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


Death like narrow stream divides
That heavenly land from onrsn
Oh. it is a great religion to live by and it /.
a great religion to die by. There is only one
hearf-tbrob between You and that religion
this morning. Just look into the face Of vou,
hardening God, and surrender Yourself for
time and Tor eternity, and He is yours, and
heaven is yours. and Ill is yours Some of
you. like the young man of the text have cone
Tar astray. l know not the history. but Won
know IL, You know it When a Young man
went forth into life, the legend SAYS. his
guardian angel went forth with him, and
| getting him into field the guardian ANGEL
swept circle clear around where the yo ung
/ man stood 1t was a circle of virtue and
honor. and he must not step beyond that cir
Gle Armet foes came down but were
Obliged to halt at the c;rcle-they
could not pass. But one day n
temDtress with diamonded hand stretched
Ior,n ana crossed that circle with the hand
and the tempted soul took tand by that one
iell grip was brought beyond the circle and
died Some OF Won have stepped beyond that
circle. Would you not like this day bv the
| grace OF God to step backl This, [ say 10
you, Is your hour of salvation There was in
the closing hours OF Queen Anne what is
called the clock sccnn. Flat down on the
pillow in helpless sickness she could not
move her head or move her hand.
| She was waiting for the hour when
| the Ministers of State should
gather in angry contest. and, worried and
worn out by the coming hour, aud in mo
mentary absence OF the nurse, in the power
the strange power which delirium sometimes
gives one. she arose and stood in front of the
clock, AMI stood there watching the clock
when the nurse returned. The nurse said:
DO you see anything peculiar about
mat cock" She made no answer
but soon died. There is clock
scene in every history II some OF YOU
would rise from the bed of lethargy and
come out from your de'irium of sin and look
on the clock of your destiny this morning,
you would see and hear something you have
not seen or heard before, and every tick OF
the minute, aud every stroke of the hour.
and every swing OF the pendulum would
say; Now. now, now, nowm Oh, come home
to YOUR Fathers house. Come home, oh,
prodigal- from the wilderness. Come home,
come homal
II. But 1 notice that when the prodigal
came there was the fathers ioy. He did not
greet him with any formal How do Won do n
Heidi not come out an | say: "You are un-
nj TO enter: go out and wash in the trough
by the well, and then you eau come in; we
have bad enough trouble with YOU All
no. When the proprietor of that estate pro
claimed festival, il was an outburst of a
fathers love and a fathers Joy. God is your
rather. | have not much sympathy with
that description of God sometimes hear as
though He were a Turkish Sultan. hard and
unsympathetic, and listening not to the cry Of
His subjects A man told me he saw in one
OF the eastern lands King riding along and
two men were in alteration. and one charged
the other with having eaten his rice: and the
King said "Then Stay the man and by post
norton examination find whether he has
eaten the rice" And he was slain. Ali the
cruelty of a scene like that Our God is not
Sultan, not Car, not despot but
Father-kind. loving, forgiving, and He
makes makes AL beaver ring again when pEoiiga
lin the death of him that dieth.n
III man does not get to heaven II is be-
cause he will not go there. No difference
the color, no difference the history, no differ
ence the antecedents, no difference TIE sur
roundinas, no difference the sin. When the
white horses of Christ's victory are brought
out to celebrate the eternal triumph you may
ride one of them, and God is greater than
all, His Joy is greater, aud when n soul comes
back there is in his heart the surging of an
infinite ocean of gladness. and 10 express that
gladness it takes all the rivers of pleasure
and all the thrones of pomp. and all the ages
OF eternity. IL is Joy deeper than all depth,
and higher than all height and wider than
all width, and vaster than all immensely lt
overtops, it undergrds. it outweighs all the
united splendor and 10Y of the universe Who
can tell what Gods JOY is
You remember reading the story OF a
King, who on some great day of festivity
scattered silver and gold among the people.
and sent valuable presents to his courters:
but methinks when soul come. back, God
is so glad that TO express His Joy He filings
out new worlds into space, and Eindles up
new suns. and rolls among the white robed
anthems OF the redeemed greater halelujah
white with voice that reverberates among
the mountains OF franldncense and IS
echoed hack from the everlasting gates, He
cries: "rhis, my son, was dead anu he is
alive again.
At the opening of the Exposition in New
Orleans | saw n Mexican flutist and he
played the solo, and then afterward the eight
or ten bands Of music, accompanied by the
great organ. came in: but the sound of that
one flute as compared with all the orchestra
was greater than all the combined joy OF the
universe when compared with the resounding
heart of Almighty God.
For ten years a father went three times
day to the depot. His son went of in aggra-
waiting circumstances but the father said:
HE will come back The strain was too
much and his mind parted, and three times
a day the father went. In the early morning |
he watched the train. its arrival, the step
ping out of the passengers, and then
the departure of the train. At noon |
he was there again watching the adj
vance of the train. watching the depart |
ure. As night. there again; watching the |
coming, watching the going for ten years.
He was sure his son would come oacK 1od
has been watching and Whiting Tor some OF
YOU my brothers, ten years. twenty years,
thirty years, forty years. perhaps fifty yesrs
waiting, waiting watching. Watching and
if this morning the prodigal should come
home what a scene OF gladness and festivity,
and how the great Fathers heart would re-
joice at your coming home. You VIII come,
some of you. will you not. You VIII, you
will ,
III. | notice also that when prodlgal
comes home there is the joy OF the ministers
of religion. Oh, it is grand thing to preach
this Gospel | know there has been great
deal said about the trials and the hardships
of the Christian ministry. wish somebody
wouli wr te a good, rousing book about the
lows of the Christian ministry. Since en-
tered the profession / have seen more OF the
goodness of God than | will be able to
Celebrate in all eternity. know some boast
about their equilibr UNI and they a. not rise
into enthusiasm and they do not break down
with emotion: but confess TO you plainly
that when see a man coming to God. and
r;,,;,, nv, b;s sin feel in body, mind, ana sou