Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-05-11
TALMAGE'S SERMON
AT TIE TABERNACLE was on AN INVITA-
TON TO A WEDDING.
The Banquet That Christ Spreads Compared
With Some Memorable Wsrdly FeaSts-Ths
Invitation the Lord Issues is to All
Glasses and Conditions.

iect Of Dr. Talmage's sermon was ''1n-
vitatiOn 10 a Wedding" and the text
Luke 14:11: Come; for all things are
now ready
Holy festivities to-day. We gather
other 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 through
out the castle were stopped AT the mo-
ment of her arrival, so continuing TO
point TO that moment as the one sur
passing al others in interest. The
doors OF the great banQueting hall
was opened. The queen marched
In TO the sounds Of the trumpets. Four
hundred servants waited upon the
guests. IL was scene that aStonished
all nations when they heard of it. Five
thousand dollars a day did the banquet
cost as il 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 aolaZe, and burst Of
music that lifted the whole scene into
enchantment. Beginning in that way
it went on from joy TO joy, and from ex-
element 20 excitement, and from rap
ture to rapture. That was the great
banquet that Lord Leicester spread in
Kenilworth Castle.
French ambassadors in Hampton Court.
The best cooks Of the laud provided for
the table. The guests were kept hunt
ing in the parks all the day, so that
their aDpetlteS might be keen, and then
in the evening hour they were shown
into the banQueting hail, with table
aglitter with imperial plate, and abluSh
with the 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
the brim, drank first 10 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.
CHRIsT'S BANQUET.
Illustrating my text, / go on and in
the first plac. 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
be entered booted and Spurred, all the
guests arose and cheered him; but /
have To tell YOU that our banqueter, the
Lord Jesus Christ, comes in at the be-
ginning OF the feast. Ay, he has been
waiting for his guests, waiting for some
of them 1891 years, waiting with mangled
feet, waiting with hand on the pune
tured side. waiting with hand on the
lacerated temples, waiting, waiting!
Wonder 10 is that the banQueter did not
get weary aud say: "Shut the door, and
let the laggardS stay out" No, he mas
been waiting. How much he is
i'm earnest Shal! l show you?
gather up all the tears
that flooded his cheek in Sympa-
thv. all the blood that channelled his
brow and back and hand and foot, TO
purchase our redemption. l gather up
all the groanS coming from midnight
chill aud mountain hunger and desert
loneliness, aud l put them into one Bit
ter cry 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, aud put it under the glass
of the Gospel, and il enlargeS to lakes
OF sorrow. 10 oceans of agony. That
Christ to-day, emaciated and worn and
weary, comes here. and with a pathoS
VA which every word iSa heartbreak and
every sentence u martyrdOm, He says to
YOU and lie says TO me: Come, come,
for all things are now ready"
AhaSuerus made feast that lasted
$50 days This lasts forever. Lords
and princes were invited to that. You
and are invited 10 this. Yes, He has
been waiting; He is waiting now. Other
kings wrap themselves in robes of
beauty and power before they come
into a banquet. So does Christ. Oh,
lie is the faireSt OF the fair. L. HIS
hand is the OmuipOtent surgery that
oDe1ed blind eyes and Strengthened
crooked limbs. and hOiSted the pillars
of heaven. and swung the twelve gates,
which are twelve pearls. Oh, what
Christ Christ OF beauty, Christ of
power. There are not enough cups on
earth 70 dip up the ocean of
beauty. There are not ladders to
scale these heights of Love. On, thou
Flower of eternity, thy breath is the
perfume Of heaven. O, thou daybreak
of the soul. let all nations clap their
hands i'm thy radiance. Chorus. Come
men and angels and cherubim and Sera-
phim and archangel, all heights, all
depths. ali immenSitieS. Chorus! Roll
on through the heavens in chariot Of
universal acclaim, over bridges of no.
sauna. under arches of coronation, by
the towers Ginning with eternal iubi-
lee. Chorus Unto him that loved Us
and washed Us from our sins in his own
blood, and made US kings and priests
unto Nod, 70 him be glory.
rHE LORD Is WAITING.
But l remark again, not only Christ is
waiting, but the Holy Spirit is waiting
Why are some sermons n dead failure?
Why are there sons that do not get
their wing under the people? Why are
there players that go no higher mp than
hunters halloO? Because there is a
missing link that only the Holy Spirit
can make II that Spirit should come
. through this aSSemblage this morning,
there would be 4 power felt like that
when Saul was endorsed on the road to
Damascus like as when Lydia'S heart
was broken in her fine store, like as