The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-08-24
GOD AND MAN.
DR.. Talmage Discourses on the
Miracle at the City of Main.
Christ as Man and Christ as God-His
Sympathy for Distress I'm All Its
Forms-The Master OF
the Grave.

the subject of ''An Only Son." the text
chosen being Luke vii. 1918: Now
when He came nigh to the gate of the
city, behold there was a dead man car
ried out, the only son of his mother.
and she was a widow; and much of the
people of the city was with her. And
when the Lord saw her He had COM
passion on her and said unto her: Weep
not. And He came and touched the
bier; and they that bare him stood
still. And He said. Young man, l say
unto thee. arise. And he that was dead
sat up, and began to speak. And He
delivered bin to his mother" Follow
ing is the sermon:
The text calls us to stand at the gate
of the city of Main. The streets are a
rush with business and gayety, and
the ear is deafened with the hammers
of mechanism and the wheels of traf-
fic. Work, with its thousand arms and
thousand eyes and thousand feet, fills
all the street, when suddenly the crowd
parts, and funeral passes. Between
the wheels of work and pleasure there
comes long procession of mourning
people. Who is it? A trifler says: 'Oh,
IT'S nothing but a funeral. 1t may
nave come up from the hospital of
the city, or the almshouse, or some
low place of the town." but not
so says the serious observer. There
are so many evidences of dire bereave-
ment that we know at the first glance
some one has been taken away greatly
beloved; and to our inquiry: "Who is
this that is carried out with so many
offices of kindness and Affection" the
reply comes: 1.-THE only son of his
mother, and she a widow" Stand
back and let the procession pass out!
Hush all the voices of mirth and pleas
ure! Let every head be uncovered
Weep with this passing procession; and
let it be told through all the market
places and bazars of Main, that in Gal
lice to-day the sepulcher hath gatheled
to itself 1.-The only son of his mother,
and she a widow"
There are two or three things that,
in my mind, give especial pathos to
this scene. The first is, he was young
man that was being carried out. To
the aged, death becomes beautiful. The
old man halts and pants along the road,
where once he bounded like the roe
From the midst of immedicable all
ments and sorrows he cries out: "How
long, Oh Lord, how long?" Footsore
on the hot journey, he wants to get
home. He sits in the church, and sings,
with tremulous voice, some tune he
sang forty years ago, and longs to join
the better assemblage of one hundred
and forty and four thousand, and the
thousands and thousands who have
passed the flood. How sweetly he
sleeps the last sleep.
But this man that | am speaking of
was a young man. He was just put
ting on the armor of life, and he was
-exulting to think how his sturdy blows
would ring out above the clangor of
the battle. suppose he had young
mans hopes, young mans ambitions
and young mans courage. lie said:
eff l live many years, L will feed the
hungry and clothe the naked. In this
city of Main, where there are SO many
bad young men, 1 will be sober and
honest, and pure, and magnanimous,
and my mother shall never be ashamed
of me-" But all these prospects are
blasted in one hour. There he passes
Efeless in the procession. Behold all
that is left on earth of the high-hearted
young man of the city of Main.
There is another thing that adds
very much to this scene, and that is,
he was an only son. However large
the family flock may be. we never
could think of sparing one of the
lambs. Though they may all have
their faults, they all have their excel
lences that commend them to the
parental heart; and if it were per-
emptorily demanded of you to-day that
you should yield up one of your chill
dren out of a very large family, you
would be COMPOUNDED and you could not
make a selection. But this was an
only son, around whom gathered all
the parental expectations. How much
care in his educationi How much
caution in watching his habits! He
would carry down the name to other
times. He would have entire control
of the family property long after the
parents had gone to their last reward.
He would stand in society a thinker, a
worker, philanthropist, a Christian.
No, no. 1t is all ended. Behold him
there. Breath is gone. Life is extinct.
The only son of his mother.
There was one other thing that
added to the pathos of this scene, and |
that was, his mother was a widow. |
The main hope of that home had been |
broken, and now he was come up to be |
the staff. The chief light of the house |
aold had been extinguished, and this |
was the only light left. suppose she
often said, looking at him: There are |
only two of u.s." Oh, it is a grand |
thing to see a young man step out in |
ife, and say to his mother: Don't be |
5own-hearted. / will, as far as pos
sible, take fathers place, and as long |
As l live you shall never want any
thing" 1t is not always that way.
Sometimes the young people get tired |
If the old people. They say they are |
queer; that they have so many all
nents; and they sometimes wish them |
put of the way.
4 young man and his wife sat at the |
able, their little son on the floor play
ng beneath the table. The old father
was very old. and his hand shook so. |
they said: You shall no more sit with
rs at the table" And so they gave
him place in the corner, where day
by day he ate out of an earthen bowl
everything put into that bowl. One
Hay his hand trembled so much he
dropped it and it broke; and the son.
seated at the elegant table in mid-foor,
said to his wife: Now, we'll get
father a wooden bowl, and that he
:3n't break" So wooden bowl was