The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-03-06

|
Jesus Christ, feel a Joy something akin to
that which the apostle describes when he
says whether in the body can not tell,
or out of the body l can not tell; God
kloweth.''
o, have not ministers right to rejoice
when prodigal comes homel They blew
the trumpet, and ought they not to be glad
of the gathering of the host} They pointed
to the full supply and ought they not to re-
I joice when souls pant as the hart for the
| waterbrookss They came forth saying: "Al
things are now ready" ought they not to
rejoice when the prodigal sits down at the
banquet!
Life insurance men will all tell you that
ministers Of religio9as class 1--we longer
than any other. 1t 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 most eXhaustlng.
| ! have seen ministers kept on miserable Sti-
pends by parsimonious congregations who
wondered at the dullness OF the sermon,
when the men Of God were perplexed al
most 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 in
side Of the life Of many Of the American
clergymen-never accepting their hospital
ity, because they can not afford it; but l
have seen them struggle on with salaries OF
! five and six hundred dollars year-the
| average less than that-their struggle well
| depicted by the Western missionary who
says in letter: '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 it was a severe winter.
our children wore their summer Clothes"
And these men of God l find in different
parts OF the land, struggling against annoy
ances and exasperations innumerablc; some
Of them week after week entertaining
agents who have maps to sell, and submit
ing 70 all styles OF annoyance, and yet with
out complaint and cheerful Of soul. How
do you account for the fact that these life
| insurance men tell us that ministers as a
class live longer than any others! 1t IS be-
| cause of the Joy Of their work, the Joy Of
the harvest field, the Joy Of greeting prodi-
gals home to their fathers house.
o. 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
compared with the satisfaction of seeing
men enter the kingdom Of God. The great
eras Of every minister are the outpouring
Of the Holy Ghost and thank God have
seen eighteen Of them. Thank God, thank
God.
W. notice also when the prodigal comes
back, all earnest Chr istians rejoice. If you
stood on Montauk Point and there was a
hurricane at sea- and it was blowing toward
the shore, and 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 a glad tine when the church
of God sees men who are tossed on the ocean
of their sins plant their feet on the rock
Christ Jesus.
o, when prodigals come home just hear
those Christians sing. Just hear those Chris
tians pray. Its not stere otyped suppl
cation we have heard over and over again
for twenty years, but putting Of the case
in the hands OF God with an importunete
pleading. No long prayers. Men never
pray at great length unless they have moth
ing to say and their hearts are hard and
cold. All the prayers in the Bible that were
ans swered were short prayers. "God be
meroiful to me sinner" ''Lord, that may
receive my sight" "Lord, save me or
perish" The longest prayer, Solomon's
prayer at the dedication Of the temple, less
than eight minutes in length, accor ding to
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 the four tips
Of the fingers in formal way, but 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 Illuminated they are. Aud 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 man 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 he
struck down the man who had incarcerated
him. Passing along the streets OF London
he wondered where his family was. BE did
not dare ask lest he excite suspicion. but,
passing along little way from the prison,
be saw a Keith tankard, cup that belonged
to the family from generation to generation
he saw It In window His family, hop
Ing that some Jay he would get clear, came
and lived as near as they could to the prison
house. and they set that Keith tankard IN
the window, hoping he would see it; and he
came along and saw i. and knocked at the
door, and went in, and the long-absent fam
ilv were all together again. 0, il you would
start far the kingdom Of God to-day. think
some Of you would And nearly all your
friends ami nearly all your families around
the holy tankard CT the holy communion
fathers mothers, brothers, sisters around
that sacred tankard which comnemorates
| the love OF Jesus Christ our Lord. o, 1t
will be great communion day when your
whole family sits around the sacred tank
ard. One on EARTH one IN heaven.
V.-Once remarked that when the prodi-
| gal gets back the inhabitants OF Heaven
keep festival. l am very certain OF IT. II
you have never seen telegraphic chart
| you have no idea how many cities are con-
nected together and how many lands.
Nearly all the neighborhoods of tho
earth seem articulated and news flies
from city to city, and from continent
to continent But more rapidly go the
tidings from earth to Heaven, and when
prodigal retsrus it is announced before
the throne OF God. And if these souls this
morning should enter the kingdom there
would be some one in the Hea"enly king
dom to say: That's my father That's
my mother" That's my son," That's my
daughter" ;" "That's my friend" "" That's tho
one used to pray for, That's the ono for
whom wept so many tears and one soul
would say, "Hosannar' and another soul
would say, "HalleIujahn' ~
PLEASED with the news the saints below
In songs their tongues employ;
| Beyond the skies the ttdings so,
And Heaven is filed with JOY.
Nor angels can their Joy contain,