The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-07-01

became an atheist You said: where
is God, that honest men 60 down and
thieves prosper?" You were dogged of
creditors, you were aogged Of the banks,
you were dogged Of worldly disaster,
and some of you went into misanthropy,
and some of you took to strong drink,
and others of you flea out of Christian
association, and you got astray. Obi
man, that was the last time when you
ought TO have forsalren God Standing
amid the foundering of your earthly
fortunes, how conld you get along with
out a God to comfort you, and God to
deliver you, and God TO help you, and
God to save you? You tell me you
have been through enough business
trouble almcst to kill you. / know it.
/ can not understand how the boat could
live one hour in that chopped sea- But
do not know by what process you got
astray; some in one way, and some in
another, and If you could really see the
position some of you occupy before God
this morning, your soul would burst in
to an agony Of tears and you would pelt
the heavens with the cry: "God have
mercyW Sinai's batteries have been un-
limbered above your soul and at times
you have heard it thunder: "The wages
Of sin Is death" t'All have sinned and
come short of the glory of God" 'By
one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned."
"The soul that sinneth, II shall die"
When Sebastopol was being bonn
barded, two Russian frigates burned all
night in the harbor throwing glare
upon the trembling fortress; and some
Of you are standing in the night Of your
souls trouble. The cannonade and the
coafagration, the multiplication Of your
sorrows and troubles | think must
make the wings of Gods lowering
angels shiver to the tip.
But the last part Of my text opens
door wide enough TO let us all out and
TO let all heaven in. Sound II on the
organ with all the stops out. Thrum it
on the harps with all the strings atune.
With all the melody possible let the
heavens sound it to the earth, and the
earth tell II to the heavens "The Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all"
am glad that the prophet did not stop
TO explain whom he meant by Him"
Him of the manger, Him of the bloody
sweat. Him Of the resurrection throne,
Him Of the crucifxion agony. ION Him
the Lord hathlaid the iniquity of us all. "
"ohr' says some man, that is not
generous, that is not fair; let every man
carry his own burden and pay his own
debts" That sounds reasonable. II
have an obligation and Ihave the means
TO meet IL, and come TO you and ask
you to settle that obligation, you rightly
say, "Pay your own debts" II you and
I walking down the street, both hale,
hearty, and well, ask you TO carry
me, you say and say rightly. walk
on your own feetp' But suppose you
and were in regiment aud was
wounded in the battle and fell uncon-
scious at your feet With gunshot frac-
lures and dislocations, what would you
do2 You would call to your comrades,
saying; Come and help, this man is
helpless; bring the ambulance; let us
take him TO the hospital" and would
be dead lift in your arms, and you
would lift me from the ground where l
had fallen and put me In the ambulance
and take me TO the hospital and
have all kindness shown me. Would
there be any thing mean in your
doing that. Would there be any
thing bemeaning In my accept
Ing that kindness? You would be mean
not TO do It. That is what Christ does,
II we could pay our debts then II would
be better TO go up and pay them, say
ing: Here, Lord, here is my obligation;
here are the means with which mean
to settle that obligation; now give me
receipt; cross It all out" The debt is
paid. But the fact is we have fallen In
the battle, we have gone down under
the hot fire Of our transgressions, we
have been wounded by the sabers Of
sin, we are helpless, we are undone."
Christ comes The loud clang heard in
the sky on that Christmas night was
only the bell, the resounding bell OF the
ambulance. Clear the way for the Son
Of God. He comes down TO bind up the
wounds, and TO scatter the darkness,
and TO save the lost Clear the
way for the Son Of God. Christ
comes down to MS, and we are dead
lift He does not lift us with the tips
OF his fingers. He does not lift us with
one arm. He comes down upon his
knee and then with dead lift he raises
us 10 honor and glory and immortality.
''The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
Of us all" Why then, will no man
carry his sins? You can not carry sue
cessfully Che smallest sin you ever COM
mitted You might as we'll put the
Apennines on one shoulder and the Alps
on the other--how much less can you
carry all the sins Of your lifetime9
Christ comes and loolN down In your
face and says 81 have come through
all the lacerations of these days, through
all the tempests OF these nights; ] have
come TO bear your burdens and to par
don your sins and TO pay your debts.
Put them on My shoulder; put them on
My heart" ION Him the Lord hath
laid the iniquity Of us all"
Sin has almost pestered the life out of
some Of you At times-;t has made you
cross and unreasonable, and IL has
spoiled the brightness Of your days and
the peace Of your nights. There are
men who have been riddled Of sin. The
world gives them no solacc. Gossamer
and volatile the world, while eternity,
as they look forward to 1t, is black as
midnight They writhe under the