The Penn's Grove record., 1896-04-10

rGther7 And such a Father! Three times a
lay has Hefed thee. He has poured sunlight
nto thy day, and at night kindled up all the
treet lamps OF heaven. With what varieties
" apparel He hath clothed thee for the sea-
IONS. Whose eye watches thee2 Whose hand
defends thee2 Whose heart s~ympathizes with
hee2 Who gave you your children Who Ia
Guarding your loved ones departed2 Such a
Father so loving, so kind. II He had been
/ stranger. II He had forsaken us, II He had
iageliated US, II He had pounded US and
turned US out OF doors oil the commons. II
would not have been so wonderful-ouI
treatment of Him-but He is a Father, so
owing, SO kind, and yet how many Of us foi
,ur wanderings have never apologtzed. II
We say anything that hurts our friends feel
ngs, IL we do anything that hurts the feel
ngs of those in whom we are interested,
low quickly we a~pologiZel We can scarcely
wait until we get pen and paper to write q
etter of apology. How easy 10 II for any one
pho is Intelligent, RICH. hearted, to write an
Ipology or make an apology! We apologize
or wrongr done to our fellows, but some OF
Is perhaps have committed ten thousand
lines ten thousand wrongs against God and
ever apologized.
/ remark still further that this resolution
" the text was founded In q feeling Of home
ickness. I do not know how long this
Foung a how. many months, how many
rears, he had been away from his fathers
rouse, but there is something about the
reading Of my text that makes me think he
vas homesick. Some Of you know what
hat feeling Is. Far away from home some
lines, surrounded by everything bright and
,ieasant-plenty OF friends-you have said,
Il would give the world to be home to-
i,ght." Well. this young man was home
jick for his ather's house. 1 nave no doubt
when he thought of his fathers house he
aid, 1Now perhaps father may not be
living" We read nothing In this story
his parable-founded on everyday life; We
.ead nothing about the mother. 1t says
nothing about going home to her. l think
The was dead. 1 think she had died of Q
broken heart at his wanderings, or perhaps
he had gone into dissipation from the fact
hat he could not remember a loving and
sympathetic mother. A man nevsr gets over
having lost his mother. Nothing said about
aer. but he is homeslck for his fathers
aouse He thought he would Just like to GO
and walk around the old place. He thought
ae would just like to go and see II things
we're as they used to be. Many a man after
having been off a long while has gone home
and knocked at the door, and q stranger ha,
tome. 1t is the old homestead, but a stranger
ZONES to the door. He finds out father IL
gone, and mother Is gone, and brothers and
listers are all gone. 1 think this young mar
,f the text said to himself. perhaps father
nay be dead" Still, he starts to find out,
he is homesick. Are there any here to-da,
lomesick for God. homesick for heayen7
A sailor. after having been long on tn,
yea, returned to his fathers house, and hh
mother tried to persuade him not to 60 away
lgain. She said. snow, you had bettei
Itay at home. Don't go away. We deaf
want you to go. You will have Il a gfeA
ieal better here" But it made him angry
The night before he went away again to ses
he heard his mother praying Ia the nex
toom, and that made him more angry. HI
vent far out on the sea, and a storm came
Up, and he was ordered to very periious duty
and he ran up the rat-lines, and amid thu
ihrouds of the ship he heard the voice thai
1e had heard in the next room. He tried tc
whistle it of, he tried to rally bis courage,
out he could not silence the voice he had
heard in the next room, and there in the
storm and darkness he said: 30 Lord, what
l wretch / lave beeni What a wretch I am
Help me just now. Lord God" And ]
thought in his assemblage to-day there
nay be some who may have the memory offs
iather's petition or q mothers prayer press
ng nightly upon the soul, and that this
hour they may make the same resolution !
Ind in my text, saying, 81 will arise and go
10 my father"
A lad at Liverpool went out to bathe; went
tut Into the sea, went out too far, got be.
Tond his depth, and he fioated far away. A
hip bound for Dublin came along and took
iim on board. Sailors are generally very
generous fellows. and one ave him a cap,
md another gave him a jacket, and another
savs him shoes. A gentleman passing along
N the beach at Liverpool found the lads
,lothes and took them home, and the father
vas heaftbroken, the mother was heart.
,roken, at the loss of their child. They had
,eard nothing from him day after day, and
hey ordered the usual mourning for the sad
went. But the lad o ship from Dublin
md arrived 10 Liverpool the very day the
mourning arrived. He knocked at the door.
The father was o%verjoyed and the mother
was overjoyed at the return Of their lost son.
Oh, my friends, have you waded out too
ieept Have you waded down into sin2 Have
waded from The shore2 VIII you
some back2 When you come back, will you
.ome in the rags OF your sin, or will you
come ROBBED in the Saviour's righteousness?
believe the latter. Go HON to your God
!o-day. He Is waiting for you. Go homel
But I remark the characteristic of this res
,lution was, 1t was Immediately put into ex.
,cution. The context says. 'He arose and
anne TO his father" The trouble In nine
hundred and ninety-nine times out Of a thou.
land is that our resolutions amount to moth
ing because We make them for some distant
time. II l resolve to become a Christian nexi
FEAR, that amounts to nothing at all. II I re-
lolve at the service this day to become 9
Christian, that amounts to nothing at all. II
| resolve after l go home to-day to yield my
heart to God, that amounts to nothing at all.
The only kind OF resolution that amounts to
Is the resolution that Is Immediate
" put into execution.
There is a man who had the typhoid fever.
he said: "Oh, II l could get over this terri
Die distress, II this fever should depart, II /
,ould be restored to health. i would ali the
of my life serve God" The fever de-
He got well enough to walk around
the block. He got well enough to go over
% business. He IL well to-day-as we'll as he
sver was. Where is the broken VOW There
5 a man who said long ago, IF 1 could live
o the year 1895, by that time I will have my
business matters all arranged. and l will
time to attend to religion, and I will be
. good, thorough, conSecrated Christian"
The year 1886 has come. January, Febru-
Iry, March, April-a third Of the year gone.
Where is your broken vow? 'oh," says
iome man, "T1l attend to that when
get my character fixed up, when 1 car
get over my evil habits. 1 am now Civ.
IN to strong drink" Or, says the man, 81
I'm given to ~uncleanliness." Or. says the
nan, 81 am given to dishonesty. When ]
get over my present habits, then I'll be q
Christian" My brother, you will
get worse and worse until Christ takes you
n hand. mot the righteous. sinners Jesus
to call" Oh, but you say, az sgree
you in all that, but I must put 1t of a
little longer" Do you know there were
who came just as near as You are to
he Kingdom OF God and never entered it2 ]
was at Easthsmp:on, and / went into the
TO look arouLd, M in that GENE
.ery there arc twelve graves side by side
he graves of sailors. This crew, some years
lgo, in u ship went into the breakers at
Anagansett, about three miles ava My
then preaching at Easthampton. had
,een at the burial. These men OF the crew
very near being saved. The people
rom A~magansett saw the vessel and they
hot rockets aud they sent ropes from ths
and these poor fellows got into the
,oat and they pulled nightly for the shore,
nut Just before they got to the shore the rope
and the boat capsized, and they
yrre lost, their bodies afterward washed up
the beach. Ga, what II solemn day 1t WAS
hsvs Dten tod Of it by my brothsr-when
hese twelve men lay at the foot of the pui-
BIT, and he read over them the funeral ser
rice. They came very near shore-within
lhoutlng distance of the shore-yet did not
arrive on solid land. There are some men
Who come almost to the shore OF Gods mercy,
but not quite, not quite. To be almost saved
p to be lost.