The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-08-29
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subicct; "Oueer Christians"-Deliv
cred at the Piedmont Ca
Chautauqua.

SympaCneClc anu 81 Colu Gu@o 40 - o0
worthy of recognition? The fact is, that we
ministers pursue the younger son. You can
hear the tapping Of his rags in many
sermonic breeze, and tie branching of the
pods for which he was an unsuccessful con-
testant l confess that fora long time was
unable to train the camera obScura upon the
elder son of the parable. never could get
q negative for photograph. There
was not enough light in the gallery,
sitter moved in the picture. But now l
think l have him. Not a side-face, or
three-quarters, or the mere bust, but full
length portrait as he appears to me-. The
father in the parable OF the prodigal had
nothing to brag of in his two sons The one
was rake and the other churl. L tnd
nothing admirable in the dissoiuteness of the
one, and / find nothing attractive in the
acrid sobriety of the other. The one goes
down over the larooard side, and the other
goes down over the starboard side; but they
both go down.
From the window of the old homestead
bursts the minstrelsy. The floor quakes with
vigorous and resoundlng The neighbors
have heard of the return of the younger son
from his wanderings, and they have gath.
cred together. The house is full of congrat-
ulators. I suppose the tables are loaded
with Injuries Not only the one kind Of
meat mentioned, but its conconitants.
"Clapr' go the cymbals, 'thrum" 60 the
harps, ''clckl' go the chalices, up and down
20 the feet inside, while outside is most
sorry spectacle.
The senior son stands at the corner Of the
house. frigid phlegmatic. He has just
come in from the fields in very substantial
apparel Seeing some wild eXhilarations
around the old mansion, he asks of 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
gone into the house and reJoLced, and
Il he were not conscientiously OPP
posed to dancing, that he would
have Joined in the Oriental schottische.
No. There he stands His brow lowers.
His lips curl with contempt He stamps
the ground with indignation. He sees
nothing at all to attract. The odors of the
his appetite. The lively music does not put
any spring into his step. He is in terrible
pout. He criticises the expense, the in-
Justice, and the moral Of the entertainment.
The father rushes out bareheaded, and
coaxes him to come in. He will not go in.
He scolds the father. He goes into
pasquinade against the younger
comely scene. He says: Father you
put a premium on vagabordism. 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 OF
in fine cloth es, and he comes back not mt to
be seen, and what a time you make over
him! He breaks your heart, and you pay
him for it. That calf to which we have been
giving extra feed during all these weeks
wouldn't be so fat and sleek if l had known
to what use you were going to put it! That
yapabond deserves to be cowhded instead OF
banqueted. Veal is too good for hImI'
That evening, while the younger son sat tell
ing his father about his adventures, and ask
ing about what had occurred on the place
since 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
son2n and Krummacher answered, II know
him; saw him yesterday" And when they
insisted upon knowing whom he meant, he
said: Myself; when | saw the account OF
the conversion OF most abnoXlous man, 1
was irritated"
First, this senior brother Of the text stands
for the self-congratulatory, self satisfied,
self-worshipful man. With the same breath
in which he vituperates against his younger
brother he utters panegyric for himself.
The self-righteous man Of my text, like every
other self-righteous man, was full of faults.
He was an migrate, for he did not appreciate p
the home blessings which he had all those
wears. He was disobedient, for when
the father told him to come in, he
stayed out. He was liar, for
he said that the recreant son had devoured
his fathers living. when the father, so far
from being reduced to penury, had home
stead left, had instruments of music, had
a mansion, and instead of being pauper,
was q 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. I was never so badly
se" a perfect man. ian He got so far 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 i'll places OF business,
selling how good they are, look out for them;
keep your hand on your pocketbook! have
noticed that just in proportion as man gets
good he gets humble. The deep Mississippi
does not make as much nose as the brawling
mountain. rivulet Thera, has te"n many. y
store that had moro goods in the show win
dow than inside on the shelves.
This selfrighteous man of the text stood at
the corner Of the house hugging himself i'll
admiration. We hear a great deal in our
day about the higher life. Now, there are
two kinds Of higher-life men. The one are
admirable, and the other are most repulsive.
The one kind of higher-life man is very
lenient in his criticism of Others does not
bore prayer meetings to death with long har-
rangues, does not tn great deal about him.
self but much about Christ and heaven, gets
kindlier, and more gentle and more useful
until one day his soul spreads wing and he
flies away to eternal rest, and everybody
mourns his departure The other higher life
man goes around with Bible conspicuously
under his arm, goes from church to church,a
sort of general evangelist; is nuisance to his
own pastor when he is at home and nuisance
to other pastors when he is away from home;
runs up to some man who is counting out a
roll Of bank bills, or running up difficult
line Of figures and asks him how his soul
is; makes religion dose Of ipecacuanba;
standing in q religious meeting making an
address, he has patronizing way, as though
ordinary Christians were clear away down
below him, so he had to talk at the top of his
voice in order to make them hear, but at the
same time encouraging them to hope on; that
by climbing many years they may after
awhile come up within sight OF the place
where he now stands! I tell you plainly that
q roaring, registering, bouncing sinner is not
80 repulsive to me as that higher-life malfor-
nation. The former may repent;
the latter never gets over his
,harisaism. The Younger brother Of
The The parable came back, but the senior
brother stands outside entirely oblvious of
his own delinquencies and deficits, pronounc-
ing his own eulogium. Oh, how much easier
it Is to blame others than to blame ourselves!
Adam blamed Eve Eve blamed the serpent,
the serpent blamed the devil the senior broth
er blamed the younger brother, and none OF
them blamed themselves.
=, Again, the senior brother Of my text stands
for all those who are faithless about the re-
formation of the dissipated and the dissolute