Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-11-06


all height and wider than all width. and
Vaster than all immensity. lt overtops.
u undergiris, it outweighs all the unit
ed splendor and joy of the universe
VINO can tell what Gods joy is?
The Rejoicing Father.
You remember reading the story of a
king who on some great day of festivi.
ty scattered ilvor ard gold emong tho
people, who sent valuable presents to
Ils coultiers, Int me,hiEks when q sonl
comes back Cod is 50 glad that to cx-
press BIS iry lie filings out new worlds
into space, kindles up new suns and
rolls among the white robed anthems of
the redeemed n greater halleluiah, while
with voice that reycrberates among
the mountains of frankincense and is
echoed back from the everlasting gates
he cries, This, my son. was dead and
is alive againr'
AT the opening of tho exposition in
New Orleans l saw n Mexican futist,
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 aggravating circumstances, bat
the father said, "He will come back. "
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 tho 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, 90 years, 80 years, 40 years, per-
haps 90 years, waiting, waiting, watch
ing, watching, and if this morning the
prodigal should come home, what a
scene of gladness and festivity and how
at your coming homel You will come,
some of you, will you not? You will.
you will
JOY Over the Repentant.
/ notice also that when prodigal
comes home there is the joy Of the min
listers of religion. Oh, it is n grand thing
to preach this gospel know there rs
been great deal said about the trials
and the hardships of the Christian min
istry. l wish somebody would write u
good, rousing book about the joys of tho
Christian ministry. Since | entered the
profession have seen more of the good
ness 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 confess
to you plainly that when l see a man
coming to God and giving up his sin
feel in body, mind and soul a transport.
When / see man who is bound hand
and foot in evil habit emanuipated, 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 in the
presence of heaven and earth and hell
attested their allegiance to Jesus Christ,
I felt joy something akin to that which
the apostle describes when he says:
whether in the body cannot tell, or
out of the body cannot tell. God know
eth."
Have not ministers q right to rejoice
when a prodigal comes homer They
blew the trumpet, and ought they not
to be glad Of the gathering of the hostf
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 prodigai sits down at
the banquet?
How Ministers Are Sustained.
Life insurance men will all tell you
that ministers Of religion as O class live
longer than any other. 1t is confirmed
by the statistics of all those who calcu-
late upon human longevity. Why Is 1T
There is more draft upon the nervous
system than in any other profession, and
their toll is most exhausting. have
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 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 1 have
seen them struggle ON with salaries OF
$500 and 5000 a year, the average less
than that, their struggle well depict
ed by the western missionary who says
in a letter: THANK you for your last
remittance. Until it came we had not
any meat in our house for one year,
and all last winter, although 1t was
severe winter, our children wore their
summer clothes.
And these men Of God j find in differ
ent parts Of the land, struggling against
annoyanecs end corporations innumer-