Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-06-22
STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON.
An Eloquent Sermon From favorite Subject
of This Famous Divine.
Interesting Stories of the ProdigaI's Path
way Related, Among Them Thoss
That Have Fallen Under His
Personal Observation.
THE HoME-sIcK SOUL.

o young men. Numbers OF THESE come 10
he tabernacle services, many of them from
country homes, where they received Chris
ian training. which, in the temptations of
.ty life has been cast OF. DR.. Talmage
,ailed his sermon The Home-Sick Soul, and
lis text was from the Parable Of the Prodi-
"a! Son, Luke XIV, IS, ~ will arise and
70 70 my father"
There is nothing like hunger to take the
mercy out of a man. A hungry man can
oil neither with pen nor hand nor loot
There has been many an army defeated not
80 much for lack of ammunition as for lack
IF bread. It was that fact that took the
fire out of this young man of the text
storm and exposure will wear out any
man life in time. but hunger makes quick
work The most awful cry ever heard on
Earth is the cry for bread. A traveller tells
rs 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 a while the people reduced TO des-
tuition would eat these carabs, but gen.
orally the carabs, the beans spoken of here
in the text, were thrown only to the swine
and they crunched them with great ayidity.
Blt this young man of my text could not
sven get them without stealing them. SO
,ne day amid the swine troughs he began to
;O!ileuuiSe. He says, ''These are no clothes
or a rich mans son TO wear; this is no kind
If business for u Jew to be engaged in
,eeding swine; I'll go home, III go home; L
will arise and go to my father"
WILL WE FOLLOW HIM.
know there are great many people who
try 10 throw a fascination, i romance,
halo about sin: but notwithstanding all that
Lord Byron and George Sand have said in
regard 10 il, il is a mean, low, contemplate
business, and putting food and fodder into
the troughs of herd of iniquities that root
aud wallow in the soul of man is very
fo,, md int In}
10 be sons and daughters of the Lord
Almighty. And when this young man re-
solved to go home, it was a very wise thing
for him 10 do, and the only question is
whether we will follow him. Satan prom
ises large wages if we will serve him; but
he clothes his victims with rags, and
he plnches 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
al! Injuries, all emolumeHtS if we viii only
serve him. Liar, down with thee to the
pit, THE wages of sin is death" o! the
young man of the text was wise when he
uttered the resolution: Il viii arise and
90 10 my father
In the time of Mary, the prosecutor, a
prosecutor came to q Christian woman who
had hidden in her house for the Lords
sake one of Christ's servants, and the per-
secutor said: ''Where is that heretic?"
The Christian woman said; You open
that trunk and you will sec 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 hereto
here" "Ah," she said, you look in the
glass and you will see the heretic!' 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
prAI hat 1ifrlt hsa q nc
this young man was and say: 81 will arise
and go to my father"
vIoTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
The resolution of this text was formed in
disgust at his present circumstances. IL
This Young MAI had been by his employer
St, 10 cUlturing flowers, or training vines
over an arbor, or keeping account of the pork
market, or overseeing other laborers, ne
would not have thought of going home. If
he had had his pockets full of money, if he
had been able TO say: 81 have a thousand
collars now of my own; what's the use of
NY going back TO my fathers houses Do
sou think | am going back to apologize TO
The old MANI 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 pleasant surroundings,
Why should go home?' All! is was his
p4pperism, it was his beggary. He had to
90 home.
Some man comes and says TO me: ''Why
90 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 exhilaratinga" 1t
IS for this reason, man never wants the
Gospel until he realizes he is in famine
iuucl. state. Suppose should come TO you
N your home and you are in good, sound,
ND l CHI n
TALK ABOUT MEDICINES,
aud about how much better this medicine
IS than that, aud some other medicine than
some other medicine, and talk about this
physician ana that physician. After awhile
you would get tired, and you would say: II
don't want TO hear about medicines. Why
DO You talk to me of physicians? ! never
have doctor'' But suppose l come into |
YOUR house and find you severely sick, |
and know the medicines that will cure |
YOU, and know the physician who is skill |
III! enough 10 meet Your case. You say: |
bring on that medicine, bring on that |
physician. l am terribly sick and
want help" II 1 came 10 you
and you feel you are all right in |
body and all right in mind. and all |
right in soul you have need of nothing; but |
suppose have persuaded YOU that the lep- |
rosy Of sin is upon you, the worst OF all /
sickness, o! then you say: bring me that |
balm OF the gospel, bring me that divine |
mendicament, bring me Jesus Christ"
Butt says some one in the audience, |
how do you prove that we are in ruined |
condition by SIM" Well, I can prove it in |
Two ways, and you may have Your choice. |
l can prove il either by the statements of |
men, or by the statement of God. Which |
shall it be- You all say, s'let US have the
statement of God" Well, he says in one |
place. The heart is deceitful above all |
things and desperately wicked" He says !
IN another place. '.what is man that he |
should be cleanl and he which is born of
woman that he should be righteousl" He
says in another place, "there is none that
doeth good, no, not one" He says in an
other place, las by one man .sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned." sWen,"t you say, Il am willing
10 acknowledge that, but why should take
The particular rescue that you proposef'
THIS Is THE REASON:
Except man be born again he cannot
see the kingdom of Cod This is the res-
son. There is one name given under
heaven among men whereby they may be
saved" Then there are thousand voices
here ready to say: "Well, l am ready to |
accept this help of the Gospel; would like
10 have this divine cure; how shall i so to
work." Let me say that mere whiIn, an
underlined longing amounts 10 nothing. You
must have stout. tremendous resolution |
like this young man OF the text when he
said: 81 will arise and 60 to my father"
"On' says SON man, show do know my
father wants met how do / know, if 1 go
bach, would be received!p ''OG' says
some man, '.you don't know where have
been; you don't know how far have wan