The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-06-21
A FIIlIAL KISS.
This Was the Text for an
Aoquent Sermon by
u. Talmage.
Based Upon the Old but Ever
New Parable Of the
Pr0digal Son.

Prodigal Son.
BRooKIYs, special-Dr. Talmage's ser.
mon for to.day.is on the ~prodigal son, and
his text, Luke xv..2O. nWhcn he was vet a
greAtsway of, his luther saw him, and had
com passion, aud ran, and ielI On Ills neck,
snlltl Kissed him. Following Iii the sermon:
Onesof the deepest wells that inspiration
ssyeraopened ia this we'll Of q parable which Ne,
ean never exhaust. The parable, i suppose,
sFasfpunded on facts. 1hnvedescribed to you,
the going away Of this Trodignl son from
his luther q house. and I have showed YOU
What d time he had doRnsiD the wilder
ness and Whnta very great mistake it was
ior him tn leave SO beautiful d home for such
a miserable desert. But lie did not always
stay IN the wilderness; liz calne back alter
awhile. Wedo not read that his mother
came to greet him. 4 suppose she was dead.
She would have been tile first to come out.
The fntlier wonld have given the second kiss
ne the returning ~prodisal; the mother the
drst. I'll may have been for the hack of her.
exampleand prayers tiat lie became a prod
isa1 Sometimes the father does not know
how to- manage the children OF the house
hold The chief workcome upon the mother.
Indeed, 40 one ever gets over the calamity
of1osing q mother in early life. Still, this
young mar was not ungreeted when he came
back.
However well npnarelled We may be in the
morning when we start out. on o journey, be-
fore night, W1at.with the dust ard the.jos-
fling, We have lost all cleanliness OF appear
ance. RpWt this prodigal, when he started
from the swine trough, was ragged and
Wretched, and his appearance, after he had
gone through days ot iournering and expos
ure. @ can more easily imagine than de-
scribe. AS the people see this prodigal com
ing on homeward, they wonder who he is.
They say. 81 wonder what prison he has
sbrokensout 81. i wonder what lazaretto he
has escaped from. i wonder with what
plague he willsmite the mir Although these
people may have been well acquainted with
the family, yet they do notimagine that this
il the very young man who wentsoff only a
little while 8 with. quick step, and ruddy
cheek, and heantiful apparel The Young
mar, 4 think walks very fast. He looks as
though he were intent npon something very
important. The people stop. They 9 ut
him. They wonder where he came from.
They wonder where he il going to.
Yon have heard oil d son who went off to.
sea tllnt never returned. Allsthe people in.
the neigiiborhood thought the son would
never return, butthe parents came to nc
such conclusion. They Wouldg 70 bythe.hour,
and day, md sit upon the beach, looking off
would hrilg home the long absentboy. And
so ] think this father Al ms text sat under
the vine looking out toward the road on
which his son had departed; but the father.
Inns clanged very much since wesaw him last.
His hair hns become whire, his cheeks are
his bountilul-table to him when his son may
be lacking bread? What il oil the spien-
dor ofthc wardrobe OF that homestead when
son maysnot have a decent coat? What
are oil tire sheep on that hillside to that fa-
fher when his pet lamb ~ gone? Still lie sits
mud watches, looking out on the road, and
QUO day lie. beholds q f~oot-travelcr. He sees
him rise above the hill; first the head and
ter q while the entire body; and as
soon aa he gets d fair glance OF him heknows
lit is his recrennt son. lie forgets the
crutcl, and The stiffness of the, joints,
and bounds away I think the people all
around were amazed. They said. SIT is
only q ootpad. 1t is only some old tramp
sof the road. Dom go ont to meet him.
The fnther knew him better.
The change in the sons appearance could
not hide the marks by which the fntlier knew
the boy. You know that persons of a great
denl 81 y Independence Of character are apt to
indicate it in their walk. Forthe reason the
sailor most always has q pecnliar step. not
only because he stands much upon ship
board eamid the rocking of the sen. and he
has to balance himself, but he has for the
most part IN independent character, which
would show I'M his gait, even il he never went
On.the sea; and We knowfrom b ttranspired
a~tterward and from what transpired before,
that this prodigal son was Of an independent
md frank mature 4; and suppose the charac.
teristies Of his mind and heart were the char
Acteristics Of his walk. And 30 the satherk knew