Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-04-11

A lad at Liverpool went out to Dathe;
went out into the sea, went out too far,
got beyond his depth, and he foated far
away. A ship bound for Dublin came
along and took him on board. Sailors
are generally very generous fellows, and
one gave him a cap, and another gave
him a jacket, and another gave him
shoes. A gentleman passing along on
the beach at Liverpool found the lads
clothes and took them home, and the IA
Their was heartbroken, the mother was
heartbroken, at 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 at the door. The IA
Their was overjoyed and the mother was
overjoyed at the return of their lost son.
Oh, my friends, have you waded out too
deep? Have you waded down into sin?
Have you waded from the shore? Will
you come back? When you come back,
will you come in the rags of your sin,
or will you come robed in the Saviour's
righteousness? 1 believe the latter. Go
home to your God today. He is waiting
for you. Go homel
The Turning Point.
But I rellark the characteristic Of this
resolution was, it was Immediately put
into execution. The context says, "He
arose and came TO his father. !" The
trouble in nine hundred and ninety nine
times out of thousand is that our reso-
lutions amount to nothing because we
make them for some distant time. If l
resolve to become Christian next year,
that amounts to nothing at all. If re-
solve to become a Christian tomorrow,
that amounts to nothing at all. If re-
solve at the service this day to become a
Christian, that amounts to nothing at
all If 1 resolve after I 60 home today
to yield my heart to God, that amounts
to nothing at all. The only kind of reso-
luton that amounts to anything is the
resolution that is Immediately put into
execution.
There is man who had the typhoid
fever. He said: ooh, if could get over
this terrible distress, if this fever should
depart, if l could be restored to health,
l would all the rest of my life serve
God" The fever departed. He got we'll
enough to walk around the block. He
got we'll enough TO go over to business.
He is we'll to-. vas we'll as he ever
was. Where is the broken vow? There is
man who said long ago, eff / could
live to the year 1896, by that time 1
will have my business matters all ar
ranged, and 1 will have time to attend
to religion, and will be a good, thor
oush, consecrated Christian. " The year
1896 has come January, February,
March, April-a third of the year gone.
Where is your broken vow? "Oh, says
some man, "I'll attend to that when 1
get my character fixed up, when 1 can
get over my evil habits. am now Civ
Ell to strong drink. Or, says the man,
81 am given to uncleanness. Or, says
the man, ~ am given to dishonesty.
When l get over my present habits, then
I'll be thorough Christian" My broth
er, you will get worse and worse until
Christ takes you in hand. "Not the
righteous, sinners Jesus came to call. !"
Oh, but you say,."I agree with you in
all that, but I must put it off little
longer " Do you know there were many
who came just as near as you are to the
kingdom of God and never entered it? l
was at Easthap jton, and went into
the cemetery to look around, and in that
cemetery there are ~ graves side by side
the graves of sailors. This crew, some
years ago, in ship went into the break
ers at Amagansett, 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 Amagan-
sett saw the vessel, and they shot rock
cts, and they sent ropes from the shore,
and these poor fellows got into the boat,
and they pulled nightly for the shore;
but just before they got to the shore the
rope snapped and the boat capsized, and
they were lost, their bodies afterward
washed upon the beach. Oh what a
solemn day it was-I have been told OF
it by my brother-when these II men
lay at the foot of the pulpit, and he read
over them the funeral service They
came very near shore-within shouting
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 is to be lost
Two ProdiGals.
will tell you of two prodigals-the
one 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
off 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 go home. At the door OF
that beautiful home one night there was
a great cutlery. The young man OF the
house ran down to open the door to see
what was the matter. 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 come home and driven them out.
He said: "Out of this housel Away
with these children l will dash their
brains out Out into the storm!'' The
mother gathered them up and fed. The
next morning the brother, the young
man who had staid at home, went out
to find this prodigal brother and son,
and he came to where he was and saw the
young man wandering up and down III
front of the place where he had been
staying, and the young man who had
kept his integrity said to the older broth
er: "Here, what does all this mean?
What is the matter with you? Why do
you act in this way?" The prodigal
looked at him and said: ''Who am 1?