Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-07-04

and they are FLASHED Of the ditch, and
the lost sheep never gets home unless
the farmer goes after It. There Is
nothing so thoroughly lost as los:
sheep 1t may have been in 1857, dur
ing the financial panic, or during the
financial stress in tho fall Of 1873,
when you got astrey. You almost be-
came an atheist You said, where
Is God, that honest men 60 down and
thieves prosperY You were logged Of
creditors, you were logged Of the
banks, yoi were logged OF worldly dis
aster. and some OF you went into mis-
antllropy, and some OF you took to
strong drink, and others Of you lied out
OF Christian association. and you got
astray. O man, that was the las.
time when you ought to have forsaken
God
Standing amid the laundering OF
your earthly fortunes. how could you
get along without God to comfort you,
and n God to deliver you, and God
TO help you. and God to save you?
You tell me you have been through
enough business trouble almost to kill
you. I;know4it as 6cannot 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 somein another. and
if you could really zee the position some
of you occupy before God this morning
your soul would burst into an agony OF
tears and you would pelt the heavens
with the cry. "God have mercyp'
Sinai's batteries have been unlilnbered
above your soul and at times you have
heard it thunder. 1.-THE wages Of sin is
DEATH. "Al have sinned and come
short OF the glory OF Cod by one
man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon
all men. for that all have sinned. )"
1.-THE soul that sinnetll. it shall die"
When Sebastopol was being bon-
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 conflagration. the multiplied
ton of your sorrows and troubles, |
think, must make the wings OF Gods
lowering angels shiver to the tip.
''TuE INIouITy or rs ALL"
But the last part of my text opens
door wide enough to let lis all out and
40 let all heaven in. Sound it 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 let the earth tell it to the heavens.
THE Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all" AIN glad that the prophet
did not stop to explain whom he meant
by him" Him of the manager, him OF
the bloody sweat, linn Of the resurree-
ton throne, him of the crucifixion
agony. ION him the Lord hath laid
the iniquity of US all"
oh" 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 !
hare an obligation and have the
means to meet it, and come to you
and ask you to settle that obligation
you rightly say, Pay your own debts"
If you and walking down the street,
both hale. hearty and well, | ask you
to carry me, you say, and say rightly,
"Walk on your feetr But suppose
you and were in a regiment, and i
was wounded in the battle, and fell
unconscious at your feet with gunshot
fractures and dislocations, what would
you do2 You would call to your COM
rades saying. Come and help, this
man is helpless; bring the ambulance;
let US take him to the hospitals" and l
would be dead lift in your arms. and
you would lift me from the ground
where 1 had fallen and put me in the
ambulance and take me to the hospital
and have all kindness shown ME.
Would there be anything mean in your
doing that9 Would there be anything
belneaning in my accepting that kind
ness9 Oh, mol You would be mean
not to do it. That is what Christ does.
If we could pay our debts then it
would be better to go up and pay
them, saying. "Here, Lord, here is my
obligation; here are means with which
/ mean to settle that obligation; now
give me a 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 trans
gressions, 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 Christ
mas night was only the bell. the re-
sounding 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 Ills, and we are
a dead lift. He does not lift us with
the tips of his fingers. He does not IF.
us with one arllL He comes down
upon lis knee, and then with dead
lift he raises us to honor and glory and
immortality. THE Lord hath laid on
him the iniquity Of US all" Why,
then. will no man carry his sins2 You
cnnnot carry successfully the smallest
q: you ever committed. You might
es well put the Apennines on one shoui-
der and the Alps on the other-how
much less can you carry al! the sins OF
your lifetime. Christ comes and looks
down in your face and says: Il have
come through all tile decorations OF
these days. and through all the fem
pests of these nights have come to
beor vour burdens and to pardon your