The Penn's Grove record., 1905-05-05
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. ALFRED H. A. MORSE,
Subject: Secret of Happiness.

brooklyn, N. YIN the Strong Place
Baptist Church the pastor, the Rev.
Alfred H. A. Morse, spoke Sunday on
The Secret of Happiness He said:
There are two hidden hands. con-
trolled by the same intelligence, which
are constantly working upon the hui
man heart. And these are pain and
pleasure. Man was made to be happy.
If sometimes he must eat the bread of
sorrow it is because, as Mr.. Beecher
said, Sorrow is medicine" Joy is
more divine than sorrow, and does not
belong only to these passing days, but
shall remain with US when all tears
are dried and sorrow is swept forever
from the universe.
Now, joy may be divided into three
classes. There is the joy of appetite, a
merely animal condition. 1t comes
from the fitting of a goodly organism
into circumstances which are suited to
supply its need. This is the joy that
makes the child skip and play and fill
the home with laughter. 1t is the Joy
Of the singing bird. 1t is simply pleas
ure.
But we are not always children. We
grow and come into the place of work
and responsibility. And here also is
joy, and this we may call happiness.
An earnest man finds joy in his en-
ployment. The lawyer and doctor and
teacher enjoy their professions. The
minister enjoys to preach. The mer-
chant enjoys his business. and the me-
chanic his shop in spite of all its toll.
This is joy, but it is the joy of the bee
that gathers the honey and stores it
AWAY apainSf tho noodc Of n b,,Druv
winter.
There is the joy of living, and there
is the joy of working. These are ali
that many a man attains. But it takes
a higher joy than these to fill the soul
of man, as the sunlight fills the sky, or
the ocean fills the deep. There is a joy
that is known as "blessedness," which
arches these as the heavens span the
sea. 1t is the joy of love, the joy of
faith, the joy of a good conscience. the
joy of doing right for the sake of right,
the joy of sacrifice and of service.
These are so far above the others that
they belong to another kingdom whose
law is obedience, whose joy is right
~eousness, whose fellowship is with
God, and whose entrance is by means
of a birth from above. And into this
kingdom there are certain well defined
steps.
Happy" said Jesus, "are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven" And poverty of spirit is ma
kedness of soul before God. He is
happy who throws aside his own rags
of righteousness and going to God says,
"Clothe me, for 1 am naked; feed me,
for | am hungry; guide me, for 1 am
ignorant; put Thine arms under me,
for l am weak" As in the mountain
passes of the West the traveller holds
up his hands before the bandit, so in
the presence of Gods righteousness the
soul must throw up its hands and sur
render to God. Blessed are the poor in
spirit, the consciously bankrupt in the
presence of God. So long as the young
er son remained in the far off land, so
long as he was satisfied with the husks
from the troughs of the swine, so long
MS he wanted nothing. the father might
mourn, but there was nothing for him
to do. But when that son threw him.
self upon his fathers love and said, Il
have sinned, and you see my want"
then the father could clOthe and feed
and kiss; place sandals upon his feet
and give him the place of the son.
Does a prodigal soul wish for happi-
ness? l know of no chance for him till
he fling away his sin and standing in
his naked need acknowledges his pow
erty of soul. The happiest moment in
the prodigaIs experience was when he
buried his face in his fathers shoulder
and said, Il have sinned." The hap
piest man at the temple gate was he
who smote his breast and without so
much as lifting his eyes, said, GOD be
merciful to me the sinner"
Happy are they who mourn for sin.
1t is not enough to be ashamed of it,
but there must be an actual sorrow
therefor. This does not mean to mourn
for its consequences, nor for its pub
licity, nor for the misery it entails.
Sin is more than a blunder which n
may regret. 1t is more than a mistake
which one would try to repair. 1t is
open and fragrant and defiant rebellion.
When a man mourns this, then God
filings above him His smile as the rain
bow spanned the food, and he shall
be cOmforted."
Happy are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth. But who are the
meek? They who obey the law. Moses
has passed into history as the meekest
of men. But Moses bent the neck of
his manhood to law, and maybe that is
the reason that to this day u best in
stitutions are all to be traced to the
legislation in the wilderness. Only
once did MOseslO lose his meekneSS, when
with an angry frown he smote the
rock. That shattered his meekness
into a thousand pieces, and he lost the
promised land. He did not inherit the
earth. Jesus was the meekest man,
and He has flung out His challenge for
the world to come TO Him. He was
meek, for He was obedient, even to the
place of death.
Happy are the hungry. Hunger and
thirst are spurs which are driven into
men to drive ahead. When men are
hungry they struggle. and there is
hope for a nation when times are hard.
But when men and nations are filled,
they lie down to sleep and rise up to
play. When a man is idle his arm
grows weak with disuse. Hunger and
thirst are spurs to activity. But the
noblest hunger is the hunger for right
ness, for that is the meaning of fright
eousness." To seek God and His
righteousness is to seek for God and
His rightness. A man whose soul is
furnished with this consuming desire
may we'll be happy, for he shall be
filed"
Happy are the merciful. But mercy
does not always mean leniency. When
a nan is convicted of some gross crime
it is no mercy to let him go TO do the
same crime again. Mercy sometimes
exacts an awful penalty, for mercy is
a ~prerogative of righteousness, and
mercy belongs to God. The man stand
ing beside God, poor in spirit, mourn
ing his sin, hungry for righteousness,
is merciful. and mercy comes also to
him. "He shall receive mercy"
Happy are the pure in heart. But
what does this mean? Who of us is
pure? 1t means to be single in pur-
pose. The diamond must be of ''the
first water" if it is to flash the light.
The man must be single in purpose if
he is to see God. The double-minded
cav 49,, 60 Az -seso, 80 HIN