Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-05-11

climbing many years they may after
s"r!ile come up within sight OF the
place where he now stands. tell You
plainly that n 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-
ger brother of the parable came back.
but, the Senior brother stands outside
entirely oblivious TO his own delinquen-
eies and deficits. pronouncing his own
euioCium. oh. how much easier II is
70 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 dissolutc. 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
$50 - NAAAa VI bAt NiOkfthNNs lNtN ut
has come back for another third. He
will never be contented TO stay on the
farm. He will fall away. l would so
in. too. and rejoice with the others il
thought this thing was genuine. but II
is sham. That boy is n confirmed in
ebriate and debauchee." Alas. my
friends. for the iGcredulity in the
church of Christ in regard TO the recla-
nation of the recreant, You say
man has been a strong drinker. j say.
Eyes. but he has reformed" "Oh."
you say, with a lugubrious face, 'I
hope 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. fear
Don't make too big party for that re-
turned prodigal or strike the timbrel
too loud. and IL you kill calf kill the
one that is on the commons and not the
one that has been Illustrating 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 house on the
streets of heaven that has not i'm it a
prodigal that returned and stafd home.
There could be unrolled before YOU n
scroll of 100000 nanfes-the names of
prodigals who came back forever re-
formed. Who was John Bunyan? \
returned prodigal. Who was Richard
Baxter? a returned prodigal. Who
was George Whitefield, the thunderer7
a returned prodigal. And 1 could 60
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 a 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
which he strikes and shivers. You say
he has been prodigal. | know 1t. but
you are the sour, unresponsive, censo-
rious, saturnine. cranky elder brother.
and IL you are going to heaven one
would think some people would be
tempted to 20 to perdtion to get away
from you. The hunters say that IL n
deer he shot the other deer shove him
out of their company. and the general
rule Is. Away with n man that has
been wounded with Sinr' Now, say.
the more bones a man has broken. the
more need he has OF hospital and
the moro Il man has been bruised
and cut with sin the more need no has
TO be carried into human and divine
sympathy. But for such men there is
not much room In this world-the men
who want TO come back after wander
ing. Plenty OF. room for elegant sin
ners. for sinners. in. velvet and satin
and lace. for sinners high salarled. for
Kid gloved and patent lcathered sin
ners, for sinners fixed up 10y halrdress-
er, pomatumed and lavendered and CO.
iogned and frizzled and crimped and
banged" sinners - plenty OF room
Such we meet elegantly ut the door OF
our churches. and we invite them into
the best seats with Chesterfieldian gal
lantries; we usher them into the house
OF God and put soft ottomans under
their feet and put gilt edged prayer
book In their hands and pass the con-
tribution box before them with an mir
or apology, while they, the generous
souls, take out the exquisite portemon-
male and open il and with diamonded
finger push down beyond the $40 gold
pieces and delicately pick out as an ex-
preston of gratitude their offering to
fhp I,nP1-nf 4
plenty of room, plenty of roomi But
for the man who has been drinking I'm
til his coat is threadbare. and his face
is erysipelased, and his wife's wedding
dress is in the pawnbroker's shop. and
his children, instead of being I'm school.
are out begging broken bread at the
basement doors of the city-the man.
body. mind and soul on fire with the
flames that have. leaped from the scath-
ing, scorching, blasting. blstering, con-
Stunning cup which the drunkard takes,
trembling and agoniZed and affrighted,
and presses to his parched lip, and his
cracked tongue. and his shrieking yet
immortal spirit-no roomi
Oh, IL this younger son of the parable
had not gone so far Off. If he had not
dropped so low In wassail, the protest
would not have been so severe; but.
going clear over the precipice. as the
younger son did, the elder son is angry
and will not go in.
Pity the Fallen.
Be not so hard in your criticism of
the fallen lest thou myself also be
tempted. Do you know who that man
was who. Sabbath before last. stagger-
ed up and down the aisle in a church.
disturbing the service until the service
had to stop. until he was taken from
the room? He was n minister of the
gospel OF Jesus Christ in a sister de-
nomination! That man had preached
the gospel; that man had broken the
bread of the holy communion for the
people. From what height TO what
depth! oh. ! was glad there was no
smiling in the room when that man
f1I<an HE g.