The southern argus., 1891-06-25

men whereby they may be saved
Then there are thousands of voices
here ready to say: "Well, | am ready
to accept this help of the gospel; |
would like to have this divine cure; how
shall 60 to work?" Let me say that
a mere whim, an underlined longing
amounts to nothing. You must have
stout, tremendous resolution like this
young man Of the text when he said:
II will arise and go to my father.
When Napoleon talked of going into
Italy they said: ''You can't get there;
if you knew what the Alps were you
wouldn't talk about or think of it; you
can't get your ammunition wagons over
the Alps" Then Napoleon rose in his
stirrups and waving his hand toward
the mountains, he said: There shall be
no Alps" That wonderful pass was
laid out which has been the wonder
ment Of all the years since-the won
derment of all engineers. And you tell
me there are such mountains of sin be-
tween your soul and God, there is no
mercy. Then | see Christ waving his
hand toward the mountains; hear him
say: II will come over the mountains
Of thy sin and the hills of thy iniquity. ;"
There shall be no Pyrenees: there
shall be no Alps
Again, | notice that this resolution
Of the young man of the text was
| founded in sorrow at his misbehavlor.
1t was not mere physical plight. 1t
was grief that he had so maltreated his
father 1t is sad thing after father
has done everything for child, to
have that child ungrateful.
| s'How sharper than a serpcnt's tooth, it is,
| To have a thankless child.
| That is Shakespeare. "a foolish son
| is the heaviness of his mother" That
is the Bible.
| Well, my friends, have not some of
us been cruel prodigals? Have we not
maltreated our Father? And such a
father! SO loving, so kind. If He had
been stranger, if He had forsaken us,
if He had fiagellated u.s. if He had
pounded us and turned us out of doors
on the commons, it would not have been
SO wonderful-our treatment of him;
but He is father so loving, so kind,
and vet how many of us for our wan
derings have never apologized. We
apologize for wrongs done to our tel-
lows, but some of us perhaps have
committed ten thousand times ter
thousand wrongs against God and never
apologized
remark still further that this resO
luton Of the text was founded in feel
ing Of homesickness. don't know how
long this young man, how many months
how many years he had been away
from his fathers house, but there il
something in the reading of my text
that makes me think he was homesicl<
we read nothing in this stOry-this
parable founded on everyday life-w'
read nothing about the mother l
saws nothing about going home to her
think she was dead. think she ha'
, died of broken heart at his wander
] ings. A man never gets over havin
!, lost his mother. Nothing said abou
] her here It he is hOmesick for hi
7 fathers i ,. lie thought he woul
1 lust like 20 and walk around the oil
place. He thought he would just lik
! to 90 and see if things were as the
/. used to be.
! "A sailor, after having been long 0
! the sea, returned to his fathers house
and his mother tried to persuade hll
a not to 60 away again. She said: mo
!, you had better stay at home; don't g
u away; we don't want you to go; yo
I will have it great deal better here.
! But it made him angry. The night b.
,,.o,,A N vuou Oair fn Saa no hpa r
e his mother praying in the next rool
d and that made him more angry. II
A went far out on the sea and storl
4 came up and he was ordered to ver
! perilous duty, and he ran up the ratlln'
> and amid the shrouds of the ship /
Y heard the voice that he had heard in tt
4 next room. He tried to whistle it OF
he tried to rally his courage, but
J. could not silence that voice he ha
Il heard in the next room, and there
Il the storm and the darkness he said:
j Lord! what a wretch have been; wh
J. A wretch am. Helpme just now, Lol
IS God"
i But remark concerning this resol
K ton. 1t was Immediately put into ex
4 cution. The context says: "He aro
|, and came to his father" If | resol'
! to become Christian next year tn
! amounts to nothing at all. If resol'
| to become a Christian tomorrow, tn
4 amounts to nothing at all. The on
I kind Of resolution that amounts
u ANYTHING is the resolution that is IL
II mediately put into execution
j There is a man who had the typho
q fever. He said: 'Oh. if | could g
< over this terrible distress! if this few
II should depart; if could be restored
q health, would all the rest of my II
Z. serve God" The fever departed.
Z, cot well enough to walk around 7
II block. He got well enough to go ov
10 to New York and attend to busine'
II He Is we'll to-day-as well as he ev
II was. Where is the broken vow? The
j: Il a man who said long ago: II
At could live until the year 1891, by I'll
,e time | will have my business matte
y: arranged, and will have time to atte
i. to religion, and will be good, tn
L. ough. consecrated Christian. l
wear 1897 has come, January, Februa