The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1894-10-26

as the father indnlged in when he had
tried to bring his six sons to Christ ami
they had wandered off into dissipation.
Then he got down in. his prayers
and said, 20, 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 fled 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 e 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 l be-
lieve you can bring him into the har-
Dor. 1t is the glorious promise: 81 will |
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 Injuries 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
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-
4, hn fr>A !
siders to look upon; but 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 unavailing
effort of the Mediterranean oarsmen
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 hold
Of one oar, and Carey took hold
Of another oar, and Adoniram Judson {
took hold of another oar, and Luther
took hold of another oar, and John
Knox took hold of another oar, and
they pulled until they fell back dead
from the exhaustion. Some dropped in
The ashes of martyrdom, some on the
knives of savages, and some
INTO the plague-struck room of the
azaretto; and still the chains are S
not broken, and still the despot- {
SINS are not demolished, and still s
The world is unsaved. What then? Put |
Down the oars and make no effort? l
10 not advise that. But 1 want you,
Christian brethren, to understand that '
,he church, and the school, and the t
college, and the missionary society are J
,nly the instrumentalities; and if this /
work is ever done at all, God must do e
t, and He will do it, in answer to our
prayer. 'They rowed hard to bring it t
% the land, but they could not; where a
ore they cried unto the Lord" P
Again, the unavailing effort of those S
Mediterranean oarsmen has a counter a
'art in every man that is trying to row t
lis own soul into safety. When the t
Eternal Spirit flashes upon us our con- C
Iition, we try to save our lives. We :
ay: "Give me a stout oar for my right a
land, give me stout oar for my left d
land, and l will pull myself into safety" +
No. A wave of sin comes and dashes a
ou one way, and wave of tempta- o
ion comes and dashes you in another a
vay, and there are plenty of rocks on r.
which to founder, but seemingly no II
arbor into which to sail. Sin must be u
brown overheard, or we must perish. o
here are men who have tried for years G
o become Christians. They believe all n