The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-08-27
GALL HAVE SINNED,
Yet Our Heavenly Father Stands
Ready to Receive Them.
Rev. DIR. Talmage Preaches on the Reso-
luton of the Prodigal Son as APP
piled to All Mankind.


The subject of Rev. Talmage's recent
sermon was the parable of tbs prodigal
son, taking as his text, Luke XIV, is:
II will arise and GO to my father"
There is nothing like hunger to take
The energy out of man. A hungry
man man can toll neither with pen, nor
hand, nor foot. There has been many
an army defeated not SO much for lack
Of ammunitionsas 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 qAick 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
lime. The carab, this is called. Once
IN a while the people, reduced to desti-
button would eat these carabs, but gen
orally the carabs, the bean spoken OF
here in the text, were thrown only to,
swine and they crunched them with
great avidity. But this young man OF
my text could not get even them with
put stealing them. SD one day amid the
swine trourhs he begins to soliloquize.
BE 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. .,
Ikno<v there are great many peo-
Pile who try 30 throw fascination. a
romance, halo about sin; but notwith-
standing all that Lord Byron and
George Sand have said in regard to it,
It is mean. low, con temptible business,
Ind putting food and fodder into the
sroughs of herd of iniquities that
root and wallow in the soul of man is
very poor business for men and women
Intended to be sons and daugte.s of the
Lord Almighty. And when this young
man resolved to go home it was 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 cut to do
better he sets after them all the blood
hounds of hell. 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 pitt "The
wages of si,. is death" Oh! the young
man of the Sext was wise when he ut
tered the reso ution: ST will arise and
go to my father"
In the time of Queen Mary, of En-
gland, a prosecutor came to a Christian
woman who had hidden in her house
for the Lords sake one of Christ's serv-
ants, and the prosecutor said: ''Where
is that heretic?'' The Christian woman
said: ssYou 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 glass He
said: ssThere is no hereto here" "Ah!'
she eaid, ssyou look in the glass and you
will see the heretic!" As take up the
mirror ofsGcdis word to-day, would
that instead Of seeing the prodigal Of
the .fext, we might see ourselves-our
want, our wandering, our sin, our lost
condition, $50 that we might be as wise
rs this young man was and say: SCI
viii arise. and go to my Father"
The resolution of this text was formed
h disgustat his present circumstances.
Re this young man had been by his en-
ploger,eet to culturing flowers, or train
ing vines over an arbor, or keeping &C
count Of the pork market, or overseeing
pther aborers, he would not have
thought Of going home. If he had had
bis pockets lof money, if he had been
bbfe to say, sThave a thousand dollars
how of my own; what's the use of my
roing back to my fathers house? do
Tou think am going back to apologize.
10 the old man? why he would put me
IN the limits; he would not have going
IN around the place such conduct as I
have been engaged in; 1 won't go home;
Mere is no reason why I should go
home; have plenty of money, plenty
If pleasant,surroundings, why should 4
70 home?' All! it was his pauperism,
Il was his beggary. He had to go home.
Some man comes and says to me:
eWhy do you talk about the ruined
tate Of the human soul? why don't
you speak about the progress of the
Nineteenth century, and talk of some
hing more exhilarating?" 1t is for this
ieason: A man never wants the Gospel
nntil he realizes he is in famine
truck state. Suppose should come to
you in your home, and you are in good,
robust health, and should begin to
salk about medicines, and about how
much better this medicine is than that,
IND some other medicine than Tome
pther medicine, and talk about this
physician and that physician. After
awhile you would get> tired, and you
would say: 'sI don't want to hear about
medicines. Why do you talk to me of
physicians? / never have a DOCTOR
Suppose I come into your house and
find you severely sick, and know the
medicines that will cure you, and
know the physician who is slsillful
enough to meet your case. You say:
Bring on all that medicine, bring on
that physician. I am terribly sick, and
want help If I came to you, and
you feel you ars all right in body, and
all right in mind and all right in soul,
you have need of nothing; but suppose