Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-05-01
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Washington DiVine's
Sunday Sermon.
Subject: "Christ's Exile"

| TEXT; "And the king went forth and tar
| ried In place which was far I'LL Samuel
XIV, II.
Far up and far back IN the history OF
heaven there came period when Its most
illustrious 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.
mensties untraveled. No world has ever
hailed heaven and heaven has never hailed
any other world. I think that the win
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
ombarkation 80 unpretending, so quiet that
1t was not known on earth until the excite
ment in the cloud gave intimation to the
Bethlehem rustics that something grand and
glorious had happened. Who comes thereE
From what port did He sail2 Why was this
the place of His destinations / question the
Shepherds IQuestion the camel drivers. /
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 Poland; Mazzini, IN 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 resounding farewell
and,came into such chilling reception--for
| not%ven a hostler went out with his lantern
| 10 light Him in--that He Is more to be cele.
brated than any other expatriated exile OF
earth Or heaven.
First, 1 remark that Christ was an ims
| perial exile. He got down off throne. He
| took off tiara He closed palace gate be-
hind Him. His family were princes and
| princessess. Vashti was turned out CT tho
! throneroom by Ahasuerus. David was de-
| thronel by Absaloms infamy. The five
| kings were hurled into cavern by Joshua's
courage. Some of the Henrys Of England
and some OF the Louis of France were jo5tle1
on their thrones by discontinued subjects.
But Christ was never more honored or moro
popular or more loved than the day He left
heaven. Exiles have 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 manacled for foreign transportation.
He was not put out because they no more
wanted Him In celestial domain, but by
choice, departing and descending into al
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
teth upon the throne"
But 1 so farther and tell you He was an
exile on barren island. This world ID ons
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 exles are sent out, they are generally
sent to regions that are sandy or cold or hot
-somo Dry. Tortugas of disagreeableness
Christ came as an exile 10 q world scorched
with heat and bitten with cold. to deserts Sic
moon swept, to a bowling wilderness. 1t was
the back dOoryard seemingly OF the universe.
Yea, Christ came to the poorest part Of this
barren island of world-A5ia Minor, with
its intense summers. unfit for the residence
of a foreigner, and In the rainy season unfit
for the residence-of q native. Christ came
not to such q 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 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 O
world. The earth against Him.
go fuler and tell you that He was an
exile in asn6stie country. Turkey was never
so much against Russia, France was never so
much againse Germany, as this earth was
against Christ. 1t took Him in through the
door of stable. II thrust Him out at the
point of q spear. The Roman Government
against Him with every weapon OF its arm,
and every decision of its courts and every
beak of lis 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 Pharisees hated Him,
Judas Iscarlot 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 ferocty. Notice
that most Of Christ's wounds were in front.
Some scourging 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
world'ssin. Face to face with the worlds
woe. His eyes on the raging couGte-
nances of His foaming antagonists when
He expired. When the cavalry officer
come nearer up and see the tortured visage
of the suffering exile, Christ saw 1t. When
the spear was thrust at His side. AMI when
the hammer was lifted for His feet. and when
the reed WAS raised to strike deeper down
the spikes Of thorn, Christ watched the whole
procedure. When His hands were fastened
to the cross they were wide open still with
benedic:ion. Mind you, His head was no:
fastened. He could look to the right and
He could look to the left, He could look up
md He could look down. He saw when the
spikes had been driven home, and the hard,
round, iron heads were in the palms OF His
hands He saw them as plainly rs you ever
saw anything in the palms OF your hands.
No ether, no chloroform, no merciful an8s-
thetic to dull or stupefy, but, wide awake,
He saw the observation Of the heavens, the
unba 9ncing of the rocks, the countenances
quivering with rage and the exclamation
diabolic. Oh, it was the hostile US we'll as
the barren island of a world.
/ go farther and tell you that this exile
was far from home. 1t is 95,O00,0OO miles
from here to the sun, and all astronomers
Rgree in saying that our solar system Is only
one Of the smaller wheels of the great ma
chinery of the universe turning around some
one great center, the center so far distant 1t
Is beyond all imagination and calculation,
and il, as some think, that great center in
the distance is heaven, Christ came far from
home when He came here. Have you ever
thought of the homesickpess of Christ? Some
CT YOU know what inconsistencies is when you
have been only few weeks absent from the
domestic circle. Christ was thirty-three
years away from home. Some ci you feel