Milford chronicle., 1889-02-08

NANOBAGAA L0AHc HUME.
I'LL notice also that when a prodiga
comes home there is the joy of the ministers
of religion. Oh, it is a grand thing to preach
this Gospel l know there has been a great
deal said about the trials and the hardships
Of the Christian ministry l wish somebody
would write good, rousing book about the
joys of the Christian ministry Since 1 en-
tered the profession have seen more of the
goodness of God than will be able to cele-
brate in all eternity I know some boast
about their equilibrium, and they do not rise
into enthusiasm, and they do not break down
with emotion but 1 confess TO you plainly
that when 1 see a man coming to God and
giving up his sin, feel in body, mind and
soul a transport. When see a man who is
bound hand and foot in evil habit emanci-
pated, rejoice over it as though it were my
own emancipation. When today in our com
munion service such throngs of young and
old stand at these affairs, and in the presence
Of heaven and earth and hell attest their al
legiance to Jesus Christ, feel joy some
thing akin to that which the apostle describes
when he says: whether in the body can
not tell, or out of the body cannot tell; God
knoweth."
| Oh, have not ministers a right to rejoice
when prodical comes homel They blew the
trumpet and ought they not to be glad at the
gathering of the hostl They pointed to the
/ full supply, and ought they not to rejoice
when souls pant as the hart for the water
brooks! They came forth saying: "An
things are now ready;n ought they not to re-
joice when the prodigal sits down at the ban
quetl
Life insurance men will all tell you that
ministers Of religion, as a class, live longer
than any other. It is confirmed by the sta
tistics Of all those who calculate upon human
longevity. Why IS it, There is more draft
upon the nervous system than in any other
profession, and their toll is more exhausting.
l have seen ministers kept on miserable
stipends by parsimonious congregations, who
wondered at the dullness of the sermons,
when the men of God were perplexed almost
to death by questions of livelihood, and had
not enough nutritious food to keep any
fire in their temperament. No fuel, no
fire. have sometimes seen the inside of the
life of many of the American clergymen-
meyer accepting their hospitality, because
they cannot afford it; but l have seen them
struggle on with salaries of five and six hun
dred dollars a year-the average less than
that-their struggle well depicted by the
western missionary who says In a letters
"Thank you for your last remittance; until it
came we had not any meat In our house for
one year, and all last winter, although 1t was
a severe winter, our children wore their sum
mer clothesn And these men Of God find
In different parts of the land, struggling
against annoyances and exasperations
innumerable; some Of them week az,
ter week entertaining agents who have
maps to sell, and submitting themselves to all |
styles of annoyance, and 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 n class live |
longer than any others2 1t is because Of the !
joy of their work, the joy of the harvest field,
the joy of greeting prodigals home to their
Fathers house.
Oh, we are in sympathy with all innocent
hilarities. We can enjoy hearty song, and
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 COM
pared with the satisfaction of seeing men
enter the kingdom of God. The great eras
Of every minister are the outpourings of the
Holy Ghost, and l thank God have seen
eighteen Of them. Thank God, thank Godl
CHRISTIANS Receive CONVERTED SOUL
WITH OPEN ARMS.
". I notice also when the prodigal comes
back all earnest Christians rejoice. II you
stood on Montauk Point and there was hur-
ricane at sea, and it was blowing toward the
shore, and a vessel crashed into the rocks,
and you saw people get ashore in the life
boats, and the very last man got on the rocks
in safety, you could not control your joy.
And it is glad time when the Church Of
God sees men who are tossed On the ocean Of
their sins plant their feet ON the rock Christ
Jesus.
Oh, when prodigals come home just hear
those Christians sing. Just hear those Chris
tians pray. It is not stereotyped supplica-
ton we have heard over and over again for
twenty years, but a putting Of the case in
the hands of God with an importunate plead
ing. No long prayers. Men never pray at
great length unless they have nothing to say
I
prayers in the Bible that were answered were
short prayers: "God be merciful to me u sin
ler." Lord, that I may receive my sight"
Lord, save me or perish The longest
prayer Solomon's prayer at the dedication of
he temple, less than eight minutes in length,
to the ordinary rate of enuncia-
ion
And just hear them pray, now that the
,rodigals are coming home Just see then
haze hands. No putting forth of the four 4
ips Of the fingers in formal way, but a
hearty grasp, where the muscles of the heart
eem to clench the fingers of one hand around
he other hand And then see those Chris
ian faces, how nlumined they are. And see
hat old man get up, and with the same voice
hat he sang fifty years ago in the old coun-
ry meeting house, say: snow, Lord, lettest
hou thy servant depart in peace, for mine
yes have seen thy salvation There was
man Of Keith who was hurled into
lrison In time Of persecution, and one
lay he got Off his shackles and he came
md stood by the prison door, and when
he jailer was opening the door, with one
troke he struck down the man who had /
him. Passing along the streets
f London, he wondered where his family {
vas. He did not dare to ask lest he excite I
uspicion, but, passing along a little way :
rom the prison, he saw Keith tankard, a
up that belonged to the family from gener-
tion to generation-he saw F" in a window. n
lis family, hoping that . day he would :
et clear, came and lived as near as they !
ould to the prison house, and they set that
Ieith tankard In the window, hoping he
gould see it; and be came along, and saw it, ,
nd knocked at the door, and went in,
nd the long absent family were all to- :
ether again Oh, if you would start
Dr. the kingdom of God today, think some
{ you would find nearly all your friends and {
early all your families around the holy
ankard OF the holy communion--fathers,
iothers, brothers, sisters around that sacred
lnkard which commentaries the love Of g