The Penn's Grove record., 1894-09-21
RBV. DIR. TALMAGK
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.


The %"lqin"st people in our day have luxu-
res wa'"l the kinps and queens OF olden
times nrvtr imagined. / walked up and
down the st ,irs of Holyrool pilace--a pa
lace that was considered one OF the wonders
ofthe woodland 1 said Can it be posi-
bic that this Is all there was of this reputed
wonderful place?' And this Is the case In
many other instances. There are fruits in
Westehester County and on Long Island
farms far better than the pomegranates and
apricots OF Bible lines. Through all the
ages there have been scenes of festivities,
an the wealthy man Of my text plans a
great entertainment AMI invites his friends.
II one builds a beautiful home, he wants his
acquaintances to come I'M enjoy it. If one
buys an exquisite picture, he want his
friends 10 come and appreciate ii, and it was
q laudahle thing when the wealthy man OF my
text, happy himself. wanted TO make other
people happy. And so the invitations went
out. but something went very much wrong.
You can imagine the embarrassment o fany-
one who has provided a grand feast when he
finds out that the guests invited do not
intend 10 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-
euses. The fact was, / suppose, that some
OF them were offended that this man had
succeeded so much better in the world than
they had: There are people in all oncupa-
lions and professions who consider it q
wrong TO them that anybody else Is al
ranced. l suppose these people invited to
the feast said among themselves I'VE are
not going to administer TO that mans van
ny. He Is proud enough now. We won't
go. 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 a unanimous re-
fusal. One man said, "0h, I have bought q
farm, and | must go and look at it." He
was a land Spectator and had no business
TO buy land until he knew about 1t. A
frivolous excuse. Another man said, 81
have bought five yoke of oxen" The
probability Is that he was a Spectator in
live stock. He ought to nave known about
the oxen before he bought them. Besides
that, If 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,
"Oh, l have married a wife, and l can't
come" when If he had said to his wife, 81
have an invitation to a splendid dinner. II
is highly complimentary to me. 1 should
very much like to go. Will you go along
with me?" she would nave said, $50 be sure,
l will CO." Another frivolous excuse. The
fact was that they did not want TO 20.
"Now," said the great man OF the feast,
~ will not be defeated in this matter. 1
""NN VI GIL III PuhPOoo PtoNaAOa "
banquet, and there are scores Of people who
would like TO come II they were only in
vited. Here. my man, here you go out,
and when you find a blind mar give him
your arm and fetch him In. and when you
find o lam man give him a crutch and fetch
him in, and when you find a poor man tell
him that there is a plate for him In my man
sion, and when you find some one who is so
ragged and wretched that he has never been
invited anywhere then by the kindest ten
derness and the most loving invitation any
one ever had compel him to come in"
Oh, my friends, 1t requires no acuteness
on my part or on your part to see in all this
affair that religion is a banquet. The table
was set in Palestine a good many years ago,
and the disciples gathered around 1t, n
they thought they would nave a good time
all by themselves, but while they sat by this
table the leaves began to grow n 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
from the heavenly vineyard were piled up
on the board, and the trumpets and harps OF
eternity mad up the orchestra, and as this
wine OF God is pressed to the lips OF a sim
ming, bleeding, suffering. dying, grooming
world a 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 a tablet Was
there ever such a banquet
Prom the cross uplIfted high.
Where thu Saviour deigns TO die,
What melo u us sounds | hear
Bursting on the ravished ear!
! II aven's redeeming work is done,
Com, and welcome, sinner. come.
4 Religion Is a joyous thing. 1 do not want
10 hear anybody talk about religion as
though it were a 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 s~anc.ity. The men and
women of God whom 1 happen to know for
the most part find religion a great joy. 1t is
exhilaration to the body. 1t is inauguration
to the mind. 1t is rapture to the soul. 1t
Is balm for all wounds. It is light for all
darkness. 1t Is harbor from all storms, and
though God knows that some of them have
trouble enough now, they rejoice because
they are on their way to the congratulations
eternal.
oh, the Lord God has many fair and beau
tiful daughters, but the fairest Of them all Is
she whose ways are pleasantness and whose
paths are peace. Now, my brothers and
sisters-for I have a right to call you all SO
Il 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 l look back on my an
cestral line, and l see therein such a ming
ling and mixture Of the blood of all nationali-
ties that I feel akin to all the world, and by
the blood OF the Son Of Col, who died for
all people, I address you In the bonds OF uni
versal brotherhood.
come out as only a servant bringing an
| invitation to a party, and / put II into your
hand, saying. "Come. for ali things are now
ready" inc 1 urge it upon you and continue
to urge it, and before l get through / hope,
by the blessing Of God, 10 compel you to
come in.
We must take care how we give the invita-
ton. My Christian frlen Is, / think some
times we have just gone opposite TO Christ's
command, and we have compelled people to
stay out. Sometimes our elaborated instruc-
lions have been the hindrance. We gradu-
ate from our theological Summaries on stills,
! and II takes five or six years before we can
come down and stand right beside tine great
masses of the people, learning their Joys,
sorrows, victories. defeats.
We get our heads so 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
nicalities OF religion2 What DO they care
about the hypostatic union or the difference
between sublapsarian n supralapsarian2
What do they care for your profound ex-
plantations, clear as a London fog? When a
man is drowning, he does not want you to
stand by 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 a common density
Of SO F., turf ing to steam under a common
atmospheric pressure Of 212. He does not
want a chemical lecture on water. He wants
a rope.
OF, my friendf, the curse of God on the
church, 1t seems to me, In this day, is meta
physics. We speak in an unknown tongue
In our Sabbath-sehools, and in our religious
assemblages, and in our pulpits, and how
can people be saved unless they can under
stand usp We put on our official gowns, and
we think the two silk balloons tapping al
the elbows of a preacher give him great
s~anctity. The river Of Gods truth flows down
refore as pure and clear as crystal. hut wa
take our theological stick and stir it up and
stir it up until you canIot see the bottom.
oh. for the simplicity OF Christ In all our in
structions-tte simplicity He practiced whes
standing among the people He took a lily
and said, ''Thera is a lesson OF the manner (
will clothe you,' and pointing to a raven,
said There is a lesson OF the way / will
feed you Consider the n~lles-behold the
fowls"
! Think often In our religious instructions
We compel the people to stay out by our