The Opelousas courier., 1890-08-09
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Prodigal Son."

TEXT: "Whenh he 4rcs YETI great tcay OF,
his father soW him, and had compressor
on him, and ran and fell on has neck, ana
kissed him, Luke w, 90.
One of the deepest wells that Inspiration
ever opened is this well of & parable whlcn
we can never exhaust. The parable. l sup
pose, was founded on facts. l have &c
scribed to you the going awav of this proa-
gal son from his fathers house, and l have
shown YOU what a hard timehe had down IN
the wilderness, and what a very great
mistake it was for him to cave SO beautl-
full q home for such q miserable desert.
But he did not always stay in the wilder
ness: he came back after a while. We do
not read that his mother came to greet him.
| suppose che was dead. She would have
been the first to come out. The father
would have given the second kiss to the re-
turning %prodigal; the mother the hrst. IL
may nave been for the lack of her example
and prayers that he became a prodlgal.
Sometimes the father does not know how
to manage the children of the household.
The chief work cones upon the mother
Indeed, no one ever gets over the calamity
of losing a mother in early life, Still this
young man was not u1gfeetad When he came
back.
morning when we start ont on a journey, BE-
fore night, what with the dust and the
~iostling. we have lost all cleanliness OF ap-
pearence. But this prodigal, when he started
from the swine trough, was ragged
wretehed, and his appearance, after he mad
gone through days of journeying and ex-
posure, you can more easily imagine than
describe. AS the people see this prodigal
coming on hemeward, they wonder who ne
is. They say: 81 wonder what prison he
has broken out of. I wonder what lazaretto
he has escaped from. / wonder with what
plague he will smite the air" Although
these people may have been we'll acquainted
with the family. yet they do not imagine
that this is the very young man who wentoI
onlv a little while ago with quick step, and
ruddy cheek, and beautiful apparel. The
young man. | think, walks very fast. He
looks as though he were intent upo some
thing very important. The people stop.
they look at him. They wonder where he
came from. They wonder where he is 60
ing to. -
sea and never returned. All the people In
the ~neighborhood thought the son would
never return, but the parents came to no
such conclusion. They would go by the
hour and day and sit upon the beach, Q
ing off upon the water, expecting to see the
sail that would bring nome the long absent
boy. And so I think this father Of my text
sat upon 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 become
white, his cheeks are furrowed, his heart
is broken. What is all his bountiful table
to him when his son may be lacking breadP
What is all the splendor of the wardrobe
of that homestead when the SON nay noS
nave a decent coat? What are all the sheep
on that hillside to that father when his pet
lamb is gomez Still he sits and watches,
looking put on the road, n one day ne be-
holds O foot traveller. He sees him rise abovs
the hill; first the head and after awhile the
entire body: and as soon as he gets a far
glance of him he knows it is his reereant soL-.
He forgets the crutch, and the cane, and the
stiffness of the joints, and bounds away. |
think the people all around are amazed.
They said: 'It is only a footpad. 1t is only
some old tramp Of the road. Don't go QUITO
meet him" The father knew better.
The change in the sons appearance could
not hide the marks by which the father
NEW the boy. You know that persons OF a
great deal of independence of character are
apt to indicate it in their walk. For tnab
reason the sailor always has a peculiar step,
s,otonlv because he stands much on shtpboard
amid the rocking of the sea, and he has to
balance himself, but he has for the most part
an independent character, which would show
IN his gait, even if he never went on the sea-;
and we know from what transpired after
ward, and from what transpired before. that
this prodigal son was of an independent and
frank nature; and / suppose that the char
acteristics of his mind and heart We're the
characteristics of his walk. And so the
father knew him. He puts out his withered
arms toward him; he brings his wlthered
face against the pale cheek of his son: ne
Kisses the wan hps: he thanks God that the
| .ong agony is Owes. stWhen he was yet a
great way Of. = : father saw him, and had
compassion, ana ran, and fell on his neck,
and kissed him"
Oh. do Won not recognize that Father
Who was it? Ii is God. / nave no sym
pathy with that castrifon theology which
represents God as hard. severe and v1ndle-
tive. God is a Fatllar-s.nd. loving, lenient,
gentle, l~ong-suffering, patient. and he hles
to our immortal rescue. Oh, that we nhghb
realize it. A wealthy lady in one of the
eastern countries was going Off for some
time. and she asked her daughters for some
nlemento to carry with her One of the
daughters brought a marble tablet, beautl-
fully inscribed, AMI another daughter
| brought a beautiful wreath OF flowers.
The third daughter came and said: "MoGner,
[ brought neither flowers nor tablet, but
here is nv heart. | haveinscribed it all over
with your name, and wherever you go it will
\ 20 with YOU The mother recognized it as
he best of all the mementoes. Oh, that GU,
souls might 20 out toward our Father; that
our hearts might be written all over with
ste+ wa ,nigh+ never again forsake Him.
si a. tha Arst nlsca T : notice in this text the
e.tharss avss;pbt. n the second place. I no
ice the Yafhsr,s haste. and. in the third
place. I notice the fathers kiss.
TO begin: The fathers eyesight. When
he was q great way on ms father saw MIN.
You have noticed how old people sometimes
put a book of on the other side of the light
Theye an see at a distance a great deal easier
than they can close by. ! do not knoN
whether this father could see well that Whicr
was near by, but ! do know he could see
- P,r