The Penn's Grove record., 1894-02-02
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE's Sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject sFcstivity.'

TEXT. "Come, FIR al thinJs n;e n9t
Tsddy."-Luke xiv, II.
1t was one of the most excitin, times in
English history wnPn Queen Elizabeth yiste |
Lord Leicester at Kenilworth Castle. The
moment OF her arrival was considered DIM
portant that all the clocks OF the castle vera
stopped. so that the hands might point 10
that one moment rs being the most signii-
cant OF all. She was sreeteltothe gate With
floating islam Is and torches. and the tnuD Ter
OF cannon. and fireworks that set the night
ablaze, and a great burst OF music that lifted
the whole scene into perfect enchantment
Then she was introduced in a dining hall the
luxuries of which asfouishedth the world. -Four
hundred servants waited upon the guests.
The entertainment cost $4,000 each day. Lori
Leicester male that great supper in Kenil-
worth Castle.
Cardinal wo.sey entertained the French
ambassadors at Hampton Court. The best
cooks in all the land prepared for the ban
quet. Purveyors went out and travelled all
the kingdom over to find spoils for the table.
The time came. The guests were kept dur
ing the day hunting in the Kings park so
that their appetites might be keen, and then
in the evening, to the sound of the trumpet
ers, they were Introduced into a hall hung
with silk and cloth of gold, and there were
tables a-glitter with imperial plate n laden
with the rarest of meats and ablush with the
e~ostliest wines, and when the second course
ofthe feast came it was found that the arti-
cles Of food had been fashioned into the
shape of men, birds and beasts, and groups
dancing. and jousting parties riding against
each other with lances. Lords aud princes
and ambassadors, out of cups filled to the
brim, drank the health first of the King OF
England and next OF the King Of France.
Cardinal Wolsey prepared that great supper
in Hampton Court.
But l have to tell you Of a grander enter
tainment. My Lord, the King Is the ban-
queter. Angels are the cupbearers. All the
redeemed are the guests. The halls OF eternal
love, frescoed with light and paved with joy
and curtained with unfading beauty, are the
~banqueting place. The harmonies of eter-
nifty are the music. The ohalices Of heaven
are the plates. and / am one of the servants
coming out with both hands filled with invi-
~tations, scattering them everywhere, and,
oh, that for yourselves you might break the
seal OF the invitation and read the words
written in red ink Of blood by the tremulous
hand Of a dying Christ, "Come now, for all
things are ready"
There have been grand entertainments
| where was a taking of-the wine gave out,
or the servants were rebellious, or the light
failed. But L have gone all around about
lhA5 SuDItik Hhi iOOh0u q Liz ICubiuplIOh
which Christ has provided, and l come here
TO tell you it is complete, and I swing open
the door OF the feast. telling you that Sail
things are now ready"
In the first place, 1 have to announce that
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is ready. Car
dinal Woisey came into the feast after the
first course. He came In booted and spurred,
and the guests arose and cheered him. But
Christ comes in at the very beginning OF the
l fpust-Qyp Ha hnQ hqan waiting 1904 ynQr re
for His guests. He has been standing on His
mangled feet, He has had His sore hand on
! His punctured side, or He has been pressing
His lscerated temples-waiting, waiting. II
is wonderful that He has not been impatient
and that He has not said, ''Shut the door
and let the laggard stay out" but He has
| been waiting.
| patiently as Christ has waited for us. To
| prove how willing He Is to receive us. j
gather all the tears that rolled down His
| cheeks In sympathy for your sorrows !
| gather all the drops Of blood that ~channeled
His brow, and His back, and His hands and
feet, in trying TO purchase your redemption
l gather all the groans that He uttered in
in desert loneliness, and twist them into one
~cry-bitter. agonizlng, overwhelming.
gather all the pains that shot from spear
and spike and cross, jolting into one pang-
remorseless, grinding, excruciating. l take
that one drop OF sweat on His brow, and I'M
der the gospel glass that drop enlarges until
/ see in it lakes OF sorrow and an ocean OF
agony. That being standing before you now,
emaciated and gashed and CORY, coaxes for
your love with a pathos in which every word
is a heart break and every sentence a mar
tyrdom. How can you think He trifies?
