The Bossier banner., 1894-10-04
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Miracle at the Gate of the
City of Main.
Christ as a Nan and Christ as a God-His
Sympathy for Distress in All Its
FOrms-The Master of
the Grave.

following sermon for publication this
week. The subject is 'An Only Son."
and the text:
Now when he came nigh to the gate of the
city, behold, there was dead man carried out
| the only son of his mother. and she was
| widow; and much people of the city was with
| her' And Whenth Lord saw her He had COM
| passion on her, and said unto her: Weep
| not" And lie came and touched the bier; and
| they that bare him stood still. And He said:
| Young man, say unto thee, arise" And he
| that was dead sat up and began to speak. And
| He delivered him to his mother.-Luke vii,
12-15
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 traffic.
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 pleas
ure there comes long procession of
mourning people. Who is it? A trifler
says: "Oh, it's nothing but funeral.
1t may have 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 somany
| evidences of dire bereavement 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: 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 pleasure! Let
every head be uncovered! Weep with
the passing procession; and let it be
told through all the market places and
bazars of Main, that in Galilee to-day
| the sepulcher hath gathered 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
ailments and sorrows he cries out:
''How long, oh Lord, how long?" Foot
sore on the hot journey, he wants to
| get home. He sits in the church. and
| sings, with a 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 of thousand who
| have passed the flood. How sweetly
he sleeps the last sleep! Push back
| the white locks from the wrinkled
temples; they will never ache again.
| Fold the hands over the still heart;
| they will never fold again. Close
gently the eyes; they will never weep
again.
But this man that l am speaking of
was young man. He was just put
ting on the armor of lie, and he was
exulting to think how his sturdy
blows would ring out above the clamor
of the battle. l suppose he had a
| young mans hopes, young mans am
bitions, and young mans courage.
He said; ''If live many years, will
| feed the hungry and clothe the naked.
In this city of Main, where there are
so many bad young men, l will be
sober and honest, and pure, and mag
unanimous, and my mother shall never
be ashamed of me-" But all these
| prospects are blasted in one hour
There he passes lifeless in the process
sion. 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 eXcellences that
| commend them to the parental heart;
and if it We're peremptorily de manded
| of you to-day that you should yield up
one of your children out of very
| large family, you would be confound-
ed, and you could not make selection.
But this was an only son, around whom
| gathered all the parental expectations.
| How much care in his education! How
much caution in watching his habits!
| He would carry down the name to
| other times. He would have entire con-
troll of the family property long after
the parents had gone to their last re-
ward He would stand in society a
thinker, worker, a philanthropist, a
Christian. No, no. It is all ended.
Behold him there. Breath is gone.
Life is extinct. The only son of his
mother.
Now, my arlcnds, it was upon this
scene that Christ broke. He came in
without any introduction, He stopped
the procession. He had only two utter
ances to make. the one to the mourn
| ing mother, the other to the dead. He
cried out to the mourning one: ''WeeI
not" and then, touching the bier or
which the son lay, He cried out
Young man, l say unto thee, ariser
| And he that was dead sat up.
learn two OF three things from this
su biect, and, first, that Christ was {
man. You see how that sorrow played
upon all the chords of His heart.