The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-04-09

/
How al Der than n serpent's tooth II is
To hav@ thankless child.
That is ,kespeare. "a foolish son is the
heavness his mother" That is the Bible.
Well, my fNcnds. have not some OF us been
cruel prodN uls2 Have we moi maltreated our
Father a such u Fatherl Three times a
day Sas III psd thee. He has poured sunlight
into thy IL, and at night kindlcd up all the
street lam OF heaven. With what varieties
Of apparel Q hath clothed thee for the sea-
sons VIII 9 eye watches ;hce2 Whose hand
defends n Whose heart sympathizes with
thee2 WI gave you your children? Who is
guarding ur loved ones dcparted2 Such
Father! loving. 80 kind. II lie had been
n strangerff He had forsaken us. II He had
fiagelate,t tus, II He had pounded us aud
turned Tut OF doors on the commons, II
| would ndl have been so wonderful-our
| treatmentb bf Him-but He Is Il Father. SO
| loving, 40 Ind. aud yet how many OF us for
our wanddings have never apologised II
we say ai-t hing that hurts our friends feel
| ings, II wotio anything that hurts the feel
ings OF those IA whom we are Interested.
how quickly we apoiogizcl We can scarcely
wait until We get pen and paper to write
| letter OF apology. How easy IL II for any one
who Is intelligent, righ. hearted, TO write an
| apology or make an apology We apologize
/ for wrongs done 20 our fellows but some Of
US perhaps have committed ten thousand
times ten thousand wrongs against God and
|
| remark still further that this resolution
OF the text was founded in a feeling Of home
! sickness. 1 do not know how long this
| young man, how many months, how many
| years, he had been away from his fathers
| house, but there Il something about the
reading OF my text that makes mo think he
was homcsiek. Some Of YOU know what
| that feeling Is. Far away from home some
| times, surrounded by everything bright and
! pleasant-plcnty of frends-you have said
II would give the world to bc home to-
night" Well. this young man was home
sick for his fathers house. | have no doubt
when he thought OF his fathers house he
| said, "Now perhaps father may not hh
| living" We read nothing in this story
this parnble-foundcd on everyday life; W.
road nothing about the mother. 1t says
/ nothing about going home TO her. | think
she was dead. / think she had died OF a
broken heart ut his wanderugs. or perhaps
| he had gone into dissipation from tho fact
that he could not remember n loving and
| sympathctic mother. A man new ar gets over
having lost his mother. Nothing said about
| her, but he * hOmesick for his fathers
house. He thought he would just like TO go
and walk around the old place. He thought
lie would just like to go and see II things
were as they used TO be. Many man after
having been OH long while has gone home
and Knocked at the door. and stranger has
come. II Is the old homestead, but a stranger
comes To the door. He ilnds out father l.
gone. and mother Is gone, and brothers aud
sisters are all gone. think this young man
! OF the text said TO himself. "Perhaps father
may be dead. Still, he starts to find out.
He Is homesick. Are there any here to-day
homesick for God. homesck for heaven2
sailor. after having boen long on the
sea, returned to his fathers house, and his
mother tried to persuade him not to go away
again. She said: "Now, YOU had better
stay at home. Don't 90 away. We don't
unN -. A..Us IA
deal better here" But IL made him angry.
The night before he went away again TO sea
no heard his mother praying in the next
room, and that made him more angry. He
went far out on the sea, and storm came
mp, and he was ordered TO very pcriious duty,
and he ran up the rat-lines, and amid the
shrouds Of the ship he heard the voice that
he had heard In the next room. He tried to
whistle II on, be tried TO rally his courage,
but he could not silence the voice he had
heard In the n"Xt room, and there In the
storm and darkness he said; go tes-d, what
"A Wretch have been! What a wretch / aml
Help me just now. Lord God" And |
thought in this assemblagc to-day there
may be some who may have the memory ofa
fathers petition or q mothers prayer press
ing nightly upon the soul. and that this
hour they may make the same resolution
find in my text, saying, II will arise and 20
TO my father"
out into the sea, went out too far. got be-
yond his depth. and he floated far away. A
ship bound for Dublin came along ana took
him on board. Sailors are generally very
generous fellows. and one gave him cap,
and another gave him "A jacket, and another
CAV, him shoes. gentleman passing along
ON the beach at Liverpool found the lads
clothes and took them home, AMI the father
was hcartbrokcn, the mother was heart
broken, ut the loss Of their child. They had
heard nothing from him day after day. and
they ordered the usual mourning for the sad
event. But the lad took ship from Dublin
and arrived in Liverpool the very day the
mourning arrived. He knocked ut thedoor.
The lather was Overloycd and the mother
was overJoyed at the return of their lost son.
Oh, my friends, have you waded out too
decpi Have you wadcd down into siny Have
you waded from the shorc2 viii you
come backg When you come back, will you
come In the rags OF your sin, or will You
come rObed in the SaviOur's righteousness
believe the latter Go home to your God
to-day, He Is waiting for you. Go hOmo'
But remark the characteristic of this res
olution was, 1t was Immediately put into ex-
ecution. The context says. III" arose ana
came to his father" The trouble In nine
hundred and ninety-nine times out Of a thou
sand is that our resolutions amount to moth
Ing because we make them for some distant
time. II i resolve TO become Il Christian next
y Il
solve at the service this day TO become a
Christian, that amounts to nothing at all. II
| resolve after l go home to-day to yield my
heart 10 God, that amounts to nothing at all.
The only kind OF resolution tat amounts to
anything Is the resolution that is Immediate
ly put into execution.
There Is man who had the typhoid fever.
He said "Oh. II | could get over this terri
BILE distress, II this fever should depart, II
could be restored TO health. | would ali the
rest of my life serve God" The fever de-
parted. lie got we'll enough to walk around
the block. He got well enough to go over
10 business. He Is we'll to- lay--as well as he
ever was Where Is the broken vow! There
Is man who said long ago, III could live
to the year 1896, by that time l will have my
business matters all arranged. and | viii
have time 10 attend TO religion. and | will $50
good, thorough, consecrated Christian"
The year 1896 has come. January, Fcbru-
AIRY, March, April--a third OF the year gone.
Where is your broken vowI "Oh," says
some man, "I'll attend TO that when |