The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-01-14
OUTSIDE THE FOLD,
DIR. Talmage preachos o Sermon TO
Nom Church Members.
Tho Heavenly shepherd Likely to Find
Many Of Ills sheep Amopg Those Who
Now Reject Christianity--A Chance
for All sinncrs Yot to be Saved.

Rev. Il. De Witt Talmage recently
preached the following powerful SER
mon to non-church-goers taking for his
text John ", &c: "Other sheep have
which are not of this fold" lie said
There is no monopoly in religion.
The grace of God is not a nice little
property fenced off all for ourselves.
It is not kings park, at which we
look through barred gateway, wish
ing that we might go in and pluck the
flowers and look at the deer and. statu-
ary. 1t is fathers orchard and there
are bars to let down and gates to swing
open.
In my boyhood days, next to the coun-
try school house where / went, there
was an apple orchard of great luxuri-
ance, owned by very lame man who
did not gather the apples and they went
to waste by scores of bushels. Some
times the lads of The school, in the sim
fulncss OF nature inherited from our
first parents who fell through the same
temptation. would climb over the fence
and take some of these apples, and not
withstanding the fact that there was q
surplus, and all going to waste, the
owner of that orchard, reckless Of max
ing his lameness worse, would take
after these lads and shout, Boys drop
those apples, or I'll set the dog on your
Now there are Christians who have
severe guard over the Church of God.
They have a rough and unsympathetic
way of treating outsiders. II is great
orchard into which God would like to
have all people come and take the rich
est and ripest fruit, and the more they
take the better He likes 1t. But there
are those who stand with hard and
severe nature guarding the Church OF
God, and all the time afraid that some
one will get these apples when they
really ought not to have them.
Have you any idea that, because you
were baptised at eight months of age,
and because you have all your life been
surrounded hy hallowed influences. you
have right to one whole side of the
Lords table, spreading yourself out 20
nobody else can sit there? You will
have to haul in your elbows, for there
will come a great multitude TO sit at the
table, and on both sides OF you. You
are not going to have this monopoly Of
religion. "0ther sheep have ! which are
not of this fold"
Mcdonald, the Scotchman, has on the
Scotch hills great flock of sheep. Nc
Donald has four or FIVE thousand head
of sheep Some are browsing in the
heather, some are on the hills, some arc
in the valleys, few are in the yard.
One day Cameron comes over to Nc
Donald, and says: Mcdonald, you
have thirty sheep; have been counting
them" 80, nor' says Mcdonald, 81
have four or five thousand" "AhI' says
Cameron, you are mistaken; | have
Just counted them; there are thirty"
"why," says Mcdonald, do you sup
pose that is all the sheep have? have
sheep on the distant hills and in the
valleys, ranging and roaming every
where. Other sheep have which are
not of this fold"
So Christ comes. Here is n group OF
Christians, and there is group of
Christians: here is Methodist fold,
here is a Presbyterian fold, here is
Baptist fold here Is Lutheran fold.
and we make our annual statistics. and
we thinl; we can tell you just how many
Christians there are in the world. how
many there are in the church, how many
of all these denominations. We ag-
gregate them, and we think we
are giving an intelligent and an ac-
curate account; but Christ COMES. and
He says: "You have not counted them
right. There are those whom you
have never seen, those of whom
yau have never heard. have my chill
dren in all parts Of the earth, on all
the islands OF the sea, on all the conti-
nents, In all the mountains and in all
the valleys. Do you think that these
few sheep you have counted are all the
sheep have? There is great multi
tude that no man can number. "Other
sheep have | which are not OF this fold"
Christ, in my text, talks Of the con-
version OF the Gentiles as confidently
as though they had already been con.
verted. He sets forth the idea that His
people will como from all parts of the
earth. from all ages, from all circum.
stances, from ali conditions. "Other
sheep have which arc not Of this fold"
In the first plase, remark, the Heav.
emily Shepherd will find many Of His
sheep among those who are at present
non-church goers. There are different
kinds OF churches. Sometimes you will
find church made up only OF Chris
tians. Every thing seems finished. The
church reminds you of those skeleton
plants from which by chemical prepa'
ration all the greenness and the yer.
dure have been taken, and they are
cold, and white, and delicate, and beau
tiful, and finished. All that Is wanted
is a glass case put over thsm. The min
lister on the Sabbath has only to take
an ostrich feather and brush off tho
dust that has accumulated In the last
six days OF business, and then they are
as cold and beautiful and delicate as be-
fore. Every thing is finished; finished
sermons. finished music, finished archi-
lecture, finished every thing.
Another church is like an armory, thc
sound Of drum and fife calling morsic-
cruits 10 the Lords army. We say TO
the applicants. Come in and get your
equipment. Here Is the bath in which
You are to he cleansed, here is
the helmet you are TO put on
your head, here are the san
dals you nrc TO put on your feet
hare Is the brcastplate you are 10. put
over your heart, here Is the sword You
a. a n Al -