The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-08-24
GALL HAVE sINNED,"
Xet Our Heavenly Father Stands
! Ready to Receive Them.
tuition OF the Ptodigal Son rs APP
piled to All Mankind.


sermon was the parable of the prodigal
son, taking as his text, Luke xv., Is:
~ will arise and go to my father"
There is nothing like hunger to take
the energy out of a man. A hungry
man man can toll neither with pen, nor
hand, nor foot. There has been many
an army defeated not 80 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 life
In time but hunger makes quick work
The most awful cry ever heard on earth
IS the cry for bread.
A traveller tells us that in Asia Minor
there are trees which bear fruit looking
very much like the long bean of our
time. The carab, this is called. Once
In while the people, reduced to desti-
tuition would eat these carabs, but gen.
orally the carabs, the bean spoken OF
here in the text, were thrown only to
swine and they crunched them with
great avidity. But this young man OF
my text could not get even them with
out stealing them. So one day amid the
swine troughs he begins to soliloquize.
He says: "These are no clothes for
rich mans son to wear; this Is no kind OF
business for Jew to be engaged in
feeding swine; I'll go home; I'll go
home; will arise and go to my father"
know there are great many peo-
pie who try to throw fascination,
romance, Il halo about sin; but notwith-
standing all that Lord Byron and
George Sand have said in regard to 1t,
1t is mean, low, contemplate business,
and putting food and fodder into the
troughs of herd OF iriquities that
root and wallow in the soul of man is
very poor business for men and women
intended to be sons and daugters of the
Lord Almighty. And when this young
man resolved to go home it was very
wise thing for him to do, and the only
question is whether we will follow
him.
Satan promises large wages If we will
serve him; but he clothes his victims
with rags, and he pinches them with
hunger, and when they start cut to do
better he sets after them all the blood
hounds of hell. Satan comes to us to-
day, and he promises all luxuries, all
emoluments If we will only serve him.
Liar, down with thee to the pit! "Thc
wages of sin is death" Oh! the young
man of the text was wise when he ut
tered the reso ution: 81 will arise and
go to my father"
In the time of Queen Mary, OF En-
gland, prosecutor came to Christian
woman who had hidden in her house
for the Lords sake one Of Christs serv-
ants, and the prosecutor said: "Where
is that heretic?" The Christian woman
said: "You open that trunk and you
will see the hereto" The prosecutor
opened the trunk, and on the top OF the
linen of the trunk he saw glass He
said: "There is no hereto here" "Ah!'
she said, you look in the glass and you
will see the heretic" As l take up the
mirror of Gods word to-day, / would
that instead of seeing the prodigal of
the text, we might sec ourselves-our
want, our wandering, our sin, our lost
condition, so that we might be as wise
as this young man was and say: 81
will arise and go 10 my Father"
The resolution Of this text was formed
in disgust at his present circumstances.
II this young man had been by his em-
ployer set to culturing flowers, or train
ing vines over an arbor, or keeping nc
count Of the pork market, or overseeing
other laborers, he would not have
thought of going home. II he had had
his pockets full OF money, II he had been
able to say, II have thousand dollars
now Of my own; what's the use OF my
going back to my fathers house2 do
you think am going back 10 apologize
TO the old man9 why he would put me
on the limits; he would not have going
on around the place such conduct as |
hare been engaged in;I won't go home;
there is no reason why / should 20
home; have plenty OF money, plenty
OF pleasant surroundings why should |
90 homep" Ali II was his pauperism,
it was his beggary. He had to go home.
Some man comes and says TO me;
"Why do you talk about the ruined
state OF the human soul? why don't
you speak about the progress Of the
nineteenth century, and talk Of some
thing more exhilarating?" It isfor this
reason: A man never wants the Gospel
until he realizes he is in famine
struck state. Suppose should come TO
you in your home, and you are in good,
robust health, and / should begin 10
talk about medicines and about how
much better this medicine is than that,
and some other medicine than some
other medicine, and talk about this
physician and that physician. Aftar
awhile you would get tired, and you
would say: II don't want 10 hear about
incidence Why do you talk to me OF
ply -iansp l never have q doctor. "
Suppose come into your house and
find you severely sick, and l know the
medicines that will cure you, and
know the physician who 10 skillhal
enough TO meet your case. You say:
Bring on all that medicine, bring on
that physician. Tam terribly sick, and
i want help" II came 10 you, and
you feel you are all right In body, and
all right In mind and all right In soul,
you havo need Of nothingI but suppose
Il have persuaded you that the leproay
Of sin Is upon you, the worst Of ell sick-
ness; Oil then you say. Bring me
that balm Of the Gospel, bring me that
divine medicament bring me Jesus
Christ" eP
But, says some one In tho audiencel