Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-08-22


that physician. ! ain terribly sick and
want help" If I came to you and you
feel you are all right IL body, and all
right in mind, and all right in soul, you
have need of nothing; but suppose l
have persuaded you that the leprosy Of
sin is upon you, the worst of all sick
ness. Oh, then you say. Bring Inc that
balm of the Gospel, bring me that divine
medicament, bring me Jesus Christ"
But says some one il the audience,
''How do you prove that we are IN
ruined condition by SIM" Well, L can
prove it in two ways, and you may have
your choice. I can prove it either by
the statements of men or by the state
ment of God. Which shall it be? You
all say, S'Let us have the statement Of
God" We'll, he says in one place, 'The
heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked" He says in another
place, .sWhat is man that he should be
clean, and he which is born of woman,
that he should be righteous?' He says
in another place, There is none that
doeth good; no, not one" He says in
another place, GAS by one man sin en-
tered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men. for
shat all have sinned."
THE ALL POWERFUL NAME.
''Wen,'' you say, Il am willing to ac-
knowledge that, but why should [ take
the particular rescue that you PROPOSE"
This is the reason, Except a man be
born again he cannot see the kingdom
of God This is the reason, 'FThere
is one name given under heaven among
men whereby they may be saved.
Then there are thousand voices here
ready to say, well, I am ready to ac-
cept this help Of the Gospel; [ would
like to have this divine cure; how shall
l go to work. Let me say that a mere
whim, an underlined longing amounts to
nothing. You must have stout, ire
mendous resolution like this young man
Of the text, when he said, II will arise
and go to my father"
oh" says some man, chow do know
my father wants me? How dc know, if
I 90 back, I would be received" ''Oh,"
says some man, ''you don't know where
I have been; you don't know how far I
have wandered; you wouldn't talk that
way to me if you knew all the iniquities
I have committed" What is that hutter
among the angels of God? It is news;
it is newsi Christ has found the lost.
Nor angels can their joy contain,
But kindied with new fire;
The sinner lost is found they sing,
And strike the sounding Tyre.
When Napoleon talked of going into
Italy they said, s'You can't get there; if
you knew what the Alps were you
wouldn't talk aboutit or think of it; you
can't get you 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 WOnderment of
all 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
I see Christ waving his hand toward the
mountains, ard / hear him say, Il will
come over the mountains of thy sin and
the hills of thine iniquity-" There shall
be no Pyrenees; there shall be no Alps.
4 gain. notice that this resolution OF
the Young man of the text was founded
in sorrow at his misbehayior. It was
not mere physical plight. It was grief
that he had so inaltreated his father. It
is q sad thing after a father has done
everything for q child to have that child
be llngrateful.
How sharper than a se-rcnt's tooth it is
To have u thankless child.
T! ut 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 Father. So loving, SO kind.
! # h. had been q stranger, ii he had for
sakcn us, if he'had fiagellated us, if he
| had pounded Us and turned us out of
| doors on the commons, it would not
| hay. 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 apolsgized! We
apologize for wrongs done to our fell
lows. but some of US perhaps have COM
mitted ten thousand times ten thousand
wrongs against God and never apollo
gized.
THE DISGUISED PRODIGAL.
| remark still further that this reso-
luton of the text was founded in feel
ing of homesickness. [ do not know
how long this young man, how many
months. how many years, he had been
away from his fathers house, but there
is something about the reading Of my
text that makes me think he was home
sick. Some of you know what that feel
ing is Far away from home sometimes,
surrounded by everything bright and
pleasant, plenty of friends, you have
said, Il would give the world to be
home tonight" We'll, 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 maynot be living
We read nothing ia this story-this