The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1914-08-21


to the Pharisees and scribes who
murmured and said, This man re-
ceiveth sinners and eateth with
Them Yes, he did, and he does;
that is our encouragement and our
hope. Let US use the story By way
of application.
Rejection.
Nothing the father had was good
enough for the younger son. The ia
theirs will was too strict, his ways
too serious, his home too solemn. This
is not ife-I will not abide here, but
l will use my personal liberty and
be man. What a weakling Is he
who cannot endure or enjoy the will
Of him whose chief concern is about
the welfare of his son. God pity the
man who spurns his fathers love,
turns his back upon home, and goes
into the far country. He may go
only around the corner, but away from
the fathers love and care is indeed
the far country. Knowing the end Of
that man, if he persists in his wilful
waywardness and wickedness, 1t is
easy to write his epitaph: He went
out, and it was night" and for such
an one there is the blackness of dark
ness forever. Beware of the first will
full rejection of your father, and the
first step away from home. The
news from the far country may be al
Turing, but you are on the down-grade.
Reflection.
The fascination of the far coun-
try faded away upon close contact
with it; the music which charmed
the youth soon turned into discord;
the mirage which lured him from
home disappears and leaves only the
desert; for this prosperous young
man, with many friends while he had
money, but now bankrupt and bereft,
there is not even the shadow of a
great rock in a weary land. And
when ne had spent all. there arose a
mighty famine in that land; and he
began to be in want. And he would
fain have filled his belly with the
husks that the swine did eat: and no
man gave unto him" One Of the aw-
full pangs of sin is this recollection
of better days, when we come to our
selves
Il perish with hunger" And no
man gave unto him." he was denied
the very husks that th,, swine die
eat. Could any Jew come to greater
degradation than feeding swine? And
then find no profit, not even support,
in his service. Does not sin pay?
Is there pleasure in "life?" May we
not SOW wild oats? Yes, sin pays
but in it's own coin: the wages Of sin
is death. Whatsoever a man sowetb
that shall he also reap.
Resolution.
Thank God there is Il way back
home!
a. In the heart. Il will arise and
60" Dissatisfied, disappointed, de-
spairing, near to death, perhaps, the
vision glorious of what h> has missed
by his own wilfuli rejection now fills
servants in the fathers house have
more than have. and l perish with
hunger. These dead sea apples were
beautiful to the eye but ashes to the
taste. Il will arise and go, and say"
But, further, resolution also.
b. In the habit: And he arose and
came" Resolution Of heart is not
enough. Many a prodigal has been
sorry for his sinful condition, but
has died amid his sinful surroundings.
You may be sorry when wealth and
health and hope are gone and still
die in that far country. Il will arise
and go. and he arose and
came" That was his salvation from
the human standpoint; and it will be
YOURS. Resolution of heart must pass
into revolution of habit; the emotions
of the heart must pass into the mo-
ton of the feet.
Reception.
when he was yet great way off,
his father saw him" You have never
been as homeS.ck as the father has
been son-sick. And now, at last we
see the wistful look upon the face,
we can hear the welcome loving in
the voice, we can see the tears in the
ewes. we can feel the very throbbing
Of the heart Of God. Dear friend,
This Is not a story to be told; it is an
eynerience of the soul to be realized
o,,arv one who comes to God
through faith in Jesus Christ. You
NAV have been wilful, wasteful and
wretched; but God loves you; he
woos you by the Holy Spirit; he calls
Won in tender tones that sound out
above the din of the far country-"Oh,
prodigal child, come home Come
now. and find the reality and the in
comparable bliss of the fathers well
come, the kiss, the robe, the ring, the
shoes. the feast. For CHS my son
was dead, and is alive again; he was
- .-d Z, found