The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-04-29
AN IMPERIAL EXILE,
DR.. TAlMAGE's ELOQUENT SERMON
ON cHRlsT'S ExPATRiATiON.

+I,s couatry-imerica the Home OF the
voluntary Exile.
WASHINGTON, April 19.-It is Won
derful to how many tunes the gospel
may be set. Dr. Talmages sermon
today shows another way IN which
the earthly experience OF our Lord IS
set forth. His text was II Samuel XIV,
II. And the king went forth and tar
ried in a place which was far off. ;"
Far up and far back in the history
of heaven there came a period When
its most llustrious 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 anoth-
er hemisphere. Many of US have done
that. But he was to sail from world
to world, the spaces unexplored a19
the immensities untraveled. No Worlo
has ever hailed heaven, and heaven
has never hailed any other world; l
think that the windows and the pal
comics were thronged, and that the
pearly beach was crowded win tnoss
who had come to see him sail out OF
the harbor of light into the ocean be-
word. 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 Decentralization so unpre-
tending, so quiet, that is was not
,,,tIl tho oycIto0opnt
in the cloud gave intimation to the
Bethlehem rustics that something
grand and glorious had happened.
Who comes there9 From what port
did he sail2 Why was this the place
of his destination? question the
shepherds. I question the camel drlv-
ers. I question the angels. | have
found out. He was an exile. But the
world had plenty of exiles. Abraham,
an exile from Harau; John, an exile
from Poland; Mazzini, an exile from
Rome; Emlnet, an exile from Ireland;
Victor Hugo, an exile from France;
Kossuth, an exile from Hungary
But this one of whom I speak today
had such resounding farewell and
came into such chilling reception-for
not even hostlsr went out with his
lantern to light him in-that he IS
more to be celebrated than any other
expatriated exile of earth Or heaven.
First, remark that Christ was an
imperial exile. He got down off a
throne. He took off tiara He
closed a palace gate behind him. His
family were princes and prln..
cesses. Vashi was turned out OF
the throneroom by Ahasuerus: David
was dethroned by Absalom's lnfamy.
The FIVE kings were hurled into cav
ern by Joshua's courage. Some OF the
Henrys of England and some OF the
Louis of France were jostled on their
thrones by discontented subjects. But
Christ was never more honored or
more popular, or more loved than the
day he left heaven. Exiles have suf-
fered severely, but Christ turned him
self out from throneroom into sheep
pen and down from the top to the bot
tom. He was not pushed off. He was
not manacled for foreign transporta-
ten. He was not put out because they
no more wanted him in celestial do
main, but by choice departing and de
scending into an exile FIVE times as
long as that of Napoleon at st. Helena
and 1000 times worse; the one exile
suffering for that he had destroyed
nations, the other exile suffering be
cause he came to save world. An
imperial exile. King eternal. Bless
ing and honor and glory and power
be unto him that sitteth on the
throne"
But 60 farther and tell you he was
an exile on barren island. This
world is one of the smallest islands of
light in the ocean of immensity. Other
stellar kingdoms are many thousand
times larger than this. Christ came
to this small Patmos of a world. When
exiles are sent out they are generally
sent to regions that are sandy or cold
or hot-some Dry Tortugas of disagree
ableness. Christ came as an exile to
world scorched with heat and bitten
with cold, to deserts simeon swept, to
howhng wilderness. It was the
back door yard, seemingly, OF the uni
verse. Yea, Christ came to the poor
est part of this barren Island of a
world-Asia Minor, with its intense
summers, unfit for the residence Of a
foreigner and in the rainy season un-
fit for the residence of native. 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 the
barren island of a world. Barren
enough for Christ, for it gave such
small worship and such inadequate
affection and such little gratitude.
Imperial exile on the barren island Of
8 world.
60 farther and tell you that he was
an exile in a hostile country. Turkey
was never so much against Russia,
France was never so much against
Germany, as this earth was against
Christ. It took him in through the
door of stable. Itthrust him out at
the point of a spear. The Roman gov
ernment against him, with every wea-
pom 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 Phari-
sees hated him; Judas Iscariot hated
him; Gestas, the dying thief, hated
him. The whole earth seemingly
turned into detective to watch his
steps. And yet he faced this ferocity
Notice that most of Christ's wounds
were in front. Some scourging on
the shoulder, but most of Christ,s
wounds in front. He was not or re-
treat when he expired. Face to face
with the worlds sin. Face to face
with the worlds wee. His eye on the
raging countenances of his foaming
antagonists when he expired. When
the cavalry officer roweled his steed so