The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-04-17

Wnlmf an HnCeEnBu longing amounts
10 nothing. You must have stout, 6
tremendous resolution like this young
man In the text when he said: II vii
arise and go to my father" '0h;'
says some man; ''Hdt% do
know my father wants me? how
do L know if / go back, would
be received?" oh, says some man,
''you don't know where / have beeI
you don't know how far / have wan
dereds you wouldn't talk that way To
me if you knew ali the iniduities
have committed What is that fut
ter among the angels of God2 What i:
that horseman running with Quick dis
patch. 1t is Acwsl Il is newsl 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.
Again: notice that this resolution
of the young man of my text was
founded In sorrow at his misbehavior.
1t was not mere physical plight. Il
was grief that he had so ma1treated
his father. 1t is sad thing after IA
ther has done everything for child to
have that child ungratefuL
How sharper than a serpents tooth It is,
To have 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 MS been cruel prodigals?
Have we not maltreated our Fa.
ther? And such Fatheri
Three times day has lie fed thee. He
has poured sunlight into thy day and
at night kindled up all the street lights
of Heaven. With what varieties of
apparel lie hath clothed thee for the
season. Whose eye watches thee?
Whose hand defends thee? Whose
heart sympathizes with thee? Who
gave you your children? Who Is guard
ing your loved ones departed? Such
a Fatherl So loving, so kind. If He
had been stranger; if He had for
saken 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 treat
ment of Him; but He il Father, SO
loving, so kind, and yet how many of
us for our wandering have never
apologized! If we say anything
that hurts our friends feel
ings, If we do anything that
hurts the feelings of those in whom we
are interested how quickly we
apologize! We can scarcely wait until
we get pen and paper to write a letter
of apology. How easy it is for anyone
who is intelligent, right-hearted, to
write an apology, or make an apology.
We apologize for wrongs done to our
fellows, but some of us perhaps have
ten thousand times ten
thousand wrongs against God and
never apo1ogiEed
A lad at Liverpool went out to battle;
went out into the sea, went out too far,
got beyond his depth and he foatcd
far away. A ship bound for Dublin
came along and took him aboard
Sailors are generally very generous
fellows, and one gave him a cap, and
another gave him jacket, and an
)ther gave him shoes. A gentleman
passing along on the beach at Liver
pool found the lads clothes and took
Them home, and the father was heart
broken, the mother was heart broken,
1t the loss of their child. They had
heard nothing from him day after day,
Ind they ordered the usual mourning
or the sad event. But the lad took
ship from Dublin and arrived in Liver
pool the very day the mourning ar
lived. lie knocked at the door; the
ather was overjoyed and the mother
vas overjOyed at the return of their
ost son. oh, my friends, have you
vaded out too deep? Have you waded
lown into sin? Have you waded from
he shore? Will you come back? When
yOu come back will you come in the
'ags of your sin, or will you come
'obed in the Saviour's righteousness?
believe the latter. Go home to your
Tod to-day. He is waiting for you. Go
home!
But remark the characteristic of
his resolution was, it was immediate
v put into execution. The context
ays "He arose and came to His Fa-
her" The trouble in 900 times out of
700 is that our resolutions amount to
because we make them for
ONE distant time. If l resolve to be-
ONE a Christian next year, that
mounts to nothing at all. If I'll
esol7e to become a Christian to-
morrow, that amounts to nothing
t all. If 1 resolve at the |
ervice this day to become a
that amounts to nothing at |
IL If resolve after l go home to-
lay to yield my heart to God, that
mounts to nothing at all. The only |
ind of resolution that amounts to |
nything is the resolution that is i'm |
1ediately put into execution. There |
5 a man who had the typhoid fever, |
e said: 30! if / could get over this |
erriblc distress; if this fever should |
epart; if l could he restored to |
ealth, would all the rest of my life |
erve God" The fever departed. He |
OF we'll enough to walk around /
he block. lie got well enough to go
yer to business. He is well to-day
S well as he ever was. Where is the /
roken vow? There is u man who said
0ng ago: If / could live to the year
500; by that time will have my bust
ess matters all arranged, and 1 will
ave time to attend to religion, and !
iii be a good, thorough consecrated
hristian."
The year 1896 has come. January,
ebruary. March, April-a fourth of
ne year gone. Where is your broken
ow? oh" says some man, '.I'll at
end to that when ] get my character
xed up, when 1 get over my evil
abits; L am now given to strong
rink" or, says the man: Il
m given to uncleanness;" or,
AVS the man: 81 am given to dis