The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-05-18
THE ELDER BROTHER.
A LESSON FROM THE PARABLE OF THE
PR0DICAL SON.
Rev. DR.. Talmage's De~nunciation of
Self Righteousness and the Lack Of
sympathy for the Fallen and Unfor-
tunate.

IUUdlc.
In this discourse DR.. Talmage pleads
for a hearty reception to all those VINO
have done wrong and want to get
back, while the unsympathetic and self
righteous are excoriated; text, Luke
not go in"
Many times have / been asked II
preach a sermon about the elder broth
err of the parable. I received a letter
from Canada saying, rs the elder son
of the parable so unsympathetic and
so cold that he is not worthy of rec
ognition?" The fact is hat we min
listers pursue the younger son. You can
hear the Tapping of his rags in many
a sermonic breeze and the branching
of the pods for which he was an unsuc-
cessful contestant. / confess that 1t
has been difficult for me to train the
camera obscura upon the elder son
Of the parable. / could not get a neg
alive for a photograph. There was not
enough light in the gallery, or the
chemicals were too poor, or the sitter
moved in the picture. But now l.
think 1 have him, not a side face or a
three-quarters or the mere bust, but
a full length portrait as he appears to
me. The father in the parable OF the
prodical had nothing to brag of in
his two son The n was a rake M
the other a churl. / find nothing ad-
mirable in the dissoluteness Of the one,
and 1 find nothing attractive in he
acrid sobriety of the other. The one
goes down over the larboard side, but
they both go down.
From all the windows of the old
homestead bursts the minStrelsy. The
floor quakes with the feet or the rus
tics, whose dance is always vigorous
and resounding. The neighbors have
heard of the return of the younger son
from his wanderings, and they have
gathered together. The house is full
of congratulations. 1 suppose the
tables are loaded with luxuries, not
only the one kind Of meat mentioned,
buf>its concomitants. Clap" go the
cymbals, "Thrum!" go the harps,
"Clickl' go the chalices, up n down
go the feet inside, while outside is a
most sorry spectacle.
THE SENIOR SONS ANGER.
The senior son stands at the corner
of the house, a frigid phlegmatic. He
has just come in from the fields in
very substantial APPAREL Seeing some
wild exhilarations around the old man.
sion, he asks of a servant passing Dy
with a goat skin of wine-on his shoul-
der what all the fuss is about. One
would have thought that, on hearing
that his younger brother had got back,
he would have gone into the house
and rejoiced, and, if he were not con-
~scientiously opposed to dancing. that
he would have joined the oriental
schottish. No, there he stands His
brow lowers; his face darkens; his lip
curls with contempt. He stamps the
ground with Indignation; he sees moth
ing at all to attract. The odors of the
feast, coming out on the air, do not
sharpen iii appetite. The lively music
does not put n spring into his step.
He is in a terrible pout. He criticises
the expense, the injustice and the
morals of the entertainment. The faith
er rusheS out bareheaded and coaxes
him to come in. He will not go in He
scolds the father. He goes into a
pasauinade AGAINST the younger broth
er, and he makes the most uncomely
scene. He says: Father, you put a
premium on vagabondism. l staid at
home and worked on the farm. You
never made a party for me; you dido
SO much as kill a kid. That wouldn't
have cost half as much as a calf; but
this ~scapegoat went off in fine clothes,
and he comes back not fit to be seen,
n what a time you make over him!
He breaks your heart, and you pay
him for it. That calf, to which we have
been giving extra feed during all these
weeks, wouldn't be so fat and sleek II
/ had known to what use you were
going to put it. That vagabond de-
serves to be cowhided instead of ban
quoted. Veal is too good for r
That evening, while the younger son
sat telling his father about his ad-
ventures and asking about what had
occurred on the place since his de-
parture, the senior brother goes to ped
Disguised and slams the door after
him. That senior brother still lives
You can see him any Sunday, any day
of the week. At a meeting of ministers
in Germany some one asked the ques-
ton, who is that elder SOM? AND
Krummacher answered, II know him
I saw him yesterday" And whe they
insisted upon knowing whom he meant
he said, Myself; when I saw the ac-
count OF h conversion OF a most 3D.
noxious man / was irritated.'
First, this senior brother of the text
stands for self congratulatory, sell
satisfied. self worshipful man. With
the same breath in which he vituper
ates against his younger brother ne
utters a panegyric for himself. Inc
self righteous man of my text. like
every other self righteous man, was
full of faults. He vas an migrate, fol-
he did not appreciate the home bless
ingS which he had all those years. He
was disobedient, for when the father
told him to come In he staid out. He
was a liar, for he said that the rec
reant son had his father
living, when the father, 20 far from
being reduced TO penury, had a home
stead left, had instruments OF music
had Jewels, had a mansion. and instead
OF being a pauper was a prince TINS
senior brother, with so many faults o,
his own. was mercilesS IN his criticism
OF the younger brother The only per
feet people that I have ever known
were utterly obnoxious was never
so badly cheated in my life as by q
perfect man. He got so far up in 41s
devotions that he was clear up aDoye
all the rules Of common honesty. Tnest
men that go about prowling amons
prayer meetings and in places or pusi-
ness. telling how good they are-looF
out FOR them; keep your hand on your
pocketbook! I nave noticed that JUS
in proportion as a man gets good he
gets humble. The deep Mississippi
does not make as much noise as the
brawling mountain rivulet. There has