The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-13


plainly thata roaring, registering, bouncing
sinner is not so repulsive to me as that
higher-life malformation. The former may
repent, the latter never gets over his phari-
saisn. The younger brother of the para
BILE came back, but the senior brother stands
outside entirely oblivious of his own delin-
quencies and deficits, pronouncing his own
eulogium. Oh, how much easier it is to
blame others than to blame ourselvesl
Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent,
the serpent blamed the devil, the senior
brother blamed the younger brother, and
none of them blamed themselves.
Again, the senior brother of my text
stands for all those who are faithless about
the reformation of the dissipated and the
dissolute In the very tones of his voice
you can hear the fact that he has no faith
that tho reformation of the younger son is
genuine. His entire manner seems to say,
That boy has come back for more money.
He got third of the property; now he has
come back for another third. He will never
be contented to stay on the farm. He Will
fall away. would go in, too, and rejoice
with the others if thought this thing was
genuine; but it is a sham. That boy is a
confirmed inebriate and debauchee" Alas!
my friends, for the incredulity in the
church of Christ in regard to the reclama-
tion Of the recreant You say man
uus Doth u nuIOuS uriuktT. say,
Eyes, but he has reformed" "Oh," you
say, with a lugubrious face, Il hope you
are not mistaken, | hope you are not mis-
taken" You say, Don't rejoice too
much over his conversion, for soon
he will be unconverted, | fear.
Don't make too big party for that re-
turned prodigal, or strike the timbrel too
loud, and if you kill a calf kill the one that
is on the commons, and not the one that
has been luxuriating in the paddock That
is the reason why more prodigals do not
come home to their fathers house. 1t is the
rank intdelity in the church OF God o. this
subject. There is not house on the streets
OF heaven that has not in 1t a prodigal that
has returned and strayed home Thee
could be unrolled before you scroll Of a
hundred thousand names-the names of
prodigals who came back forever reformed.
Who was John Bunyan2 A returned prodi-
gal. Who was Richard Baxter A re-
turned prodigal. Who was George White
field the thundererf A returned prodigal
And could go out in all directions in this
audience and find on either side those who,
once far astray for many years, have been
faithful, and their eternal salvation is as
sure as though they had been ten years in
heaven. And yet some of you have not
enough faith in their return.
You do not know how to shake hands
with prodigal. You do not know how to
pray for him. You do not know how to
greet him. He wants to sail in the warm
gulf stream of christian sympathy. You
are the iceberg against which he strikes and
shivers. You say he has been prodigal.
know it. But you are the sour, unrespon-
sive, censorious, saturnine, cranky, elder
brother, and If you are going to heaven one
would think some people would be tempted
to go to perdition to get away from you.
The hunters say that II deer be shot the
other deer shove him out of their company,
and the general rule is, away with the
man who has been wounded with sim
Now, l say, the more bones man
has broken the more need be has
of hospital, and that the more a man has
been bruised and cut with sin, the more
need he has to be carried into human and
divine sympathy. But for such men there
is not much room in this world-the men
who want to come back after wandering.
Plenty of room for elegant sinners. sinners
in velvet and satin and lace, for sinners
high salaried, for kid-gloved and patent
leather sinners, for sinners fixed up by hair
dresser, ,s.pomatumed and lavendered and
cologned and frizzled and crimped and
banged" sinners--plenty of roomi Such
we meet elegantly at the door of our
churches, and we invite them into the best
seats with Chesterfieldian gallantries; we
usher them into the house of God, and put
soft ottomans under their feet, and put gilt
edged prayer-book in their hand, and
pass the contribution box before
them with an air Of apology,
while they, the generous soulsl take
out the exquisite portemonnaie, and open it,
and with diamonded-fnger push down be.
yond the ten dollar gold pieces and deli
cately pick out as an expression of graft
tude their offering to the Lord of one cent.
For such sinners, plenty of room, plenty of
room. But for the man who has been
drinking until his coat is threadbare and his
face is erysipelased, and his wifes wedding
dress is in the pawnbroker's shop, and his
children, instead of being in school, are out
begging broken bread at the basement
doors OF the city-the man, body, mind
and soul on fire with the flames that have
leaped from the scathing, scorching, blast
ing, consuming cup which the drunkard
takes, trembling, and agonized, and af-
frighted, and presses to his parched lip. and
his cracked tongue, and his shrieking yet
immortal spirit-no room.
Oh, If this younger son of the parable had
not gone so far off, if he had not dropped so
low in wassail, the protest would not have
been SO severe; but going clear over the
precipice as the younger son did, the elder
son is angry and will not go in.
Oh, be not so hard in your criticism of
the fallen, lest thou thyself also be tempted.
A stranger one Sunday staggered up and
down the aisles Of my church disturbing
the service until the service had to stop un-
til he was taken from the room. He was a
minister of the gospel Of Jesus Christ Of a
sister denomination That man had preached
the gospel, that man had broken the bread
of tho holy communion for the people.
From what hight to what depth On,
was glad there was no smiling in the room
when that man was taken out, his poor wife
following him with his hat in her hand and
his coat ON her arm. 1t was as solemn to
me as two funerals--the funeral OF the body
and the funeral Of the soul. Beware lest
thou also be tempted.
An invalid went to South America for
his health, and one day sat summing himself
on the beach, whom he saw something crawl
ing up the beach, wriggling toward him,
and he was affrighted. He thought it was
a wild beast, or a reptile. and he took his
pistol from his pocket. Then he saw it was
not wild beast. 1t was a man, an i'm
mortal man, a man made in Gods own
image; and the poor wretch crawled up TO
the feet of the invalid and asked for strong
drink, and the invalid took his wine flask
from his pocket and gave the poor wretch
something TO drink, and then under the
stimulus lie rose up and gave his history.
He had been a merchant In Glasgow, Scot
land He had gone down under the power
of strong drink until he was so reduced in
poverty that he was lying in boat just of
the beach, "Wby," said the invalid, II
knew a merchant In Glasgow once, mer-
chant hv aiinh and Gtc1 "A mama and tle