Milford chronicle., 1896-04-10
To BE Almost saved I. to Be Lost.


arranged, and ! will have time to attenC
TO religion and I will be a good, thor
ough, ccnsecrated Christian" The yea
: 1896 has come. January, February
March, April-a third Of the year gone
Where is your broken yowY "Oh," say,
some man. en- attend to that when gel
my character fixed up, when l can gel
over my evil habits; l am now given tc
strong drink " Or, says the man, Il an
given to. uncleanness." Or says the man
II am given TO dishonesty. When l gel
over my present habits, then I'll be a thor
ough Christian My brother, you will
get worse and worse, until Christ takes
you in hand. Not the righteous, sinners
Jesus came TO call. oh, but you say, 81
agree with you in all that, but l must put
it off a little longer" Do you know there
were many who came just as near rs you
are to the kingdom Of God and never en-
tered it? ! was at Easthamptcn, and
went into the cemetery to look around,
and in that cemetery there are 10 graves
side by side-the graves of sailors. This
crew, some years ago, in "a ship went into
the breakers at AmnGansott, about three
miles away My brother, then preaching
at Easthampton, had been at the burial.
These men Of the crew came very near
being saved The people from Amagansett
saw the vessel and they shot rockets and
they sent ropes from the shore, and these
poor fellows got into the boat, and they
pulled nightly for the Shore but just be-
fore they got to the shore the rope snapped
and the boat capsized and they were lost,
their bodies aitcrward washed upon the
beach Oh, what solemn day 1t was-l
have been told Of it by my brother-whon
these . mon lay at the foot OF the pulpit,
and he read over them the funeral service.
They camo very near shOro-within shout
ing distance of the shore, yet did not ar
rive on solid land. There arc some mon
who como almost to the shore of God $
mercy, but not quite, not quite TO be al
most saved is to be lost
Two Prodigals.
will tell you of two prodlgals-the ono
that got back and the other that did not
get back In Richmond there is a very
prosperous and beautiful home in many
respects. a young man wandered of from
that home. He wandered very far into
sin They heard Of him after, but he was
always on the wrong track. He would
not 60 home At the door Of that beauti-
full home one night there was a great out
cry. The young man Of the house ran
down to open the door to see what was the
mHtter 1t was midnight. The rest Of
the family were asleep. There were the
wife and children of this prodigal young
man. The fact was he had como home
and driven them out. He said; "Out Of
this housed Away with these children
1 viii dash their brains out Out into the
storm /" The mother gathered them up
and fled. Tho next morning the brother,
the young man who had staid at homo,
went out to find this prodigal brother and
SON. and he camo where he was and saw
the young man wandering up and down
in front Of the place whoro ho had been
staying, and thoyoung man who had kept
his integrity said to tho older BROTHER
"IIcIo, what docs all this meanf What is
the matter with you? Why do you act in
this way?" The prodigal looked at him 1
ana said: "Who am 1? Who do you take
mo 10 he?'' He said, You are my broth (
or" NO, l am not | am "a brute, /
Have you seen anything of my wife and .
children? Arc they dead? l drove them
ont last night in the storm. l am brute.
John, do you think there is any help for
me? DO you think 1 will ever got over
this life Of dissipation" He said John,
there is one thing That will stop this,
The prodigal ran bis fingers across his
throat and said; THAT will stop it, and
will stop it before night, Oh, my brain
can stand it no longer. That prodigal
never got home. But / will tell you Of a
prodigal that did get homo. In England
two young men started from their fathers
house and went down to Portsmouth,
have been thorG-a beautiful seaport
Some Of you have been there The father
could not pursue his ohildren-for some
reason no could not leave homeland SO he
wrote a letter down to Mr.. Griffin, saying:
Mr.. Griffin, l wish you would go and
see my two sons. They have arrived in
Portsmouth, and they are going 90 take
ship and going away from home. l wish
you would persuade them back.
The Pardon Of the Gospel.
Mr. Griffin went and tried to persuade
them back. Ho persuaded one to 60. He
went with very easy persuasion because no
was very homesick already. The other
young man said; Il win not CO. ! have
had enough Of home. I'll never 60 hOma,H
"Well," said Rir, Griffin, "thon if you
won't go home I'll get you u respectable
position on respectable ship. No,
gou won't" said the prodigal; mo you
won't. ] am going as Il private saiiori as
Z common sailor. Tint will plague my
father most and what will do most to tan
talize ana worry him win please me best. p"
lft5aIAl oI anu MI nm " eAa oNetNN
in his study one day when messenger
came to him saying there was young
man In irons on ship at the dOck-a
young man condemned to death-who
wished to see this clergyman. Mr. GriillA
went down to the dock and went on ship ,
board The young man said to him, "You !
don't know me do your" "NO" he said,
Il don't know you" Why, don't you
remember that young man you tried to
persuade TO go home and lac wouldn't goS''
ooh. yes, " said Mr. Griffin. Are you that ,
nany' a Yes, l am that man, " said the
lther Il would like TO have You Draw for /
so. a;;Yv o0iaisii5lsS; 7iiiiT;,5T ana
lie, but 1 don't want to go out of this /,
world until some one prays for me. You I
ire my fathers friend and would like to
nave you pray for me, !
Mr.. Griffin went from judicial authority I
% judicial authority TO get that young I
mans pardon. He slept not night nor /
lay. Ho went from influential person to
person, until in some way BIO
got that young mans pardon. Ho camo
lown on the dock and as hc arrived on the 2
lock with the pardon the father came. He /
iad heard that his son, under Il disguised
lalne had been committing crime and 5
vas going to be put to death. So Mr.. :
md mt tho very momont Mr.. Griffin offered 4
Inc pardon 10 the young man the old father h
brew his arms around tho sons neck and 4
he son said: Father, 1 have done very y
wrong and am very sorry l wish had
never broken your heart. lam very sorryp' ,
Oh, +" said tho Gather, don't mention 1t. ,
Z won't make any difference now 1t is
II over. I forgive you, my son." And lie
Kissed him and kissed him and kissed him.
To-day l offer you the pardon Of the gospel
full pardon, free pardon. do not care
What your crimo has been Though you .
ay you have committed a crime against .
sod, against your soul, against your fell 0
ow man, against your family, against tho +
lay of Judgment, against the cross of f
your crime has been, D
zero is pardon full pardon, apd the very 1
nomcnt you take that pardon your Heav- r
My Father throws his arms round abowt d
ou and saysi Ny son, forgive you. 1t c
"a o.. e.. - 80