Milford chronicle., 1903-02-06
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE' DID,
Pastor of Jefferson Park Presby-
terian Church, Chicago

ing light upon the character and CON /
duct of the elder brother of the famous
parable. The text is Luke xv, IS, "And .
he was angry"
Who was the prodigals elder broth
er? Il know who he is" answers some /
one. 81 see him almost every day Of /
my life He is the honest, upright son I
who STAYS at home and gets no credit /
for being good; he is the respectable
Dlodder 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 one extra dollar from
his parents as a reward, while the
drunken son of the family is continual
" 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
er depends to help give his sisters new
dresses for the winter parties, yet ne
never has a party given for him. He
never had a fatted calf killed that ne
might entertain his friends, though for
vaors he has cared for the cattle by
day and has seen that they were prop
erlv MIXED at night. He is the good
bov' who never had Il fine ring put on
Innerlpn nf his
horny fingers, which were knotted from
handling the plow and welding the
hoe and the ak His feet were never
measured for dancing slippers because
his sandals were always sOiled ana
dirt begrimed. He was always work
ing in the fields The drunkards, the
profigates, the midnight carousers, the
libertines and the associates of lewd
companions are the ones who, when
they reform, have the smiles and the
dancing parties given to them, not the
elder brothers who have never done
any wrong"
Some years ago young college
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 a long
carousal then nothing is too good for
me when l come back home. There's
lots Of fun in being a repentant prod
ieaI. There is no fun in always being
a goody. goOdy boy. who never gets the
fatted calf killed for his benefit" my
svmpathies have always been with the
elder brother in the parable" once
wrote John L. Paxton, the great New
York preacher, and the popular sym
pathy of the world from time imme-
mortal has been with the elder brother
of my text and not with the reDentant
herder Of the swine who returned in
rags and as a beggar to his fathers
house.
Two Kinds of Faults.
But neither of the brothers is por-
trayed as an example. Both were
bad, though in different ways. We cas-
lily see the faults of the younger broth
er; they were open and scandalOus: but
the faults of the elder brother, being
decorcusly covered up by dutiful con-
duct, are not so easily recognized. In
estimating character on Gods lines We
have to ask not only what n man has
done. but what he is. Meanness 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
but are within full Of dead mems boneS
Ill ffr
place my chief emphasis upon the sin
ful life Of the elder brother, to show
that the so called respectable sins OF
self righteousness are Of all sins the
most to be dreaded and that it is the
duty of the preacher to warn his hear
ers against them.
The elder brother is the modern Phar
isee, who thanks God that he is not al
other men. He complacently look
upon the drunkard and the social out
cast and the pauper and says to hi
friends: Just look at me. | never hat
any more advantages than those peo
pie have had. was of a high strung
impetuous nature yet | never woulC
let my evil desires get the better O
me. / have never been drunk. ! havi
never run up a bill ! was unable t.
pay. never was a frequenter of tht
clubs. nor a convivial associate Of mid
night carousers. Indeed to be franl
with you. have just about as goot
opinion Of my moral attainments a
Prince Bismarck had of his skill il
craftsmanship. When some one aske,
the Iron Chancellor who he though
was the brainiest statesman in al
Europe. Bismarck replied: Modest
forbds my stating who is the brainiest
because then i might have to mention
my own name. But ! am perfect.
willing to state thar Benjamin Dis
raeli is without Goubt the secon,
ablest statesman in all Europe Othe
saints" remarks the pharisaical eide
brother. "may be ms equal in mora
attainments. but am sure there is D
superior in all the world to my humbl