West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-08-23
THE ELDER BROTHER.
SERMON BY DIR. rALMAoE
The scifsatisfed Man Who Thinks
Himself Better Than His Brother.

worthy of recognttionl The fact Is, that we
ministers pursue the younger son. You can
uear The Tapping OF his rags In many a
sermonic breeze. and the branching of the
pods for which he was an unsuccessful con.
testant confess that for a long time was
unable To train the camera obscura upon the
elder son OF the parable. never could get
negative for photograph. There
was not enough light In tho gallery,
or the chemicals were poor, or the
sitter moved in the picture But now I
think i have him. Not side-face, or a
tnree,quarters or the mere bust, but full
length portrait as he appears 20 me- The
father in the parable OF the prodigal had
nothing to brag of i'm his two sons The one
was rake and the other a churl / find
nothing admirable I'm the dissoluteness OF the
one, and lind nothing attractive i'm the
acrid sobriety of the other. Tho one goes
down over the larboard side, and the other
goes down over the starboard side; but they
both go down
From the window Of tho old homestead
bursts tho minstrelsy. The floor quakes with
the feet OF the rustics, whose dance Is always
vigorous and resoundmg. The neighbors
have heard OF the return OF the younger SON
from his wanderinRs, and they have gath.
cred together. The house Is full of oon9rat-
ulators. 1 suppose the tables are loaded
with luxurNes. Not only the one kind of
meat mentioned, but It's concomitants
"Clapr go the cymbals, ''thrumr' go the
harps, 'clickr go the chaIices, up and down
ANce
sorry spectacle.
The senior son stands at the corner OF the
house, n frigd phlegmatic. He has Just
come in from the fields In very substantial
apparel. Seeing some wild exhilarations
around the old mansion, he asks of a servant
passing by with a goatskin of wine on his
shoulder, what all the fuss is about One
would have thought that on hearing that his
younger brother had got back he would have
gone into the house and reioiced and
IL he were not conscientiously on
posed to dancing, that he wouid
have joined in the Oriental schottische
No. There he stands. His brow lowers
i ms lips curl with contempt He stamps
nothing at all TO attract The odors of the
feast coming out on the air do not sharpen
his appetite The lively music does not put
any spring into his step He is in a terrible
Justice, and the moral of the entertainment.
The father rushes out bareheaded, and
coaxes him to come in. He will not 90 in.
he scolds the father. He goes into
2 hroP asquinsde against the younger
comedy scene. He says: Father, YOU
put premium on vagabondism ] STAYED
at home and worked on the farm You never
made party for me; you didn't so much as
kill kid, that wouldn't have cost half so
much as a calf; but the scapegrace went Off
IN fine clotl es, and he comes back not ft to
be seen, and what time you make over
him He breaks yoty heart, and you nav
him for It, That calf 10 which we have been
giving extra feed during all these weeks
wouldn't DO so fat and sleek il / had known
TO what use you were going to put i'll That
vagabond deserves to be cowhided instead of
banqueted: Veal is too good for himr'
mat evening, while the younger son sat tell
ing his father about his adventures and ask
ing about what had occurred on the place
sincs his departure, the senior brother goes
TO bed digusted, and slams the door after him.
That senior brother still lives. You can see
him any Sunday, any day OF the week. AT
q meeting Of ministers in Germany some one
asked the question: who is that elder
sonP and Krummacher answered, ~ know
him; saw him yesterday And when they
insisted upon Knowing whom he meant, he
said: myself; when i saw the account of
the conversion OF a most obnoxious man, I
was irritated.n
First, this senior brother Of the text stands
Tor the sef-congratulatory, self satisfied,
eelf-worshipful man. With the same breath
In which he vituperates against his younger
brother no utters panegyric for himself
The sef-righteous man of my text like every
other self-righteous man, was full of faults
de was an migrate, for he did not appreciate
The home blessings which he had all those
years. He was disobedient, for when
the father told him TO come in. he
stayed out. He was a liar. for
he said that the recreant son had devoured
his fathers living, when the father. so far
stead left, had instruments OF music, had
a mansion, and instead OF being a pauper
was prince. This senior brother, with so
many faults OF his own, was merciless in his
CRITICISM OF the younger brother. The only
perfect people that have ever known were
utterly. obnoxious. l was never so badly
cheated in all my life as by
perfect man. He got so far
up in his devotions that he was clear up
above all the rules of common honesty
These men that go about prowling among
prayer meetings, and In places Of business
telling how good they are, look out for them
Keep your hand on your pocketbookl have
hotl9ed that Just IN proportion as a man gets
does not make as much noise as the Drawing
mountain rivulet. There has been many a
store that had more goods In the show win
dow than inside on the shelves
This self-righteous man of the text stood at
the corner OF the house hugging himself In
admiration. We hear a great deal In our
day about the higher life. Now, there are
two kinds OF higher-life men, The one ara
edmirabie, and the other are most repulsive
Ihe one kind of higher-life man Is very
leniene In his criticism OF others does not
bore preyer-meetings 10 death with long har-
rangues, does not talk great deal about him
self but much about Christ and heaven. yets
kindiier, and more gentle and more useful
until one day bis soul spreads a wing and he
hies away TO eternal rest, and everybody
man goes around with a Bible conspicuously
under his arm, goes from church 20 church a
soFJ OF general evangelist. Is a nuisance to his
own pastor when he is at home and a nuisance
70 other pastors when no is away from home,
runs up 20 some man who is counting out a
Toll OF Dank bills, OF running I'D a difficult
me OF figures, and asks him how his soul
~ makes religion dose Of ipecacuanha.
staidlng IN religious meeting making an
ho9fess, ne has patrOnizing way as though
9FainarY Christians were clear away down
below him, 50 he had 10 talk nc the top Of his
voice IN order 70 make them hear, but ct the
.iule time encouraging them to hope on: that
~ climbing many years they may after
awhile come up within sight OF the place
where ne now stendsi l tell you plainly that
? roaring, roystering bouncing sinner Is not
70 repulsiye 70 me es that higher life malfor-
me latter never gets over his
oha ,isaism. The younger brother OF
.he parable came back. but tho senior
brother stands outside entirely oblivious OF
nis own delinquencies and dencitq urouo1fuc-
ing bis own oulogium Oh. how much easier
u is % blame others than 20 blame ouraelvaqi
Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpont
the serpent blamed the devil. the senior broth
sr blamed The younger brother, and none Of
them blamed themselves.
. again, the senior brother Of my text stands
Tor al those who are faithlaes about tho re-
tornatiOn N The diespated and the dissolufe
IN tne very tones n bis voice you can hear
tne TACT that be has no faith that the reform
Aion OF the younger son is genuine His
entire manner seems to say. fsThof
boy has come back for more money.
re gob third q the property; now