St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-05
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Lesson Of King Davids Generosity
to JoDathan'e Descendants

to Jonathan's Descendants.
Gratitude for Favess IN Attribute of HI.
aaaity-Ths Subject Of Dsvia's Re-
nevolence Likeaed to . Sin.
Laden AumAa Soul
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage delivered
the following sermon before his Wash
ington congregation Easing it upon the
| text:
Is there yet any that is left Of the house Of
Saul. that may show him kindness for Jona-
than's sskes - 30 Mephibosheth dwelt
in jerusalem; for he did eat continually At the
kings table; and was lame On both his feet
II. Samuel, L., and Il
Was there ever anything more ro-
mantle and chivalrous than the love of
David and Jonathan? At one time
Jonathan was. up and David was
down. Now David Is up and Jonathan's
family is down. As you have often
heard of two soldiers before going in
to battle making covenant that if
one is shot the survivor will take
| charge of the body. the watch, The
mementos. and, perhaps of the bereft
| family of the one that dies, SO
| David and Jonathan had made q
| covenant, and now that Jonathan is
dead. David is inquiring about his
| family, that he may show kindness
| unto them for their father Jonathan's
sake. Careful search ID made, and q
son of Jonathan by the dreadfully
homely name of Mephibosheth is
found. His nurse. in his infancy, had
let him fall, and 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 looks upon him
with melting tenderness, no douSt
seeing in his face = resemblance to
his old friend, the deceased Jona-
than. The whole bearing Of King
David toward him seems to say:
"How glad am to see you. Mephi-
bosheth. How you remind me of your
father, my old friend and benefactor.
l made a bargain with your father
many years ago, and am going to
keep it with you. What can l do for
you, Mephibosheth? 1 am resolved
what to do: l will make you . rich
man; l will restore to you tho con-
fiscated property of your grandfather
Saul, and you shall be . guest of mine
rs long rs you live, and you shall be
seated at my table among the princes. :"
1t was too much for Mephibosheth,
and he cried out against it. calling
himself dead dog. "Be STILL" says
David, II don't do this on your own &C
count; do this for your father Jons-
than's sake. 1 can never forget his
kindness. I remember when 1 was
bounded from place to place how he
befriended me. Can / ever forget how
he stripped himself of his courtier ap-
parel and gave it to me instead Of my
shepherds coat, and how he took off
his own sword and belt and
gave them to me instead Of my sling?
Oh, can never forget him. /
feel as If I couldn't do enough for you,
his son. don't do it for your sake;
do it for your father Jonathan's
sake" $50 Mephibosheth dwelt in
Jerusalem; for he did eat continually
At the kings table; and was lame on
both feet"
There is SO much Gospel in this
quaint incident that am embarrassed
to know where to begin. Whom do
Mephibosheth, and David, and Jona-
than make you think of?
Mephibosheth, in the first place,
stands for the disabled human soul
Lord Byron describes sin ~ charm
Ing recklessness, as q gallantry, as =
Don Juan; George Sand describes sin
as triumphant in many intricate plots;
Gavarni, with his engravers knife, al
ways shows sin as . great POPULARITY;
but the Bible presents it rs Mephib-
osheth, lame on both feet. Sin, like
the nurse in the context, attempted to
carry us. and let US fall, and we have
been disabled, and in our whole NOR
1al nature we are decrepit. Some
times theologians haggle about
technicality. They use the words
''total depravity," and some peo-
pie believe in the doctrine, and some
reject it. What do you mean by total
depravity? DO you mean that every
man is as bad as he can be? Then l
do not believe it either. But do you
mean that sin has let us fall, that it
has sacrificed, and disabled, and
crippled our entire moral nature, until
we can not walk straight, and are
lame in both feet? Then / admit
your proposition. There is not SO
much difference in an African Jungle,
with barking, bowling, kissing, fight
Ing quadruped and reptile, and
Paradise with its animals coming be-
fore Adam when he patted them and
stroked them and gave them names, so
cow, and the condor as tame as the
dove, rs there is between the human
disabled and that soul rs God origi-
nally constructed it. do not care
what the sentimentalists or the poets
say in regard to sin; in the name of
God l declare to you to-day that sin is
Reorganization, disintegration, ghast-
" designation, hobbling deformity.
Your modern theologian tells you
that man is little out of sorts; he
sometimes thinks wrong; he some
times does wrong; indeed, his nature
needs = little moral surgery, an out
side splint, q slight compress, a little
rectification. Religion is = good thing
to have; 1T might some day come into
use. Man is partially wrong. not all
wrong. He Is lame in one foot Bring
the salve of divine grace and the oint-
UNCUT and the pain extractor, and we
Fwsll have his one foot cured. Man IL
fonly half wrong, not altogether wrong.
In what is mans nature right? In his
will? his affections? his judgment?
No, There is IN old book that says:
1.-THE whole head is sick and the whole
hesEG faint" Mephibosheth lame in
both feet. Our belief of the fact that
sin has sacrificed and deformed our souls
Increases y We 60 on in years When
you started life you thought that man
was . little marred by sin. and he was
about one-tepth wrong. BY the time
you had go1e Through the carly ex-
perience Of YOUR trade or occupation,
Tor professionf Fou~ believed that man
Il nh half D. -.