Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-11-28

Watching the clock when the nurse returned.
The nurse said, "Do YOU see anything pecu'-
lar about that clock?" She made no answer,
but soon died. There is a clock scene in
every history. II some Of you would rise
from the bed Of lethargy and como ont OF
your delirium of sin and look on the clock OF
your destiny this moment, you would see
md 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, nowr' Oh. come home to your
7ather's house! Come home, oh. prodigal,
rom tho wildernessl Come home, come
aomel
But notice that when the pro1igal came
there was the fathers Joy. He did not greet
him with any formal "How 10 vou do?' He
did not come out and say: "You are unfit to
enter. Go out and wash in tle trough by
the well, and then you can come in. We
have had enough trouble with you" All,
mol When the proprietor oithst estate pro-
claimed fes; wal. 1t was an outburst OF
fathers love ami fathers JOY. Col Is
your father.
have not much sympathy with that de-
scription OF God sometimes hear, asthou yh
He were Turkish sultan-hard and unsyn-
pathetic and listening not to the cry OF His
subjects. A man told me he saw in ono ofthe
eastern lands a king riding along, and two
men were in an alteration, and one charged
the other with having eaten his rice. and
the king said, "Then slay the man, and by
post mortem examination find whether he
has eaten the rice." And he was slain. All,
the cruelty Of a scene Ike that Our God is
kind, loving, forgivinC--and He makes all
heaven ring again whom proiigal comes
back. 81 have no pleasure" he says, ''in
the death OF him that dieth."
Ifa man does not get heaven, It Is because
he Will not 60 there. No differenc, the col
H.
the antecedents. no difference the surround
ings, no difference the sin. When the white
horses Of Christ'5 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 cones
back there is in His heart the surging OF an
infinite ocean of gladness, and to express
that gladness it takes all the rivers of plsss-
ure, and all the thrones OF pomp, and all the
ages OF eternity. 1t is Joy deeper than all
depth, and higher than all height, and
wider than all With, and vas.er than all inn
| mensity. 1t overtops. it undersirls. it out
weighs all the united spiendor AMI joy Of the
universe. Who can tell what Gods Joy is?
You remember reading the story o. king
who on some great day OF festivity scat
tered silver and gold among the people, who
sent valuable presents to his cour.iers, but
methinks when a soul comes back God Is
so glad that to express His Joy He filings out
new worlds into space, kindes up new suns
and rolls among the white robed anthems OF
| the redeemed a greater halleluiah, while
with voice that reverDerates among the
mountains of frankincense and Is echoed
back from the everlasting gates He cries.
"rhis, my son. was dead and is alive again r
At the opening of the exposition In New
Orleans l saw 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 souni OF
that one flute as compare1 with all the Or
chestra was greater than all the combined
JOY OF the universe when compared with the
resoundinc heart of Almighty God.
For ten years father went three times a
day 10 the depot. His son went of in ag-
aravatinS circu n stances, but the father said,
''He viii! come back" The strain was too
much. and his mind parted, and three times
a day the father went. In the early morning
he watched the train-'ts arrival, the step
ping out OF the passengers, and then the de-
paIturo vf .rain 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, for 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
rejoice at your coming homel You will
come, some OF you, will you not7 You will.
you will
Inotice also that when a prodigal comes
home there is the joy OF the ministers OF re-
ligion. oh, 1t is a grand thing to preach
this gospel know there has been a great
deal said about the trials and the harisnips
of the Christian ministry. Iwish somebody
would write a good. rousing book about the
joys OF the Christian ministry. Since en-
tered the profession have seen more OF the
goodness of God than 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 I confess 10 you
plainly that when see a man coming to
God and giving up his sin | feel In boty,
mind and soul a transport. When l see a
| man who Is bound hand and foot In evil
| haiti emancipated, I rejoice over it as
though it wefo 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.
| felt Joy something akin to that which the
I apostle describes when he says: "Whrther
in the body 1 cannot tell, or out OF the boiy
l cannot tell. God knoweth."
Have not ministers q right to rejoice
when proiiSll comes homer They blew
the trumpet, and ought they not to be ga /
OF the gathering OF the host' They pointed
tothe full supply, and ought they not to re-
| ioice when souls pant as the hart for the
water brooks? They came forth saying,
Gan things are now ready" Ought they
not rejoice when the prodigal sits down at
| the banquet?
Life insurance men will all tell you that
| ministers of religion as a class live longer
than any other. 1t is confirmed by the
statistics, 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 is most exhausting. 1 have
seen ministers kept on miserable sti-
psnds by PafsimoniSus .sn e9ng.esations 1s
when the men OF God were perplexed almos,
to death by questions OF livelihood and had
not enough nutritious food to keep any fire.
in their temperament. No fuel, no fire. l
| have sometimes seen the inside OF the life of
| many Of the American clergymen-never ac-
cepting their hospitality because they cam
| not afford it-but have seen them stru Sgie
on with salaries Of $500 and $500 year, the
| average less than that, their struggle we'll
depicted by the Western missionary who
says In letter: "Thank you for your last
remittance. Until 1t came we had not any
meat in our house for one year, and all last
winter. although 1t was a severe winter, our
children wore their summer clothes"
| And these men of God I find in difTeran.
| parts Of the land, struggling against annoy
I ances and eXasperations innumerable. SONS
/ Of them wcse After week ent nterta1nfng Rgenu
/, who have maps to sell and submitting them
J selves to all styles OF annoyances, and yet
! without 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? II is be-
cause OF the JOY of their work, the Joy OF the
harvest field, the joy OF greeting prodigals
| home TO their Fathers house.
| We are in sympathy with all innocent
| hilaritiaS We can enjoy n hearty aOnp. Rni
va can be merry with the merriest, but those
| of US who have toiled In the service arr
ready to testify all these joys are tame CON-
| pared with the satisfaction of seeing men
enter the inydom Of God. The great eras
| Of every minister are the outrourngs OF the
Holy Ghost, and I thank God have sarn
twenty of them, Thank God, thank God
I notice also when the pro1igal comes
pack all earnest Christians rejoice. II you
| stood on a promontory, and there was a hur-