Milford chronicle., 1891-01-16

: cscdpeu. AM bndt brave man knew that
there were others who would take care OF
those, and so he said, Man the hfeboa
/ Pull away, my lads, pull awayf Yonder is
/ a man; there is woman freezing in the
rigging. Pull awaym see the oar blades
bend in the strong pull of the oarsmen.
Then they come up to the wreck The
I woman is frozen. She drops into the wave
-alasl poor woman-and washes out to
sea. But then Mr.. Ancient says: "Tbere
I * a man yet hanging to the rigging. Pull
ray, my lads pull awayt' rhey come
up, and he says. 'IIold now there five min
utes and we will save you. Steady steady
Now give me your hand. Leapl Thank
God, he is savedl Thank God, he is savedP'
So there are men now in the breakers.
They have made q shipwreck of life.
While we come out to save them, some are
swept Off-swept of before we can reach
them-and there are others still hanging
on. Steady there among the slippery
Olaeesl Steady Leap into this lifeboatl
Now is your chance for heayenl This hour
some Of you are going to be saved. Far
away from God, you are going to be
brought nigh. "Other sheep have 1 which
are not of this fold"
Christ says that ministers of the Gospel
are to be fishers for men. Now, when go
fishing ! do not want to fish in anybody
else's pond. l do not want to 60 along
HohOkus creek, where there are ten or
fifteen men fishing and drop my line just
about where they arc dropping their lines.
l should like to get in a 5wfoundland
fishing smack and push out TO sea fifty
miles beyond the breakers I do not think
the Church OF God gains a great deal when
you take sheep from ope fold and put them
in another fold. It is The lost sheep on the
mountains you want to bring baek-the
lost sheep on the mountains. And they
are coming today.
YOU ARE GOING TO BE SWEPT IN.
You are now this hour in the tide of
Christian influences. You are going to be
swept in; your voice is going to be heard in
prayer; you are going to be cOnsecrated to
God; you are going to live a life of useful
hess, and your deathbed is going to be sur
rounded by Christian sympathizers, and
devout men will carry you to your burial
when your work is done, and these words
will be chiseled for your epitaph: Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death Of his
saints" And all that history is going to
begin today "Other sheep have which
are not of this fold"
Again / remark the Heavenly Shepherd
is going to find many of his sheep among
those who are now rejecters of Christianity.
do not know how you came to reject
Christianity. 1 do not know whether it was
through hearing Theodore Parker preach, |
or whether it was reading Remains Life of
Jesus" or whether it was through some 1
skeptie in the store or factory. Or it may
be-probably is the case-that you were I
disgusted with religion and disgusted with /
because some man who pro |
fessed to be a Christian defrauded you |
and he being a member of the church. and /
you taking him rs a representative of the
Christian religion, you said, well, if
that's religion, don't want any Of it"
do not know how you came to reject
but you frankly tell me you
do reject it; you do not think the Bible is
the word of God, although there are many
things in it you admire; you do not think
that Christ was divine being, although
you think he was very good man. You
say, I'll the Bible be true-the most of the
Bible be true-I nevertheless think the
earlier part of the Bible is an allegory."
And there are fifty things that I believe
you do not believe. Nevertheless they tell
me in regard to you that you are an ac-
you are an Obliging person.
If l should come to you and ask Of you
favor you would grant it if it were posi-
Dle It would be joy for you to grant me
4 favor. If any of your friends came 10
TOu and wanted an accommodation and
you could accommodate them, how glad
you would be!
Now am going to ask of you favor
want you to oblige me, The accommOda-
ion will cost you nothing, and you will
give me great happiness. OF course you
will not deny me. I want you as an ex-
pertinent to try the Christian religion. If
t does not stand the test discard it; if it
iOes, receive it.
TRY IT, ANYWAY.
If you were very sick, and you had been
yiven up of the doctors, and l came to you,
md took a bottle of medicine from my
,ocket and said, "Here is medicine 1 am
ure will help you; it has cured fifty peo-
lle," you would say, "Oh, l haven't any
confidence in it; they tell me all these med
cines will fail me" "WelI," / say, twill
-ou not, as a matter Of accommodation to
myself just try itS" "Well, " you say, 81
AVE no objection to trying it; if it will be
ny satisfaction to you 1 will try it. You
axe it. Now you are sick in disquietude,
lex in sin. You are not happy You
augh sometimes when you are miserable.
'here come surges of unhappiness over
our soul that almost swamp you. You
re unhappy, struck through with unrest
Tow, will you not try this solaee, this
ebrifuge, this anodyne, this Gospel medi-
ineY
"Oh," you say, II haven't any faith in
b." As a matter Of accommodation, let
ne introduce you to the Lord Jesus Christ,
he Great Physician. "Why," you say,
1 haven't any faith in him" Well, now,
ill you not just let him come and try his
over on your soul? just let me intro =,
uce him to you. do not ask you to take +
~ word for it. do not ask you to take
he advice of clergymen. Perhaps the {
Iergymen may be prejudiced; perhaps we
lay be speaking professionally; perhaps
'e may give you wrong advice; perhaps
re are morbid on that subject; 50 l do not |,
SIX you to take the advice of clergymen. ,
ask you to take the advice Of very re-
Dectable laymen, such as William Shakes
care, the dramatist; as William Wilber-
1rce, the statesman; as Isaac Newton, the
strononer; as Robert Boyle, the philos-
pher; as Locke, the metaphysician; as {
Iorse, the electrician.
These men never preached-they never
retended to preach-but they come out, &
nd putting down, one his telescope, and l
mother the electricians wire, and another
le parliamentary scroll-they come out,
nd they commend Christ as a comfort TO
4 the people, q Christ that the world
seds. Now do not ask you to take the :
Twice Of clergymen. Take the advice of
iese 1aymen. It does not make any differ Z
ace to me at this junctHre what you have
lid against the Bible; it does not make y
ny difference to me at this juncture how
lu may have caricatured religion Take I
lie advice of men who are prominent in
.cular affairs as these men whom / have
ientioned and others who Immediately 9
cur to your mind. You see I do not
off at skepticism. never scOifed at
Septieism. I have been n natural skeptic.
do not know what the first word was
lat I uttered after entering the world
mt I think it must have been "whyg"
There were times when 1 douh'
ristence of God, when 1 doul
nifty Of Christ, when I do