The Penn's Grove record., 1891-06-26
REV. DR.. lALNAGgS SERMON.
rhs Deooklyn DivinSrs Sunday
D1gA0a.
Subject "The Homesick Soul"

Subject "The Homesick Soul"
TEXT: II wiu arise and goto my faher.'
Luke XIV, rs.
There is nothing like hunger to take the
energy out of a man. A hungry man can
toll neither with pen, nor hand. nor loot.
There has been many an army defeated, not
so much for lack OF ammunition as for lack
of bread. 1t was that fact that took the fire
out of this Young man of the text. Storm
and exposure will wear out any mans lie IN
time, but hunger makes quick work. b
most awful cry ever heard on earth Is the
cry for bread. A traveller tells us that N
Asia Minor there are trees which bear fruit
looking very much like the long bean Oh our
time. 1t is called the carab. .
Once in a while the people reduced to des-
titution would eat these carabs, but gener-l
ally the carsbs, the beans spoken OF here IN
the text, were thrown only to the swine, and
they crunched them with great avidity !
But this Young man OF my text could
not even get them without stealing them.
So one day amid the swine troughs he begins
to soliloGuize. He says. These are mo-
clothes for a rich mans son to wear; this IL
no kind of business for a Jew to be engaged,
il -feeding swine; I'll go home, III go home;i
l will arise and go to my father" :,
1 know there are a great many people
who try to throw a fascination. q romancei
a halo about sin; but notwithstanding all
that Lord Byron and George Sand have said
in regard to it. it is a mean, low, contempt,I
BILE business, and putting food and fodder
into the troughs Of a herd Of antiquities
that root and wallow in the soul of man Is a
very poor business for men and women fn-t
| tended to be sons and daughters Of the Lord
Almighty. And when this young man re-
solved to go home it was q very wise thing
for him to do, and the only question Is
whether we will follow him. 49,.
Satan promises large wages II we viii
serve him, but he clothes his victims with
rags, and he pinches them with hunger, and.
when they start out to do better he sets after
them all the ~bloodhounds OF perditioni
Satan comes to us to-day and he promises ali
luxuries. all emoluments ii we will only
serve him. Liar, down with thee 20 the pitt
18Th wages of sin Is DEATH" oh, the young
man of the text was wise when he uttered
the resolution, 81 will arise and go to MY
father"
In the time of Mary the Prosecutor. a perl
secutor came to a Christian woman who had
hidden in her house for the Lords sake ond
of Christ's servants, and the prosecutor said,
where is that bereticy' The Christian
woman said, You open that trunk and you
will see the heretic.n prosecutor opened
the trunk, and on the top of the linen Of the
trunk he saw a glass. He said, There is MOI
hereto here" "Ah," she said, lyon look I'M
the glass and you will see the hereto" As
l take up the mirror Of Gods word today
would that instead OF seeing the prodigai,
son Of the text we might see ourselves--our
want, our wandering, our sin, our lost con-
| dition-so that we might be as wise as thisI
young man was, and say, Il will arise and,
go to my father"
The resolution of this text was formed I'M
disgust at his present circumstances. II this
young man had been by his employer set toI
culturing flowers or training. vines over AM
| nrhnr or taapinr account nj the nDrk MARKET
or overseeing other laborers he would not,
have thought of going home. If be had had
his pockets full of money, II be had been able,
to say, Il have a thousand dollars now OF my
own; what's the use of my going back TO my
fathers house? do you think 1 I'M going back
to apologize to the old mani why he would,
put me on the limits; he would not have goi
ing on around the old place such conduct as.
have engaged in; I won't 20 home; there
is no reason why l should go home; l have
plenty of money. plenty Of pleasant sur
roundings, why should l go homer All ~
was his pauperism, II was ms peggary. me-
had to 60 home.
