Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-02-10
fCouttuued from 6rs. pase.)

Wuen souls pant 10 tue mart loT tiS
water brooksl They came forth say
ing: "All things an nov ready"
0ught they not to rejoice when the
Prodigal sits down at the banquet
Life insurance men will all tell you
that ministers of religion as a class
live longer than any other. II is con-
Armed by the statistics of all those
who calculate upon human longevity,
Why is itl There is more draft upon
fhe nervous system than in any other
profession, and their toll is more ex-
hausting. j have seen ministers kept
ON miserable stipends by parsimonious
congregations who wondered at the
dizziness of their 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-
nev accepting their hospitality, be-
cause they cannot afford it; but have
seen them struggle on with salaries of
five and six hundred dollars a year
the average less than that their
struggle well depicted by the western
missionary who says in a letter:
s'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 il was a sever win
Der, our children wore their summer
clothes And these men of God l
fni in different parts of the land,
struggling against annoyances and
exasperations innumerable; some OF
them week after week entertaining
agents who have maps 20 sell, and
submitting themselves to all styles Of
annoyance. and yet without complaint
and cheerful of soul. How do you
account for the fact that these life in
surance men tell us that ministers 5
class live longer than any othersl
IL is because of the JOY Of their work.
the joy of the harves, Geld. the JOY of
greeting prodigals home TO their
fathers house.
Oh, we are in sympathy with all in
nocent hNarities. We can enjoy a
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 compared
with the satisfaction of seeing, men
enter the kingdom Of God. The great
eras of every minister are the outpour-
imgs Of the Holy Ghost. and i thank
God ! have seen eighteen of them.
Thank God, thank God!
CHRISTIANS RECEIVE A CONVERTED
SOUL WITH OPEN ARMS.
~. | notice, also, when the prodi-
gal comes back all earnest Christians
rejoice. II you stood on Montauk
Point and there was a hurricane at
sea, and it was blowing toward the
shore, and a vessel crashed into the
rocks and you saw people get ashore
"A the lfeboats and the very last man
got on the rocks in safety, you could
not control your joy. And it is a
Rand time when he church of God
Sos 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
fhose Christians pray. II is not a
stereotyped su~pplicaton we have heard
over and over again for twenty years,
but a putting Of the case in the hands
of God with an importunate pleading.
No long prayers. Men never pray at
great length unless they have nothing
TO say and their hearts are hard and
cold. All the prayers in the Bible
that were answered were short prayers:
God be merciful TO me a sinner"
lord, that | may receive my sight"
lord, a v me or | perish" The
longest prayer, Solomon's prayer at
the dedication Of the temple, less than
eight minutes in length, according 10
the ordinary rate of enunciation.
And just hear them pray now that
the prodigals are coming home. Just
see them shake hands. No putting
forth of the four tips of the fingers in
. formal way, but a hearty grasp,
where the muscles Of the heart seem
TO clench the fingers of one hand
around the other hand. 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 the old country
meeting house, say: Now, Lord,
lettest thou thy servant depart in
peace, for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation" There was a nan Of
Keith who was hurled into prison in
time Of persecution, and one day he
got off his shackles and he came and
stood by the prison door, and when
the jailer was opening the door, with
one stroke lie struck down the man
who had incarcerated him. Passing
along the streets Of London he won
dered where his family was. He did
not dare 10 ask lest he excite suspicion,
but, passing along a little way from
the prison, he saw a Keith tanlsard. a
cup that belonged TO the family from
generation 10 generation-hesaw il in a
window. His family, hoping that some
day he would get clear, cameand lived
as near as they could b. the prison
house, and they set that Keith tankard
in the window, hoping he would see
ID; and he came along and saw il, and
knocked at the door, and went in, and
the long absent family We're all to-
gether again. Oh, If you would start
for the Kingdom Of God today, / think
rome Of you would find nearly all
your friends and nearly all your fami-
lies around the holy tankard of the
holy communion-fathers mothers,
brothers, sisters around that sacred