Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1896-04-29
PALACE GATES
Closed Behind Him When Christ Came
to the Manager.
He Left His Fathers Mansion For n yofop-
tAry Exile Through Deaths Valley
kes. Dr. Taimages Elegant An
alysis of Homesickness-

1hotner way IN winch the earthly ex-
perience of our Lord is set forth. His
text was III. sam. XIV, II: And the
King went forth and tarried in a place
which was far off,"
Far up and far back in the history of
Heaven, there came period when it's
- most illustrious citizen was about to
absent Himself. He was not going To
sail from beach TO beach; we have often
done that. He was not going to put
out from one hemisphere To another
hemisphere; many of us have done
that. But He was To- sail from world
To world. the space UNEMPLOYED and the
immensities untraveled. No world
has ever hailed Heaven, and
Heaven has never hailed any
other world. l think that the windows
and the balconies were througcd
and that the pearlv beach was crowded
with those who had come To see Him
sail out of the harbor OF light into the
ocean beyond. Out and out and out,
and on and on and on, and down and
down and down He sped, until one
night, with only one TO greet Him.
when He arrived. His semba rl<ation
SO unprctending. SO quiet, that it was
not known on earth until the excite
ment in the cloud gave animation To
the bethlehem rustics that something
grand and glorious had happened. Who
comes there? From what port did He
sail? Why was this the place of His
destination? / question the shepherds.
question the camel drivers. ques-
ton the angels. | have found out
lie was an exile. But the world had
plenty of cxiles. Abraham was an ex-
u
Poland; Mazzini, an exile from Rome;
Emmett, an exile from Ireland: Victor
Hugo, an exile from France; Kossuth.
an exile FROM hungary. But this One
OF whom ] speak to-day had such re-
sounding farewell and came into such
chilling rcccption-tor not even IA host
Ter went out with his lantern To light
Him in-that lie is more to be cele-
brated than any other cxpatriatcd ex-
lie Of earth or Heaven.
First. remark that Christ was an
imperial exile. He got down off a
throne. He took off tiara. lie clos
ed a palace gate behind Him His
family were princes and princeses.
Vashti was turned out of the throne
room by Ahasuerus. David was de-
throned by Absalom's infamy The
five kings were hurled into n cavern
10y Joshuas courage Some OF the
Henrys of England and some of the
Louises of France were jostled on their
thrones by disconnected subjects But
Christ was never more honored. or
more popular, or more loved than the
day He left Heaven. Exilcs have
suffered severely, but Christ turned
Himself out from the throne-r room into
luann.N
the bottom. He was not pushed of.
lie was not manacled for foreign trans
portation. lie was not put out because
they no more wanted Him in celestial
domains, but by choice departing and
descending into an exile five times as
long as that of Napoleon at st. Helena,
and a thousand times worse; the one
exile suffering for that he had de-
stroyed nations, the other exile suffer-
ing because lie came to save the world.
An Imperial exile. King eternal.
blessing and honor and glory and
power be unto Him that stitch upon
the throne"
But go further and tell you He was
an exile on n barren island. This world
is one of the smallest islands of light in
the ocean of immensely. Other stellar
Kingdoms are many thousand times
larger than this. Christ came TO this
small Patmos of world. When exiles
are sent out they are generally sent to
regions that are sandy or cold. or hot
some Dry Tortugas of disagreeable-
ness Christ came as an exile TO a world
scorched with heat and bitten with cold.
TO deserts simoonswept, TO a bowling
wilderness. 1t was the bacl-door ward.
= a.
came to the poorest part of this barren
island of a world-Asia Minor, with its
intense summers, unfit. for the resi-
dence of a foreigner, and in the rainy
season unfit for the residence of n ma
tive. Christ came not to such land
as America, or England, or France. or
Germany, but TO land one-third OF the
year drowned. another third of the
year burned up, and only one-third of
the year just tolerable. Oh. it was a
barren island Of n world Barren
enough for Christ, for it gave such
small worship and such inadequate af-
lection. and such little gratitude. I'm
perial exile on the barren island Of a
world.
go further and tell you that lie was
an exile in hostile country. Turkey
was never 50 much against Russia,
France was never so much against Ger
many. as this earth was against Christ.
1T took him in through the door OF
stable. Il thrust Him out at the point
of spear The Roman government
against Him with every weapon OF its
army. and every decision of its courts
and every beak Of its war eagles.
For years after His arrival the
only question was how best TO
put Him out. HerOd hated Him.
the high priests hated Him, the Phari-
sees hated him, Judas Iscariot hated
Him, Gestas, the dying thief, hated
Him. The whole earth seemingly
turned into a detective 90 watch His
steps. And yet lie faced this ferocity
Notice that Christ's wounds were i'm
front Some scourging on the shout
ders, but most of Christs wounds in
front. lie was not on retreat when he
expired. Face 90 face with the worlds
ferocity. Face 60 face with the worlds
sin. Face TO face with tho worlds foe.
His eye on the raging countenances of
His foaming antagonists when He ex-
Fafra1 kFhnr. H..