Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-12-05
TALNAGE
SERMON
BY Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMaGE. DID,.
Psstcr of Jefferson Park Presny-
terrain Church, Chicago

the text Proverbs Xxx. II, The eve
that mocketh at his father and despis-
eth TO obey his mother the ravens OF
the valley shall pick 1t out and the
young eagles shall eat TT
Horrible is the Solomonic word pic
ture. The gibbet, the stenchful corpse,
the skeleton protruding through the
torn and notifying flesh. the featbered
gormandizers banqueting upon the car
rion, the changing, rusty chains holding
aloft the putrefying mass these are
the theme of my text 1t is warning
to all boys and girls, as well as to all
grown men and women, that filial con-
tempt Is never justifiable in Gods sight.
No matter what our parents may do or
say, we must always respect and honor
them, because they are our father and
mother. If we ever allow ourselves to
despise them, then we shall incur the
anger of God, who by one of the Ten
Commandments explicitly enjoined that
parents be honored by their offspring.
And with that command public opinion
is fully In accord. The son who dis
honors his parents is despised In his
life. and his very memory Is gibbeted
by public contumely after his death
ue is held up to public scorn and deri-
sion, as were the ancient robbers and
state criminals, whose heads used to be
stuck upon long poles and for weeks
exposed to public view from the top of
the arch of London Temple Bar until at
last all the flesh disappeared and MOTH
ing remained but the bleached skulls.
But though God denounces children
who despise their parents, no matter
how heinous the parental sins and
shortcomings may be. yet as l begin to
study my text in Its connection with
other passages of Scripture the more
j find that many of the most common
6lial sins can be traced back to paren-
tai sins. Some years ago, upon the
Holstein ranch In California, three lit
tie orioles were taken from nest and
confined within a birdcage. No sooner
was this done than the mother bird ap-
peared and tried to Dberate her young
Failing I'm this, she few away and
brought to her incarcerated babies q
sprig OF the deadly larkspur. In few
minutes those three fiedgelings with
foaming mouths lay dead in the bot
tom Of the cage. IL the mother bird
could not free her young, then she pre-
ferred to kill them. How often, alas,
have human parents seen their or
spring In n captivity to sin to which
death would have been preferable, and
the saddest reflection they can have is
that this captivity is the result of the
moral poison they have themselves ad-
ninistered. BY thoughtless mistakes
and culpable negligence they may have
inspired their children with n contempt
for themselves which has been the be-
ginning OF an evil life, ending in spir-
itual death.
1 shall try this morning TO enumerate
some of the shortcomings and sins into
which neglected. and selfish and sinful
parents have fallen in their dealings
with their children. I would enumer-
ate those parental sins because the in
spired author who penned the words
or my text is also the Solomon who
wrote that IL consecrated. godly parents
would train up child In the way he
should go. when he Is grown that ma
tured child would not only be loyal to
his earthly parents, but also to his |
Heavenly Father.
Parental Partially.
All parents, In the first place, should |
show their children that they have no
parental favorites. They should prove |
that all the children as individuals have |
an equal share OF fathers and a |
mothers love. They should convince |
their boys and girls alike that no one
child occupies q larger area In the paren- |
tai heart cells than every other child. for |
when a child begins 10 feel that the ia
hpr- a
much as the rest OF tho children that |
child Immediately begins to despise that
parental partiality. Love feeds on love.
And yet there nre thousands upon thou
sands or homes In America in which
you would not have to visit more than
two or three days before you could,
while there, tell which was the favorite
son or daughter. That child will per
haps be better dressed, as old Jacob
aroused the jealousy OF his other chill
dren by buying for his fayorite boy, Jo-
seph. a coat OF many colors. That child
Will have better room in the house
than the other children. He will have
more spending money; he will be al
lowed TO do what the other children arc
not allowed to do. On the other hand,
the child which is not the parental IA
vorite Will often be showed into the
background or sent away to the coun-
try, as Jesse sent his youngest son, Da-
via, or to tend the sheep. 1t Is easy
enough for parents to say that they
have no favorites, but the words of the
iip do not always correspond with the
facts or the life At nearly every fu-
neral OF a little child which / have at
tended In my pastoral work. have
heard statement like this made by
the side OF the white casket: "It Is too
bad the little one was taken. She was
her fathers or mothers favorite" Now I
before God today declare that no par
emit has right to have a favorite child
mo fevorite unless that child Is a
born idiot or an invalid or one who
should be cared for and guarded the
more carefully because OF his or her
helplessness. The fraternal hatred ex-
asting between Esau and Jacob can be {
directly attributed to Isaac's fayoritisnn l
Tor his eldest son and Rebekah's favor
itism Tor her younger boy. And many
ana many a home Is broken up today |
because fathers and mothers will per- 1
sist In showing preference for one child {
at the expense OF the affection they {
ought to show for their other children. 6
Parental favoritism has caused I
Aany q boy or girl to be skeptical 6
or fathers or mothers love-the /
same kind Of skepticism which, In {
India, little girl had who a few years t
ago made significant comparison to !
an American missionary. In India a t
daughter is supposed to be of such c
low order OF creation that some Mo. c
mammalian priests assert that women I
have no souls and no hereafter. And e
SO one day when this little girl was I
trying to describe Gods love for her
sex she said, "Why, it is the small. S
est love in the world, If 1t is a lover (
How small is that?" asked the lady d
missionary "0h very uarrr small u [