The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1896-04-17

audience, "how do you know that we
are in a ruined condition by SIM" Well,
I a prove it in two ways. and you
may have your choice. / can prove 1t
either by the statements Of men or
by the statement of God. Which shall
it be? You say, LET us have the state
ment of God" Well, he says in n
place, "The heart is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked" He
says n another place, What is a 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,
"As by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men, for that all had
sinned." We'll" you say, 81 am will
ing to acknowledge that, but why
should I take the particular rescue that
you %propose?" This is the reason: eek
cept a man be born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God" This is the rea-
ooA. 1uCiC lS Ouc udllG given uuUG
heaven among men whereby they may
be saved" Then there are a thousand
voices here ready to say: well, I am
ready to accept this help of the Gospel;
I would like to have this divine cure;
how shall l go to work?" Let me say
that a mere within, an underlined long
ing amounts to nothing. You must
have a stout, a tremendous 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 I know my father wants me? how
do I know, if I go back, I would be
r~eceived?" "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 COM
mitted." What is that flutter among the
angels of God? What is that horseman
running with quick dispatch? It is
news, it is news! Christ has found the
lost.
Nor angels can their Joy contain,
But kindle 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 about
it. You can't get your ammunition
wagons yer the Alps" Then Napoleon
rose in his stirrups, and, waving his
hand toward the mountains, he said,
There shall be nc Alps!" That won
derful 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 noun
tains Of sin between your soul and
God, there is no mercy. Then I see
Christ waving his hand toward the
mountains. I 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 nc
Alps.
Again: I notice that this resolution
of the young man of my text was found
ed in sorrow at his misbehavior. It was
not mere physical plight. 1t was grief
that he had so maltreated his father.
It is a sad thing after a father has done
everything for a child to have that child
ungrateful.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth
it is,
To have a 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 prodigals?
Have we not maltreated our Father?
And such a Father! Three times a day
has he fed thee. He has poured sun
light into thy day and at night kindled
up all the street-lamps Of heaven. With
what varieties Of apparel he hath
clothed thee for the seasons. Whose
eye watches thee? Whose hand defends
thee? Whose heart sympathizes with
thee? Who gave you your children?
Who is guarding your loved ones de-
parted? Such a 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 treatement of him; but he is a
Father, so loving, so kind, and yet how
many of us for u wanderings have
never %apologized! If we say anything
that hurts our friends feelings, if we
do anything that hurts feelings of those
in whom we are interested, how quick
" we apologize! We can scarcely wait
until we get pen and paper to write a
letter of apology. How easy it is for
any one who is intelligent, right-heart-
ed, to write an apology, or make an
apology! We apologize for wrongs
done to our fellows, but some of us per-
haps have committed ten thousand
times ten thousand wrongs against God
and never a~pologiZed.
Iremark still further, that this reso-
luton of the text was founded in a feel
ing Of inconsistencies. I do not know
how long this young man, how many
months, how many years he had been