The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-09-07

other place: what is man tnat ne
should be clean, and he " hich is born Of
a 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: "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 ac-
knowledge that, but why should take
the particular rescue that You propose?"
This is the reason: Except man be
born again he can not see the Kingdom
of God" This is the reason: There is
one name given under Heaven among
men whereby they may be saved"
Then there are thousand voices here
ready to say: ''Well, l am ready to ac-
cept this help of the Gospel; would
like to have this Divine cure; how shall
go to work?" Let me say that mere
whim, an underlined longing, amounts
to nothing. You must have stout,
tremendous resolution like this young
man of the text when he said: Il will
arise and go to my father.
"Oh!" saws some man, show do know
nv father wants me? How do | know,
if / go back, l would be received?"
"Ohr 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
iniouities l have committed" What is
that fluttcr among the angels OF God?
1t is news, it is news! Christ has found
the lost.
Now angels can their Joy contain,
But kindled 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 talk about
it or think of it, you can't get your am
munition wagons over the Alps" Then
Napoleon rose in his stirrups and wav-
ing 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 wondernent of all engineers.
And you tell me there are such
mountains of sin between your soul
and God there is no mercy. Then
/ see Christ waving his hand to-
ward the mountains, and | hear him
say, 81 will come over the mountains of
thy sin and the hills of thine 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 MISCELLANEOUS. 1t was
not mere physical plight. 1t was grief
that he had so maltreated his father.
1t is sad thing after a father has done
everything for child to have that child
ungrateful.
How sharper than serpent's tooth, II 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 to prodigals?
Have we not maltreated our Father?
And such n father! So loving, SO kind.
If he had been a stranger, if he had
forsaken us, if he had fagellated us, if
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 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
REMARK still further, that this reso-
luton of the text was founded in q
feeling of inconsistencies. l 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
feeling is. Far away from home some.
times, surrounded :, by every thing
bright and pleasant-plenty OF friends
you have said: 81 would give the
world to be at home tonight" Well,
this young man was homesick for his
fathers house / have no doubt when
he thought of his fathers house he said
"Now, perhaps my father may not be
living"
We read nothing in this story-thi:
parable founded on everyday life-we
read nothing about the mother. 1t says
nothing about going home to her.
think she was dead. think she had
died of broken heart at his wander
ings or perhaps he had gone into dissi
patton from the fact he could not remem
Der a loving and sympathetic mother
A man never gets over having lost his
mother Nothing said about her here
But he is homesick for his father.
house He thought he would just like
to go and walk around the old place
He thought he would just like to go ant
see if things were as they used to be
Many man, after having been off 9
long while, has gone home and knocked
at the door, and stranger has come. 1
| 10 INC olo HonieStedu, ouu stranger
comes to the door, He finds out father
is gone, mother is gone, and brothers
and sisters all gone. think this young
man of the text said to himself: 'Per
haps father may be dead" Still, h,
starts to find him out. He is homesiclS
Are there any here to-day homesick fo
God, homesicli for Heaven?
A sailor, after having been long OF
the sea, returned to his fathers house
and his mother tried to persuade hin