Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-06-29
TALMAGE'S SERMON
rs PRgACagS TO SINNERS AND POINTS OUT
THEIR REDEMPTION.
Re Illustrates Bow These Whl Have Cons As'ray
Fave Been Recovered The kxasgeranoas Of
Life AID Where aud eow Comfort Can o.
Foun0-Abasems1y Of Christ

cIu~INelF that while - many emlueul
preachers of the day are drifting away
from the old-fashioued Gospel he re
mains firm in the paths OF orthodoxy.
His subject is ''AStray, but Recovered, -
and his text. ISiah 1886: "All We ike
sheep have gone aStray; aud
the Lord hath laid on hiu' the iuiquity
of Us ALL"
Within 90 years no the longest all
who hear or read this sermon will be in
eternity. Daring the next 80 years you
Will nearly all be gone. The next 10
years Will cut q wide swath among the
people. The year lS9l will TO some be
the finally. Such considerations make
this occasion absorbing and mOmeLtOuS
The first half Of my text is an iudict-
ment. "Ail we like sheep have gone
astray." Some one says: Can you not
drop the frs, word? that is too general;
that sweeps too great q circle Some
man rises I'm the audience and he looks
over ON the opposite side of the house,
and he says: There is a bla>phemer,
and understand how he has gone as
tray. And there is another part OF the
house Is defrauder, and he
has gone astray. And there is an inn
pure person and me has gone aStray.' Sit
down. my bro,her, and look at home.
My text takes Us all i'm. IL starts be-
hind the pulpit, sweeps the circuit OF
the room and comes back 20 the point
where 20 started, when 10 says: "All
we like sheep have gone aStray. can
very easily understand why Martin
Luther threw up his hands after he had
found the Bible and cried out: 30 my
sins, my sins" and why the publican,
according 20 the custom To this day in
the East, when they have any great
grief, began % beat himself and cry as
hc smotc upon his breast: God be
mcrciful 10 me q sinner
was. like many of you, brought up
in tine country. and know some of the
habits of sheep. aud how they get as
tray, and what my text means when it
saws. "All We like sheep have gone as
tray" Sheep get a>tray in two ways
either by trying to get into other pas
ture. or from being scared by the dogs
In the former way some OF us got aStray.
We thought the religion OF Jesus Christ
short commons. We thought there was
better pasturage somewhere else. We
Thought If we could only lie down on
banks OF distant streams, or under great
oaks ON the other side of some hill, we
might bc better fed. We want
cd other paSturage than that
which God through Jesus Christ
gave our soul. and we wandered on, and
we wandered ON, and We were lost. We
wanted bread and we found garbage.
The further we wandered, instead of
tudiug rich paSrurage, we found blasted
heath aud sharper rocks and more sting
ing uett.es. No pasture. How was 1t
iu tho worldly groups when Won lost
your child? Did they come around and
console you very much? Did not the
plain Christian man who came into your
house and sat up with yOur darling child
give yOu more comfort than all worldly
ass0ciatfons9 Did AN tho ov'.~'~''.'
songs You ever heard comfort you IN
-hat dav OF bereavement 80 much Is the
song they sang 20 you, perhaps the very
song that was sung by your little child
the last Su6bath Afternoon of her life?
There is q happy land far far away,
Where saints immortal reign, bright bright as
day.
rxASpErArIoNS OF LIFE.
Did your business associates in that
dav of darkness and trouble give you
anv especial coincidence? Business eX-
osuo~ated YOU, business wore You ont,
business left YOU limp as a rag, business
made Won mad. You got dollars, but
Won got no peace. Cod nave mercy ON
The man who has nothing but business
10 comfort him. The world afforded
YOU u0 MXurient paSturaSe. famous
English actor stood on the stage imper-
sonatinc. and thunderS of applause came
down from the galleries, and many
Thought 10 was the pr0udeSt moment OF
AN his life: but there was man asleep
inst I'm front Of him, and he cried ''Wake
nm. wake up," 80 one little annoyance
in lif, has been more pervadiug 10 your
mind than all the brilliant cOngratuia-
tions and successes. Poor paSturaSe
for Your soul in this world. The
world has cheated You, the world
has belied you, the world has
nfsin-eryreted You, the world has per
scented YOU. IL never comforted YOU.
., this world Is good rack from
which q horse may pick his hay; IT Is
u good trough from which the swine
,nov crunch their mess; but'it gives but
ittie food 20 the soul blood bought and
in,nortal What is soul? 1t is a
hon, hixh Us the throne of God What
IS inan2 Nou say, lit is only a
manu. 1t is only man gone over
hoard i'm sin. 70 is only man gone
overheard I'm business life What is a
,nero The battle-ground OF three
worlds, with his hands taking hold oil
drStiues Of light or darkness mani
No line can measure him- M unit
can bound him. The a.chGnRci before
the throne cannot outlive him The
stars shall die, bat he viii watch their
cxtirruishmeut. The world viii burn,
INN he will gaze ON the c.udagration.
Endless, ages will march %, be Will
watch the procession. A mani The
masterpiece Of God Almighty. Yet
Won say. 1T is Ouly man. Can "a
nature Ike that be FED or huskS Of the
wilderness?
substantial comfort vii, nos grov
ON natures ta-r,u >oii
All ..e can hous, ui Christ We snow
is vanity ANA t14l
some of You got astray by looking
for better paSfurage; others by being
scared OF tho dogs The hound gets
over into the pasture dcld. The poor
-hinc- It's iu every direction. In Jew
moments they are torn of the hedges
ana ,hcy are FLASHED Of the ditch. and
the lost sheep never sets home unless
tho farmer goes after IT, There is moth
ing 81 thoroughly lost as "a lost sheep.
10 may have been in 1897. during the
financial panic or during the financial
stress in the fall OF 1873 when You got
a~.rty. You almost became an atheist.
Yon said: ''Nbere is God. that hon