The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1891-07-02

an, that he should be righteous?' He
says in another place: "There is none
that doeth good, no, not one" He
says in another place: "As by one
man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned." "Well," you say, II am
willing to acknowledge that, but why
should | take the particular rescue that
you propose?" This is the reason:
Except a man be born again he can
not see the kigdom of God" This is
the reason. There is one name given
under Heaven among men whereby
they may be saved" Then there are a
thousand voices here ready to say:
well, | am ready to accept this help
of the Gospel. | would like to have
Divine cure. How shall go to work?"
Let me say that a mere whim, an unde-
fined longing amounts to nothing
You must have a stout, tremendous res
olution like this young man of the text
when he said: ~ will arise and go to
my father"
CO." says some man, chow do know
my father wants me? how do know, if
/ go back, would be received?" "O!"
says some man, you don't know where
l have been; you don't know how far
have wandered; you wouldn't talk that
way to me if you knew all the iniqui-
ties ] have committed" What is that
flutter 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;
il you knew what the Alps were you
wouldn't talk about it or think of it.;
you can't get your ammrnition 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 put which has been the wonder
ment of all the years since-the won
derrHent 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 noun
talns 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 m.sbehavior. 1t was
not mere physical plight. 1t was grief
that he had so maltreated his father
1t is a sad thing after a father has done
everything for a child, to have that
child be ungrateful.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth, it is,
To have 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 a stranger, if He had
forsaken us, if He had flagelated us, if
He had pounded us and turned us out of
doors on the commons, 1t would not
have been so wonderful-our treatment
of Him; but He is Father so loving,
so kind, and yet how many of us for
our wanderings have never apologiZed.
We apologize for wrongs done to our
fellows, but some of us, perhaps, have
committed ten thousand times ten thou
sand wrongs against God and never
apologized.
| re mark still further that this reso-
luton 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 fathers house; but there
is something in the reading of my text
that makes me think he was homesick.
Some of you know what that feeling is.
Far away from home sometimes, sur
rounded by every thing bright and pleas
ant-plenty of friends-you have said:
81 would give the world to be home to-
night" ''Well, this young man was
homesick for his fathers house. l have
no doubt when he thought of his fathers
house he said: Now, perhaps, father
may not be living"
We read nothing in this story-this
parable founded on everyday hfe-we
read nothing about the mother. 1tsays
nothing about going home to her. l
think she was dead. l think she had
died of a broken heart at his wander
ings. A man never gets over having
lost his mother. Nothing said about
her here But he is homesick for his
fathers house. He thought he would
lust like to go and walk around the old
place. He thought he would just like
to go and see if things were as they used
to be. Many a man, after having been
off a good while, has gone home and
knocked at the door, and stranger has
come. 1t is the old homestead, but a
stranger comes to the door. He finds
out father is gone, and mother is gone,
and brothers and sisters all gone. l
think this young man OF the text said
to himself: perhaps father may be
dead" Still he starts to find out. He
is homesick Are there any here to-day
homesick for God, ,homesick for Heaven?
A sailor, after having been long on
the sea, returned to his fathers house,
and his mother tried to persuade him
not to go away again. She said: Now
YOU had better stay at home; don't go
away; we don't want you to so; you
will have it great deal better
here But it made him angry.
The night before he went away again
to sea. ne heard his mother praying in
the next room. and that made him more
angry. He went far out on the sea and
a storm came up, and he was ordered TO
verv nerilous duty. and he ran up the