The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-06-25
I'HI; pR0DlG II son.
DR.. TALMAGE'S DISCOURSE 4! TIE
TkScRNACLs.

lie TaEe- LIss kcNt = -Gsil Itfe .f'1iDAS- sti
Calls s;pr .s;s Hearers T'h" i!a.c VA
dercd Gt: ..:,.n the Church ta Return.
Dr.. T;.iaage's Sunday sormo
w,.s OF The pro:i'g&l Son, and HI
text, Luke Is, 20: When ne ~
yesa great way off his father sal
him. and had compassion. and ral
and fell on his neck, and kissed MIN.
Following is the sermon:
Cne Of the deepest wells that II
-puAt:on ever opened IS the We'll Of
parable wh;c:i NE can never exhaust
The parable. suppose, was founded
On facis. have described to yoi
the gong away OF this proaigal so.
from bis fathers lioase, and nave
showed vou what hard time X
n1d down IL the wilderness, and wha.
very great mistake 1t WAS for hin
to leave so beautiful q home Tor such
miserable desert. But he did moi
always stay IL the wilderness; ht
came back after while, We DO no;
reed that his mother came to greet
hin. I suppose she was dead. Tae
father would have given the second
kiss to the returning prodigal; Tx
mother the first It may have been foI
the lack OF her example and prayers
chat he became a prodigal. Some
times the father does not know how
20 manage the children OF the house
hold. The chief work comes upon
the mother. Indeed, no Que ever
gets over the calamity Of losing a
mother in early life. Still, this young
man was not irngreeted when he
came back.
However well apparelled we may
be in the morning when we start out
on . Journey. before night, what
with the dust and the iostling, we
have lost all cleanliness of appear
ance. But this prodigal, when be
started from the swine-trough, was
ragged and wretched, and his ap-
pearance, after he had gone through
days OF iou1neying and exposure, you
can more eesily imagine than describe.
Is the people see this prodigal COM
ing on homeward, they wonder who
he is. They say; 4 wonder what
prison he has broken out of. Iwon-
Ter what lazaretto he has escaped
rom. I wonder with what plague he
will smite the air Although these
people may have been well acquain-
ted with the family, yet they do not
imagine that this is the very young
man who went off only a little while
ago with quick step and ruddy cheek
and beautiful apparel. The young
man, I think, walks very fast. He
looks as though he was intent upon
something verymportant. The peo-
pie stop. They look at him. They
wonder where he came from. They
wonder where he isgoing to.
You have heard of a son who Went
off TO sac, and never returned. All
the people in the neighborhood
thought the son would never return,
but the parents came to no such con-
clusion. They would go by the hour,
and day, and sit upon the beech,
looking off upon the water, expecting
to see the sail that would bring home
the long-absent boy And sol think
this father of my text sat under the
vine looking out toward the road on
which his son had departed: but the
father has changed very much since
we saw him last. His hair has be-
come white, his cheeks are ftuTowed,
his heart is broken. What is al his
bountiful table to him when his son
may be lacking bread? What is all
the splendor Of the wardrobe OF that
homestead when the son may not
have q decent coat? What are all
the sheep on the hillside to that IA
Sher when his pet lamb IS gone? Still
he sits and watches, looking out on
the road and one day he beholds a
foot-traveler. He sees him rise
above the hill; first the head and af-
ter awhile the entire body; and as
soon as he gets q fair glance at him
he knows he is hs recreant son. He
forgets the clutch, and the cane, and
the stiffness OF the joints, and bounds
away. I think the people all around
were amazed. They said: 1T IS
only footpad It is only some cid
tramp of the road. Don't go out
to meet him" The father knew bet
ter.
The change IN the sons appear
ance could not hide the marks by
which the father knew the boy. You
know that persons OF a great deal OF
independence Of character ere apt to
indicate it 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 bal
ance himself, but he has for the most
part an independent character, which
would show III his gait. even If he
never went on the sea: and we know
from what transpmed afterward,
and from what transpire6 be-
fore, that this prodigal son was OF an
independent and frank nature; and !
suppose that the characteristics OF
his mind and heart were the charac
teristics of his walk. And so the
father knew him. He puts out his
withered arms toward him, he brings
his wrinkled face against the pale
check OF his son; he kisses the wal
lips; he thanks God that the Ions
agony is over. ':When he was yet s
great way of, his father saw him ane
had compassion, and ron, and fell OF
his neck and kissed him.
Oh, do you not recognize that ta
ther? Who was it? It is God!
have no sympathy with that cast-nol
theology which represents God q
hard. severe and vindictive. God |
u Father-kind, loving, lenient, gen
tie, longsufering, patient and R
flies to our immortal rescue. Oh
that we might realize it. \ wealth