Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-06-21
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
The Brooklyn Divine breaches on the
"Prodigal Son."


TEXT: "When he ,ods vet great ,ooy of,
his father sdto him, and had compassion
on him, and ran and fell on his neck, and
kissed him."-Luke XIV, 90
One of the deepest wells that inspiration
ever opened is this well of parable which
we can never exhaust. The parable, sup
pose, was founded on facts. have de-
Scribed to you the going away of this prodl-
gal son from his fathers house, and have
shown you what hard timehe had down in
the wilderness, and what very great
mistake it was for him to leave so beauti-
full home for such a miserable desert.
But he did not always stay in the wilder
ness; he came back after while. We do
not read that his mother came to greet hun.
/ suppose she 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 first. 1t
NAV have been for the lack of her example
and prayers that he became prodiga'.
Sometimes the father does not know how
to manage the children of the household.
The chief work comes upon the mother.
Indeed, no one ever gets over the calamity
of losing mother in early life Still this
young man was not ungreeted when he came
back
However well appareled we may be in the
morning when we start out on q journey, be-
fore night what with the dust and the
jostling, we have lost all cleanliness of APP
pearance. But this prodigal when he started
from the swine trough, was ragged and
wretched, and his appearance, after he had
gone through days Of journeying and ex-
posure you can more easily imagine than
describe. As the people see this prodigal
coming on homeward, they wonder who he
is. They say: 81 wonder what prison he
has broken out Of wonder what lazaretto
he has escaped from. l wonder with what
plague he will smite the air." Although
these people may have been well acquainted
with the family, yet they do not imagine
that this is the very young man who went OIL
only little while ago with quick step aud
ruddy cheek, and beautiful apparel. The
young man, l think, walks very fast. He
looks as though he were intent uron some
thing very important The people stop.
They look at him. They wonder where he
came from. They wonder where he is go
ing to.
You have heard of a son who went off to
sea and never returned. All the people in
the neighborhood thought the son would
never return, ebut the parents came to no
such conclusion. They would go by the
hour and day and sit upon the beach, look
ing off upon the water, expecting to see the
sail that would bring home the long absent
boy. And so | 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 bread
What is all the splendor of the wardrobe
of that homestead when the son may not
have decent coat? What are all the sheen
on that hillside TO that father when his pet
lamb is gone? Still he sits and watches,
looking out on the road, and one day he be-
holds foot traveller. He sees him rise above
the hill; first the head and after awhile the
entire body; and as soon as he gets fair
glance of him he knows it is his recreant son.
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 footpad. 1t is only
some old tramp of the road. Don't go out to
meet him." The father knew better.
The 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 it i'll their walk For that
reason the sailor always has peculiar step,
notonly because he stands much on shipboard
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 it he never went on the sea;
and we know from what transpred after
ward, and from what transpire1 bafore, that
this prodigal son was of an independent and
frank nature; and | suppose that the char.
acteristics of his mind and heart were the
characteristics of his walk. And so the
father knew him. He puts out his withered
arms toward him; he brings his withered
face against the pale cheek of his son. he
kisses the wan lips; he thanks God that the
long agony is over. "When he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him, aud had
compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck,
and kissed him."
Oh, do you not recognize that Father:
Who was it? 1t is God! l have no SYM
pathy with that castiron theology which
represents God as hard. severe and vindic-
tive. God is Father-kind loving, lenient,
gentle, long suffering, patient, and lie flies
to our immortal rescue. Oh, that we might
realize it. A wealthy lady in one of the
eastern countries was going off for some
time, and she asked her daughters for some
memento to carry with her. One of the
daughters brought marble tablet beauti-
fully inscribed, and another daughter
brought a beautiful wreath of flowers.
The third daughter came and said: Mother,
brought neither flowers nor tablet but
here is my heart. have inscribed it all over
with your name, and wherever you go it will
go with your The mother recognized it as
the best of all the mementoes. Oh. that our
souls IA. ,nG - ud5 toward Oh FiLn5t; Oh 10
our hearts might be written all over with
the evidences of His loving kinlna'S, AMI
that we might never again forsake Him.
In the first place l notice in tilis text the
fathers oyasight; in the second place, | no
tice the fathers haste; AMI, in the third
place, notice the fathers kiss.
To begin: The fathers eyesight. "When
he was great way Off his father saw him. u
You have noticed how oil paople sometimes
put book off on the other side of the light.
They can see at a distance great deal easier
than they can close by. | do not know
whether this father could see well that which
~as near by, but do know he could soc
great way off His father saw him. Per-
haps he hal been looking for the return of
that boy especially that day. | donob know
but that he had been in prayer, AMI that Go
had told him that that day the recreant boy
would come home. "rhe father saw him d
great way off.
wonder if Coils eyesight can descry us
when we are coming back to Him? Tue
text pictures our c)u1ition-we are great
way off. That young man was not farther
off from his fathers houSA, sin is not farther
off from holiness, hell is not flr5ler Of fron
heaven, than we have bsel By or sin; away
or from our G)l, aye, 50 far OF that -
could not hear His yoc1, tiou n v1is II 9nGl V
He has callel us year after yea. 10 not
know what bal habits you may h1vA
formed or in what evil PLACES you aavebsen,
or what false notions you my have enter
tanned; but you are rea ty to ac'l1 vile | e,
if yoIr heart has not been change by the
grace of Go |, TINT yoI arc grelt way of
AYE, 50 far that you cannot get bacl of
yourselves. You would like to CO NJ back.
Aye, this moment you would start if it were
not for this sin, AMI that habit, and this dis
advantage.
But am to tell you OF the Fatlsfs eye
sight. He saw him grant way OF" lie
has seen all your frailties, all your strd .gles,
all your disadvantages He has bsel long
ing for your coming. H5 has not b..l lolI-
ing at you with critics eye or a blilffS eye
but with fathers eye; AMI if parent ever
piticl 4 Child, Col pities you. You say;
''Oh, h11 50 many evil surrounding when
started life" Your Father sees it. You
say: Ihava so many bad surrounding = now
aud it is very dill :ult for me to break away
from evil associations Your Father SEQ;
it, AMI il you should start h9avenwarl-as
pray you may--your Father would not sill
Idly dovn AMI allow YOU to struggle on uH
toward Him. Oh, MOI Seeing you graa
way OFF He would fly to the rescue. How lon;
does it take father to leap into the mi ldl
of the highway il his child be there an / {
swift vehicle is coming anl may DESTROY
him? Five hundred times Longer than i
takes our heavenly Father to spring to the
deliversnce of lost caild. "When he wa,
great way of his father saw him
And this brings me to notice the father,
haste. The Bible says he ran. No won1er
He did not know bit that tho young man
would change his mind and go back. Heidi
not know but that he would drop down from
exhaustion. He did not know but that some
thing fatal might overtake him before he go
up to the doorsil; and SO the father ran. Tn
Bible, for the most part speaks of God a
walking in the fourth watch of henight,
it SAYS, Jesus came unto them Walking OF
the sea-" Tie walketh upon the wings o.
the wind" Our first parents heard the Yoic
OF the Lord, walking in tho garden in tn
cool of the day; but when a sinner start