The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-05-24
TIE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. ALFRED H. A. MORSE.
Subject: Secret of Happiness.

ITOllGu Dy Lit SdluC ihlCIlISS1tSSs "Af$A
are constantly working upon the hu-
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 MI. 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 it's need. This is the joy that
makes the child skip and play and hll
the home with laughter. 1t is the JOY
of the singing bird. It 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 against the needs Of a hungry
winter.
There is the joy Of living, and there
is the joy Of working. These are ali
that many a man attains. But it <
q 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. It is the Joy Of love, the joy Of
faith, the joy of a good conscience, the
10y 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 OWL rags
Of righteousness and going to God SAYS,
"Clothe me, for I am naked; feed me
for I am hungry; guide me, for l am
ignorant; put Thine arms under me
for I am weak" AS in the mountain
passes of the West the traveller holds
I'D his hands before the bandit, so in
the presence Of Gods righteousness the
soul must throw up it's 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 of land, so
long as he was satisfied with the husks
from the troughs of the swine, so long
as 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 zee 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 happl-
ness? I know Of no chance for him till
be fling away his sin and standing in
his naked need acknowledges his pow
arty of soul. The happiest moment IN
the prodigal's experience was when ne
buried his face in his fathers shoulder
and said, Il have sinned." The hap
best man at the temple gate was he
who smote his breast and without so
much as lifting his eyes, said, God be
nerciful to me the sinner"
Happy are they who mourn for sin.
It is not enough to be ashamed OF it.
but there must be an actual SORROW
therefor. This does not mean to mourn
Tor it's consequences, nor for its pub
icity, nor for the misery it entails.
Sin is more than a blunder which one
nay regret. 1t is more than a mistake
which one would try to repair. 1t is
open and fragrant and defiant rebellion.
When a nan mourns this, then COO
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 our best i'll
situations are all to be traced to the
legislation in the wilderness. Only
once did Moseslose his meekness, when
with an angry frown he smote the
rock. That shattered his meekness
Into a thousand pieces, and be lost the
.-1-sol 1o~l IL R;l not inhaN.if thu
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
nope for q 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
crows weak with disuse. Hunger and
thirst are spurs to activity. But the
aoblest hunger is the hunger for right
ness, for that is the meaning of right
aousness." To seek God and His
righteousness is to seek for God and
His rightness. A man whose soul is
famished with this consuming desire
may well be happy, 'for he shall be
6lled."
Happy are the merciful. But mercy
does not always mean leniency. When
a man 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
4 ~prerogative of Righteousness, and
mercy belongs to God. The man stand