Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-01-16

commodation. and YOU could accommodate
them, how glad YOU would ps'
Now am going to ask of YOU favor,
,,ant Won 10 obliee me. The accommo-
dation will cost you nothing and VIII give
me great happiness. OF course you VIII |
not deny me. / want you as an expert
ment 10 try the Christian religion. III II
does not stand the test, discard 1t; II II
does. receive II.
Again | remark, the IIea7enly Shep-
her1 is goinc 10 get many Of his sheep
among those who have been flung OF evii
habit.
1t outrages me to see how soon Christian
people give up the prodgal; hear Christian
people talk as though they thought the grace
of God were a chain of forty or hfty INKS
and when they had run cut then there
was nothing to touch the depth OF a man
iniquity. If man were out hunting lor
deer, and got of tho track OF the deer, ne
would hunt amid the bushes and the
brakes longer for the lost game than ne
will look for lost soul.
They say if man has had the delirium
tremens twice he cannot be cured. They
say if a woman has fallen from integrity
she cannot be redeemed. All OF which Is
an infinite SANDER on the Gospel OF the
Son of God. Men who say that know
nothing about practical religion in their
own hearts. How many times will God
take back man who has fallen? Well,
l cannot give you the exact figures, but
can tell you at what point he certainly
will take him back. Four hundred and
ninety times. Why do / say four
hundred and ninety times? Because the
Bible says seventy times seven. Now,
tifrtar hot ont tphn A N mr. n
man can fall four times, eight
times. ten times, twenty times,
ono hundred times, four hundred times,
an3 yet be saved. Four hundred and nine
ty times Why, there is a great multitude
before the throne of God who plunged into
all the depths of iniquity. There were no
sins they did not commit; but they were
washed Of body, and washed of mind, and
washed of soul, and they are before the
throne of God now forever happy / say
that TO encourage any man who feels there
is no chance for him.
Good Templars win not save you, al
though they are grand institution. sons
Of Temperance will not save you, although
there is no better society on earth. Sign-
ing the temperance pledge will not save
you. although it is grand thing TO do. No
one but God can save you. Do not put
your confidence i'll bromide of potassium,
or anything that the apothecary can mix.
Put your trust in God. After the Church
has cast you off, and social circles have
cast you off, ana the bank has cast
you off, and all good society has cast
you off, and father has cast you off,
and mother has cast you off, at
your first cry for help God will
bend clean down TO that ditch of your in
iquity to help you out. Oh, what a God he
is! Long suffering and gracious.
There may be in this house some whose
hand trembles so with dissipation that they
could hardly hold a hymn-book. / say to
such, if they are here, "You will preach
the Gospel yet; you will yet, some of you,
carry the Holy Communion through the
aisles, and you will be acceptable TO every
body because everybody will know you
are saved and purified by the grace Of God,
and a consecrated man, wholly consecrated.
Your business has got to come up, your
physical health is 10 be rebuilt, your family
TO be restored. the Church of God on
earth and in heaven is to rejoice over your
coming. ''Other sheep have j which are
not Of this fold" If this is not the Gospel
| do not know what the Gospel is. 1t can
scale any height il can fathom any depth,
reason why there are not more people saved
is we do not swing the door wide enough
open. Now there is only one class OF per-
sons in this house about whom | have any
dependency and that is those who have
been hearing the Gospel for perhaps TWEEN
ty, thirty, forty years. Their outward
life moral, but they tell you frankly they
do not love the Lord Jesus Christ have
not trusted him, have not been borp again
by the Spirit of Goa. They are Gospel
hardened. The Gospel has no more effect
upon them than the shining Of the moon on
the pavement. The publicans and the har-
lots go into the kingdom of God before they.
They went through, some Of them, the re-
vival Of 1851. when 500, 900 souls were
brought TO God. Some of them went
through big revivals in individual churches
Still unpardoned, unblcsscd. uusavel. They
were merely spectators. pcl-hardened.
After awhile we will hear that they are
sick, and then that they are dead, and then
that they died without any hope. Gospel
hardened. But / turn away from all such
with a thrill of hope to those who are not
Gospel-hardened. Some Of you have not
heard, perhaps five sermons in five years.
This whole subject has been a novelty TO
you for some time You are not Gospel
hardened; you know you are not Gospel
hardened. The whole subject comes fresh
ly 10 your mind. i hear some soul saying,
20 my wasted life O the bitter past
. the graves l stumbled over! Whittier
shall / fly? The future rs so dark, 50 dark,
so very dark. God help me,'
oh, l am so glad for that last uttcrance.
That was a prayer. as soon as you begin to
pray, that turns all Heaven this way. and
God steps in, and he beats back the hounds
OF temptation TO their kennels, and he
throws all around the pursued soul the
covert OF his pardoning mercy. heard
something fall. What was it? 1t was the
bars around the shcepfold, the bars Of the
fence around the shcepfold. The Heavenly
Shepherd let them fail, and the hunted
sheep Of the mountain come bounding In.
some with fleece torn Of the brambles, and
others with feet lame from the dogs, but
bounding In. Thank God. "Other sheep
have l which are not of this fold"
God forbid that any of you should have
the lamentation of the dying nobleman