The Penn's Grove record., 1897-03-12

though He were a Turkish sultan, hare
and unsympathetic, and listening mo-
to the cry of His subjects. A ma
~ told me he saw in one OF tnt
B. and two men were in alteration and one
y charged tho other with having eaten his rice
and the king said; ''Then STAY the man, and
10 by post norton examination find whether
he has eaten the rice" And he was slain
10 Alb, the cruelty Of a scene like that Out
n God Is not q sultan, not a despot, but 4
z Father-kind, loving, forgiving-and HI
makes all heaven ring again whena prodigai
comes back. IL have no pleasure" He says,
Gin the death of him tn Il dieth." All may
d be saved. II arnan does not get TO heaven,
$ It Is because he will not go there. No
II difference the color, no difference the
history, no difference the antecedents,
no difference the surroundings. no dill
$ ference the sin. When thu white horses
q OF Christ's victory are brought out 10
. celebrate the eternal triumph, you may
r ride one of them, and as God is greater than
e all, His joy is greater, and when q soul
comes back there is in His heart the
: surging of an infinite ocean of glai-
( ness, and to express that gladness Il
: takes all the rivers OF pleasure, all
Q the thrones OF pomp and all the ages OF
eternity. 1t is a joy deeper than all depth
J and higher than all height and wider than
all width and yastsr than n,d all i%'
it outweighs all the united sp'endor
and joy OF the universe and who can
tell what God Joy ISL You remember read
Ing she story of a king who on some great
day OF ~festivlty scattered silver and gold
among the people. who sent valuable presents
TO his courtiers, but methinks, when a soul
comes back, God Is SO glad that to express
his Joy He filings out new worlds into space
and kindles up new sums and rolls among
the white robed anthems OF the redeemed
greater hnlleluiah, while with n voice that
reverberates among the mountains OF frank
incense and Is echoed back from the ever
lasting gates he cries, ''This, my son, was
dead, and he is alive again.
At the opening of the exposition In New
Orleans l saw n Mexican fiutist, and he
played the solo, and then afterward the eight
OF ten bands OF music, accompanied by the
great organ, came in, but the sound OF that
one flute as compared with all the orchestras
was greater than all the combined joy OF the
universe when compared with the resound-
ing heart Of Almighty God. For ten years a
father went three times a day to the depot.
His son went off in aggravating circum-
stances, but the father said, "He will come
back" The strain was too much and his
mind parted, and threetimes a day the father
went. In the early morning no watched
the train, its arrival, the stepping out
of the passengers and then the departure
Of the train. At noon he was there again
watching the advance OF the train, Watching
the departure. At night he was there again,
WntCuluR Tue cOuluBy WhtculnB tho bOihhf |
for ten years. He was sure his son would
come back. Cod has been watching and
waiting for some of you. my brothers., ten
years, twenty years, thirty years, forty years,
perhaps Atty years, waiting. waiting,
watching, watching and II now the proitgal
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.
Inotice also when the prodigal comes back
all earnest Christians rejoice. IL you stood
on Montauk point 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, ami
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 Go | sees men
who are tossed on the ocean of their
sins plant their feet on the rock
Christ Jesus. Oh, when %prodigals come
home, Just hear the Christians sing. just
hear the Christians pray. 1t is not a stereo:
typed supplication we have heard over and
over again for twenty years, but a putting oil
the case in the hands Of God with IN impor-
tunate pleading. No long prayers. 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
mereitul 10 me a sinner. 1Lord, that 1 may
receive my sight" 'Lord, save me, or J
perish"
Once mora 1 remaik that when the prob
igal gets back the inhabitants OF heaven
Keep festa'. l am very certain OF 1t. II you
have never seen IL telegraph chart you have
no idea how many cities are connected to-
gether, and how many lands. Nearly all the
neighbCrhoods OF the earth seem reticulated,
and news flies from city to city and from
continent 10 continent. But more rapidly
go the tidings from earth to heaven, and
whan n nrQdfUQl retnrns IL Is announced be-
fore the throne OF God. And il these souls
now present should enter the kingdom there
would be some one in the heavenly kingdom
to sayt That's my father" That's my
/ used 10 pray for" ''That's the one for
|, whom 1 wept so many tears" and one soul
would say "Hosannal' and another soul
would say "Halleluiah!"
Pleased with the news, the saints below
l In songs the tongues employ.
Beyond The skies the tidings go,
And heaven is filled with joy.
l Nor angels can their Joy contain,
: But kindle with new fire.
I The sinner lost is found, they sing,
. And strike the sounding Tyre.
. At the banquet OF Lucullus sat Cicero the
orator, at the Macedonian festival sat Philip
$ the cohquefor, at the Grecian banquet sat
8 Socrates the philosopher, but at our Fathers
e table sit all the returned prodigals,. more
d than conauerors. Tho table Is so wide It's
3 leaves reach across seas and lands. Its guests
: are the redeemed OF earth and the gloriiei
a of heaven. The ring OF Gods for
g~iveness OH every hand. The robe OF a
Saviour's righteousness adroop from every
d shoalder. The wine that glows in the cups
: Is IRON the bowls OF II, 1000 sacraments. Let
Is all the redeemed OF earth and allthe gloriiei
OF heaven rise and with cleaning chalices
drink to the return Of a thousand prodigais.
Sing, sing, sing! worthy is the Lamb that
|" was Slain 10 receive blessing and riches and
ia honor and glory and power, world without
b. end That scedc Of jubilcnce comes ont be-
le fore me this moment as in a sort OF picture
nt gallery. All heaven in pictures.
Look! Look! There is Christ. Cuyp
ie painted Him for earthly galleries, and Cor
in reggie AMI Tintoretto and Benjamin West
r and Dore painted Him for earthly galleries,
but all those pictures nfe eclipsed by this
masterpiece Of heaven. Christi Christi There
Is Paul, the hero of the Sanhedrlm, aud OF
re Agrippa's courtroom, and OF Mars hill. and
of Nero's infamy, shaking his chained fist
in the very face of teeth ehattering roy,
Da atty. Here is Joshua, the fighter OF
IA Bethoron and Gibeon, the man thai
H. postponed sundowI. AMI here Is Vashtir
- the profiigacy OF the Persian court una6let e
remove her veil OF modesty or rend 1t or lifl
1t. And along the corridors OF this picture
gallery | find other great heroes and heroines
David with his harp. and Miriam with tht
cymbals, and Zaehariah with the scroll, anC
#, st. John with the seven walls, and the resur
20 rectlan angel with the trumpet. On farthel
ne inthe corridors see the faces Of our lovet
y, ones, the cough gone FROM the throat, tn
" wanness gone from the cheek, the wearlnes
q =; gone from the limbs. the lauguor gone iron
= the eye. Let US go up and greet them. lie
nc nc US 80 up and embrace them. Let us go u
and live with them. We will. We will!
gu From his hilltop1 catch a glimpse ofthos
III M hilltops where all sorrow and signing shal
nj vi be done away. Oh, that Col would max
lnNu that world to Us u reality Faith in tina
se' world helpel old Dr.. Tying when he stood b
an the casket Of his dead son, whose arm ha
la y been torn off in the threshing machine
le; death ensuing. and DR.. Tying, with infnit
,ea composure, preached the funeral sermon 9
it his own beloved son. Faith 10 that worl
,eJ helped Martin Luther without one tea
M child. Faith in that world helped tn
lan diving woman TO see on the sky ID
ie ter "W.nand they asked her what sh
supposed that letter Nv" on the sky mean
Iue ushe said t.on't YOU know 'W stan(