The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-09-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Old Story Of the Prodiral Son
Furnishes New Lessons.
It Nv the Hungry Man Needs Bread, the
Penitent sinner Needs christ-Now
La the Time to Resolve to Re-
tarn to Our Father.

Tor perusal by his American readers.
1t IN based on the text:
win arise and go to my father Luke ~,
There is nothing like hunger to take
the energy out of 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. IL
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 look
ing very much like the long bean of
our time 1t il named the carab. Once
IN awhile the people reduced TO desti-
tuition would eat these carabs, but gem
orally the carabs, the 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 get even them with
out stealing them. So one day amid
the hog troughs he begins to solilo-
quize- These are no clothes for
rich mans son to wear; this is no kind
of business for Jew to be engaged
IMPEDING swine; I'll go home; I'll go
home; / win arise and go to my
father"
know there are great many peo-
pie who try to throw a fascination, a
romance, a halo about sin; but not
withstanding all that Lord Byron and
George Sand have said in regard to it.
At is mean, low, contemplate bust
ness, and putting food and fodder into
the herds of iniquities that root and
wallow in the soul of man is very poor
business for men and women intended
TO be sons and daughters of the Lord
Almighty. And when this young man
resolved 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 and he pinches them with
hunger; and when they start out to do
better he sets after them all the blood
hounds of hell. Satan comes to us to-
day and he promises all Injuries, all
emoluments If we will only serve him.
Liar, down with thee to the pitt 1.-THE
wages Of sin is death" Oh, the young
man of the text was wise when he ut
tered the resolution: ST will arise and
go TO my father"
In the time of Queen Mary of Eng
land 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: 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 the glass
He said: There is no hereto here. -
l'Ah," she said" you look in that
glass and you will see the hereticl''
AS take up the mirror of Gods word
to-day, would that, instead of sect ng
the prodigal of the text, might see our
selves-our want, our wandering, our
sin. our lost condition, so tn at 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
III 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 a thousand
dollars now of my own; what's the use
of my going back to my fathers house?
doyou think / am going back to apol-
ogize to the old man? why, he would
put me on the limits; he would not have
going on around the old place such con-
duct as have been engaged in; won't
go home. there is no reason why I
should 60 home; have plenty of money,
pleanty of pleasant surroundings;
why should I 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
nineteenth century, and talk of some
thing more exhiliarting?" 1t is for this
reason: A man never wants the Gospel
until he realizes he is in famine-struclC
state. Suppose / should come to you
in your home, and you are in good 70
bust health, and should begin to talk
about medicines, and about how m UGH
better this medicine is than that and
some other medicine, and talk
about this physician and 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 a doctor"
Suppose come into your house and
find you severely sick, and / know the
medicine that will cure YOU, and /
know the physician who is slxillful
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
are all right in body and all right in
mind, and all right in soul, you have
need of nothing; but suppose i have
persuaded you that the leprosy of sin Is
upon you, the worst of all sickness.
OH then you say: Bring me that
balm of the Gospel, bring me that
Divine medicament, bring me Jesus
Christ"
But saws some one in the audi
ence: How do you prove that we are
i'm "a ruined condition by sin?" Well, i
can prove it in two ways, and you may
have your choice. / can prove il either
by the statements of men, or by the
statement of God. Which shall it be?
". III e,x. Let ms have the state