The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1896-04-30
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE NOTED DIVINE'S SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
Subject: "Christ's Exile.'

AN., IT,
Far up and far back in the history oil
heaven there came a period when its most
tllustriOuS Citizen was about to absent Him
self. 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 an
other hemisphere; many Of US have done
that. But He was to sail from world to
world, the spaces unexplorod and the i'm
mensities untrayeled. No world has ever
hailed heaven, and heaven has never hailed
any other world. | think that tho win
dows and the balconies We're thronged,
and that the pearly 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 dis
embarkat1On so unpretending. so quiet that
it was not known on earth until the excite
ment in the cloud gave iutimation 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? l question tho
shepherds. lquesti0l the camel drivers. I
question the angels. Ihave found out. He
was an exile. But the world had plenty OF
eXiles. Abraham, an exile from Haran;
John. an exile from Ephesus; Kosciusko, an
exile from PO'ani: MazZini, an exile from
Rome; Emmett, an exile from Ireland; Victor
Hugo, an exile from France; Kossuth, an ex-
lie from Hungary. But this one Of whom
speak to-day had such rcsOunding farewell
and came into such chilling reception-for
not even a hoster went out with his lantern
to light Him in--that He is more to be cele-
bratei than any other eXpatriated exile Of
earth or heaven.
First, remark that Christ was an i'm
perial exile. He got down off throne. He
took off n tiara. He closed q palace gate be-
hind Him. His family were princes and
Processes. Fashti was turned out of the
thrOncrOom by Ahnsuerus. David was de-
thrOnel by Ahsalom's infamy. The five
kings We're hurled into a cavern by Joshua $
courage. Som Of the Henrys of England
and some Of the Louis Of France were jostled
on their thrones by disconnected subjects.
But Christ wa never more hOnOrei Or moro
popular or more loved than the day He left
heaven. txilrs hava suffered severely. but
Christ turned Himself Out from thrOneroom
into sheep pen, and down from the top to
the bottom. He was not pushed off. He
was not manacltd tor foreign transportation.
he was It put out because they no more
wanted Him in celestial domain. 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 suffering be-
| cause He came to save a world. An imperial
exile. King eternal. blessing and honor
and glory and power be unto Him that sit
tcth upon the thrOne.'
But 90 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 world.
When eXiles are sent out. they are generally
| sent to regions that are sandy or cold or hot
some Dry Tortugas of disagreeableness.
Christ came as an exile TO Il world scorched
with heat and bitten with cold. to deserts ST.
moon swept, to u bowling wilderness. 1t was
the back dooryari seemingly of the universe.
Yea, Christ came to the poorest part Of this
| barren island of wOrld-Asia Minor, with
| its intense summers. unfit for tho residence
OF foreigner, and in the rainy season unfit
for the residence of a native. Christ came
not to such IL land as America or England or
France or Germany, but to a land one-third
of the year drowned, another third of the
year burned up, and only One-thiri of the
year just toerable. Oh, it was the barren
island of q world! Barren enough for Christ
| for it gave such small worship and such in
adequate affection, and such little gratitude
| Imperial exile on the barren island of q
world. The earth against Him.
| so further and tell you that He was I'll
exile in Il hostile country. Turkey was never
so much against Russia, France was never SO
| much against Germany, as this earth Was
against Christ. 1t took Him in through the
door of q stable. 1t thrust Him out at the
point of 4 spear. Tho Roman Government
against Him with every weapon Of its arm
and every decision Of its courts and every
beak Of its war eagles. For years after His
| arrival the only question was how best tC
put Him out. Herod hated Him, the high
priests hated Him, the Phariseas hated Him
Judas Iscariot hated Him, Gestas. the dyine
thief, hated Him. The whole earth seem.
| ingly turned into a detective to watch Hi;
steps. And yet He faced this ferocity. Motto
| that most OF Christ's wounds were in front
| Some ScOurging on the shoulders but mos
OF Christ's wounds in front. He was not or
retreat when He expired. Face to face witt
the worlds ferocity. Face to face with tbs
world'ssin. Face to face with the world!
Woe. His eyes on the raging counte
nances Of His foamins antagonists wher
He expired. When the cavalry officer
roWeled his steed so that he might
come nearer up and see the torture visage
Of the suffering exile, Christ saw it. Wher
| the spear was thrust ut His side, and when
the hammer was lifted for His feet, and wher
the reed was raised to strike deeper dowr
the spikes Of thorn, Christ watched the whole
| procedure. When His hands were fastened
to the cross they were wide open still with
| benedicsi0n. Mind you, His head was no.
fastened. He could look to the right ant
! He could look to the left, He could look ur
and He could look down. He saw when tht
spikes had been driven home and the hard
round, iron heads We're in the palms of Hi:
hands. He saw them as plainly as you evel
saw anything in the palms of your hands.
No ether, no chioroform, no merciful anses
thetic to dull Or stupefY, but. wide awake
He saw the Ohscuration of the heavens, the
unbalancing of the rocks, tho countenance!
quivering with rage and the cachinnatio1
diabolic. Oh. it was the hostile as we'll as
the barren island of q world.
| go farther and tell you that this exilt
was far from home. 1t is $1,000, 900 mile
from here to the sun, and all astronomer
agree in saying that our solar system is onl,
one of the smaller wheels of the great ma
chinery OF the universe turning around some
one great center. the center so far distant i
is beyond all imagination and calculation
and if, as some think, that great center il
the distance is heaven, Christ came far from
home when He came here Have you eve
| thought of the inconsistencies of Christ? Som
OF YOU know what inconsistencies is when yo,
, have been only a few weeks absent from tn
| domestic circle. Christ was thirty-thre
| years away from home. Some of YOU fee
home-i-kncSS when you are hundred or
thousand miles away from the domesti
circle Christ was moro million rpilaS a,t,