Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-05-10

This self-righteous man OF the text
stood st the corner of the house hug
glng himself In admiration. We hear
great deal in our day about the high.
er life. Now, there are two kinds of
higher life men. The one Is admira.
BILE, and the other is most repulsive.
The one kind Of higher life man is
very lenient In his criticism OF 9TH
ers, does not bore prayer meetings
to death with long harangues, does
not talk 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 higher life
man goes around with Bible conspic-
uously under his arm, goes from
church to church, sort Of general
evangelist, Is nuisance to his own
pastor when he is at home and a nuis-
ance to other pastors when he Is away
from home, runs up to some man who
Is counting out roll Of bank bills
or running up a difficult line or figures
and asks him how his soul Is, makes
religion dose of ipec acuanha. Stand
ing in religious meeting making an
address, he has 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 him 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. | tell
you plainly that roaring, roistering,
bouncing sinner Is not so repulsive to
me as that higher life malformation.
The former may repent: the latter
never gets over his pharisaism. The
younger brother of the parable came
back, but the senior brother stands
outside entirely oblivious Of his own
delinquencies and deficits, pronouncing
his own eulogium. oh, how much east
err II Is to blame others than to blame
ourselves! Adam blamed Eve. Eve
blamed the serpent, the senior brother
blamed the younger brother, and none
Of them blamed themselves.
Again, the senior brother Of my text
stands for all those who are faithless
about the reformation of the dissipat-
ed 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
entire manner seems to say: THAT
boy has come back for more money.
He got third of the property; now
he has come back for another third.
the farm. He will fall away. would
60 in too and rejoice with the others
If thought this thing were genuine;
but 1t Is a sham. That boy Is a con-
firmed inebriate and debauchee." Alas,
my friends, for the incredulity In the
church OF Christ in regard to the re-
clamation of the recreant! You say a
man has been a strong drinker. | say.
Yes, but he has reformed" "Oh,"
you say, with lugubrious face, Il
nope you are not mistaken; hope you
are not mistaken" You say: Don't
rejoice too much over his conversion,
for soon he will be unconverted,I fear.
Don't make too big party for that
returned prodigal or strike the timbrel
too loud; and, IL 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. It Is the rank
infidelity of the church of God on this
subject. There Is not house on the
streets Of heaven that has not in 1t a
prodigal that returned and staid
home There could be unrolled before
you a scroll of a hundred thousand
names-the names of prodigals who
came back forever reformed. Who
was John Bunyan? A returned prodi-
gal. Who was Richard Baxter? A re-
turned prodigal. Who was George
Whitefield, the thunderer? A returned
prodigal. And could go out in all the
aisles of this church today and find
ON either side those who, once far as
tray for many years, have been faith
full, and their eternal salvation 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.
Greeting the Prodigai.
You do not know how to shake
hands with a prodigal. You do not
not know how to greet him. He wants
TO sail into the warm gulf stream Of
Christian sympathy. You are the ice.
berg against which he strikes and
shivers. You say he has been a prod
igal. know 1t, but you are the sour,
IL L.