Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-11-17

/ OF pleasure, and all the thrones of pomp,
and all the ages Of eternity 1t is q joy
deeper than all depth, and higher than
all height, and wider than all width, and
vaster than all immensely. It overtops,
it undergirds, it outweighs ell the unit
ed splendor and joy of the universe
Who can tell what Gods JOY is?
The Rejoicing Father.
You remember reading the story of a
king who OH some great day of festivi-
ty scattered silver and gold among tho
people, who sent valuable presents to
his courtiers, but methinks when a soul
comes back God is SO glad that to ex-
press his joy he filings out new worlds
into space, kindles up new suns and
rolls among the white robed anthems of
the redeemed greater halleluiah, while
with voice that reverberates among
the mountains of frankincense and is
echoed back from the everlasting gates
he cries, This, my son, was dead and
is alive againp'
At the opening of the exposition in
New Orleans / saw a Mexican flutist,
and he played the solo, and then after
ward the eight OF ten bands of music,
accompanied by the great organ, came
in, but the sound of that one flute as
compared with all the orchestra was
greater than all the combined joy of the
universe when compared with the re-
sounding heart of Almighty God
For ten years a father went three
times day to the depot His son went
off in aggravating circumstances, but
the father said, He will come back ="
The strain was too much, and his mind
parted, and three times a day the father
went. In the early morning he watch
ed the train-its arrival, the stepping
ont 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
coming, watching the going, for ten
years. He was sure his son would come
back. God has been watching and wait
ing for some of you, my brothers, 10
years, 20 years, 80 years, 40 years. per-
haps so years, waiting, waiting, watch
ing, watching, and if 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 homel You will come,
some of you, will you not? You will,
Won will
Joy Over the Repentant.
| notice also that when q prodigal
comes home there is the joy of the min
listers of religion. Oh, it is grand thing
to preach this gospel! l know there has
been great deal said about the trials
and the hardships of the Christian min
istry. | wish somebody would write a
good, rousing book about the joys of the
Christian ministry. Since | entered the
profession have seen more of the good
ness of God than | will be able to cele-
brate in all eternity. | know some boast
about their equilibrium, and they dorot
rise into enthusiasm, and they do not
break down with emotion, but confess
to you plainly that when l see man
coming to God and giving up his sin
feel in body, mind and soul transport
When | see a man who is bound hand
and foot in evil habit emancipated, | re-
joice over 1t as though it were my own
emancipation. When, i'll our commun-
ion 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,
felt a joy something akin to that which
the apostle describes when no says:
whether i'll the body | canrCt tell, or
out of the body cannot tell. God know
eth. -
Have rot ministers q right to rejoice
when prodigal comes home? They
blew the trumpet, and ought they rot
to be glad of the gathering of tho lost?
They pointed to the full supply, and
ought they not to rejoice when souls
pant as the hart for the water brooks?
They came forth saying, "All things
are now ready Ought they not re-
joice when the prodigal sits down at
the banquet?
How Ministers Are Sustained.
Life insurance men will all tell You
that ministers of religion as class live
longer than any other. 1t is confirmed
by the statistics of all those who calcu-
late upon human longevity. Why is it?
There is more draft upon the nervous
system than in any other profession, and
their toll is most exhausting. | have
seen ministers kept on miserable sti-
ponds by parsimonious congregations
who wondered az the dizziness of the
sermon, when the men of God were
perplexed almost to death by questions
of livelihood and had not enough nu-
tritious food to Keep any fire il their
temperament. No fuel, no fire have
sometimes seen the inside of the life of
many of the American elergymen-
never accepting their hospitality be-
cause they cannot afford it--but have
seen them struggle on with salaries of
$500 and 5000 year, the average less
than that, their struggle well depict
ed 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 wear,
and all last winter, although it was a
severe winter, our children wore their
summer clothes
And these men of God find in differ
ent parts of the land, struggling against
annoyances and exasperations innumer-
able, some of them week after week en-
tertaining agents who have maps to sell
and submitting themselves to all styles
OF annoyances, and yet without COM
plant and cheerful of soul How do
you account for the fact that these life
insurance men tell us that ministers as
class live longer than any others? 1t
is because of the joy of their work, the
JOY of the harvest field, the joy of greet
ing prodigals home to their Fathers
house.
Our Innocent Joys.
We are in sympathy with all innocent
hilarities- We can enjoy hearty song,
and we can be merry with the merriest,
but those of rs who have toiled in the
service are ready to testify all these joys
are tame compared with the satisfac-
lion of seeing men enter the kingdom of
,iod. The great eras of every minister
ire the outpourings of the Holy Ghost,