Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-04-17
thee? Who gave YOU yotr ebildren2 Who Is
guarding your loved ones departedY Such

turned us out Of doors on the commons II
| would not have been 3D. .wohdeffpl=out
treatment Of Him-but He Is d Father, so
iovingi 50 kind; and yet how many Of US for
our wanderlngs have never apologlzed! II
we say anything that hurts our friends feel
ings, II we do anything that hurts the feel
ings OF those In whom we are interested,
how quickly we apologizel We can scarcely
| wait until we get pen and paper to write a
letter OF apology. How easy Is 1t for any one
who Is intelligent, RICH. hearted, to write an
| apology or make an apology! We apologize
| for wrongs done to our fellows but some OF
| US perhaps hava committed ten thousand
times ten Thousand wfoHgs against God and
never dpologized:
I remark still further that this resolution
OF The text was founded in feeling Of home
| sickness. | do not know how long this
| young man, how many months, how many
| years, he hal been away from his fathers
| house, but there is something about the
rea1ing OF my text that makes me think he
! was homesck. Some OF you know what
thlt feeling is. Far away from home some
| times, surrounded by everything bright and
| pleasant-plenty OF friends-you have said,
II would give tho world to be 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 be
living" We read nothing in this story
this pardble=founded on everyday life; we
read nothing about the mother. 1t says
nothing about going homie 10 herr I think
she was dead: l think she had died OF u
broken heart at his wanderings; of perhaps
he had gone into dissipation from the fact
that he could not remember loving dnd
sympathetic mother. A man never gets over
having lost his mother. Nothing said about
her, but he is homesick for his fathers
house. He thought he would just like to 60
and walk around the old place. He thought
he would just like to go aud see IL things
were as they used to be. Many a man after
having been off long while has gone home
and knocked at the door, and a stranger has
come. 1t is the old homestead, but stranger
comes to the door. He. flnds out father is
gone. and mother Is gone, and brothers and
sisters are I'LL gone. 1 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 6ny here to-day
homesick for God. homesick for heaven?
A sailor: after having been long on The
sea, returned to his fathers house; and his
mother tried I'd persuade Him not I'd go away
again She said: 'Now; you had b. tier
stay at home. Don't go away We don't
want you to 60. You will have it great
deal better here" But it made him angry
The night before he went away again to sea
he heard his mother praying In the next
room, and that made him more angry. He
went far out on the sea, and q storm came
up and he was ordered to very periious 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 triel to
whistle it off, he tried to rally his courage,
but he could not silence the voice he had
heard in the next room, and there in the
storm and darkness he said: 80 Lord, what
n wretch l have been! What a wretch l am!
Help mo just now. Lord God" And
thought in this assemblage to-day there
may be some who may have the memory ola
fathers petition or mothers prayer press
ing nightly upon the soul, and that this
hour they may make the same resolution
find in my text, saying, ~ will arise and go
to my father"
A lad at Liverpool went out to battle; went
out into the sea, went out too far got be-
yond his depth, and he hoated far away. A
ship bound for Dublin came along and took
him on board. Sailors are generally very
generous fellows. and one gave him cap,
and another gave him 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 father
was heartbroken, the mother was heart
broken, 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 III Liverpool the very day the
MOURNING arrived. He knocked at the door.
The father was oyerjoyed and the mother
was overjoyed at the return of their lost son.
Oh, my friends. have you waded out too
deepf Have you waded down into sin? Have
you waded from the shore2 Will you
come back2 When you come back, will you
come in the rags Of your sin, or will you
come ROBBED in the saviouI's righteousness2
believe the latter Go home TO your God
to-day. He is waiting for you. Go home!
But remark the characteristic Of this res
olution was, it was Immediately put into ex-
ecution. The context says, "He arose and
came to his father" The trouble in nine
hundred and ninety-nine times out OF 4 thou
sand is that our resolutions amount to Moth
ing because we make them for some distant
time. II resolve to become Christian next
year, that amounts to nothing at all. II l re-
folve at the service this day to become
Christian, that amounts to nothing at all. Ii
l resolve after go home to-day to yield my
heart to God, that amounts to nothing at ell.
The only kind OF resolution that amounts to
anything is the resolution that Is Immediate
Jy put into execution.
There Is man who had the typhoid fever.
He said: ooh. if l could get over this terri
BILE distress, IL this fever should depart, ii l
could be restored to health l would ell the
rest of my life serve God" The fever de-
parted. He got we'll enough to walk around
the block. He got we'll enough to go over
10 business. He Is we'll to-day-as we'll rs he
ever was. Where is the broken VOW There
Is man who said long ago, IF | could live
TO the year 1896. by that time will have my
business matters all arranged. and [ will
have time to attend to religion, and l will be
good, thorough, consecrated Christian.
The wear 1896 has come. January, Febru-
airy, March, April--a third Of the year gone
Where is your broken VOW? "Oh," says
some man, "I'll attend to that when
get my character fixed up, when l can
get over my evil habits. l am now CIV
en- to strong drink" Or, says the man, I'll
am given to uncleanliness." Or, says the
man, ~ am given to dishonesty. When
get over my present habits, then I'll be q
thorough Christian" My brother, you will
get worse aud worse until Christ takes you
in hand "Not the righteous. sinners Jesus
came to call" Oh, but you say, Il agree
with You in all that, but must put 1t OIL
little longer" Do you know there were
many who came just as near as you are to
the kingdom OF God and never entered 1t?
was at Easthamp:on, and 1 went into the
cemetery to look around, and in that GENIE
terry there are twelve graves side by side
the graves of sailors. This crew, some years
ago, in ship went into the breakers at
Amagansett, about three miles away. My
brother, then preaching at Easthampton. had
been at the burial. These men of the crew
oana vary npar hein0 eaved The neODle
from Amagansett saw the vessel and they
shot rockefs and they sent rnneS from the