Evening journal., 1916-01-17
Luke "A: ls-And they all with one

Luke IA: 1S-And they all with one
consent began to make excuses.
II is one of the stTangest facts that
anyone would. for q moment, reject
Gods gracious invitation to become a
citizen of His Kingdom, and to sit
at the banquet feast Of everlasting
life. Jesus had entered into the home
of one of the chief Pharisees, and as
he was sitting at supper, one OF the
invited guests. who seemed esptclally
to enter into the spirit OF the occa-
sion. exclaimed: Blessed is he that
shall eat bread in the Kingdom OF
Cod" Our Lord saw still another op-
portunity Of teaching a great spiritual
lesson. by likenng this earthly pan
quet to the great feast OF salvation'
and so he said certain man made
great supper and bade many
It is indeed a great banquet TO
which God invites you and me. First
of all, on account Of the greatness OF
our host. Whatsoever God does, he
never does by halves. If you were
70 be invited by one OF America
richest men to come to his mansion
for feast, you would naturally eX-
pect that this supper would be IN
keeping with the wealth and social
standing Of your host. You would
make extra efforts and preparation 70
be present You would consider it
one of the events of your life. When
the inginite. omnipotent God who Gre
ated the universe. and holds the plan
cas- in the hollow of his hand, invites
YOU to the banquet of eternal saliva
ton, you may be sure it is something
that is worth your while.
This is q great banquet also on ac-
count of the greatness of the prepar-
alton. It must have taken the angels
and arch-angels Cherubim and Sera-
phim. with the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit to have planned a salvation so
complete and comprehensive It must
have taken all the wisdom and wealth
of eternity, TO prepare the glories OF
Heaven so that Jesus might be en-
abled to say. Come, for all things are
now ready
This is a great salvation to which
We are invited. also on account OF
the greatness of the companionship.
7 was invited some time ago 10 ban
auet in a great city. and the important
thing about that feast TO me was not
the number Of courses. or the rlcn-
ness Of the food or the elegance ol
the cut glass and silver. Il was the
privilege of sitting down for two or
three hours with many Of America
greatest men, So the glorious thlng
in heaven will not be the golden
streets or the pearly gates. but the
companionship of the good and grea'
of all generations. Abraham will be
there the man Of faith: Isaac. the
gentleman: Jacob. the stOrm-tossed
and tempted man. Moses viii DC
there. the leader and the law giVer
An infdel, for 81 900 a night. use6
TO 20 about this country lecturing or
the mistakes Of Moses. I would ike
to hear Moses lecturing upon the
mistakes OF some folks ] know
Joshua. the general. will be there
Elijah. the prophet, and David
Israels psalmist and king. ] want u
hear Peter preach as he did on tn'
dav of Pentecost, and Paul as he di'
on Mars hill Ruth and Esther WI
he there and the Bethany sisters
Mary and Martha, and Mary, tn
Mother of Christ l want to SCI
Savonarola, that great reformer 0
Florence. and Luther and VIM. 4
Gladstone and Frances Willard. Ant
many of us have loved ones over II
heaven that we are anxious to see
But above all want TO see Jesus
Glorious will be the privilege OF HI
companionship throughout the ages.
Is is rot strange that any one woul'
hesitate for a moment accepting al
invitation to share his eternal inner
tauce? Yet Jesus said they would be
gin to make excuse. There is a grea
difference between an excuse and
reason. A reason is a just cause 10
doing a thing, but an excuse is some
thing that we give when we have n
reason. or when we do not want IN
real reason to appear. In fact all ex
cuses arc hum-bugs-they are lies.
Have you never smiled at the fool
ish excuses given by those of whom
Jesus spoke for rejecting the invita-
ton to that banquet? One of ther
said, Il have bought a piece Of groun
and must needs go and see it, Wha
would you think OF 2 business ma
in this community who would pur
chase n farm without looking at it
And th:t second man was like unit
the first He cared more to see te