New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-08-22
the serpent blamed the devil, the senior


Again, the senior brother of my text stands
for all those who are faithless about the re
formation of the dissipated and the dissolute
In the very tones of his voice you can heal
the fact that he has no faith that the reform
/ alton of the younger son is genuine. His en-
tire manner seems to say, ssThat boy has
| come back for more money. He got a third
of the property; now he has come back fo1
another third. He will never be contented TIC
stay on the farm. He will fall away IwouId &C
in, too. and rejoice with the others i'll thought
this thing was genuine; but it is a sham
That boy is a confirmed inebriate and de-
bauchee." Alasl my friends, for the incre-
dulIty in the church of Christ in regard to the
reclamatlon OF the recreant. You say mar
has been strong drinker. Il say Yes, but
he has reformed .sOh," you say, with q
lugubrious face, II hope you are not mistak
en-, nope you are not mistaken" You
say, Don t rejoice too much over his con
/ version, for soon he will be unconverted, ]
fear. Don't make too big party for that
returned prodlgal or strike the timbrel too
loud; and II you kill a calf kill the one that is
on the commons, and not the one that has been
luxurlating in the paddock" That is the
reason why more prodigals do not come home
TO their fathers house. tits the rank infidelity
IN the church of God on this subject. There
is not a house on the streets of heaven that
has not In it prodigal that has returned
/
before you scroll of 100000 name-the
names of prodigals who came back forever
reformed. Who was John Bunyan? A re-
turned prodigal. Who was Richard Baxter?
A returned prodigal Who was George
| Whitefeld, the thunderer? A returned pro-
dIgal. And could go out in all directions
IN this audience and find on either side, those
who, once 4s ar astray for many years, have
been faithful, and their Reconsideration is az
sure as though they had been 10 years in
heaven. And yet some of you have not
| enough faith in their return.
| You do not know how to shake hands with
prodigal. You do not know how to pray
| for him. You do not know how to greet
him. He wants to sail in the warm gulf:
| stream OF Christian sympathy. You are
| the iceberg against which he strikes and
| shiyers. You say he has been prodigal I
know 1T. But you are hesour, unresponsive,
| censor1ous, saturnlne, cranky, elder brother,
| and II you are going to heaven one would
| think some people would be tempted to go
| TO perdltlon to get away from you. The
| hunters say that if a deer be shot the other
deer shove him out of their company, and
the general rule is, away with the man who
has been wounded with sin. Now, Isay, the
more bones a man has broken the more need
| he has of a hospital, and that the more a
man has been bruised and cut with sin the
more need he has to be carried into human
| and divine sympathy But for such men
there is not much room in this world the
| men who want to come back after wandering
Plenty OF room for elegant Sinners sinners
IN velvet and satin and lace, for sinners high
salaried, for kid-gloved and patent-leather
sinners, for sinners fixed up by hair-dresser,
pomatumed and lavendered and cologned
and frizzled and crimped and "banged''
slnners-plenty of room! Such we meet ele-
gantly at the door of our churches, and VEIN
ito hDyr, .1y,t<, H.,
heldlan gallantries; we usher them into the
house OF God, and put soft ottomans under
their feet and put the gilt-edged prayer-book
IN their hand, and pass the contribution box
before them with an air of apology, while
they, the generous soulsl take out the ex-
qulslte portemonnaie, and open it, and with
dlamond-fnger push down beyond the 10
dollar gold pieces and delicately pick out as
an expression of gratitude their Offering to
the Lord, of 1 cent. For such sinners
plenty of room, plenty of room But for the
man who has been drinking until his coat is
threadbare and his face is erysipelased. and
his wifes wedding dress is in the pawnbrok-
er's shop, and his children, instead of being
in school, are out begging broken bread at
the basement doors of the city-the man,
body, mind and soul on fire with the flames
that haveleaped from the scathing, scorch-
ing, blasting, consuming cup which the
drunkard takes, trembling and agonized, and
af1rlghted, and presses to his parched lip,
and his cracked tongue, and his shrieking
yet immortal spirit-no room.
Oh, if this younger son of the parable had
not gone SO far on, if he had not dropped SO
low in wassail, the protest would not have
been so severe; but going clear over the
precipice as the younger son did, the elder
son is angry and will not go in.
Oh, be not so hard on the criticism of the
fallen, lest thou thyself also be tempted a
stranger one Sunday staggered up and down
the alsles of my church, disturbing the
service until the service had to stop until he
was taken from the room He was a minis
ter of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of a sister
denomination! That man had preached the
Gospel, that man had broken the bread of
the Holy Communion for the people, From
what heighth to what depthl Oh, was
glad there was no smiling in the room when
that man was taken out, his poor wife fol-
lowing him with his hat in her hand, and his
coat on her arm. 1t was as solemn to me as
two funerals-the funeral of the body and
the funeral of the soul. Beware lest thou al
80 be tempted.
An invalid went to South America for his
health, and one day sat summing himself on
the beach, when he saw something crawling
up the beach, wriggling toward him. and he
was affrighted. He thought it was a wild
beast, or a reptile. and he took his pistol
from MS pocket Then he saw it was not
wild beast. 1t was q man, an immortal
man, a man made in Gods own image; and
the poor wretch crawled up to the feet of
the invalid and asked for strong drink, and
the invalid took his wine flask from hi
pocket and gave the poor wretch something
to drink, and then under the stimulus he
rose up and gave his history He had
been a merchant in Glasgow, Scotland. He
had gone down under the power of strong
drink until he was SO reduced in poverty
that he was lying in boat just off the
beech. SWhy, Z said the invalid, II knew a
merchant in Glasgow once" merchant by
such and such name, and the poor wretch
Strengthened himself and said, II am that
man. ''Let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall
Again, remark that the senior brother of
my text stands for the spirit of envy and
jealousy. The senior brother that all the
honor they did to the returned brother was
a wrong to him. He said: 81 have stayed at;
home, and ought to have had the ring, and
ought to have had the banquet, and l
ought to have had the garlands'' Alas for
this spirit of envy and jealousy coming down
through the ages! Cain and Abel, Esau and
Jacob, Saul and David, Holman and Mordeciai
Othello and Iago, Orlando and Angelica
Caligula and Torquatus, Caser and Pompey,
Columbus and the Spanish courtiers, Cam
byses and the brother he slew because he
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