Milford chronicle., 1903-03-06
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE. DID.
Pastor of Jefferson Park Preobv-
tertan Church, Chicago


feast and the varied excuses sent bJ
those who absented themselves, but
who desired to conceal the real reason
The text is Luke xiv, IS, "And they all
with one consent began to make ex
cuse."
1t is comparatively seldom that men
are convinced by argument. In every
period the great discoverer or philoso.
pher, howsoever irrefutable his argu-
me1ts, has been treated with incredul-
1ty and sometimes with ridicuie. The
sittle children used to point their fin
gers to their foreheads when the Genoa
sea captain passed by, and all Europe
called Columbus crazy because he be-
Heved in circumnavigation. I'd to
hepler's time this world was supposed
to be a great animal, the wind its
Breath, the sulphur and mineral veins
its ulcers, the eruption and volcanic
Dulsations its coughings. Galilei had
to publicly renounce the theory which
&c could logically prove because the
church considered it heresy. The young
scientist who read paper some years
ago arguing that the coral islands were
built by small insect was prosecuted
aud expelled from the French academy.
and, broken hearted ard in disgrace, he
committed suicide. To introduce any
innovation into tho realm of thought
by the power Of argument is task that
few have the courage to attempt and
fewer still the power to achieve.
But though argument and fact are
often futile there are two wizards who
can always charm--he who can tell q
story and he who can paint picture.
With one fash the artist of the brush
or pen can carry the truth home The
public speaker who wields the greatest
influence today is not the scientist or
the lOgician. but the orator who can
tell the common people what a thing
is like. Christ nearly always spoke in /
parallels. His analogies were the
wheat ana the tares and the mustard /
seed and the birds of the air and the
lilies Of the valley. Everybody can
understand a similitude.
One Of these matchless similitudes is
the scene of the text The kingdom of
heaven is compared to a feast to which
many guests have been invited. Man
ners and customs change. but in all
periods and in all lands the idea of
feast has been familiar They have
been celebrated from time immemorial
Laban made a great feast when he
gave his daughter Leah in marriage to
Jacob. Archelaus made IL great feast
for those who came to his fathers fu-
neral. KenilwOrth castle blazed and
cannons doomed during the days of .
Elizabeth. and courtiers drank to the
health of the queen. Feast of the Pass
)ver, feast of Pentecost. feast of Taber-
laclCs. were the three great annual
festal occasions of the Jews. The :
holy communion was instituted at a
east of Christ and his twelve apostles. !,
rhe comparison of the kingdom of
leaven to feast is therefore. a very
simple and familiar one. But. bark!
When the time comes for the guests to |
rrivc. knock after knock is heard. =
Regret after regret is handed in. In =
ult is hcaped upon insult. And they !.
IL with one consent began to make :
xcuse." y
Excuses Old and New.
Let us examine the excuses by which o
be men of old evaded this feast and Il
ee how closely they resemble the eX- :.
uses by which men of the present day N
ry to Justify themselves in their re- r.
usal 10 sit down at the marriage ban a
uet of the Lamb. First. the capital IN
;t's excuse Hardly had the ancient n.
anquet table been prepared when we n,
an see Il courier's horse dash up to the II
'ould be hosts house. The messenger m
dressed in the liveried costume of NJ
ne of the rich men of the east. He hi
Ismounts and knocks at the front door. ~
Then the servant opens that door. the in
Iessenger hands in a scented missive dc
hich reads something like this: My 6,
ear friend. much to my regret | find nj
impossible to be with you tonight ! M
now you expected me. but | have just ne
oscd 4 big deal. have become the
vnor of a large tract of land. and | w,
ust go out and see it. pray thee an
I've me excused. Though l am com az
lied to be absent in body. yet ] shall ra
, with you tonight in spirit. Adieu. fel
y dear sir. until we meet at my own de
bic" When the good man of the nj;
,use receives this letter, his eye fie
shes. The Bible distinctly declares ste
reference to this episode: Then the i'm
lster of the house being angry He en-
nd between the lines of that refusal. lif,
2 knew that this capitalist was max lea
? a poor excuse; he knew that the flo;
pitalist as an intelligent investor cue
,uld never have bought that land un ed
IS he had first seen it. examined it lea
d ascertaned that its title deeds flo,
re all right. The good man may lik,
'-hsd his suspicion that the cani- lun
:, b, east, now that he was a rec
Il landowner. felt a little above his ing
n sSocia IS and therefore may have pas
s. sht it ', as not digniied for him to pre-
gle with ordinary guests at com pre-
IN banquet. and thus lie stayed away. dec
we find that the hardest men and der
men to reach in u gospel sense are wa