Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1889-03-02
there were at least ten thousand wounded
men reuniting their voices as they came to

the verse:
There everlasting spring ahldes,
And nevcrwitherfn2 flowers:
Death like g narrow stream divides
That heavenly land from ours
Oh. il isa great religion To live by. and it's
a great religion u die by. There IS onJ one
hen-t-throb between you and that religion
this morning. Just look into theface IF voar
! ardoning God, and surrender yourself for
time and for eternity. and H" Is YOURS and
heaven e YOURS. and all is YOUR. Some Of
voG. ike the Young man of the text. have gone
far astrav. / know not the history. but yoa
know i. YOU know it When a Young man
vent forth into life. the Legend SAYS. his
guardian ANGEL wen. forth With him. AMI
getting him into a field the guardian angel
swept a circle clear around whera the Young
man stoti. il vas a circle Of virtue and
honor. and h-4mlst not step beyond that cir
Obliged 10 halt at the circle-they
could not pass. Bot one day a.
temptress with ~dIanonfed hand stretched
forth and crossed that circle with tHn hand,
and the tempted soul took II, and by that one
fell grin was brought bevond the circ'@ and
ii-3 Some If YOU have stepped bagoni that
circle. Won'd you not like this dar by the
trace Of God 10 step back This. say to
YOU, j. your hour Of salvation There was in
the closing hours IF Queen Anne what IS
oalled the clock ecanr. Flat down On the
pillow in helpless sickness she could not
move her heal or move her han.
Size wa> waiting for the hour when
the Ministers III State should
gather IN angry contest, and. worried and
worn out by the coming hour. and IN mo-
nentary ah@ence Of the nurse, in the power.
the strange power which delirium sometimes
zite, one, she ARCS. and stood in front Of the
lock, and stood there watching the clock
when the nurse r-tlinti The nurse said
Do von sA- ANYTHING peculiar about
that c.oek She made no answer,
kAt AL1 H. t.a.. afanIy
scene in every history. If some OF you
would ri," from til" tel Of lethargy and
a9iie ont from vour &c rum Of SIN and look
n the clock Of YOUR destiny this morning,
ytl would see and hear something You have
not seen or heard before. AMI every tick of
IT," minute and every stroke of the hours
and every swing Of the pendulum would
say: Now. now. now now Oh, come home
to your Fathers house. Come home, Oh,
p~rodlgal from the WI lerness. Come home,
ONO home
II. But | notice that when the prodig.l
anne there was the fathers ioy. He did not
rect him with any formal ''Howdc vow do"
Hedld not coIne OUT an say: You are nm
TT 70 enter. 20 ojIt ana wash III the trough
by the we'll, and then you can ONE in. we
have had enough trouble with YOU All
10 When the proprietor Of that estate pro
claimed festival. il vas an outburst Of a
father 8 love and a father iOy. God IS yOrr
Father. | have not much sympathy with
that description Of Goi | sometimes hear, as
though H were a Turkish Sultan. hard AMI
nnsympathetlc, and listening not to the cry Of
His subjects 4 man told me he saw i'll one
Of tn" eastern lands a klng riding along. and
two men were IN alteration. and one charged
the other with having eaten his rice; and the
King said: Then Sla. tie man and Ly post
norton examination find whether he has
eaten the rice And he was slain. All, the
cruelty Of a scene like that. Our God is not
a Sultan, not n Gar, not a despot, but a
Father kind. loving, forgivlng, and He
makes al heaven ring again when a prodiCal
zones tack. II have no pleasure" he slys,
in the death Of him that diett.'
If a man does not get to heaven It is he
cause he will not 90 there. 40 ,tff renee
the color, no difference the history, no differ
ence the antecedents, no difference tie sur
~roIndings, no difference the sin When the
white horses Of ( hrists victory ARE brought
out to celebrate the eternal triumph YOU may
ride one OF them, and as God is greater than
all, His JOY Is greater, and when a soul comes
back there IS III his heart the surgin1 Of an
infinite ocean of gladness. and to express that
gladness 1t takes ali the rivers Of pleasure,
ana all the thrones Of pcInp, aud all the ages
OF eternity. II IS n 10y deeper than all depth.
and higher than all height. and wider than
all width, a!d vastrr than all immensity. II
overtops, it underglrds. it oltweighs all the
united spiendor and 10Y of the universe. Who
can tel what ttols 10Y is
Oh remember reading the story of a
King, who on some great CAV of festivity
scattered silver and gold among the people.
and sent valuable presents to his c0urtiar,
but inethlnks when a soul CONES back. God
Is 50 glad that TO express His .oy He filings
out new worlds into space, ana Eindles uI
new suns. AMI rolls among the white robei
anthems Of the redecnicd a greater hal!elulah
while with a volca that reverberates anon,
the mountains Of frankincense and is
echoed back from the everlasting gates. He
cries - his my Snn uraC i,nl .,l r.,
alive again"
Attic opening of the Exposition in New
Orleans, | saw a Mexican tiuti>t, and h,
played the solo, and then afterwari the eiyht
or Ten bands OF music, accompanied by tn
great organ. came in, but the sound Of tina
one flute as compared with all the orchestrf
was greater than oil the combined Joy Of tht
universe when compared with the resoundin.
heart OF Almighty Col
For ten years a father went three times {
day TO the depot. His son went off in agra.
vating circumstances. but the father said
lie VIII come back. The strain was 10,
much, and his mind parted. and three time
q day the father Went. In tho early ornins
he watched the train. its arrival. the step
p.nS out Of the passengers. and Their
the departure of the train. At noor
he was there again watching the ad
vance or the tram. watching the depart
ure. As night. there. again: watching tn,
coming, watching the gong for ten years
re "dS SURE MS son Would come back. tr0f
has been watching and waiting for some O.
You. my brothers, ten years. twenty wears
thirty years, forty years. perhaps fifty year:
waiting, waiting, watching. watchiny. an
II this morning the p~rodigal should com,
home. what a scene of gladness and f~estivltv
and how the great Fathers heart would r.
lolGe at your coming home. You viii come
some OF yol, viii You not You will. 70,
Will!
III rottce also that when a prodjSs
comes home there Is the JOY Of the ministers
OF Religion On, II Is a grand thing 10 preacl
this Gospel. know there has been n grea
deal sad about the trials and the hari>hlp
81 the Christian ministry. fwlsh someboi,
wauli WI t" a good, rousing book atout III.
Joys OF the I TRISTAN ministry. Since. / e.
tered the profession have seen more of tb4
goodness OF Cod than VIII lie abb !.
celebrate IN oil .ternity Know some tons
about their equilibrium, all thew j, natri,.
into enthusiasm and they do not break dovy
With emotion. hut | confess to Won NAM,