Orange County observer., 1891-07-18
REV. DIR. TALMAGE
he Brooklyn Divine 8
Suncay Sermon

II
dsruy and the Lord hath fuid
on Hon the 'tiquityo IS aH."-Isaiah lil.,6.
Within ninety years at the longest all who
hear or read this sermon viii e III eternity.
During the next fifty yeays you Will nearly
all be gone. the next ten years viii cut
wide swath among the people. The year
1891 Will u be the hnaty. SUCH con
sidcrations max. this occasion absorbing
and momentous. The first half Of my text
is an Indictment "All re ike sheep have
gone astray' Some one says: Can you
not drop the first ord That - too general
that sweeps too great circle. Some man
rises III the audience and he looks over on
the opposite side Of the house, AMI ha saws.
There Is b.asphemer, and | un nterstand
how he has gone astrav. An1 there in an
other part of the house IS defrau1ar, ana
he has gone astray. And there Is an impure
person. and he has gODa astray.
Sit down, nv brother, and look at home
My text takes us all IN. 1t starts behind the
pulpit, sweeps the circuit Of the room and
comes back TO the point from where it
started when 1t says "All we like sheep
have gone astrav.3 can very easily under
stand why Martin Luther threw up his hands
after he had found the Bible and cried out,
"Oh my sins, my sins and why the publi-
can. according to the custom 70 this day in
the East, when they have any great grief
began 10 beat himself and cry as he smote
upon his breast, God be merclful to me a
slnner
was, like many Of you. brought up in the
country, and l know some of the habits Of
sheep and how they get astrav and what my
text means when it says, "Al we like sheep
nave gone astray." Sheep get astray 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 pas
turage somewhere else We thought if we
could only lie down on the banks of distant
streams or under great oaks on the other side
OF some hill we might be better fed
We wanted other pasturage than that
which God through Jesus Christ gave our
sou and we wandered ON and wandered on.
and We were lost We wanted bread and
we Iound garbage; The further we wan
| dered, instead Of finding rich pasturage, we
found blasted heath and sharpened rocks
and more singing nettles. No pasture. How
was 1t IN the worldly groups when YOU lost
/ your chlldi Did they come around and CON
| sole you very muchp Did not the plain
@ .hIlstian man who came into your house
and sat up with your darling child give YOU
more comfort than all worldly associations
Dld all the convivial songs you ever heard
comfort you III that day Of bereavement SO
inuch ita the song they sang to you, perhaps
the very song that was sung by your little
| child the last Sabbath afternoon of her
! life?
day
Dld your business associates in that day of
darkness and trouble give you any especial
confidence Business exasperatel YOU.
! business wore you out business left
I you limp as a rag, business made
You mad lou got dollars, but YOU got no
| peace. trod have mercy on the man who has
hot1lng put business to- comfort him The
"ofld afforded You no l1xuriant pasturage.
A famous English actor stood Oh the stage
lmpersonatlng, and thunders of applause
came down from the galleries. and many
thought 1t was the proudest moment Of his
NE, but there was a man asleep just in front
OF nun, and the fact that that man was in
uiierent and somnolent spoiled all the occa-
sion Tor him and he cried, Wake up! wake
up.
80 one little annoyance has been MON
pervatlnS to your mind than all the bril-
llahl congra tulatlons and successes Poor
Iastufage Tor your soul you found in this
world The world has cheated you, the
world has beiled You, the world has rnisin-
terpreted you. the world has prosecuted YOU
II never contorted you. Oh this world IS
agood rack from which a horss may pick
his hay; 1t is a good trough from which the
swine may crunch their mess but it gives
but little food to a soul blood BOUGHT and
immortal.
What is a.soul% IL is hope high as the
throne of God What is a NAM You say,
1T is only mano 1t is only man gone
overheard in business life What is a man?
The battle ground of three worlds, with his
hands taking hold of destinlas of light or
darkness. A man! No line can measure him
No limit can bound him. The archangel be
fore the throne cannot outve him The stars
shall die, but he Will watch their eXtnguish.
ment. The world will burn but he will
gaze on the contagration. Endless ages will
march on, he will watch the procession. \
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