The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-03-24
miscellaneous.
REV, 7, DEWITT TALMAGE.
OUTSIDERS IN THE MATTER OF
RELIGION,
-IJnco GuId Who Are Disposed to Crowd at the
Table---Many True Christians Not ENROLL
ed Upon the Church Books, but VIII
be Duly Recognized by the Great
shepherd.
miscellaneous.
sUBJECT-"THE OUTSIDERS"

There is no monopoly in religion. The
grace of God is not little property that
we may fence offand have all to ourselves,
II is not a Kings park at which we
look through barred gateway, wish
ing that we might go in and see the deer
and the statuary, and pluck the flowers
and the fruits in the Royal conservatory.
No, it is the fathers orchard, and
everywhere there are bars that We may
let down and gates that we may swing
open. In my boyhood, next to the coun,
try school house there was an orchard
of apples, owned by very lame man,
who, although there were apples in the
place perpetually decoying and by scores
and scores and scores OF bushels, never
would allow any of us to touch the fruit
One LAY, in the sinfulness OF a ma
ture inherited from our first parents,
who were ruined by the same tempta-
ton, some of us invaded that orchard,
but soon retreated, for the man came al
ter US, and with speed reckless OF making
his lameness worse, cried out, boys,
drop those apples, or I'll set the
dogs on youI" Well, friends, there
are Christian men who have the
church under severe guard. There is
fruit in this orchard for the whole world
but they have rough sympathetic
way of aCCosting outsiders as though they
had no business here; though the Lord
wants them all to come and take
the largest and ripest fruit on
the premises. Have you an idea
that because you were baptized at
thirteen months of age, because you
have all your life been under hallowed
influences, that therefore you have a
right to one whole side of the Lords la.
BILE, spreading yourself out and taking
the entire room? tell you, no. You
will have to haul in your elbows, for
shall this morning place on either side
of you those whom you never expected
would sit there; for as Christ said to the
Jews long ago so He says to you and me
this morning: Other sheep have which
are not of this fold"
Macdonald the SCotChman has four or
five dozen head of sheep; some of them
are browsing on the heather, some Of
them are lying down under the trees,
some of them are in bis yard; they sre
scattered around in eight or ten different
places. Cameron, his neighbOr, comes
over and says: II see you have thirty
sheep; have Just counted them" mo-"
saws Macdonald, Il have great many
more sheep than that; some are here
and some are elsewhere; they are scat.
tered all round about; l have four or five
thousand in my focks; other sheep
have which are not in this fold"
So Christ says to us: Here is a knot
of Christians, there is knot of Chris
tians, but they make up small part of
the flock. Here is the Episcopal fold,
the Lutheran fold, the Methodist fold, |
the Congregational fold, the Presbyterian |
fold, the Baptist and the Pedo- Baptist |
fold, the only difference between these
last two being the mode Of sheep'wash-
ing. And 80 they are scattered all over; |
and we come with our statistics, and cay |
that there are so many thousand Of the
Lords sheep; but Christ responds: "No, |
no, you have not seen more than one |
out of thousand of my flock; they are |
scattered all over the earth-other sheep |
l have which are not of this fold. Christ, |
in my IeXt, was prophesying the con.
version of the Genties with as much
confidence as though they were already
converted, and He is this morning in the
words ofmy text prophesying the coming
ofa great multitude Of outsiders that you
never supposed would come in, saying to
you and saying to me; Other sheep
have which are not of this fold" In the
first place, | remark that the Heavenly
Shepherd will find many of his sheep
amid the non.churCh goers. There are
congregations where they are all Chris
tians, and they seem to be com.
pletely finished; and they remind one
of the skeleton leaves, which, by
chemical preparation, have had all the
greenness and yerdure taken off them,
and are left cold and white aud deli,
cote, nothing wanting but glass case to
put over them. The minister of Christ
has nothing to do with such Chris.
tians but to come once a week, and
with ostrich feather, dust off the &C.
emulation of the last six days, leav,
ing them bright and crystalline as
before. But the other kind of church
is an armory, with perpetual sound of
drum and fife, gathering recruits for the
Lord of Hosts. We say to every appli-
cant, Do you want to be on Gods side, the
safe side and the happy side?" Ifso, ,come
in the armory and get equipped. Here
is bath in which to be Cleansed; here
are sandals to put upon your feet; here
is helmet to put upon your brow; here
is breast plate for your heart; here is q
sword for your right arm, and yonder is
the battlefield - aCquit yourself like
men. There are some here to-day who
say, II stopped going to church ten or
twenty years ago." My brother, is it not
strange that you should be the first
man should talk to to.day2 l know
all your case; l know it very well.
You have not been accustomed to come
into the house of God, but have sur.
prising announcement to make to you.
You are going to become one of the
Lords sheep. "Ah," you say, 1T is i'm.
possible. You don't know how far am
from anything of that kind" l know all
about it. have wandered up and down
this world, and understand your Gaze;
have a still more startling announce
ment to make in regard to you. You
are not only going to become one of the
Lords sheep, but you will become one
today. You will stay after service to be
talked with about your soul. People of
God, pray for that mani That is the
only use for you to-day. | shall not
break off 80 much as a Crumb for you,
Christians, in this sermon, for 1 am 90,
ing to give it all to the outsiders. Other
sheep | have which are not of this fold."
When the Atlantic went to pieces on
Mars Rock and the people clambered up
on the beach, why did not that heroic
minister Of the Gospel Of whom we have
all read, sit down and take care of those
men on the beach, wrapping them in
fannels, kindling FIRE for them, seeing
that theygot plenty Of food. Oh, he knew
that there were others who would do
that. He says: "Yonder are men and
women freezing in the rigging of that
wreck. Boys, launch The boatp And now
l see the oar blades bend under the
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