The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-08-25
GOD AND MAN.
DR.. Talmage Discourses on the
Miracle at the City of Main.
Christ as . Man and Christ as q God-Hls
Sympathy for Distress in All Its
Forms-The Master of
the Grave.

Symp8tny IOT DIBLEeo8 III All ~
Forms-The Master of
the Grave.
A late sermon selected by Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage for the press was on
the subject of "An Only Son." the text
chosen being Luke vii. 1918: "Now
when He came nigh 20 the gate of the
city, behold there was a dead man car
ried out the only o 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 sale unto her: Weep
not. And He 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" Follow
ing Is the m
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-
&c. Work, with its thousand arms and
thousand eyes and thousand feet, fills
all the street, when suddenly the crowd
parts, and q funeral passes. Between
the wheels Of work and pleasure there
comes a long procession of mourning
people. Who is it? A trifer says: "Oh,
it's nothing but q funeral. 1t may
have come up from the hospital of
the city, or the almshouse, or some
low place of the town. but not
20 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 outl
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
ilee to-day the sepulcher hath gathered
to itself 'the only son Of his mother,
and she q widow"
There are two or three things that,
In my mind, give especial pathos to
this enc The first is, he was a young
nan 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?" F~ootsore
on the hot journey, he wants to get
home.
But this man that / am speaking of
was q 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. l suppose he had a young
mans hopes, a young mans ambitions
and a young mans courage. He said:
"If l live many years, I will feed the
hungry and clothe the naked. In this
city of Main, where there are SO many
bad young men, I 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
lifeless 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 II 1t were per-
emptorily demanded of you to-day that
you should yield up one of your chill
dren out of q very large family, you
would be COMPOUNDED, and you could not
make q selection. But this was an
only son, around whom gathered all
the parental expectations.
There vas n other thing that
added TO the pathos of this scene, and
that was, his mother was q widow.
The main hope Of that home had been
broken, and now he was come up to DO
the staff. The chief light Of the house.
hold had been extinguished, and this
was the only light left. I suppose she
often said, looking at him: "There are
only two Of u.s." Oh, 1t il a grand
thing to see q young man step out in
life, and say to his mother: Don't be
down-hearted. I 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 peopls get tired
of the old people. They say they are
queer; that they have SO many all
ments; and they sometimes wish them
out of the way.
A young man and his wife q Mt the
table, their little son ON the floor play.
ing beneath the table. The old father
was very old, and his hand shook so,
they said: "You shall no more sit with
us at the table" And SO they gave
him a place in the corner, where day
by day he ate out of an earthen bowl
everything put into that bowl. One
day his hand trembled SO much he
dropped it and 1t broke; and the son
seated at the elegant table in mid-fiOor
said to his wife: "Now, we'll get
father q wooden bowl, and that he
can't break" So q wooden bowl wa:
obtained, and every day old grand
father ate out Of that, sitting In thl
corner. One day, while the elegant
young man and his wife were seated al
their table, with chased silver and al
the Injuries, and their little son sat
upon the floor, they saw the lad whit
Ting. and they said: my son, what
are you doing there with that knife?'
"Oh," said he, 'I-Tm making a trough
for my father and mother to eat out o
when they are old"
But this young man Of the text wal
not of that character. He did not be
long to that school. can tell it from
the way they mourned over him. III
was to be the champion of his mother
He was to be his mothers protector
He would return now some of h kind
Sesses he had received In the day o
childhood and boyhood. Ay, he woult
with his strong hand uphold that form
already enfeeblsd with age. viii h,
do 1t? No. In one hour all hat promise
Of help and companionship is gone
There Is a world of anguish in that ont
short phrase: "The only son of hi
mother, aud she q widow"
Now, my friends, it was upon thi.
scene that Christ broke. He came il
] without any introduction. He stoppel