West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1889-02-14

Soulu noo pass But ono day a
forth and crossed that circle with TIE band
ana tne tempted soul took r. and by that one
ieh grip was brought beyond the circle and
c some OK you have stepped beyond that
grace OF God 20 step backi This, I say 70
you, Ii your hour OF salvation. There was in
tno clooing hours OF Queen Anne what is
called the clock scene Flat down on the
pillow In helpless sickness she could not
move her head or move her hand.
bhe was waiting for the hour when
the Ministers OF State should
gather In angry contest and. worried and
worn out oy the coming hour, ana in mo-
m~entary absence OF the nurse, In the power,
the strange power which delirium sometimes
gives one, she arose and stood In front OF the
clock, and stood thero watching the clock
when the nurse returned. Tho nurse said:
DO you SEQ anything peculiar about
that clockf' She made no answer,
but soon died. There is a clock
scene, In every history. II some OF you
would rise from tho bed Of lethargy and
come out from your delirium OF sin and look
on the clock OF your destiny this morning,
you would SEQ and hear something you have
the minute, and every stroke OF the hour,
and every swing OF the pendulum would
say; Now. now, now, now~ oh, come home
to your Fathers house. Come home, oh.
prodigal. from the wilderness. Come home,
como homsl
III. But 1 notice that when tho prodigal
came there was the fathers 10Y. He did not
greet him with any formal How do you dor
Hsd did not come out ami say: "You arc I'M
np 70 enteri 60 out and wash In the trough
by the well, and then you can como In; we
have had enough trouble with you" Ali
no. when the proprietor of that estate pro-
claimed festival, It was an outburst Of a
fathers love and a fathers Joy. God Is your
Father. bave not much sympathy with
that description OF God l sometimes hear, as
/ th0frUh Hn q 0N,~It.l N - 49,
n~nsympathetic, and listening not TO the cry OF
His subJecta A man told me he saw In one
OF the eastern lands a King riding s!onR. and
Two men were In alteration, and one charged
the obher with having eaten his rice; and the
King SAID: Then SHAY the man and by post
mortem examination find whether he as
eaton the rice" And he was slain. All the
cruelty OF a scone like that. Our God Is not
a sultan, not a Car. not a despot, but n
Father-kind, loving, forgiving, and He
makes AL heaven ring again when a prodigal
comes back. or have no pleasure he aavs
in tho death OF him that dieth.n
II q man does not get TO heaven it Is be-
cause ne WI not &C there. No difference
the color, no difference the history, no differ
encs the antecedents, no difference the sur
~roundlngs, no difference the sin. When the
white horses OF Christ's victory are brou0ht
OUT 10 celebrate the eternal triumph you may
ride ono or them, and as God il greater than
All, his JOY Is greater, and when a soul comes
pack there Is IN his heart tho sureing of an
infpite ocean OF gladnoss. and to express that
badness Il takes oil the rivers Of pleasure,
ana all the thrones OF ponlp, and oil the aces
OF eternity. lt Is a Joy deeper than all dentb.
and higher than all height, and wider than
all width, and vaster than oil immensely. IL
overtops, 1t nndergirds. it outweighs all tho
united splendor and Joy OF the universe. WHO
can tell what Gods 10Y Ia
Aou remember reading the story OF n
KING, who on some great day Of ~festiyity
scaIoered silver and gold among the people,
| md sent UQlnahln VarnuapNu - :.
but methinks when a soul comes back. God
Is so glad that to express His 10y He filings
out new worlds into space. and Eindles I'M
new suns ana rolls among the white .robed
anthems OF tho redeemed a greater halieluiah.
while with a voice that reverberates among
the mountains OF frankincenss and ia
echoed back from the everlasting gates, He
alive again"
AZ the opening Of the Exposition I'm New
Orleans, l saw n Mexican futist, 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 hute as compared with all the orchestra
was greater than all the combined Joy OF the
universe when compared with the r%esounding
heart OF Almighty God.
For ten years O father went three times O
day to the depot. Hi5 son went of in aggra-
vating circumstances, but the father said.
III viii come back The strain was too
much, and his mind parted, and three times
a day the father went. In the early morning
be watched the train, its arrival. the step.
ping out or the passengers. and then
tho departure OF tho train. At noon
he was there again Watching the ad.
vance OF the train, watching tho depart
ure. As night. there again; watching the
coming, watching the going for ten years.
he was sure his son would come back. Cod
has been watching end waiting for some of
YOU, my brotbers, ten years, twenty years,
thirty years, forty years, perhaps fifty years
IL this morning the ~proiigal should come
homo, what a scene of gladness and festivitv.
aud how the great Fathers heart would 70.
1oice at your coming home. You will come,
some Of you, will you mott You will. Won
will
III. I notice also that when a prodigal
comes home there IS the joy OF the ministers
OF religion, Oh, Il IS a grand thing to preach
this GospeL ] know there has been a great
deal said about the trials and ths hariships
OF tho Christian ministry. ] wish somebody
would WI % a good, roUsiDg book about tho
joys OF the Christian ministry. Since / on
tered the profession i have seen more of tina
goodness OF God than [ will 10 able to
celebrate in all eternity. / know some boast
about their equilibrium, and they do not rise
into enthusiasm and they do not break down
with emotion; but | confess TO you plainly
that whan 1 see n raan coming To GoJ. and
giving up his sin 7 feel In body, mind, and scul
= transport. When / see a man who is bound
hand and foot IN evil habit emencipated,
rejoice over II as though it we're my own
emancipation. When today in our com.
munion fsrvico such throngs OF young and
old stand at these n'tGrs. and in the TrPsencc
n heaven and earth and hen attest their al
legience d Jesus Christ, i feel a JOY some
thinZ akin 20 that which tho apostle de.
scribes when 10 says: Whether in the body
] cannot tell, or OFT OF the body I cannot
tell God knoTsth.n
Oh, have not ministers n rizht 70 rejoice
whom a prOdigai comes hom0l They blew
tho trumpet. and ought fhey not 20 be glad
Of TIE gathering Of The hosti They pointed
70 the full supply, and ought they not 70 ro-
10ico when souls pant os the hart for tho
water-br0oksi They come forta saying "All
things arc now ready ought they not 20
rejoice when the proiigal sits down at the
banquet
LIE insurance men win All tell You that
ministers d religion IS q class live longer
tnan any other. 10 IL confirmed by tho sta
tlstlcs OF all those who calculate upon human
longevity Why is &c There Is mora draft
upop tpe nervous system than in my other
profession, and their toll y more ~exhaustipg.
J have seen ministers kept on miserable sti-
ponds by psrsimoniOJ congregations who
wondorqd o. The dullno5s of the ssrTaOns. when
me men OF God were psrpioxed almost 20
death by questions ~ Hv0iihood, ond had no.
enough nutrjliOus food 90 keep any Gr8 in
their t8mperam9ut No fuel. no Ere Ihavo
sometimes asan the inside Of tha iifs OF many
or inc American rIaIrgUltu --ul#9r accept