The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-11-16

| gle on with salaries of $500 and
$500 a year-the average less than
that-their struggle well depicted by
| the western missionary who says in a
letter: Thank you for your last re-
mittance: until it came we had not any
meat in our house for one year, and all
last winter, although it was severe
winter, our children wore their sum-
mer clothes" And these men of God
l find in different parts of the land,
struggling against annoyances and ex-
ASPIRATIONS innumerab bic; some of them
week after week entertaining agents
who have maps to sell. and submitting
themselves to all styles of annoy
ance, and yet without complaint,
and cheerful of soul. How do you ac-
count for the fact these life in
surance 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
greeting prodigals home to their Faith
er'S house
| We are in sympathy with all inno-
cent hilarities. We can enjoy hearty
song. and can be merry with the mer-
1
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 outpourings OF
the Holy Ghost, and | thank God I
have seen twenty of them.
| notice also that when the prodigal
comes back, all earnest Christians re-
joice. If you stood on promontory
and there was a hurricane at sea, and
it was blowing toward the shore and
a vessel crashed into the rocks and you
saw people get ashore in the lifeboats
and the very last man got on the rocks
in safety. you could not control your
| joy. And it is a glad time when the
Church of God sees men who are tossed
on the ocean of their sins plant their
feet on the rock Christ Jesus.
When prodigals come home just hear
those Christians sing. 1t is not dull
tune you hear at such times. Just hear
those Christians pray. 1t is not a
stereotyped duplication we have
| heard over and over again for twenty
years, but a putting of the case in the
hands of God with an importunate
| pleading. Men never pray at great
| length unless they have nothing to say
| and their hearts are hard and cold
All the prayers in the Bible that were
answered were short prayers: God
be merciful to me sinner" Lord,
that may receive my sight" Lord,
save me or 1 perish The long
est prayer, Solomon's prayer at the
dedication of the temple, less than
eight minutes in length, according to
the ordinary rate of enunciation. And
just hear them pray now that the prodi-
gals are coming home. Just see them
shake hands No putting forth of the
four tips of the fingers in a formal way,
but hearty grasp, where the muscles
of the heart seem to clinch the fingers
of one hand around the other hand.
And then see those Christian faces how
illumined they are. And 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 sal
vation."
There was a man of Keith who was
hurled into prison in time of persecu-
ton, and one day he got off his shack
els 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 incar-
cerated him. Passing along the streets
of London, he wondered where his
family was. He did not dare to ask
lest he excite suspicion, but, passing
along little way from prison, he saw
a Keith tankard, cup that belonged
to the family from generation to gen.
eration-he saw it in window.
his family, hoping that some day
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 it, and knocked at the door, and
went in, and the long-absent family
were all together again. Oh, if you
would start for the Kingdom of God
to-day, / think some of you would find
nearly all your friends and nearly all
your families around the holy tankard
of the holy communion - fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters around that
sacred tankard which commentaries
the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Oh. it will be great communion day
when your whole family sits around
the sacred tankard. One on earth, one
in Heaven.
Once more ! remark. that when the
prodigal gets back the inhabitants of
Heaven keep festival. / am very GER
tain of it. If you have never seen a
telegraphic chart you have no idea how
many cities are connected together and
how many lands Nearly all the neigh
borhoods of the earth seem reticulated,
and news flies from city to city, and
from continent to continent. But more
rapidly go tidings from earth to Heav-
en-, and when prodigal returns it is
announced before the throne of God.
If these souls to-day should enter the
kingdom there would be some one in the
Heavenly Kingdom to say: That's my
father" that's my mother" that's
my son" that's my daughter" that's
my friend that's the one | used to
pray for" that's the one for whom
wept so many tears" and one soul
would say: "Hosannah,'' and another
soul would say: ''Hallelujah.'
Pleased with the news the saints below
In songs their tongues employ;
Beyond the skies the tidings go,
And Heaven is filed with JOY.
Nor angels can their JOY contain.
But kindle with new fire:
The sinner lost is found, they sing,
And strike the sounding Tyre.