The progress., 1890-06-21
THE CHURCH REJOICES,
The Kiss of Welcome Givef to the r
turning Wandarti
Rev. T. De Witt Talmage Talks of the Return
OF the Lost sEsvp to the Fathers Fold AMI
With What joy They are Welcomed.

Rev T. De Witt Talmage preached tc tt
Usual large audience last Sunday in tt
Brooklyn Academy OF Music. His subiet
was the return "f the Prodigal Son: 18th
Kiss ~ Welcon iAn and his text Luke l5:2
when he wa3 yet a great way off, hi
father saw him, and had comp ion an
ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him
Following is the sermon:
One of the deepest wells that inspiratio
ever opened is this well Of Il parable whic
we can never exhaust The parable. | sun
pose, was founded on facts | havs DE-
scrloed to you the going away of this proIi
gal son from his fathers house, and hav
showed you what hard time he Ii I'd dowr
In tie wilderness, and what very creA
mistake IL was Tor lin to leave so beauti
ful home for such a miserable desert
But he did not always stay in the wilder
ness he came buck after a while We Go
not read that his mother came to gree
him l suppose she was dead. She would
have been the first to com3 out The
rather would have given the second kiss ,
the returning prodigal; the mother the
nrst. 1t may have been for the lack Of her
example and prayers that he be :am4 q
prodlgal. Sonnet mes the father does not
know how to man tge the children of the
household. The chief work com IS upoa
The mother Indeed, no one ever gets
over the cal unity of losing mother in
early life. Still, this young man was not
ungreeted whea ne came back
however we'll apparelled we may bs in the
morning when we start out on Journey.
before night what with the dust
and the jostliIS, we have Lost all
cleanliness OF appearance. But this p-odi
gal, when ne started from the swine
trough, was ragged and wretchcd an his
appearance, after he had gone through days
OF Journeylng ant exposure, you can more
easily imagine than describe AS the peo.
pie see this pro iigd coming on homeward
they wonder vino he is They saw: al
wonder what prison he has broxen out of.
l wonder what lazaretto he ha, escaped
from. wonder with what plague he will
smite the air." Although these peoplc
may nave been we'll acquainted with the
FAMILY yet they do not imagine that this is
tue very young ulan who went off only a
llttlo while ago with quick step, and ruddy
cheek, end beautiful apparel The Young
man think walks very fast He looks a,
though he were intent upon something very
important The people STOP They look at
MIN. They wonder where he came from.
They wonder where he is going to-
You have heard OF son who went off to
sea aud never returned. All the people in
the neighborhood thought the son would
never return, but the pare is cam> to no
such conclusion. They would go by the
hour, and day, and sit upon the beach.
looking off upon the water, expecting to
see The sail that would bring home the
long Dsent 10y. And so | think this
father OF my text sat under the vine look
ln% out toward the road IN oh
mad departed; but the father has changed
very much since we saw. him last: His
hair has become white, his che-ks
are furrowed, his heart is broken.
What Is all his bountiful table to hin when
his son may be lacking breads What is all
the splendOr of the wardrobe of that
homestead when the son may not have |
a decent coat! What are all the |
sheep on that hillside TO that father when
his pet lamb is gone! Still he sits and |
looking out on the road, and one |
day he beholds a foot-traveller. He sees
Dlm rise above the hill; first the head and |
after while the entire body; and as soon as |
he gets fair glance of him he knows it is
his recreant sou He forgets the crutch.
and the cane, and the stiffness OF the ioin 8,
and bounds away. l think the people ali |
around were amazed. They said: 1T is
only footDad. 1t is only some old tramp
OF the road. Don't go out to meet him." i
The father knew better
Inc change in the sons appearance could |
not hide the marks by which the father
knew the boy. You know that persons of
a great deal of independence of character
are apt to indicate IL in their walk For
that reason the sailor almost always has a
peculiar step, not only because he stands |
much on shipboard amid the rocking of |
the sea. and he has to balances himself. but |
he has for tn, most part an Independent
character, which would show in his gait,
even if he never went on the sea; ana W. !
know from what trAnspired afterward and
from what transpirel before, that this
prodigal son was of an independent and
frank nature; and | suppose that the char.
acterlstlcs OF his mind and heart were tho
of his walk And 50 the
father knew him. He y It out his wither4d
arms toward him; he brings his wri lkled
lace against the pae cheek of his son he
kisses the wan lips; he thanks God tn It
the long agony Is over ''When he was
yet great way off, his father saw him,
and had compassion, and ran, AMI fell on
his neck and kissed him"
In the first place, l notice in this text the
Eather's eyes ght; in thu second place. I
notice, the father haste; and, n the third
place, | notice the fathers kiss.
To begin: tn, fathers eye light "When
ne was great way off his father saw him."
GU have po,icel how Cd people some
lines put book off on the other side of
.hc light. They can see at distance a
great deal easier taan they can close bv. l
10 not know whether this father could see
we'll tn t which was nc If bv. but do know
le could see great way off His father
'aw him." Perhaps he hal been looking
or the return of that boy especially that
lay. do not know but tn t he had been
n prayer, ana that God had told him that
hat day the recreAnt boy would come
home. The tather saw him great way
IT,"
l wonder il Go1's eyesight can descry us
Vhen we are coming back to Hims The !
ext pi lures our conditiol-we are great j
way of. That young nan was not farther {
II from his fathers house, sin is not
artner off from holiness, hell Is q ot farther |
II from hehven, than we have been by our I
ins away off from our God ave, so far off {