Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-11-12

Of pleasure, and ali the thrones of pomr,
and all the ages of eternity. 1t is 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 all the unit
ed splendor and joy Of the universe.
Who can tell what Gods joy is?
The Rejoicing Father.
You remem Der reading the story Of a
king who on some great day Of festivi
ty scattered 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 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 G 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 again!''
At the opening Of the exposition in
New Orleans I saw Mexican f1utist,
and he played the solo, and then after
ward 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 orchestra was
greater than all the combined joy of the
universe when compared with the re-
sounding heart of Almighty God.
For ten years father went three
times day to the depot. His son went
off in aggraFating circumstances, but
the father said, "He will come back. J.
The strain was too much, and his mind
parted, and three times day the father
went In the early morning he watch
ed the train-its arrival, the stepping
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
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 home You will come,
some of you, will you not? You will,
you will!
JOY Over the Repentant.
| notice also that when a prOdigal
comes home there is the joy Of the min
listers Of religion. Oh, it is grand thing
to preach this gospel I know there has
been a great deal said about the trials
and the hardships of the Christian min
istry. l wish somebody would write
good, rousing book about the joys of the
Christian ministry. Since I entered the
profession have seen more of the good
ness of God than will be able to cele-
brate i'll all eternity. l know some boast
about their equili brium, and they do not
rise into enthusiasm, and they do not
break down with emotion, but / confess
to you plainly that when 1 see a man
coming to God and giving up his sin
feel in body, mind and soul a transport.
When I see man who is bound hand
and foot in evil habit emancipated, re-
joice over it as though it were my own
emancipation. When, in our commun-
ion service, such throngs of young and
old stood up at the affairs and i'll the
presence of heaven and earth and hell
attested their allegiance to Jesus Christ,
I felt a JOY something akin to that which
the apostle describes when he says:
whether in the body l cannot tell, CT
out of the body I cannot tell. God know
eth
Have not ministers right to rejoice
when prodigal comes home? They
blew the trumpet, and ought they not
to be glad Of the gathering of the host?
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 q 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. l have
seen ministers kept Oh miserable sti-
ponds by parsimonious congregations
who wondered at 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 in their
temperament. No fuel, no fire. | have
sometimes seen the inside Of the life Of
many of the American clergymen--
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 q letter. 'HThanl< Won for vOT1r last