The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-07-02


of God. Which shall it be? You all
say, LET us have the statement ofGod. -
Well, he says in one place, "The heart
Is deceitful above all things and desper-
ately wicked.'' He says in another
| place, "What is man that he should be
clean? and he which is born of q woman,
that he should be righteous?" He saws
in another place, "There is none that
doeth good, no, not one" He saws in
another place, ''As by one man sin en-
treth into the world, and death by sin,
end so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned." "Well,n YOU
say, "1tam willing to acknowledge that,
but why should L take the particular
rescue that you propose?' This Is the
reason, Except man be born aeainIhe
cannot see the kingdom of God" This
Is the reason. "There Ia one name given
under heaven anon. men whereby thew
may be saved" Then there are q thous.
and voices here ready to say, "Well. [
am ready to accept this help of The Cos
pei; would like to have this divine cure;
how shall 60 to work?" Let me saw
That mere whim, an underlined longing
amounts to nothing. You must have a
stout, tremendous resolution like this
i
Will arise and 90 to my father"
TIE ABoUNDING MERCY OF GOD.
"Oh!" says some man, show do
know my father wants me? How do I
know, II go back, would be received:"
'Oh!" says some man, ''you don't know
where have been, you don't know how
iar have wandered; you wouldn't talk
that way to me if you knew all the in
lqultles l have committed" What is
that liutter among the angels of God? 1t
Is news, it is news! Christ has found the
lost.
Nor angels can their JOY contain,
But kindle with new fire:
The sinner lost, is found, they sing.
And strike the sounding Tyre.
When Napoleon talked of going into
Italy, they said: "You can't get there.
Ii you knew what the Alps were YOU
wouldn't talk about it or think of it.
lou can't get your ammunition wagons
over the Alps" Then Napoleon rose
in his stirrups and waving his hand to-
ward the mnuntains. he said, "There
shall be no Alps" That wonderful pass
was laid out which has been the won
derment 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, 81 will come over the mountains of
thy sin aud 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
III sorrow at his misbehavior. II was
not mere physical plight. II was grief
that he had 80 maltreated his father. 1t
is a sad thing after father has done
everything for child to have that child
be ungrateful.
How sharper than q serpent's tooth it is,
10 have a thankless child.
That is Shakespeare. "a foolish son
is the heaviness ofhis mother" That is
the Bible. Well my friends, have not
some of us been cruel prodigals? Have
we not maltreated our Father? And
such Father! So loving, 80 kind. If
he had been a stranger, if he had for
saken us, II 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
80 loving, so kind, and yet how many of
us for our wanderings have never apollo
glzed. We apologize for wrongs done
to our fellows, but some Of us perhaps
have committed ten thousand times ten
thousand wrongs against God and never
apologized.
| remark still farther that this rcsolu-
tlon OF the text was founded in a feeling
OF inconsistencies. don't know how long
this young man, how many months, how
many years he had been away from his
father's house; but there is something in
the reading OF my text that makes me
think he was hOmcsick. Some of YOU
know what that feeling is. Far away
from home sometimes, surrounded by
everything bright and pleasant-plenty
OF frlends--you have said, 81 would give
the world to be home tonight" Well,
this young man wa, homesick for his
fathers house. | have no doubt when
he though. of his fathers house he said,
Now, perhaps, father may not be hv-
ing"
WAS THE PRODIGAL'S MOTHER DEAD?
We read nothing in this story-thls
parable founded on everyday lfe-we read
nothing about the mother. 1t says moth
ing about gong home to her. / think
she was dead. L think she had died of
broken heart at his wanderings. .,
man never gets over having los: his
mother. Nothing said about her here.
But he is homesick for his fathers house.
lie thought he would just like to 90 and
walk around the old place. He thought
he would just like to 60 and see if things
were as they used to be. Many a man
after having been of a long while has
gone home and knocked at the door, and
a stranger has come. IL is the old home
stead, but stranger comes to the door.
lie finds out father is gone and mother
is gone, and brothers and sisters all gone.
| think this young man of the text said
to himself, "Perhaps father may be
dead" Still he starts to find out. He
is hCmesick. Are there any here today
homesick for God, homcsick for heaven?
A sailor. having been long on the
sea, returned to his father's house, and
his mother tried to persuade him not to
go away again. She said: "Now you
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