The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-11-21

times day to the depot His son
went off in aggravatin@ circumstances
but the father said, He will come
back The strain was too much. and
his mind parted, and three times Il
day the father went. In the early
morning he watched the trrin-lt> az
:1ival, the stepping out of the passcn-
gers and then the departure OF the
train. At noon he was there again
watching the advance Of the tram,
watchin" the departure. Ut 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 waiting
for some Of YOU. my brothers, 10 years,
20 wears. 80 years, 40 years, perhaps
50 wears. waiting. waiting, watching.
Watching. and if this morning the pro
dimal 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.
notice also that when a prodigal
comes home there is the JOY of the
ministers of religion. Oh, it is a grand
thing to preach this gospel. | know
there has been a great deal said about
the trials and the hardships of the
Christian ministry. I wish somebody
would write a good, rousing book
about the joys of the Christian minis
try. Since entered the profession |
have seen more of the goodness of
God than | will be able to celebrate III
IIsall eternity. l know some boast about
their equilibrium, and they do not
rise into enthusiasm, and they do not
break down with emotion. But con-
fess to you plainly that when | see a
man coming to God and giving up his
sin I feel in my body, mind and soul
transport.
When I see a man who is bound
hand and foot in evil habit emancipa-
ted. l rejoice over It as though it We're
my own emancipation. When IL: our
communion service such tnrongs Of
young and old stood up al the altars
and in the presence of leaven and
earth and hell attested their allegiance
to Jesus Christ, I felt JOY something
akin to that which the apostle des-
cribes when he says: Whether in the
body I cannot tell, or out of the body
l cannot tell. God knoweth.
Have not ministers a right to rejoice
when a 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 to
rejoice when the prodigal sits down at
the banquet2
Life insurance men will all tell you
that ministers of religion, as a class,
| live longer than any other. 1t IS con-
firmed 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 ex-
hausting. l have seen ministers kept
on miserable stipends by parsimonious
congregations. who wondered at the
dullness of the sermons, when the
men of God were perplexed almost 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
cannot afford it-but | have seen them
struggle on with salaries of $500 and
$500 year, the average less than that,
their struggle well depicted by the
| Western missionary who says in let
ter: Thank you for your last remit
tance. Until it came We had not any
| meat in our house for one year. and
all last winter, although it was a Sc.
we're winter. our children wore their
summer clothes" -
And these men of God find in diff
ferent parts of the land struggling
against annoyances and eIaSperatons
innumerable, some of them week al
ter weekentertaining agents who have
maps to sell and submitting them
selves to all styles of annoyance, and
vet without complaintand 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
| ioy of their work, the JOY of the harv-
est field, the JOY of greeting prodigals
home to their Fathers house.
We are in sympathy with all inno-
cent hilarities. We can enjoy g hear
tv song. and we can be merry with the
merriest, but those of us who have
toiled in the service arereadyto testify
that all these Joys are tame compared
| with the satisfaction ofseeing men en-
ter the kingdom of God. The great
! eras of every minister are the outpour-
ings of the Holy Ghost, and l thank
God I have seen 90 of them. Thank
God, thank God
| | notice also when the prodlgal
comes back all earnest Christians re-
ioice. If you stood on promontory;
and there was hurricane at sea, and
ii was blowing toward the shore, and
vessel crashed into the rocks, and
YOU saw people get ashore in the life
boats. and the very last man got on
the rocks in safety, you could not con-
troll your JOY. And it is glad time
when the church of God sees men who
are tossed on the ocean Of their sins
plant their feet in the rock Christ
Jesus.
When prodigals come home, just
hear those Christians sing 1t IS not
dull tone you hear at such times.
Just hear those Christians pray! 1t Is
not stereotyped supplication we have
heard over and over again for 20years,
but 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 We're answered