Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-06-25
THE HOMESICK SOUL.
DR.. TALMAGE breaches ON
THE PRODIGAL SON.
Christ Came to Restore the Sinfui-The
Sick Need Physician, Not the Well
Affecting Instances of People Who We're
Almost Saved.


DR.. Talmage called his sermon last
Sunday "The HomeSick Soul, and his
text was from the Prodigal Son, Luke
XIV. Is, 81 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 de-
feated not so much for lack of ammuni-
ton as for lack of bread. 1t was that
fact that took the fire out 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. A traveller tells us that in
Asia Minor there are trees which bear
fruit looking very much like the long
| bean of our time. 1t is called the carab.
Once in while the people, reduced to
| restitution, would eat these carabs, but
| generally the carabs, the beans spoken
of 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
stealing them. SO one day amid the
swine troughs he begins to soliloquize.
| He says, ''These are no clothes for a rich
mans son to wear; this is no kind of
| business for a Jew to be engaged in
! feeding swine; I'll go home, I'll go home;
[ will arise and go to my father"
l know there are great many people
| who try to throw fascination, a rO-
nance, a halo about sin, but notwith-
| standing ali that Lord Byron and George
Sand have said in regard to il, it is a
| mean, low, contemplate business, and
putting food and fodder into the troughs
Of herd of iniQuities that root and wal
low in the soul Of man is very poor
business for men and women intended to
be sons and daughters of the Lord Al
mighty. And when this young man re-
solved to go home it was a very wise
thing for him to do and the only ques-
ton is whether we will follow him.
Satan promises large wages if we will
serve him, but he clothes his victims
with rags, pinches them with hunger,
and when they start out to do better he
sets after them all the blood-hounds of
perdition. Satan comes to us to-day and
he promises ali Injuries, 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 reso-
luton, 81 will arise and go to my
father"
In the time of Mary the Prosecutor,
prosecutor came to 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 hereto. The prosecutor opened the
trunk, and on the top of the linen of the
trunk he saw a glass. He said, ''There
is no hereto here s'Ah,' she said,
''you look in the glass and you will see
the hereticn' 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 wan
dering, our sin, our lost condition, so
that we might be as wise as this young
man was and say, Il 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 en-
ployer set to culturing flowers, or train
ing vines over an arbor, or keeping ac-
count of the pork market, or oversee
ing other laborers, he would not have
thought of going home. If he had had
his pockets full Of money, if he had been
able to say: II have d thousand dollars
now of my own; what's the use of my
going back to my fathers house? Do
you think | am going back to apologize
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 reason why / should go home;
have plenty of money, plenty of pleas
ant surroundings, why should l go
home?' All! it was his pauperism, it
was his beggary. He had to go home.
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 nine |
teenth century, and talk of something
more exhilarating" tits for this reason:
man never wants the Gospel until he
realls he is in famine-struck state
Suppost should come to you in your
home and yGare in good, sound, robust
health, and Noald begin to talk about
medicines, az about how much better
this medicine ian that, and some other
medicine thari4ne other medicine, and
talk about til physician and that
physician. Att while you would get
tired and you wd3d say: II don't want
to hear about edicines. Why do you
talk to me of phycians? I never have
doctor.
But suppose I che into your house
and find you seveNy sick, and know
the medicines that fl cure you, and l
know the physical who is skillful
enough to meet ydr case You say:
Bring on that medine. bring on that
physician. I am terribly sick and I
l holm I n VI nd Won
feel that you are all light in body and
all right in mind, and Il right in soul,
ypu have need Of nothing but suppose I
have persuaded you thatthe leprosy of
SIP is upon you, the OF all sickness.
Oh, then you say Bring me that balm
| OF the Gospel, bring me tht divine medi-
\ Ciment hrinr Ioc,as C-riSt >,