Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-05-07
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about prowling among prayer meet
inGs and in places of business, tell
ing how good they are-look out for
them; keep your hand on your pocket
book. l have noticed that just in pro-
portion as man gets good he gets
humble. The deep Mississippi does not
make as much noise as the brawling
mountain rivulet. There has been many
a store that had more goods in the
show window than inside on the
shelves.
Self Admiration.
This self righteous man Of the text
stood at the corner Of the house hug
ging himself in admiration. We hear a
great deal in our day about the higher
life. Now, there are two kinds of high
er life men. The one is admirable, and
the other is repulsive. The one kind
of higher life man is very lenient in his
criticism Of others, does not bore pray
er meetings to death with long ha-
rangues. does not talk a great deal
about himself, but much about Christ
and heaven, gets kindlier and more
gentle and more useful until one day
his soul spreads awning, and he flies
away to eternal rest, and everybody
mourns his departure. The other high
er life man goes around with a Bible
conspicuously under his arm, goes from
church to church, a sort Of general
evangelist, is a nuisance to his own
pastor when he is at home and a nui-
sance to other pastors when he is away
from home, runs up to some man who
iC inc of n
running up a difficult line Of figures
and asks him how his soul is, makes
religion a dose of ipecacuanha; stand
ing in a religious meeting making an
address, he has a patroniZing way, as
though ordinary Christians were clear
away down below him, SO he had to
talk at the top of his voice in order to
make them hear, but at the same time
encouraging them to hope on that by
climbing many years they may after
awhile come up within sight of the
place where he now stands. l tell you
plainly that q roaring, roistering, bOunc-
ing sinner is not so repulsive to me as
that higher life malformation. The
former may repent; the latter never
gets over his pharisaism. The youn-
but the senior brother stands outside
entirely oblivious to his own Delinquent
cies and deficits, pronouncing his own
eulogium. oh, how much easier it is
to blame others than to blame our
selves! Adam blamed Eve, Eve blam-
ed the serpent, the senior brother blam-
ed the younger brother, and none of
them blamed themselves.
Few ProdigaIs Return.
Again, the senior brother Of my text
stands for all those who are faithleSS
about the reformation of the dissipated
and the dissolute. In the very tones
Of his voice you can hear the fact that
he has no faith that the reformation of
the younger son is genuine. His en-
tire manner seems to say: THAT boy
has come back for more money. He
got a third of the property. Now he
has come back for another third. He
will never be cOntented to stay on the
farm. He will fall away. | would go
in, too, and rejoice with the others if [
thought this thing was genuine, but it
is a sham. That boy is confirmed in
ebriate and debauchee." Alas, my
friends, for the incredulity in the
church of Christ in regard to the recla-
nation of the recreant. You say a
man has been a strong drinker. [ say,
eyes, but he has reformed" "Oh,"
you say, with Il lugubrious face, 81
hope you are not mistaken; 1 hope you
are not mistaken" You say: Don't
rejoice too much over his conversion,
for soon he will be unconverted, fear.
Don't make too big a party for that re-
turned prodigal or strike the timbrel
too loud, and if you kill a calf kill the
one that is on the commons and not the
one that has been luxuriating in the
paddock" That is the reason why
more prodigals do not come home to
their fathers house. 1t is the rank in
fidelity in the church of God on this
subject. There is not a house on the
streets of heaven that has not in it a
prodigal that returned and staid home.
There could be unrOlled before you a
scroll of 100000 names-the names of
prOdigals who came back forever re-
formed. Who was John Bunyan? A
returned prodigal. Who was Richard
Baxter? A returned prodigal Who
was George Whitefield, the thunderer?
A returned prodigal. And l could go
out in all the aisles of this church to-
day and find on either side those who,
once far astray for many years, have
been faithful and their eternal saliva
ton is as sure as though they had been
ten years in heaven. And yet some of
you have not enough faith in their re-
turn.
Need of Christian Sympathy.
You do not know how to shake hands
with prOdigal; you do not know how
to pray for him; you do not know how
to greet him. He wants to sail into the
warm gulf stream of Christian SYM
pathy. You are the iceberg against /