The Bossier banner., 1894-11-29

AuCH hc BOL OOWn III his prayers
and said: 80, God! take away my
life, if through that means my sons
may repent and be brought to Christi"
and the Lord startingly answered the
prayer, and in few weeks the father
was taken away, and through the SOL
emnity the six sons fed unto God. Oh,
that father could afford to die for the
eternal welfare of his children! He
rowed hard to bring them to the land,
but could not, and then he cried unto
the Lord.
There are parents who are almost
| discouraged about their children.
| Where is your son tonight? He has
wandered off, perhaps, to the ends of
| the earth. 1t seems as if he can not
get far enough away from your Chris
| tian counsel. What does he care about
the burrows that come to your brow;
about the quick whitening of the hair;
about the fact that your back begins to
stoop with the burdens? Why,
| he would not care much if he
heard you were dead! The black
edged letter that brought the It'd
ings he would put in tn same package
with other letters telling the story of
his shame. What are you going to do?
Both paddles broken at the middle of
the blade, how can you pull him ashore?
| / throw you oar now with which be-
lieve you can bring him into the har-
Dor. 1t is the glorious promise: twill
be God to thee, and to thy seed after
| thee" Oh, broken-hearted father and
mother, you have tried everything else,
now make an appeal for the help and
omnipotence of the covenant-making
God! and perhaps at your next family
gathering perhaps on Thanksgiving
day, perhaps next Christmas day-the
prodigal may be home; and if you
crowd on his plate more luxuries than
on any other plate at the table, / am
sure the brothers will not be jealous,
but they will wake up all the music in
the house, because the dead is
alive again, and because the lost
is found. Perhaps your pray
ers have been answered already.
The vessel may be coming home
ward, and by the light of tn is nights
stars that absent son may be pacing the
deck of the ship, anxious for the time
to come when he can throw his arms
around your neck and ask for forgive
ness for that he has been wringing
your old heart so long. Glorious re-
union! that will be too sacred for out
siders to look upon; but I would just
like to look through the windows
when you have all together again, and
are seated at the banquet.
Though parents may in covenant be,
And have their heaven in view;
They are not happy till they see
Their children happy too
Again, remark that the unavailine
effort of the Mediterranean oarsmer
has counterpart in the effort which
we are making to bring this world back
to God, His pardon, and safety. If this
world could have been saved by human
effort, it would have been done
long ago. John Howard took hole
of one oar, and Carey took hold
of another oar, and Adoniram Judsor
took hold of another oar, and Luther
took hold of another oar, and JohI
Knox took hold of another oar, anG
they pulled until they fell back dead
from the exhaustion. Some dropped II
the ashes of martyrdofH, some on the
scalping knives of savages, and some
into the plague-stfuck room OF the
lazaretto; and still the chains are
not broken, and still the despot
isms are not demolished, and still
the world is unsaved. What then? Pu
down the oars and make no effort?
do not advise that. But / want you
Christian brethren, to understand tina
the church, and the school, and tn,
college, and the missionary society ar
only the instrumentalities; and if thi
work is ever done at all, God must dt
it, and He will do it, in answer to GU,
prayer. ''They rowed hard to bring i
to the land, but they could not; where
fore they cried unto the Lord"
Again, the unavailing effort of thos,
Mediterranean oarsmen has counter
part in every man that is trying to rov
his own soul into safety. When tn
Eternal Spirit flashes upon us our con
} dition, we try to save our lives. w
say: ''Give me stout oar for my righ
hand, give me stout oar for my lef
hand, and will pull myself into safety.
No. A wave of sin comes and dashe
you one way, and q wave of tempta
tion comes and dashes you in anothe
: way, and there are plenty of rocks ol
: which to founder, but seemingly n,
harbor into which to sail. Sin must b
} thrown overheard. or we must perish
There are men who have tried foryear
to become Christians. They believe al
say in regard to future world. The.
! believe that religion is the first
the last, the infinite necessity
} They do everything but trust in Christ
They make sixty strokes in minute
: They bend forward with all earnest
: ness, and they lie back until the muscle
are distended, and yet they have NO
made one inch in ten years towar
: Heaven. What is the reason? That
not the way to go to work. You NIGH
as well take frail skiff, and put
r down at the foot of Niagara, and the
r head it up toward the churning thur
bolt of waters, and expect to wor
7 your way up through the ligh
| ming of foam into calm LAX