Some man comes and says to me: "Whyl
do you talk about the ruined state OF thel
human soul2 Why don't you speak about
the progress of the Nineteenth century, and
talk of something more exhiiaratingf It Is!
for this reason: A mar never wants thel
Gospel until he realizes he is in a famine
struck state. Suppose 1 should come to yoN
in your nome and you are in good. sound
robust health, and 1 should begin to talk
about medicines. and about how much better
this medicine is than that, and some other
medicine, and talk about this physician and,
that physician. After a while you get tired,
| and You would say. II don't a to hear
| about medicines. Why do you talk to mel
| of physicisnsp l never have a doctor"
But suppose | come into your house and l
find Won Severely sick, and l know the medi-i
r;u NM and I knnW tho nhvsi-I
| clan who is skillful enough to meet your
case. You say: Bring IN that medicine
| hrinp on that physician. lam terribly sick,
| and I want help" II / came to you and YOU
feel you are ali right in body, and all right iY
mind, and all right in soul you have need OF
| that the leprosy Of sin is upon you, the worst
| of all sickness; oh, then you say. Bring me
| that balm of the Gospel; bring me that di-i
vine medicament; bring me Jesus Christ"
But saws some one in the audience, "Howl
| do you prove that we are In a ruined condi1
| tion by sinY' Well, 1 can prove 1t in twol
ways, and you may have your choice.
| can prove it by the statements Of men torl
NV the statement of God. Which shall 1t;
hep You all say, Let us have the state-i
ment of God" Well. He says in one place
1.-THE heart is deceitful above all things and
Mace. "What is man that he should bel
| Clean and he which is born of a woman
| that he should be righteousf" He says ini
| another Mace, There is none that doeth!
| good. no. not one" He says in another,
| place, "As by one man sin entereth into thel
world, and death by sin, n SO death passed:
| upon all men, for that all have sinned."l
nWellD YOU say, II am willing to acknowl-
| edge that, but why should / take the partic-,
| ular rescue that you proposeF' This is the.
reason, Except a man be born again he,
| cannot see the kingdom Of God" This is the,
~ -. N.N arn nipa. r.x1aVI
| heaven among men whereby they may be-
saved" Then there are a thousand voicest
here ready to say, "Well, l am ready to ac-'
| cent this help of the Gospel; l would like to-
have this divine cure; how shall l go to-
work. Let me say that a mere whim, an
underlined longing amounts 70 nothing.
You must have a stout, tremendous resolu-i
| tion like this young man OF the text when
he said, II viii arise and go to my father"
.iOhr' saws some man, ''how do l know my
| father wants mer How do | know, if / ga
hack | would be received" 'OhP' says
some man, you don't Know where L haVd
been. YOU don't know how far l have wan,
| dered: YOU wouldn't talk that way to me il
YOU knew all the iuiquities | have commit;
fedp' What is that fiutter among the angels
of G-od9 1t is news, it is newsi Christ has
Sound the lost.
Nor angels can their Joy contain,
Bnt EIndle 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. If You
knew what the Alps were you wouldn't taiB
about it or think of it. You can't get youJ
ammunition wagons over the Alps" Then
NAPOLEON rose in his stirrups and waving his
hand toward the mountains, he said, 'Thers
shall be no Alps" That wonderful pass was
laid out which has been the wonderment of
ali the years since-the wonderment Of all
engineers. And you tell me there are such,
mountains OF sin between your soul and God,
there is no mercy. Then l see Christ wavl
inc His hand toward the mountains. 1 hear
Him saw, 81 will come over the mountains OF
thy sin and the hills OF thy iniquity." There
shall be no Pyren ees; there shall be no Alps.
Again, l notice that this resolution of the
Young man Of the text was founded in sor-
row at his misbehavior. 1t was not mere
physical plight. 1t was grief that he had 50
maltreated his father. It Is . sad thing
after a father has done everything fer q child
to have that child be ungratefui.
How sharper than q serpenfs tooth. Il IA