Ahasuerus prepared a feast for 1870 days.
but this feast is for all eternity. Lords and
princes were invited to that. You and 1 and
all our world are invited TO this. Christ is
ready. You know that the b~anqueters of
olden time used to wrap themselves In robes
| prepared for the occasion, so my Lord Jesus
hath wrapped Himself In all that ia beautiful.
See how fair He is! His eye, His brow. His
cheek, SO radiant that the sters have no
brilliancy compared with 1t, His tace reflect
ing all the joys OF the redeemed, His hand
having the onnipotent surgery with which
He opened blind eye, and Strengthened
crooked limbs, and hoisted tho pillars OF
heaven and swung the twelve gates, which
are the twelve pearls.
There are not enough cups In heaven to
dip up this ocean OF beauty. There are not
ladders enough to scale thfssheight of love.
There are not enough cys!hals to'clap, or
harps to thrum, or trumpets to peal forth
the praises OF this one altogether fair. Oh,
thou flower OF eternity, thy breath is the
pcIiuuio VI HcuNcu! Ou, Duo5Iul unypkoAk,
let all people clap their hands in thy rad1-
ance! Chorus Come, men and saints and
cherubim and seraphim and archangel-all
heights, all depths, all immensities. Chorus
Roll Him through the heavens in a chariot OF
universal acclaim, over bridges Of ~hosannas,
under arches Of coronation, along by the
great towers Ginning With eternal jubilee.
Chorus "Unto Him who hath loved us and
washed us from our sins In His own blood, to
i Him ha 0i0rv world wifhnut anHrW
have a word Of five letters, but no sheet
white enough on which to write 1t and no
pen good enough with which to inseribe it.
Give me the fairest leaf from the heavenly
records-gtve me the pencil with which the
angel records his yictory-andth then, with my
hand strung to supernatural ecstasy and my
pen dipped in the light of the morning, /
Will write 1t out in capitals of love,
"J-E-S-U-s." It Is this one, infinitely fair
TO whom you are invited. Christ Ia waiting
for you, waiting as a ~banqueter waits for
the delayed guest-the meats smoking, the
beakers trimming, the MINISTRIES with
fingers on the stif string, waiting for the
clash Of the hoofs at the gateway.
Waiting for you as a mother waits for her
son who went on ten years ago, dragging
her bleeding heart along with him. Waiting
Oh, give me . comparison Intense enough,
hot enough, importunate enough to express
my Notwithstanding high as heaven and
deep as hell and long as eternityl Not hop
ing that you can help me with such q conr
parison, l will say, HE IL waiting as only
the all sympathetic Christ can wait for thu
coming back Of a lost soul"
Bow the knee and kiss the Son,
Come and welcome, simmer, come.
Again, the Holy Spirit is ready. Why ia 4
| that so many sermons drop deAd-that Chris
tian songs do not get their wing under thu
| ~people-that so often prayer goes no higheI
than hunters ''hollo?" 1t Ia because Their,
10 q link wanting-the work Of the Hol,
Spirit. Unless that spirit give GRAPHING
hooks to q sermon and lift the prayer ant
wait the song, everything Is a dead failure
That spirit is willing to come at our call ant
lead you to eternal life, or ready to com'
with the same power with which heunhorset
Saul on the Damascus turnpike, and brok'
down Lydia In her fine store, and lifted thu
5000 from midnight into midnoon Mt th'
Pentecost. With that power the spirit o
God now beats at the gate of your soul
Have you not noticed what homely and in
significant instrumentality the spirit OF Cos
employs for mans conversion
There was a man on a HUI ison River boa
to whom a tract was offered. With indigna
ton he tore 1t up and threw It overheard
But one fragment lodged or his coat sleeve
] and he saw on II the worl eternity" an
| he found no peace until he was prepared FOL
that great future. Dc you know what pas
sage 1t was that caused Martin Lutherto Sc.
the truth sThe Just shau 1--we by faith.
] Do you know there is one-sjust one--pas