Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-08-10
THE MARRIAGE FEAST
Joyous Features of the Christian
Iai Religion Clearly Presented.
DIR. lTalmhse Invites the Whole
. World 20 Join. ip Its Holy
na, iMerr!Hent-The wedding As
ft. In Cana.
tcopyrIsht, 1900, by louis KlSpsch.l

uDlqul!S or Engllsh-speaklnS people
is furnished by the requests that have
reached DR.. Talmage in northern Eu-
rope for a sermon in out-of-the-way
places where he did not expect to find
a single person who could understand
him. There, as here, he presents re-
ligion as festivity and invites all the
world to come as guests and join in
its holy merriment;, text, John III, 10:
Thou. hast kept the good wine until
now" :" '"Hi% H ''.tr i''' t1'ia'i
This chapter invites us to marriage
celebration. lit is a. wedding in com
mon lifes two plain people having
pledged each other, hand and heart,
and their friends. having come in for
congratulation, The JOY is not the less
because there is no pretension. In each
other; they; find all the future they
want. The daisy in the cup. on the
table may mean as much as a. score Of
artistic garlands. fresh from the hot
house. When daughter goes off from
home with nothing but plain fathers
blessing and plain mothers love, she
is missed as much as though she were
"a princess. 1t seems hard, after the
parents have sheltered her for :lSyears,
that in few short months her af-
fections should have been carried off
by another, but mother remembers
how 1t was in her own case when she
was young and so she braces up .up-
til the! wedding has passed, and the
banqueters are gone, and she has a cry
all alone. o.. ... .......... ..,. .''
Well, we. are to-day at the wedding
in Cana of 'Galilee. Jesus and His
mother have been invited. 1t is evil
dent that there are more people there
than were expected. Either some peo-
pie have GONE who were not invited
or more invitations have been sent out
than it was supposed would q. be ac-
cepted, OF course there is not s,ffii-
Gent. supply Of wine, You know that
there is nothing more embarrassing to
housekeeper" than a scant supply.
Jesus sees the embarrassment, and he
comes up Immediately to relieve.'it. He
sees Standing six water pots. He or
ders the servants to fill them with
water, then He waves His hand over
the water, and Immediately IT is wine
real wine. 'Tasteiof'it and see for your
selves. No logwood in IL, no strychnine
init, but frst-rate wine. Twill not now
be diverted to the. question SO often
discussed in my own country whether
it is right to drink wine. I am de-
scribing the scene as it was. When God
makes wine. He makes the very best
wine, and 1870 gallons OF ii standing
around in these water :pots-wile SO
good that the ruler Of the feast tastes
il and says. why, this. is, really bet
ter than anything we have had. Thou
hast kept the good wine until now"
Beautiful miracle! A prize was offered
to the person who should write the
best essay about the miracle in Cana
Long manuscripts were presented in
the competition, but a poet won the
prize by just this one line descriptive
of the miracle: "The' conscious water
saw its God and blushed." ~, w.
We. learn from this miracle. in the
first place, that Christ has sympathy
with housekeepers. d, You, might have
thought that Jesus would have said:
II cannot be bothered with this house.
hold deficiency OF vine. 1t is not fol-
me, Lord of Heaven and of earth. to
become caterer to this feast have
yaster things than this to attend to-
Not so said Jesus. The wine gave out
and Jesus by miraculous power came
to the rescue. Does there ever come
scant supply in, your household
Have you to make a very close calcutta
ton? 1t is hard work for you to carry
on things decently and respectfully
II so, don't sit down and cry. Don't &c
out and fret, but 60 to Him who stood
in the house in Cana of Galilee. Pray
in the parlor.. Pray in the Kitchen
Let there be no room in your house
unconsecrated by the voice of prayer
If you have microscope, put under il
one drop Of water and see the insects
floating about, and when you see that
God makes them and cares for then
and feeds them come to the conclusion
that He will take care of you and feed
you. ,,s..t .....i. ...,..,... .,.r.., "a
/ learn also from this miracle that
Christ does things in abundance.
think small supply Of wine would
have made up for the deficiency.
think. certainly, they must have hat
enough for half the guests. One gal
lon of wine will do; certainly five gal
Ions will be enough; certainly ten. But
Jesus goes on, and He gives them 81
gallons and 40 gallons and so gallons
and 70 gallons and 100 gallons and 1871
gallons of the very best wine. 1t i.
just like Him-doing everything on thu
largest and most generous scale. Does
Christ, our Creator, go forth to max,
loaves? He makes them by the whol'
forest full; notched like the fern or sill
vered like the aspen or broad like tn,
palm; thickets in The tropics, Oregon
forests. Does He go forth to make
flowers? He makes plenty of them
they fame from the hedge, they hans
from the top of the grapevine in bios
SONS, they roll in the blue wave of thu
violets, they toss their white surf il
the spiraea-enough for every child'i
hand fower-enough. to make fol
every brow chaplet, enough will
beauty to cover up the ghastliness o
all the grave. Does He go forth t.
create water? He pours it out, not by
the cupful, hut by river full, a lak'
full, an ocean full; pouringi it out unit
all the earth has enough to drink, ant
enough with which to wash.
| Does Jesus provide redemption? /
is not little salvation for this one,
little for that and q little for the other
but enough for all. whatsoever viii