Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-12
Rev. DR.. Talmage Speaks Especially
10 the NOn-Churct- -Goers.
NO MONOPOLY In REAL RELIGION.
The Door Wide open for the Return Of
Those Out in the Cold.
HE NEVER scoFFED AT sKEPTICISM

the new choir OF 2UU voices most eHectlYely
led the musical exercises. DIR. Talmage's
text was John 10: I6, "Other sheep 1 have
which are not of this fold"
There is no monopoly in religion. The grace
of God is not nice little property fenced off
all for ourselves. 1t is not kings park. at
which we look through barred gateway, wish
ing we might go in and pluck the flowers and
look at the deer and the sratuary. 1t is a
fathers orchard, and there are bars to let
down, and gates to swing open.
In NV boyhood days, next to the country
school house whore went. there was an apple
orchard of great luNuTiance. owned by very
lame man who did not gather the apples, and
they went to waste by scores of hdshels- Some
times the lads of the school, in the sinfulneSs
OF 4 nature inherited from our first parents
who fell through the same temptation, would
climb over the fence and take some of these
apples, and Notwithstanding tie fact that there
was surplus, and all going to waste, The owner
of that orchard, reckless OF making his lame
ness worse, would take after these lads. and
shout, Bows, drop those apples, or I'll Set the
dog on you!n Now there are Christians who
have severe guard over the Church of GOO.
They have rough and unsympatbetic way of
treating outsiders. 1t is great orchard into
which God would like TO have all the people
come and take the richest and the ripest fruit,
and the more they take the better he likes 1t.
But there are those who stand with a hard and
severe nature guarding the Church of God, and
all the time afraid mat some will get these ap-
pies when they really ought not to have them.
Great Multitude Coming.
Have you any idea that, because you were
baptized at months of age, and because yoa
have all YOUR life been surrounded by hallowed
influences, you have right to one whole side
of the Lords table. spreading yourself out SO
nobody else can sit there You will have to
haul in your elbows, and there will come
great NJ utiiude to sit at the table. and on both
sides of you. You are not going to have this
monopoly OF religion. '-Other sheep have
which are not of this fold"
Mcdonald. the Scotchman, has on the Scotch
hills great flock of sheer. Mcdonald has
1000 or 5000 head OF sheep. Some are browsing
IN the heather, some are on the hills, some are
in the valleys few are in the yard One day
Cameron comes over to Mcdonald and says:
Mcdonald. you have 30 sheepi have been
counting Them" oh nor saws Mcdonald II
have 400 or 5000" "Ahr' says Cameron. you
are mistaken; have just counted them: :here
are So why" says Mcdonald do yoL sup
pose that is all the sheep have? have sheep
on the distant hills and IN the valleys, ranging
and roaming everywhere. Other sheep have l
which are not OF this fold"
So Christ comes. Here is a group of Chris
tians; and there is a group of Christians; here
is a Methodist fold, here is Presbyterian fold.
here is Baptist fold here is a Lutheran fold,
and we make our annual statistics. and we
think we can tell you just how many Chris
tians there are in the world: how many there
are in the Church. how manyof all these de-
nominations We aggregate 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
chose whom you have never seen, those of
whom you have never heard. l have my chill
dren In all parts OF the earth, on all the Islanos
of The sea, IN all the continents in all the noun
ltaius and in all the valleys. Do you think that
these few sheep YOU have counted are all the
sheep have? There is great multitude tha;
no man can number. Other sheep have which
are not of this fold"
The Lost Sheep to Be Found.
Christ says that ministers of the gospel are to
be fishers Tor men. Now when go fishing 1
do not want to go fishing in anybody else's
pond. / do not want 10 60 along Hohokus
creek, where there are 10 or Is men fishing, and
drop my line just about where they are drop
ping their lines. l should like to get in a New
foundland fishing smack and push out to sea
about 50 miles beyond the breakers. do not
think the Church of God gains a great deal
when you take sheep from one fold and put
them in another fold. 1t is the lost sheep on
the mountains you want to bring back-the lost
sheep on the mountains. And they are coming
to-day.
