The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-10-03
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Holy Compulsion."

2 times never imagined. walked up and
down the stairs Of Holyrood palace-a pa
lace that was considered one Of the wonders
: OF the world-and said: "Can 1t be posi-.
BILE that this Is all there was Of this reputed
wonderful placer" And this Is the case In
Westchester County and on Long Island
farms far better than the pomegranates and
apricots of Bible times. Through all the
ages there have been scenes OF festivities,
and the wealthy man OF my text plans q
8 great entertainment and invites his friends.
II one builds beautiful home, he wants his
acquaintance to come and enjoyit. II one
buys an exquisite picture, he wants his
friends to come and appreciate 1t, and It was
laudable thing when the wealthy man OF my
7 text, happy himself. wanted to make other
Y people happy. And so the invitations went
out, but something went very much wrong.
You can imagine the embarrassment Of any
one who has provided grand feast when he
finds out that the guests invited do not
intend to come. There Is nothing that so
proyokes the master OF the feast as that.
Well, these people invited to this great
banquet Of the text made most frivolous ex-
s cuses. The fact was, suppose, that some
OF them were offended that this man had
succeeded so m1ch better In the world than
they had. There are people in all occupa-
& ~SASANSS
wrong to them that anybody else Is ad-
yanced. suppose these people invited to
the feast said among themselves: "We are
not going to administer 10 that mans van
itr. He Is proud enough now. We won't
80. Besides that we could all give parties
II We made our money the way that man
makes his"
SO when the messengers went out with
the invitations there was unanimous re-
Il hnnQht
farm, and I must 20 and look at It." He
was land speculator and had no business
to buy land until he knew about II. A
: frivolous excuse. Another man said, "
have bought FIVE yoke Of oxen" The
!, probability Is that he was speculator In
Live stock. He ought to have known about
3 the oxen before he bought them. Besides
& that, II he had been very anxious 20 get to
the feast, he could have hooked them up
and driven them on the road there. An
other frivolous excuse. Another man said,
4 come, when II he had said to his wife, II
+ have an invitation to splendid dinner. It
Is highly complimentary to me. should
very much like to go. VIII you go along
with mes" she would have said, "To besure,
Twill CO." Another frivolous excuse. The
fact was that they did not want to 80.
~ Now" said the great man OF the feast,
81 will not be defeated in this matter.
have with an honest purpose. provided
banquet, and there are scores OF people who
I would like to come II they were only In
: vfted. Here, my man, here you go out,
and when you find blind man give him
your arm and fetch him In, and when you
find lame man give him crutch and fetch
him In, and when you end poor man tell
him that there Is plate for him In my man
sion, and when you find some one who Is 80
ragged and wretched that he has never been
invited anywhere then by the kindest ten
enc ever had compel him to come in"
4 oh, my friends, It requires no acuteaess
on my part or on your part to see IN all this
affair that religion Is q banquet. The table
was set In Palestine good many years ago,
and the disciples gathered around It, and
they thought they would have good time
all by themselves, but while they sat by this
table the leaves began to grow and spread,
and one leaf went to the east and another
Leaf went to the west until the whole earth
was covered up with them, and the clusters
on the board, and the trumpets and harps OF
eternity made up the orchestra, and as this
wine Of God Is pressed to the lips OF sim
ming, bleeding, suffering, dying, groaning
world q voice breaks from the heavens, say
ing: "DrInk. o friends. Yea, drink, o be-
loved" o blessed Lord Jesus, the best
friend ever had, the best friend any man
ever had, was there ever such table3 Was
there ever such banquet?
From the cross upiifted high,
Where tn. Saviour deigns to die
fs What melo1ious sounds hear
Bursting on the ravtshed ear
Heavens redeeming work s done,
4 Come, and welcome, sinner, come.
Religion Is joyous thing. do not want
to hear anybody talk about religion as
though It were funeral. lido not want any
body to whine In the prayer meeting about
the kingdom OF God. do not want any
man to roll up his eyes, giving in that way
evidence Of his sanc:ity. The men and
women Of God whom happen to know for
the most part find religion q great Joy. It Is
exhilaration to the body. It Is invigoration
to the mind. 1t is rapture to the soul. Il
Is balm for all wounds. It Is light for all
darkness. It Is harbor from all storms, and
though God knows that some OF them have
trouble enough now, they rejoice because
they are ortheir way to the congratulations
eternal.
/, oh, the Lord God has many fair and beau.
tiful daughters, but the falrest Of them all Is
she whose ways are pleasantness and whose
paths are peace. Now, my brothers and
II know some people look back on their an
cestral line, and they see they are descended
from the Puritans or Huguenots, and they
rejoice IN that, but look back on my an
cestral line, and see therein such ming
HING and mixture Of the blood Of all nationali-
ties that feel akin to all the world, and By
the blood Of the Son Of God, who died for
all people, I address you IN the bonds OF uni
versal brotherhood.
come out as only q servant bringing an
invitation to party, and put It into your
I.I Co.. I'll
ready" and urge It upon you and continue
to urge 1t, and before Tget through I hope,
BY the blessing OF God, to compel you to
come In.
1 We must take care how We give the invita-
don. My Christian friends, think some
times We have just gone opposite to Christ's
command, and we have compelled people to
stay out. Sometimes our elaborated tnstruc-
lions have been the hindrance. We gradu-
and II takes five or SIX years before We can
come down and stand right beside the great
masses Of the people, learning their joys,
sorrows, victories. defeats.
We get our heads 50 brimful OF theological
wisdom that we have to stand very straight
| lest they spill over. Now, what do the great
masses OF the people care about the tech
nicalitles OF religion? What do they care
about the hypostatic union or the difference
between suOIapsallan auu suprdlapsdrlans
What do they care for your profound ex-
plantations, clear as London fog2 When
man is drowning, he does not want you to
stand BIZ the dock and describe the nature OF
| the water into which he has fallen and tell
him there are two parts hydrogen gas and
one Of oxygen gas, with q common density
| OF SO F., turr ing to steam under a common
atmospheric pressure of PIP. He does not
want chemical lecture on water. BE wants
q rope.
OF, my triendf, the curse Of God on the
church, 1t seems to me, In this day, is meta.
physics. We speak in an unknown tongue