The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-05-11
INVITED TO A WEDDING.
TALMAGB ASKS EVERY ONE TO
ENTE HEAVEN.

Wolsey's Banquet not to be Com
pared with tae Scenes OF Eternity.
BROOKLYN. y. Y, May 1O.-The main
auditorium of the Tabernacle and the ad-
joining rooms were filed by a large
audience.
The subject Of DR.. Talmage's sermon was
"Invitation to Wedding" and the text
Luke IA. II: 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, ill all the chalces We are not
to-day at the funeral of dead Christ; We
are celebrating the marriage of the Kings
Son.
IL was an exciting time in English his
tory 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,
30 continuing to point TO that moment as
the tt one Surpassing all others IN Interest.
The doors Of the great BAN
quoting hall were opened. The
queen marched in to the sound Of
the trumpets. Four hundred servants waited
upon the guests. 1t was a scene thab
astonished all nations when they heard ot
1t. Five thousand dollars n day did ths
banquet cost as IL went on day after day.
She was greeted to the palace gates with
floating islands, and torches and the thun-
ders OF cannon, and fireworks that set this
night ablAze, and a burst of music thau
lifted the whole scene into enchanJment.
Beginning in that way. il went from joy to
joy, and from excitement TO excitement.
aud from rapture TO rapture. That was the
great banquet that Lord Leicester spread in
Kenilworth castle.
Cardinal Wolsey entertained the Freucl1
ambassadors in Hampton Court. The best
cooks Of all the land provided for the table.
The guests were kept hunting Ia the parks
all the day. 80 that their appstites might be
keen, and then IN the evening hour they
wero shown into the banqueting hall, with
table aglitter with imperial plate, and
ablush with the very costlest 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 jousting
parties riding upon each other with uplifted
lances. Lords and princes and ambassadors,
their cups cleaning TO the hrim, drank firsa
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, in-
vite you to a grander entertainment. My
Lord, the King, is the banqueter. Angels
are the guests; the halls OF eternal love
frescoed with light, and paved with Joy,
and curtained will unfading beauty are
tue banqueting place. the harmonies OF
eternity are the music, the chaIices of God
are the plate, aud / am one Of the servants
come out with invitations to ell the people,
aud o, that you might break che seal Of
tho invitation and read in ink of blood, and
with the tremulous hand Of dying Christ.
Come, come, for all things are now
ready
Sometimes there have been great disap-
pointmonts at banquet. The wine has
given out, or the servants have been rebel
lious. or the lights have failed but walk
all around the bauqueting table Of my Lord
to-day, aud find everything complete, and
swing open the door OF this banquetng
house and | say: IAN things are now
ready
Illustrating my text, go on and IN tho
first place say that the Lord Jesus Christ 10
ready. Cardinal Wolsey did not come into
the banqueting nall until the second course
of the feast, and when he entered booted
and spurred, all the guests arose and
cheered him but have TO tell you that our
banqueter, tho Lord Jesus Christ, comes i'm
at the beginning of the feast. Ay, he has
been waiting for his guests, waiting for
some OF them 1891 years, waiting With
mangled feot, waiting with baud on the
lacsrated temples, waiting waiting Won
der IL ia that the banqueter did not geo
weary and say; "Shut the door, and
let the laggards stay out" No, hs
has been waiting. How much he is in
earnestl Shall show youl gather up all
the tears that flooded mis- cheek in SYM
pathy, all the blood that channelled his
brow and back ana hand and foot, to pur-
chase our redemption. | gather up ALI
the groans coming from midnight chill and
mountain hunger and desert ioneless, and
put them into one bitter cry--I gather up
all the pangs that shot from cross and
spike and spear, into one Rroan-I take one
drop Of sweat on his brow, and l put ID
under the glass Of the gospel, and it en-
lnrges to lakes of sorrow, to oceans OF.
agony. That Christ to-day, eInaciated and
worn and weary, comes here, and with q
pathos in which every word 10 heartbreslc
and every sentence nartyrdom, he says to
you aud he says to ms: '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,
he is waiting now. Other kings wrap
themselves In robes Of beauty and power
before they come into banquet. So does
Christ. Oh, he is the fairest of the fair. In
his hand 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 Christ-a Christ OF
beauty, Christ Of power. There ars not
enough cups on eartn to dip up this ocean
of beauty. Thsre are not ladders to
scale these nights OF Love. 0, thou Flower
of eternity, thy breIth is the perfume OF
heaven. o, thou Daybreak of the soul, let
all nations clap their ma ds in thy radlancs.
Chorusl Come men and angels and cher
uhim and seraphim and archangel, all
nights, all depths, all immensities. Chorust
Roll on through the heavens IN chariot OF
universal acclaim, over bridges of hosanna,
under arches Of coronation, by the towers
Ginning with eternal jubilee. Chorusl Un-
to him that loved us aud washed US from
our sins in his own blood, and made US
kings and priests unto God, to him be glory.
Ah there is one word Of five letters that
| would like to write; but have no sheet
fair enough to write it on, aud no pencil
good enough to inscribe it. Give me
sheet from the heavenly records, and some
pencil used by angel in describing victory,
and then with hand struck with super1at-
ural energy, and with peucil dipped in ever
lasting morning, will write it out in capi-
tails OF love: JESUS Jesusl IL is this
one that is waiting for you and for me.
for We are on the same platform before
God How long he waited for mel How