Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-04-17
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Washington pivine's
Sunday Sermon.
Subject: "Ehe pfOdigai's isethrh.''


TEXT. II will arise and GO 10 my father. v
Luke XIV, Is.
There is nothing like hunger to take the
energy out Of man. A hungry man can
toll neither with pen nor hand nor foot.
There has been many an army defeated not
so much for lack Of ammunition as for lack
OF bread. II was that fact that took the fire
out OF this voting nah OF the text Storm
ind exposure will wear out any mans life in
time, but hunger makes quick work. The
most awful cry ever heard on earth Is the
cry for bread. A traveller tells US that in
Asia Minor there are trees which bear fruit
| looking very much like the long bean OF our
time. 1t Is called The carob. Once in awhile
| the people, reduced to restitution, would eat
these CAROLS, but generally the carobs-the
beans spoken OF here in the text-were
thrown only to the swine, and they crunched
them with great avidity. But this young
man OF my text could not even get them
without stealing them. 50 one day. amid
the swine troughs, he begins to sollloqu'ze
He says, "These are no clothes for rich
mans son to wear. This Is no kin1 OF busi-
ness for Jew to be engaged In, feeding
swine. I'll 60 home. I'll go home. will
arise and go to my father"
know there are great many people who
| try to throw " fascination; ROMANCE; d
! halo about sin: bit; notwithstanding all that
| Lord Byron and George Sand have said i'll
| regard to it; IT is mean; low, contemplate
| business, aud putting food and fodder into
the troughs Of herd OF iniquities that root
and waiow in the soul OF man Is a very poor
business for men and women intended to be
sons and daughters OF the Lord Almighty,
nm when this young man resolved to go
home 1t was very wise thing for him to do,
and the only question Is whether we will fol-
low him. Satan promises large wages IL we
| will serve him, but he clothes his victims
with rags, and he pinches them with hunger,
and when they start out to do better he sets
after them all the bloodhounds OF hell. Satan
comes to us to-day and he promises all lux
uries and emolumehts II we will only serve
him. Liar, down with thee 10 the pitt "Th9
wages of sin is DEATH" Oh, the young man
of tho text was wise wheh he utterrd the res;
Dlution; II will arise and go to my father"
in the time Of Mary; the prosecutor; d persei
| Dutor came to q Christian woman who hat
hidden in her house for the Lords sake one
of Chrsts servants, aud the prosecutor said,
"Where is that hereticY" The Christian wo-
man said, "You open that trunk, and you
| will see the heretic' The prosecutor opened
| the trunk, and on the top Of the linen of the
trunk he saw glass. He said, "There Is no
hereto here" "Ahr' she said. you look
| In the glass, and you will see the hereto"
| AS take up tho mirror OF G is word to-
| day would that insteal OF seeing the prod
| igal Of the text we might see ourselves-our
want, our wandering. our sin, our lost con-
ditiOn. so that we might be rs wise as this
| young man was and say, 81 will arise and
90 to my father" Tho resolution OF this
text was formed in disgust at bis present
circumstances. If this young man had been
by his employer set to culturing flowers, or
training vines over IN arbor, or keeping an
account Of the pork market, or overseeing
other laborers, he woul not have thought Of
going home-it he had hal his pockets full
of money; il he had been abe to say: IL have
$1,000 now Of my own. What's the use Of
my going back to my fathers house2 Do
you think I'm going b lck to apologize to the
old man2 Why, he would put me Oh tho
limits. He would not have going on around
the old place such conduct rs / have been
engaged in. l won't go home. There is no
reason why should go home. have plenty
Of money. plenty Of pleasant surroundings.
Why should go home2" Alb, 1t was his
pauperism, 1t was his beggaryl He had to
90 home. Some mau comes and says to me;
"Why do you talk about the ruined state OF
the human soull Why don't you speak
about the progress of the nineteenth
century AMI talk Of something more
sxhllarating?" 1t is for this rea-.
son. A man never wants the gospel un-
I'll he realizes he is in Il famine struck State.
Suppose l should come to you in your home,
and you are In good. sound, robust health,
and / should begin to talk about medicines,
and about how much better this medicine is
than that, and some other medicine than
some other medicine, and talk about this
physician and that physician. After awhile
you would get tired, AMI you would say:
II don't want to hear about medicines. Why
do you talk to me of physicians? l never
have doctor" But suppose l come into
four house, aud find you severely sick and
know the medicines that will cure you, and
know the physician who is skillful enough
10 meet your case. You say: 'Brlng on all
that medicines; bring on that physician. l
am territly sick, and L want help" If
come to you, and you feel you are all right
In body, and all right in mind, and all right
IN soul, you have need OF nothing, but sup
pose have persuaded you that the leprosy
Of sin is upon you, the worst of all sickness
oh, then You say, "BrIng me that balm OF
the gospel bring me that divine medca-
ment; bring me Jesus Christ"
But" says some one in the audience,
chow do you know that we are in a ruined
condition by SIM" Well, l can prove it in
two ways, and you may have your choice l
can prove it either by the statements Of men
or by the statement of God. Which shall 1t
be? You say, "Let us have the statement Of
God" Well, He says in one place, "The
heart is deceitful above all things and desper-
ately wicket" He says in another place,
"What is man that he should be clean, and
he which is born of woman that he should
90 righteous" He says in another
place, "There is none that doeth good
no, not one" He says in another place,
"As by one man sin entered into the world
and death by sin. and so death passed upon
all men. fer that all had sinned." "Well,"
you say, IL am willing to acknowledge that
but why should take the particular rescue
that you propose2" This is the reason: Sex
cent man be born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God" This is the reason:
"There is one name given under heaven
among men whereby they may be saved.
Then there are thousand voices here ready
to shy: ''Well. 1 am ready to accept this
help of the gospel. | would like to have
this divine cure How shall go to workP'
Let me say that mtre whim, an underlined
longing, amounts 10 nothing You must
have a stout, Il tremendous reso ,ution like
this young man of the text when he said, Il
will arise AMI 90 to my father" "Oh," says
some man, chow do 1 know my father wants
me? How do L know if 1 90 back L would
be received?" "Oh," says some man, "you
don't know where have been. You don't
know how far l have. wandere !. You
wouldn't talk that way to me If you knew
all the iniquities l have committed. What
Is that futter among the angels OF GodF
What is that horseman running with quick
dispatch? 1t is news! 1t is news. Christ
has found the lost
Nor angels can their JOY contain,
But kindle with Eew fire.
-. found thoI, al