Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-22
THE H0ME-SICK SOUL.
Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage Makes a Spe-
cial Appeal to the Young Men.
THE PARABLE OF THE PR0DIGAL
Once More Called Into Service to Enforce
Valuable Lesson.
GRAVE DANGER OF DELAY POINTED OUT

BROOKLGS, June 2l.-Dr. Ialmage'S ser
mon this morning was an appeal to young
men. Numbers of these come to the Taber-
nacle services, many of them from country
homes, where they received Christian train
ing, which, in the temptations of city life
has been cast off DR.. Talmage called his
sermon, ''The Home-Sick Soul" and his
text was from the parable of the prodigal
son, Luke xy., 1S:'"I will arise and go to my
father"
There is nothing like hunger to take the
energy out of a man. A hungry man can
toll neither with pen nor hand nor foot.
There has been many an army defeated not
so much for lack of ammunition as for lack
OF bread. 1t WIS that fact that took the fire
ont of this young man of the text. Storm
and exposure will wear out any mans life
in time, but hunger makes quick work. The
most awful cry ever heard on earth is the
cry for bread. traveller tells us that
bear fruit looking very much like
the long bean of our time. 1t is called
the carab. Once in a while the people re-
duced to destitution would eat these carabs,
but generally the carabs and beans spoken
of here in the text were thrown only to
the swine and they crunched them with
great avidity. But this young man Of my
text could not even get them without steal
ing them. SO one day amid the swine
troughs he began to soliloquize. He says,
'Thesc are no clothes for rich man son TO
wear; this is no kind of business fora Hebrew
to be engaged in-feeding swine; I'll go home,
I'll go home; 1 will arise and go to my
father"
know thereare great many people who
try to throw a fascination. a romance. halo
about sin: but Notwithstanding all that Lord
Byron and George Sand have said in regard
to 1t, 1t is a mean, low, contemplate DuSl-
ness, and putting food and fodder into the
troughs of herd of 1niquities that root and
wallOw in the soul of man is a very poor
business for men and women intended to be
sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.
A Very Wise Thing 90 Do.
And when this young man resolved TO go
home it was a very wise thing for him to
do, and the only question is whether we will
follow him. Satan promises large wages if
we will serve him. but he clothes his victims
with rags and he pinches them with hunger,
and when they start out to do better he sets
after them all the -bloodhounds ofperdition.
Satan comes to us to-day and he promises
all luXuries, all emoluments, if we will only
serve him. Liar, down with thee to the pit!
The wages of sin is DEATH" Oh, the young
man OF the text was wise when he uttered
the resolution: Il will arise and go to my
father
In the time of Mary, the prosecutor, per-
secutor came to a Christian woman who had
hidden in her house for the Lords sake one
of ChriSt's servants. and the prosecutor said:
Where is that heretic?" The Christian
woman said: You open that trunk and you
will see the heretic." The prosecutor opened
the trunk, and on the top of the linen of the
trunk he saw a glass. He said: There is no
leretic here" "Ah,m she said, ''you look in
the glass and you will see the hereticr' As
! take up the mirror of Gods word to-day,
would that instead of seeing the prodigal
son of the text, we might see ourselves-our
want, our wandering, our sin, our lost con-
dition, so that We might be as wise as this
young man WAS and say: 81 will arise and go
to my father"
The resolution of this text was formed in
disgust at his present circumstances. If this
young man had been by his employer set to
Culturing flowers, OF training vines over an
arbor, or keeping account of the pork mar
Rct, or overseeing other laborers, he would
not have thought of going home. If he had
had his pockets full of money, if he had been
able 10 say, Il have 81 .0G0 now of my own;
TO the old man? why he would put ME on the
limits: he would not have going on around |
the old place such conduct as l have been |
engaged in; won't go home; there. is no I
reason why should go home; 1 havesplenty |
OF money, plenty Of pleasant surroundings, |
why should go home:" All! it was his pau |
perism, it was his beggary. He had to go
home.
The Right Thing at the Right Time.
Some man comes and says to me: "Why
do you talk about the ruined state of the
human soul? Why don't you speak about
the progress of the nineteenth century, and
talk of something more exhilarating?" 1t is
for this reason: a man never wants the |
gospel until he realizes he is in n famine |
struck state. Suppose / should come to you |
in your home and you are in good, sound |
robust health, and L should begin to talk |
about medicines, and about how much bet |
ter this medicine is than that, and some |
other medicine than some other medicine, |
and talk about this physician and that |
physician. After a while you would get |
tired, and you would say: 81 don't want to
hear about medicines. Why do YOU talk to
me OF physicians? 1 never had DOCTOR
But suppose come to your house and find
you severely sick, and know the medicines
that will cure you, and know the physician
who is skilled enough to meet your case.
\ on say: Bring on that medicine: bring
on that physician. am terribly sick and l
want help" I'll come to you and you feel
that you are all right i'll body and all right
in wind. and all right in soul, yoE have need
of nothing: but suppose l have persuaded
YOU that the leprosy of sin is upon You, the
worst of all sicknesses, o, then YOU saw: |
that divine medicament. bring me Jesus
Christ |
But says someone in the audience Allow
do you prove that we are in a ruined condi-
tiOn by sin?H Well, can prove it in two
WAYS. and you may have your choice can |
prove it either by the statements of men or |
by the statement of God Which shall it be?
lou all say, Let us have the statement of
God Well, he says in one place, THE |
heart Is deceitful above all things and des-
perately wicked" He says in another place:
''N hat is man that he should be clean? and
he which is born OF n woman that he should
be righteous" He says in another place:
There is none that doeth good, no, not
one He says inanother place: As by one
man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin: and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned." Well" YOU saw |
Il am willing to acknowledge that, but why
should ! take the particular rescue that you
propose This is the reason: Except a
man be born again he cannot see the king
dom of God" This is the reason There Is
one name given undCr heaven among men
whereby they may be saved" Then there
are thousand voices here ready to say:
well, am ready to accept this help of the |
gospel; would like TO have this divine cure. |
how shall go to work?'' Let me saw that |
mere whlnl an underlined longing amounts |
10 nothing. Gou must have stout. tremen-
1Ous resolution like this young man of the
text when he said: 81 Glll arise and 90 To |
my father
Napoleon and the AIps
When Napoleon talked of going into Italy. |
-hey said: you can't get there: if YOU knew |
what the Alps were, you wouldn't talk about
It or think of it; you can't get your ammuni-
lion wagons over the Alps" Then Napoleon
rose in his stirrups and waving his hand to-
ward the mountains, he said: There shall |
De no Alps" That wonderful pass was laid
Jut which has been the wOnderment of all |
Inc years since-the wonderInent of all en- |
yineers. And you tell me that there are
'uch mountains of sin between your soul
md God there is no mercy. Then l see |
Jhrist waving his hand toward the noun
aims; hear him say: Il will come over the
of thy sin and the hills of thy in |
guilty There shall be no PyreAees; there
hall be no Alps.
remark still further that this resolution
II the text was founded in a feeling of home .
ickneSS- j don't know how long this Young
nan. how many months, how many years he !
lad been away from his fathers house; but | :
here Is something in the reading of my text | !
hat makes me think he was hOmesick Some |
Il you know what that feeling is. Far away | i