
appointments at a banquet The wines
have given out, or the servants nave
been rebcllious, or the lights have
failed But I walk all around the ban
quoting table of my Lord to-day, and ]
find everything complete, and ] open
the door of the banqueting house and i
say: "All things are now ready"
illustrating my text I go on and In
the first place say that the Lord Jesus
Christ is ready. Cardinal Wolsey did
not come into the banqueting hall until
the second course of the feast, and
when he entered booted and spurred,
all the guests arose and cheered him,
but I have to tell you that our ban.
queter, the Lord Jesus Christ comes in
at the beginning of the feast. Aye, he
has been waiting for his guests; wait
ing for some of them 1891 years; wait
ing with mangled feet; waiting with
hand on the punctured side; waiting
with hand on the lacerated temples;
waiting. waiting, Wonder. IL is that
the banqueter did not get weary and
say: .Shut the door and let the lag
CARDS stay ont" No, he has beer wait.
ing. How much he is In earnest, Shall
/ show you? ] gather up all the tears
that flooded his cheek in sympathy; all
the blood that channeled his brow and
back and hand and foot TO purchase
our redemption. i gather up all the
groans coming from midnight chill and
mountain hunger and desert loneliness,
and / put them into n bitter cry; 1
gather up all the pangs that shot
from cross and spike and spear, into
one groan; i take one drop of sweat on
his brow, and / put il under the glass
of the gospel and it cnlarges to lakes
of sorrow. 10 can of agony. That
Christ to-day. emaciated and worn and
weary. comes here, and with a pathos
In which every word Is q heHrtbreaR
and every sentence a martyrdom. he
SAYS TO you and he says to me: Come,
come. for all things are now ready"
Ahasuerus made a feast that lasted
$50 DAYS. This lasts forever. Lords
and princes were invited to that. You
and | are invited to this. Yes, He has
been waiting, lie is waiting now. Other
kings wrap themselves in robes of
beauty and power before they come
into q banquet So does Christ O,
He is the fairest of the fair.
In His hands is the omnipotent
surgery that opened blind eyes
and Strengthened crooked limbs and
hoisted the pillars Of heaven and
swung the twelve gates which are
twelve pearls O. what a Christi
Christ Of beauty, a Christ of power.
There are not enough cups on earth to
dip up this ocean Of beauty. There are
not ladders to scale these heights OF
love. Oh. thou flower of eternity, thy
breath is the perfume of heaven. Oh,
thou daybreak Of the soul, let all ma
tons clap their hands in thy radience.
Chorus. Come men and angels and
cherubim and seraphim and archangel,
all heights, all depths, all immensities
Chorus. Roll on through the heavens
in chariot of universal acclaim, over
bridges of hosannas, under arches of
coronation. by the towerschiming with
eternal jubilee. Chorus. Unto Him
that loved us and washed us from our
sins in His own blood, and made Us
kings and priests unto God. to Him be
glory!
All, there is one word Of Eve letters
that I would like to write; but ! have