The morning news., 1892-02-22
sion, and as she listen, to that song she

hears:
And may come. whoever viii.
This man receives poor sinners still.
She puts into that harbor, she kneels by
the rough bench near the door, she says,
20, Lord! Thou who didst have mercy on
Mary Magdalen, take my blistered feet of
the red hot pavement Of hell.n God says,
"My daughter, thy sins are forgiven thee:
20 in peace Now. all the four towers Of
heaven strike a silvery chime. and they
who pass through the celestial streets say,
SWhat's thatg why, the worst sinner must
have been saved. Hear all the four towers
ring, and ring, and ring" "And there lie
Joy in heaven among the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth."
Ny subject impresSes you, / think, with
the thought that il is possible for us to aug
ment the happiness of heaven. People think
that souls before the throne are as happy as
they can be- / deny it. Look at that
mother before the throneOf God. When she
died she left her son in this world a v6Ra-
bond That son repented of his inqulrles
and came to God. Tbereport OF that salYs-
tion has reached heaven. Do you tell me
that mother before the throne Of God has
not her JOY richly augmented! There is
many a man in this house to- day who could
go out with a torch and kindle a new bon
fire of victory on the hills OF heaven. If
you would this day repent and come TO
God, the news of your salvation would
reach heaven. and then. bark 60 the shout
of the ransomed. Your little child went
away from you into the good land. While
she was here you brought her all kinds Of
beautiful presents. Sometimes you came
home at nightfal with your pockets full Of
gifts for her, and no sooner did you pu5
your night-key into the latch than she be-
gan at you, saying: Father. what have
you brought meF She is now before the
throne Of God. Can you bring her gift
to-dayi You NAV. Coming TO Christ and
the throne of God, and your child will hear
of it. o, what a gifth for her soul to-dayl
She will skip with new gladness on the
everlasting hills when she nears Of it.
was at Sharpsburg during the war, and
one day / saw a sergeant dash past on
iathered horse, the blood dripping from the
spurs. | said. That sergeant must be going
on a very important message, he must be
carrying a very important dispatch, or he
wouldn't ride like that" Here are two
angels of God fitting through the house,
Hitting toward the throne on quick dispatch.
What is the news9 Carrying up the story
of souls repentane and forgiven, carrying
the news to the throne of God, carrying the
news to your kindred who are forever
saved. o. There is joy in heaven among
the angels Of God over one sinner that
ttlJcu Itbl. Auu cuppDbo Julo MuOlc hu-
dience should turn to the Lordl Heaven
would be filled with doxologies. o, heaven,
beat with all thy hammers that the rook
may break. o, heaven, strike with all thy
cleaning swords that our souls may be
free. | was reading of king who, after
gaining great victory, said to bis army:
"No, no shouting; let everything lie in
quiet; no shouting" But il this hour your
soul should come to God, nothing
Cnnld sfO tho ahontiuop Of fbn
of God before the throne: for there
is joy in heaven among the an
gels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
In some families they keep a vacant chair
and a vacant plate for the departed; but II
in some of your households you kept a
vacant chair and q vacant plate for those
who have gone away from you into the
next world the vacant chairs and the
vacant plates would outnumber those which
are occupied. | once said to you there are
no vacant chairs in heaven. but l recall
that. Right beside your loved one in that
good land there is a vacant chair,
not made vacant by death, for death
never enters there; it Is vacant chair for
you. viii you take iti
My subject also impresses me with the
idea that heaven and earth are In close sym
pathy. People talk Of heaven as though it
were a great way Off. They say IL is hun
dreds of thousands OF miles before you reach
the first star. and then you 20 hundreds OF
thousands of miles before you get
to the second star, and then it
IS millions of miles before you
reach heaven. They say heaven is ehe
center of the universe and we are on the rim
of the universe That is not the idea of my
text. | think the heart of heaven beats very
close to our world. We measure distances
by the time taken to travel such distances.
1t used to be long distance to San Fran
cisco. Many weeks and months were passed
before you could reach that city. Now it is
six or seven days. II used to be six weeks
before you could voyage from here to Liv-
erpooL Now you can go that distance in
six or seven days And 30 l measure the
distance between earth and heaven, and
find it is only a flash. 1t is one
instant here and another instant there.
1t is very near to-day. Do you not feel
the breath of heaven on your face 2 Christ
says in one place 1t is not twenty-four
hours distance, when he says to the penitent
thief: This day, this day, shalt thou be
with me in paradise" 1t is not a day, it is
not an hour, it is not minute, it is not a
second. OF how near heaven is to earth.
BY oceanic cable you send a message. As
IL is expensive to send message you COM
press great deal of meaning in a few
words. Sometimes in two words you can
put vast meaning, And it seems to me
that the angels of God who carry news from
earth TO heaven need to take up this hour
in regard TO your soul only two words in
order to kindle with gladness all the re-
deemed before the throne; only two words:
Father saved" mother saved" ''son
saved, +" daughter saved" Aud there Is
JOY in heaven among the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth.n
My sub 1ect also impresses me with the
fact that the salvation of the soul is OF vast
Importance. If you should make 5000 600
this year, do you suppose that news would
be carried to heavens 1t would not be of
enough importance or significance to be
carried heavenward. If at the next quad
rennial election you are made President of
the United States. do you suppose that
news would be carried to heaven2 Do you
suppose that the news of a revolution in
France or Spain would be carried to heaven?
These things are not of enough Importance,
but there is one item that is sure to be car
ried. 1t is the salvation of your soul, it is
your repentance before God. The
flying hoofs of Gods couriers clash
through the gates and the news goes from
gate to mansion, and from mansion to
temple, and from temple TO throne, and
there is JOY in heaven" among the angels
of God over one sinner forgiven. 1t must
be of vast Importance to be Of any moment
in heaven, your salvation, in that land
whore gladnesses are the everyday OCCUR
renee, in that land where the common stones
chrysoprasus and carbuncle. and sardonyx
And yet, the news of your salvation makes
10y before the throne of God.