."

Why did he not take his Wife along?

Take the excuses. There wasn't one that wasn't a lie. The devil made
them all; and if the sinner hadn't one already the devil was there at
his elbow to suggest one, about the truth of the Bible, or something of
that sort. One of the excuses mentioned was that the man invited had
bought a piece of ground, and had to look at it. Real estate and corner
lots are keeping a good many men out of God's kingdom. It was a lie to
say that he had to go and see it then, for he ought to have looked at it
before he bought it. Then the next man said he'd bought some oxen, and
must prove them. That was another lie; for if he hadn't proved them
before he bought them he ought to have done so, and could have done it
after supper just as well as before it. But the third man's excuse was
the most ridiculous of them all. "I have married a wife and therefore
cannot come." Why did he not take his wife along with him? Who likes to
go to a feast better than a young bride? He might have asked her to go
too; and if she were not willing, then let her stay at home. The fact
was, he did not want to go.

A Good Excuse.

If you have got a good excuse don't give it up for anything I have said;
don't give it up for anything your mother may have said; don't give it
up for anything your friend may have said. Take it up to the bar of God
and state it to Him; but if you have not got a good excuse--an excuse
that will stand in eternity--let it go to-night, and flee to the arms of
a loving Saviour.

Excused at Last.

It is a very solemn thought that God will excuse you if you want to be
excused. He does not wish to do it, but He will do it. "As I live, saith
the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the
wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways;
for why will ye die, O house of Israel." Look at the Jewish nation. They
wanted to be excused from the feast. They despised the grace of God and
trampled it under foot, and look at them to-day! Yes, it is easy enough
to say, "I pray Thee have me excused;" but by and by God may take you at
your word, and say, "Yes, I will excuse you." And in that lost world,
while others who have accepted the invitation sit down to the marriage
supper of the Lamb, amid shouts and hallelujahs in heaven, you will be
crying in the company of the lost, "The harvest is past; the summer is
ended, and I am not saved."

The Invit