The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-11-28
of stote sbon,d eatber in anery contest, and


and in momentary absence Of the nurse, In
the powor-the strange power which de-
llrium sometimes gives one-she arose and
stood in front of the clock, and stood there
watching the clock when the nurse returned.
The nurse said, "Do Sou see anything pecul-
lar about that clock?" She made no answer,
but soon died. There Is clock scene In
every history. II some Of you would rise
rom the bed Of lethargy and come ont OF
your delirium of sin and look on the clock Of
your destiny this moment. you would see
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" Oh, come home to your
Fathers house! Come home, oh. prodigal,
from the wilderness! Come home, come
home!
But notice that when the prodigal came
there was the fathers Joy. He did not greet
him with any formal CHOW do you do?" He
did not come out and say: "You ara unfit to
enter. Go out and wash in the trough by
the well, and then you can come IN. We
have had enough trouble with you" Ah,
no! When the proprietor OF that estate pro-
claimed festival. 1t was an outburst OF
fathers love and fathers Joy. GOD Is
your father.
I have not much sympathy with that de-
scription of God sometimes hear, asthough
He were a Turkish sultan--hard and unsyn1-
pathetic and listening not to the cry OF His
subjects. A man told me he saw in one ofthe
eastern lands king riding along, and two
men were in an alteration, and one charged
the othor with having eaten his rice. and
the king said, sTher slay the man, and by
post mortem examination find whether ne
has eaten the rice" And he was slain. Alb,
the cruelty Of q scene like that Our God is
not q sultan, not a despot, but father.
kind, loving, forgivinR-and he makes an
heaven ring again when prodigal comes
back. ~ have no pleasure" He says, "in
the death Of him that dieth."
IF a man does not get heaven, It Is because
he will not 20 there. No difference the COL
or, no difference the history, no difference
the antecedents, no difference the surround.
inps, no difference the sin. When the whits
horses Of Christ's 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 q soul comes
back there Is In His heart the surging OF an
infinite ocean Of gladness, and to express
that gladness 1t takes all the rivers OF pleas
ure, and all the thrones of pomp, and all the
ages of eternity. It Is a Joy deeper than az
depth, and higher than all height, and
wider than all width. and vaster than all i'm.
mensity. It ovsrtops, It undergrds. 1t out
weighs all the united splendor and Joy ofthe
universe. Who can tell what Gods Joy Is?
You remember reading the story OF kinG
who on some great day OF festivity scat
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 o;
the redeemed greater hallelutah, while
with voice that reVerberates among the
mountains of frankincense and is echoed
back from the everlasting gates he cries,
"This, my son. was deadand Is alive again =
At the opening of the exposition In New
Orleans saw Mexican flutist. 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 OF.
chestra was greater than all the combined
joy Of the universe when compared with thu
resounding heart Of Almighty God.
For ten years father went three times Q
day to the depot. His son went off In ag'
grayatlng circumstances, but the father said,
nHe will come back" The strain was too
much. and his mind parted, and three times
q 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, for ten years. He
was sure his son would come back. God mas
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 L
this morning the prodigal should come
home, what scene of gladn esq and festivity
and how the great Fathers heart would
rejoice at your coming home! You viii
come, some ofyou, will you not2 You will
you will
Inotice also that when q prodigal Gomez
home there is the Joy OF the ministers Of re-
ligion. Oh, 1t Is q grand thing to preach
this gospel! I know there has been grea
deal said about the trials and the hardsnips
of the Christian ministry. Iwlsh somebody
would write good. rousing book about tht
joys OF the Christian ministry. Since en-
tered the profession have seen more Of tht
goodness of God than will be able to cele
brate in all eternity. I know some boast
about their equilibrium, and they do moi
rise into enthusiasm. and they do not breab
down with emotion, but confess TO yor
plainly that when see man coming te
God and giving up his sin feel in body,
mind and soul transport. When see q
man who Is bound hand and foot In evil
habit emancipated, rejoice over 1t as
though It were my own emancipation. When
young and old stood up at the affairs and II
the presence Of heaven and earth and he'll
attested their allegiance to Jesus Christ,
felt Joy something akin to that which tht
apostle describes when he says: "Whethel
In the body cannot tell. or out OF the body
cannot tell. God knoweth."
Have not ministers right to reioics
when prouigal comes homer They oiew
the trumpet, and ought they not to be glad
Of the gathering Of the host2 They pointed
lothe full supply, and ought they not to re.
joice when souls pant as the hart for the
water brooks2 They came forth saying,
All things are now ready" Ought they
not rejoice when the prodigal sits down at
the banquetp
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 it2 There
Is more draft upon the nervous system
than in any other profession, and
seen ministers kept on miserable sti-
pends by parsimonious congregations
who wondered at the dullness of the sermon.
when the men of God were perplexed almost
to death by questions OF livelihood and had
not enough nutritious food to keep any fro
In their temperament. No fuel, no fire.
have sometimes seen tho inside Of the life OF
many OF the American clergymen-never ac-
septing their hospitality because they can
not afford it--but have seen them struggle
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 housa for ona Yaar and all last