Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-02-14

| OF the American clergyman-never accept
ing their hospitality, because they cannot
afford it. but / have seen them struggle on
with salaries of five and Six hundred dollars
a yenr-the average less than that
their struggle well depicted by
the Western missionary who says
in letter THANK you for your last remit
lance; until it came we had not any meat in
our house for one year; and all last winter,
although it was severe winter, our children
! wore their summer Clothes And these men
| os God find in different parts of the land,
struggling against annoyances and exaspera-
tions innumerable; some of them week after
| week entertaining agents who have maps
to sell, and submitting themselves to all
styles of annoyance, AMI yet without COM
plant, and cheerful of soul How do you
account for the fact that these life insurance
men tell us that ministers as a class live
| longer than any othersg Ii is because of the
| Joy of their work. the joy of the harvest
/ field, the Joy OF greeting prodigals home to
their Fathers house.
We are in sympathy with all innocent
hilarities We can enjoy a hearty song, ana
We can be merry with the merriest; but
those of us who have toiled in the service are
ready TO testify that all these joys are tame
compared with the satisfaction of seeing men
enter the kingdom of God. The great eras
Of every minister are the pptpourings OF the
Holy Ghost and | thank tod l have seen
eighteen of them. Th1uk God, thank God
back all earnest Christians rejoice. il you
stood on Montauk Point aud there was
hurricane at sea, and it was blowing toward
the shore, and a vessel crashed into the rocks
and YOU saw people get ashore in the liie-
boats and the very last man got on the rocRs
in safety. you could not control your Joy.
And il Is a glad time when the Church OF
God sees men who are tossed on the ocean OF
heir sins plant their feet on the rock Christ
Jesus.
l.. 4 -. t..-f haar
thoss Christians sing. just hear those Chris
tians pray. IL is not n stereotyped suppl ca
tion we have heard over and over again for
twenty years, but a putting OF the case IN
the hands of Col with an iEportunate plead
ing. No long prayers. Men never pray at
great length unless they have nothing 70
say and their hearts are hard and cod All
the prayers in the Bible that were answered
were short prayers God be mercitul To me
a sinner" Lord, that / may receive my
sight" lord, save me or perish" The
longest prayer, Solomon's prayer at the
dedication of the Temple, less than eight
minutes in length, according to the ordinary
rate of enumeration
And just hear them pray now that the
prodigals are coming home. just see them
shake hands, No putting forth oil the four
tips of the fingers in "A formal way, but
hearty grasp, where the muscles OF the heart
seem TO clench the fingers of one hand around
the other And then see those Christian
faces, how illumined they are. And see that
old man get up and with the same voice that
he sang fifty years ago in tine Old country
meeting house. say: "Now Lord, lettest hou
Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes
have seen Thy salvation There vas man
OF Keith who was hurled into prison in time
of persecution, and one day he got off hi
shackles and he came and stood by the prison
door and when the lailer was opening the
door, with one stroke he struck down the
man who had inearcerated him. Passing
along tine sLreets OF London, he wondered
where his family was lie did not dare
to ask lest he excite suspicion, but,
passing along littlo way from the
prison he saw a Keith tankard, cup that
belonged to the family from generation TO
genera.ion-he saw 1t in window HIS |
family. hoping that some day he would get 1
ell ar, came and lived as near as they could /
10 the prison house, and they set that Keith 1
tanlsard in the window, hoping he would see 1
it, and he came along and saw IT, AM /
knocked at the door, and went IN,
and the long absent family were all |
together again. Oh il you would start /
for the kingdom Of God to-day, think some
of You would find nearly all your friends ard F
aud nearly all your families around the holy /
tankard of the holy communon-fathers, 4
mothers brothers. sisters around that sacred +
tankard which commentaries the love of .
Jesus Christ our Lord Oh, It viii be great 4
communion day when your whole family sits 4
around the saeret tankard. One On earth, 4
one in heaven
v. Once more ! remark. that whom the
prodigal gets back the inhabitants OF he wen
keep festival ] am very certain of It,
If Won have never seen a teegraphic
chart you have no idea how many cities are
connected together AMI how many lands
Nearly al the neighborhoods OF the earth
seem articulated. and news flies from city to
city. and from continent 20 continent
But more rapidly go the tidings from
earth to heaven, and when prodiga
returns il is announced before the throne OF
God. And ii these souls Tn S morning should
enter the kingdom there would De some one
in the heavenly kingdom to say; That my's
father that's my mother, chats my
son > that's my daughter" "thats my
friend that tho one | used TO pray for"
that's the one for whom ! wept so many
tears and one s5ui would say. Hos mna!f
and another soul would say, "Haleu ahi'
"Pleased with the news the sqin low
Ia songs their tongues employ;
Beyond the skies The tlding- 10,
And heaven Is flied with JOY.
ssNor angels can their Joy contain,
But kndie with new fire;
The sinner osi II found. they sing,
And strike the sounding we
AT the hanque. of Lucullus sat Cicero the
orator, at the Macedonian festal sat Philip
the conauerur, at tine Greclan han net sat
Socrates the philosopher: but at our Fathers
table sit all the returned pro1gals. more
than conquerors. The table is so wide its
leaves reach across seas and across lands
It's guests are the redeemed of earth aud
the giorified of heaven. The ring of
Gods forgiveness on every hand, the robe of
a Saviours righteousness adro p from every
shoulder. The wine that glows IN the cups
is from the bowls of ten thousand sacraments
Let all the redeemed OF earth and all the
glorified of heaven rise. and with cleaning
rNalice drink to the return of THOUSAND
prodigas. Sin2l s.ngl sing Worthy is
he Lamb that was slain to receive bless ng
aud riches and honor and glory and power,
world without end
ironaE WHITE. OF Atkinson. Mob,