Yon are now this hour in the tide of Chris
tian influences; you are gong 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 lie of usefulness. and~your
deathbed is going to be surrounded by Chris
Ujan sympathizers; and devout men will carry
you to your burial when your work is done
and these words will be chiseled for your epi-
taph: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of His saints" And all that hIstcry is
going to begin to-day. "Other sheep have l
which are not Of this fold"
Again l remark, the Heavenly Shepherd is
going to tind many of His sheep among those
who are now rejecters of Christianity do
not know how you came to reject Christianity.
do not know whether it was through hearing
Theodore Parker preach: or whether it was
reading Renan's Life of Jesus" or whether it
was through some skeptic in the store or fac
tory. Or It may be-probably is the case-that
you were disguised with religion and disguised
with Christianity because some man who pro-
fesscd to be 4 Christian defrauded YOU and he
being member of the church. and you taking
him as a representative of the Christian re.
liCon. YOU said, well, If that's religion L
don't want any of it."
Going to Ask a Favor.
do not know how you came to reject Chris
tianty, but you frankly tell me you o reject 1t;
you do not think the Bible is the Word of God.
although there are many things in 1t you ad-
mire; you do not think that Christ was divine
being, although you think lie was a very good
man. You say, IF the Bible be rrue-the
most of the Bible be true-l nevertheless
think the earlier part of the Bible is an alle-
CORY" And there are 80 things that believe
you do not believe. Nevertheless they tell me
in regard to you that you are an accommo-
dating, you are an oblicing person. If should
come TO you and ask of you a favor you would
grant it, if 1t were possible. 1t would be a joy
FOR you to grant me a favor. II any of your
friends came to you and wanted an accommo-
dauon, and you could accommodate them, how
glad YOU would be!
Now am going to ask of you favor. l
want you to obliee me. The accommodation
Will cost YOU nothing. and will give me great
happiness. OF course YOU will not DENY me- 1
want you as an experiment to try the Chris
tan religion. If 1t does not stand the test, dis
card II; If il does. receive it.
II you were very sick. and you had been given
up OF the doctors, and came to you and took
a bottle OF medicine from my pocket and SAID,
Here Is medicine | am sure will help YOU; Il
has cured 5O people" you would say. ''Oh,
these medicines will fail me-" well" saw,
"will you not, as matter of accommodation to
myself just try it?' We'll" you say, Il have
no objection to trying ii: if will be any satis-
faction to you will try it," You take 1t. Now
You sick in disquietude sick in sin You
are not happy. You laugh sometimes when Won
are miserable. There come surges of unhap-
piness over your soul that almost swamp YOU
You are unhappy. struck through with unrest
Now will you not try this solace, this febrifuge
this anodyne. this gospel medicine? "Oh,"
you say, Il haven't any faith in it." As mat
ter of accommodation, let me introduce YOU TO
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Physician,
why" you say. 81 haven't any faith in Him."
Well, now, Will you not just let Him come and
try His power on your soul? Just let me intro
duce Him to you. / DO not ask you to take my
word for it. do not ask you to take the ad-
vice OF cler"ymen. Perhaps the clergymen
may be pre1uufced; perhaps we may be speak
ing professionally; perhaps we may give you
wrong advice; perhaps we are morbid on thar
subject; so do not ask you to take the advice
OF ciergymen. l ask you to take the advice of
very respectable iaymen, such as William
Shakespeare, the dramatist; as William Will
berlorce- the statesman: as Isaac Newton. the
astronomer; as Robert Boyle. the philosopher;
as Locke, the metaphysician; as Morse. the
electrician.
Never ScOffed at skepticism.
These mon never preached-they never pre-
tended to preach-but they come out, and put.
ting down, one his telescope and another the |