Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-07-24
REV. DR.. TALMAGB.
The Eminent Washington pivine's
Sunday Sermon.
Subject: "Kindness for AnOther's
Sake"

Was there ever anything more romantic
and chivalrous than the love Of David ana
Jonathan? At ono time Jonathan was uP
and David was down. Now David is up auu
Jonathan's family is down. AS you rave
often heard of two soldiers before gong INTO
battle making a covenant that II one Is snot
the survivor will take charge OF the body,
the watch, the momentOs and perhaps OF the
bereft family OF the one that dies, so DAVID
and Jonathan had made covenant, and
now that Jonathan is dead David is inquirlng
about his family, TINT he may show kind
ness unto them for their father Jonathans
sake.
Careful search is made, and q son OF Jona-
than by the exceedingly homey name OF
Mephibosheth is found. His nurse, In his In
fancy, had let him fall, md the fall had put
both his ankles out Of place, and they had
never been set. This decrepit poor man Is
brought into the palace of King David.
David gazes upon him with melting tender
ness, no doubt seeing in his face resem-
blance to his old friend, the deceased Jona-
than. The whole bearing of King David
toward him seems to says "HOw glad L am
to see YOU, Mephiboshelh How you remind
me OF your father, my old friend AMI Dene'
factor! | male bargain with your iathera
good many years ago, AMI am gong ~
keep it with you. What can do Tor you,
Mephiboshetb2 lam resolved what 70 DO
will make you rich man. Will restore 10
you the conascated property OF your grand
| father Saul AMI you shall be agueSt OF mine
us long as you live, and you shall be seated
at my table among the primers" 1t was 100
much for Mephibosheth, AMI he cried out
against 1t, calling himself dead dog. "B9
still" SAYS David; 81 don't do this on your
account: do this for your father Jonathan's
sake. l can never forget his kindness.
remember when | was bounded from place
to place how he befrended me. Can ever
forget how he stripped himself OF bis
courtier apparel and gave it to me instead
of nv shepherds coat, and how he took off
his own sworl and belt and gave them to
me instead OF my sling? o., 1 can never
forget him! feel as if couldn't DC enough
for you, his son. l don't do it for your
sake; 1 do it for your father JoDaihan's
sake" SO MephibOsheth dwet in Jerusa-
lem, for he did eRt continually ut the kings
table and was lame On both his feet
There is 50 much gospel in this quaint In
cident that am embarrassed to know wnere
to begin. Whom do Mephibosheth and
David and Jonathan make you think OF?
Mephibosheth, in the first place, stands for
the disabled human soul. Lord Byron de-
scribes sin as a charming reoklessness, az Il
galantry, as Don Juan; George Sand de-
scribes sin as triumphant In many intricate
plots: Gayarni, with his engraver's knife,
always shows sin as a great POPULARITY; hut
the Bible presents ii as a Mephlbosheth, lame
on both feet. Sin, like the nurse in the con-
text, attempted to carry Us and LEI US iall,
and we have been disabled, and in our whole
moral nature we q decrepit. Sometimes
theo!ogians hagge about a technicality.
They use the words 'total deprayity," and
some people believe in the dOctr ne, AMI
some reject it. What do you mean by
total depravity? Do you mean that every
man is rs low as he can be? Then, do
not believe it either. But do you mean
that sin has let us fall; toat 1t has scarf
feel and wounded ami crippled our en-
tire moral nature until we cannot Walk
straight and arc lame in both feetS
Then admit your proposition. There Is
not so much difference in an African jungle
with barking. bowling, Kissing. ilghing
quadruped and reptile and paradise, with
Its animals coming before Adam, when he
patted them and strOked them and gave
them names, so that the panther was as
tame as the COW and tho condor as tame rs
the dove-as there is between the human soul
disabled and that soul rs God originally con-
structed it. | do not care what the sentl-
mentalis;s or the poets say in regard TO sin.
In the name Of God declare to you to-day
that sin is Reorganization, disintegration
CHASTITY disllguration. hobbling deformily.
Your modern theologian tells you that
man is little out OF sorts; he sometimes
thinks wrong; he sometimes acts wrong; in
deed, his nature needs little moral surgery
an outside spint, Slight compress, Il little
rectihcation. Religion is a good thing tC
have; it might some day come into use. Mai
is partially wrong, not all wrong. he Il
lame in one foot Bring the salve Of divine
grace and the ointment and the pain extrac
tor, and we will have his one foot cured
Man is only half wrong, not alt1gethf
wrong. In what Is mans nature right! ii
his WILL his affections, his judgmentf No
There is an old book that says: "The Who'll
head is sick and the whole heart faint.
Mephibosheth lamei in both feet. Our belle
of the fact that sin has scarfled and deforme
our souls increases as we SO on in years
When YOU started life you thought that ma
was little married by sin and he was abou
) one tenth wrong BY the time You had gon
, through the early experience OF you
trade or occupation or profession you be
lieye that man was about half wrong.
the time YOU came to midlife you believe
J that man was three-fourths wronS. Blu
I within these past few years, since you hay
been so lied about aud swlndled and cheated
you have come to the conclusion that ma
I is altogether wrong, and now you can sa
is no health in u.s." Now you believe wit
the prophet, "The heart is deceltful, abov
all things, and desperately wicked" Wha
, ever you may have believed before, now 20
= believe that Mephibosheth is lame on bot
feet
Again, Mephbosheth in the text stands fC
the disabled human sou. humbled and IT
stored. When this invalid of my text got
command to come to King David's palace b
trembled. The fact was that the grandta M
of Mephibosheth had treated David mo-
shockingly. and now Mephibosheth says
himself: "What does the king want OF INT
; Isn't it enough that | am lame2 Is he goin
to destroy my life? Is he going to wreak Q
j me the vengeance which he holds toward m
grandfather, Saul? It's too bad" But e
to the palace Mephiboshelh must, since IL
S king has commanded it. With staff an
o crutches and helped by his friends.
SEQ Mephibosheth going up the stairs
the palace. l hear his staff and crutch
rattling on the tessellated floor OF II
. throneroom. No sooner have these w
persons confronted each other-Mephl
osheth and David the king-than Me
hibosheth throws himself fiat on his face b
fore the king and styles himself dead doi
II the east when a man styles himself dt
\ ne uiters the utmost term of self-abnegatio
] If is not IL term 50 strong in this countr
J where, ifa dog has fair chance, no som
times shows more nobility of character tnf
i some human specimens that We wot OF. ID
the NANCY ours OF the oriental cities, as
know by my own observation, are ut'er
detestabe Mephibosheth gives the nj mo
term of self-Ioathing when he compares hi
SELF to a dog. and dead at that.
Consider the analogy. When the COZ
mand is given from the palaces of heaven
the human soul to come, the soul begins