The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-05-01
TALMAGE's SERMON.
The Experience Of the Saviour as
an Exile.
Compared with Other ExIles lie Was the
Most Forforn-FRIs Hopeless Sur
roundIngR on the Arid
PiaIns of Palestine.


the Gospel may be set. DIR. Talmage's
latest sermon shows another way in
which the earthly experience of our
Lord is set forth. His text was IL.
Samuel, xv., n:
And the king went forth and tarried in q
place which was far OF.
Far up and far back in the history
of Heaven there came a 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 an
other hemisphere; many of us have
done that. But He was to sail from
world to world, the spaces unexplored
and the hemispheres untraveled. No
| world has ever hailed heaven, and
heaven has never hailed any other
world. / think that the win
dows and the balconies were
| 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 be.
yond. 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 disembarkat tion so unpre-
tending, so quiet, that 1t was not
known on earth until the excitement
In the cloud gave intimation to the
Bethlehem rustics that something
grand and glorious had happened.
Who comes there2 From what port did
He sail? Why was this the place of His
designation? Iquestions the shepherds.
question the came1drivers. l question
the angels. l have found out. He was
an exile. But the world had plenty of
exiles. Abraham, an exile from Har-
m; John, an exile from Ephesus; Kos
ciuslxo, an exile from Poland; Mazzini,
an exile from Rome; Emmet, an exile
from Ireland; Victor Hugo, an exile
from Hungary. But this one of whom
speak to-day had such resounding
| farewell and came into such chilling
reception for not even an host1er
in-that He is moro to be celebra ted
than any other expatriated exile of
earth or Heaven.
First. remark that Christ was an
imperial exile. He got down off
throne. He took off tiara. He closed
a palace gate behind him. His family
were princes and princesses. Vashti
was turned out of the throne room by
Ahasuerus. David was dethroned by
Absalom's infamy. The five kings were
| hurled into cavern by Joshua's cour-
age. Some of the Henrys of England
and some of the Louises of France
were jostled on their thrones by dis
contented subjects. But Christ was
never more honored, or more popular,
or more loved than the day He left
Heaven. Exiles have suffered severely,
but Christ turned Himself out from
throne room into sheep pen, and
down from the top to the bot
tom. He was pushed off. He
was not manacled for foreign
transportation. He was not put out
because they no more wanted Him In
celestial domain, but by choice depart
ing and descending into an exil five
times as long as that of Napoleon at
st. Helena, and thousand times worse;
the one exile suffering for that he had
destroyed nations, the other exile suf-
fcring because He came to save
world. An imperial exile. King eter-
nal blessing and honor aud glory
and power be unto Him that sitteth
upon the throne"
But l go further, 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
thousands 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 Tor
tugas of disagreeableness. Christ
came as an exile to a world scorched
with heat and bitten with cold, to
deserts simoon-swept, to a bowling
wilderness. 1t was the back-door yard,
seemingly, of the universe. Yea, Christ
came to the poorest part of this barren
island of a world-Asia Minor, with |
its intense summers, unfit for the |
residence of a native. Christ came
not to such a land as America, or En-
gland, or France, or Germany, but to
a land one-third of the year drowned,
another third of the year burned up,
and only one-third of the year Just |
tolerable Obi 1t was the barren island |
of 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 world.
! go further, and tell you that He |
was an exile in hostile country. Tur- |
key was never so much against Rus
sia, France was never so much against |
Germany. as this earth was against |
Christ. 1t took Him in through the |
door of stable. It thrust Him out at |
the point of spear. The Roman gov
ernment 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 ar
rival, the only question was how
best to put him out. Herod hated |
Him, the high priest hated Him, the |
Pharisees hated Him, Judas Iscariot |
hated Him, Gestas. the dying thief,
hated Him. The whole earth seem
ingly turned into detective to watch
His steps. And yet He faced this fe-
rocity. Notice that most Of Christ's
wounds were IN front. Some scourg-
ing on the shoulders, but most. of
Christ's wounds in front He was not
on retreat when He expired. Face to
face with the worlds ferocity. Face
to face with the worlds sin.
Face to face with the worlds
.voe. His eye on the raging
of His foaming antagon-
ists when He expired. When the
cavalry otsscer who roWeled His stead