The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-08-24
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Parable OF the Prodigal Son
In a New Dress.
A Sermon Bearing Upon the Elder Broth
er and Those Christians Who Have
No Faith In the Conversion
of PrOdIgaIs.

v l.
Chautauqua in Georgia. His text was:
And he was angry, and would not go in
Luke, XIV. 2S.
Is the elder son of the parable so un-
sympathetic and so cold that he is not
worthy of recognition? The fact is that
we ministers pursue the younger son.
You can hear the Tapping of his rngs in
many a sermonic breeze, and the cranch-
ing of tho pods for which he was I'm un-
successful contestant 1 confess that for
long time I was unable to train the
camera obscura upon the elder son OF the
parable. Inever could get q negative for
a photograph. There was not enough
light in the gallery, or the chemicals
were poor, or the sitter moved in the
picture. But now 1 think l have him.
Not side-face, or a 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 a churl / find moth
ing admirable in the dissOluteness of the
one, and l find nothing attractive in the
acrid sObriety of the other. The 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 the old homestead
bursts the minstrelsy. The floor quakes
with the feet OF the rusties, whose dance
is always vigorous and resounding. The
neighbors have heard OF the return Of the
younger son from his wanderings, and
they have gathered together. The house
Is full of congratulators. 1 suppose the
tables are loaded with luxuries. Not
only the one kind of meat mentioned,
but its coucOmitants. "CIapP' go the
cymbaIs, ''thrum!" go the harps, 'clickP5
go the chalices, up and down go the fee t
inside, while outside is a most sorry spec
tacle.
The senior son stands at the corner of
the house, a frigid phlegmatic, He has
just come in from the fields in very sub
stantiaI apparel. Seeing some wild ex-
hiIarations around the old mansion, he
asks Of a servant passing by with goat
skin 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 rejoiced, and if he were Tot
conscientiOusly opposed to dancing, that
he would have Joined in the Oriental
schottische. No. There he stands. His
brow lowers. His lip curls with contempt.
He stamps the ground with indignation.
He sees. 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 q terrible pout- He crit
icises the expense, the injustice, and the
morals of the entertainment. The father
rushes out bareheaded and cOxes him to
come in. He will not go in. He
scolds the father. He goes into a pas
quinade against the younger brother,
and makes the most uncomely scene. He
says:
''Father, you put q premium on vaga-
bondism. I staid at home and worked OIL
the farm. You never made party for
me; you didn't so much as kill kid; that
wouldn't have cost half as much as a calf;
but the scapegrace went off in fine
clothes, and he comes back not fit to be
seen, and what time you make over
himI He breaks you 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
had known to what use you were gong to
put it. That vagabond deserves to be
cowhided instead OF banqueted. Veal Is
too good for himW
That evening, while the younger son
} sat telling his father bouthis advent
ures, and asking about whathad occurred
on the place since his departure, the
+ senior brother goes to bed disgusted, and
slams the door after him. That senior
/ brother still lives. You can see him any
! Sunday, any day of the week At a
4 meeting of ministers in Germany some
! one asked the question: "Who is thai
! elder son?'' and Krumacher answered;
/ 81 know him; l saw him yesterday"
/ And when they insisted upon knowing
I whom he meant, he said:
Myself. When I saw the account OF
4 the conversion of a most obnoxious man,
1 was irritated."
! First, this senior brother of the text
stands for the f-cOngratulatory, self
satisfied, self worshipfuI man. With the
same breath in which he yituperates
against his younger brother he utters 6
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 the home
blessings which he had all those years.
He was disobedieut, for when the father
told him to come in he staid out. He was
q liar, for he said that the recreant son
had devoured his fathers living, when
the father, so far from being reduced K
penury, had a homestead left, had instrU-
ments of music, had jewels, had a man
sion, and instead of being pauper was q
prince This senior brother, with SC
many faults of his own, was meTciless in
his criticism of the younger brother. The
only perfect people that have ever
known were utterly obnoxious. I 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 al
the rules of common honesty. These
men that 60 about prowiing among
prayer meetings, and in places Of bust
ness, telling how good they are-loOk on
for them; keep your hand on your pocket
booki have noticed that just in proper
ton as a man gets good he gets humble
The deep Mississippi does not make al
much noise as the brawling mountain
rivulet. There has been many a store
that had more goods in the show-windov
than inside on the shelves.
This self-righteous man OF the tex
stood at the corner of the house hugginl
himself In admiration. We hear a grea
deal in our day about the higher life
Now. there are two kinds of higherrlif,
men. The one are admirable, and tn
other are most repulsiYe. The one Ent
OF higher-life man is very lenient in hil
criticism Of others, does not bore prayer
meetings to death with long harangues
does not talk great deal about himself bu
much about Christ and Heaven, get
kindier, and more gentle, and more use
full, until one day his soul spreads a win
aud he flies away to eternal rest, an,
every body mourns his departure. Tn
other higher-Hfe man goes around with
Bible cons nspicuously under his arm. poe
from church to church, a sort OF gen
eral evangelist; is a nuisance TO his owl
pastor when he is at home, and nui
sance to other pastors when he Is ava
from home; runs up to some man who i
counting out a roll OF bank bills o
running up a difficult line Of fg
ures, and asks him how his sou
Is; makes religion a dose OF ipe
cacuanha; standing in religion
meeting making az address, he has
ratronizing way, as though ordinar,
Christians were clear away down belos
LiHt so he had 20 talk az the top Of hi
vofe order TO make them hear. but a
ths same Ens encouraging them % hep