The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1894-11-22

| and the tempted sour tooA ". hh ~ 80
! one fell grip was brought beyond the circle
| and died.
Some of YOU have stepped beyond that cr.-
! Gle. Would YOU not like this day, by the
grace of God. to step back? This. I say 10
| YOU. is YOUR hour OF salvation. There was
| In the closing hours OF Queen Anne what Is
called the clock scena. 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. m
worried and worn out by the coming hour'
and in momentary absence OF the nurse, IN
the power-the strange power which de-
irum sometimes gives one--she arose AMI
stood in front of the clock. and stoo | there
watching the clock when the nurse returne >.
The nurse said. "Do Gu see anything pPcu
lar about that clockY' 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 AMI come ont OF
-FOUR delirium of sin and look on the clock Of
your destiny this moment. YOU would SEQ
and hear something YOU have not seen or
or heard before. and every TICK OF the minute.
and every stroke of the hour, and every
swing of the pendulum. would say. "Now.
now, now. now o.. come home to vonr
Fathers house! Come home, oh. pro !i0dl.
from the wilderness Come home, cone
home!
But notice that when the pro iic1i cana
lhere was the fathers JOY. h did not great
him with any formal Glow 20 YOU do? IA
did not come out and say: "You are unit TO
enter. Go out and wash in the trough by
the we'll, and then you can come in. we
have had enough trouble With you" An.
MOI When the proprietor OF that estate pro-
claimed festival. it was an outburst OF
fathers love and fathers JOY. Col il
your father.
have not much sympathy with ta1t d.
scription of God sometimes hear. asthoU"l
He were Turkish sutan-1ard AMI unsym-
pathetic and listening not to the cry OF His
subjects. A man told me he saw in one o'tha
eastern lands king ri ling along, an two
men were in an alteration. an one charge
the other with having eaten his rice, AMI
the king said. "Then slav tho man, and by
post mortem examination find whether ha
has eaten the rice" And he was ain. An.
the cruelty Of scene like that Our God is
not sultan. not a despot. but father
kind, loving, forgiyinc--and He makes all
heaven ring again when profigal CONES
back. II have no pleasure He says, sip
the death Of him that dieth"
II a man does not get heaven. it is because
he will not go there. No difference the co..
or. no difference the history no difference
the antecedents, no difference the surround
ings, no difference the sin. When the white
celebrate the eternal triumph, you may rds
one of them. and, as God is greater than all.
His JOY is greater. and when 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 pleas
ure, and all the thrones of pomp. and all tha
ages OF eternity. 1t is JOY deeper than all
depth, and higher than all height, and
wider than all width, and vaster than all i'm
IA Iar rln nttt
weighs all the united splendor and Joy OF the
universe. Who can tell what Coils joy is?
You remember reading the story of a king
who on some great day of festivity scat
tered silver and gold among the people, who
sent valuable presents to his courtiers, but
methinks when soul comes back God IS
so glad that to express His Joy He filings out
new worlds into space, kindles up new suns
and rolls among the white robed anthems of
the redeemed a greater halleluiah, while
with voice that reveroerates among the
mountains of frankincense and is echoed
back from the everlasting gates He cries.
"This, my son. was dead and is alive again y
At the opening Of the exposition in New
Orleans I saw a 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 flute as compared with all the or
chestra was greater than all the combined
Joy of the universe when compared with the
resounding heart of Almighty God.
For ten years father went three times a
day to the depot. His son went off in ag-
gravating circumstances. but the father said,
''He will come back" The strain was too
much and his mind parted. and three times
day the father went. In the early morning
he watched the train-its arrival, the step
ping out of the passengers, and then the de-
parture of train. At noon he was there
again, watching the advance OF the train,
watching the departure.
At night there again, watching the COM
ing, watching the going, Tor ten years. He
was sure his son would come back. God has
been watching and waiting for some OF you.
my brothers, ten years. twenty years, thirty
years, forty years, perhaps fifty years. wait
ing, waiting. watching. watching. and il
this morning the prodigal should come
home, what a scene of gladness and festivity
and how the great Fathers heart would
rejoice at your coming home! You will
come, some OF you. will you not? You will,
you will
notice also that when a prodiSal comes
home there is the JOY OF the ministers of re-
ligion. Oh, it is a grand thing to preach
this gospel! know there has been a great
deal said about the trials and the hardsnips
of the Christian ministry. Iwish somebody
would write good. rousing book about the
joys OF the Christian ministry. Since | en-
tered the profession have seen more OF the
goodness of God than l will be able to cele-
brate in all eternity. 1 know some boast
about their equilibrium, and they do not
rise into enthusiasm, and they do not break
down with emotion, but 1 confess to you
plainly that when l see a man coming to
God and giving up his sin I feel in body,
mind and soul a transport. When / see u
man who is bound hand and foot in evil
habit emancipated. l reioics over it as
though it were my own emancipation. When.
in our Communion service, such throngs of
young and old stood up at the affairs and in
the presence of heaven and earth and hell
attested their allegiance to Jesus Christ, l
felt a joy something akin to that which the
apostle describes when he says: "Whether
in the body cannot tell. or out OF the body
l cannot tell. God knoweth."
Have not ministers right to rejoice
when a prodigal comes home? They olew
the trumpet and ought they not to be glat
OF the gathering of the host They pointed
iothe full supply, and ought they not to re-
ioce when souls pant as the mart for the
water brooks? They came .orth saying,
GAN things are Iow ready" Ought they
not rejoice when the pro iigal sits down ut
the banquet?
Life insurance men will all tell you that
r,iriater. ut rplivi0n ne "a class live lon ar