Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-02-05
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT rALMAcE DID,,
Pastor of jefferson Park Presby.
terrain Church, Chicago

Pastor Talmage, while not excusing
the prodigal, throws a new and search
ing light upon the character and con-
duct of the elder brother of the famous
parable. The text is Luke XIV, IS, "And
he was angry"
Who was the prodigal's elder broth
err? II know who he is" answers some
one. az see him almost every day Of
my life. He is the honest, upright son
who stays at home and gets no credit
plodder of the family who does most
of the hard work in the Office, in the
store and on the farm and then has the
extreme pleasure OF seeing all the
young girls run after his dissolute
younger brother merely because that
brother is driving fast horses and SOW
ing his wild oats The elder brother
is the son who is always sober and yet
receives he not extra dollar from
his parents as n reward, while the
drunken son of the family IS continual
ly receiving extra money to get his
clothes out of pawn, so that he may
have another start in life. The elder
is the good boy upon whom the moth
or depends to help give his sisters new
dresses for the winter parties, yet he
never has Il party given for him. He
never had q fatted calf killed that he
might entertain his friends, though for
years he has cared for the cattle by
day and has seen that they were prop
erly MIXED It night. He is the good
boy who never had n fine ring put on
his finger. The folks laughed at his
horny fingers, which were knotted from
handling the pillow and welding the
hoe and the ak. His feet were never
measured for dancing slippers because
his sandals were always soilcd and
dirt bcgrimed. He was always work
ing In the fields. The drunkards, the
D~rofigates, the midnight carousers the
libertincs and the associates Of lewd
companions are the e. who, when
they reform, have the smiles and the
dancing parties given TO them, not the
elder brothers who have never done
any wrong"
bplHc gtbIS oSp " HpuiS NDiiN -
Classmate said to me: 1T never pays
to be good. When | am good and stay
at home, then father and mother mere
~ take my goodness as a matter of
course, but if ! only go off on n long
carousal then nothing is too good for
me when l ome back home. There's
lots of fun in being a %repentant prod
1gal. There is no fun in always being
a Goody, goody boy, who never gets the
fattcd calf killed for his benefit" my
sympathies have always been with the
elder brother in the parable" once
wrote John Il. Paxton, the great New
York preacher, and the popular sym
patty Of the world from time immc-
mortal has been with the elder brother
of my text and not with the |repcntant
herder of the swine, who returned in
rags and as a bcggar TO his fathers
house.
Two Kinds of J. nuIts.
But neither of the brothers Is por-
trayed as an example. Both were
bad, though in different ways. We cas-
lily sec the faults of the younger broth
er; they were open and s%candalous; but
the faults Of the elder brother, being
de%corously covered up by dutiful con-
duct, are not so easily recognized. In
estimating character on Gods lines VIC
have to ask lot only what a man has
done, but what ne is. Mcanness and
unbrotherliness and cruelty in the heart
deface a mans character as indelibly
as open iniquity. They make men. as
Christ said, like "whited sepulchers,
which indeed appear beautiful outward.
hut are within full of dead mems bones
II of all uncleanness.' Therefore |
place my chief emphasis upon the sin
fnl life of the elder brother, to show
That the so called respectable sins Of
self Righteousness arc of all sins the
most to be dreaded and that il is the
duty Of the preacher to warn his hear
ers against them.
The elder brother is the modern Pbar.
aSee, who thanks God that he is not as
other men. He c~omplacently looks
upon the drunkard and the social out.
cast and the pauper and says TO his
friends; Just look at me. | never had
any more advantages than those PEG.
pie nave had. | was OF Il high strung
1mpetuous nature, yet ! never would
let my evil desires get the better OF
me. | have never been drunk. | have
never run up n bill ! was unable 10
pay. never was a frcqucnter Of the
clubs, nor a convivial associate of mid
night c~arousers. Indeed, TO be frank
with you, | have just about as good
opinion of my moral attachments rs
1'rince Bismarck had of his skill in
craftsmanship. When some one asked
the Iron Chancellor who he thought
was the brainiest statesman in al
Europe, Bismarck replied: Modesty
forbids my stating who is the brainiest
because then | might have to mention
my W name. But / am perfectly
willing 10 state that Benjamin Dis
raeli is without doubt the secon(
ablest statesman in all Europe Other
saints" remarks the pharisaical elder
brother, "Inay be my equal in mora
attachments, but | am sure there is Nc
superior in all the world to my humble
self"
But, my pharisaical friend, though
In one sense you may never have bro
ken the criminal code of your state, ye
there are more ways than II OF break
ing the moral and the spiritual laws
Shylock, the outraged Jew, may have
been legally AZ honorable man, but II