Sharp County record., 1891-01-29
THE STRAY SHEEP
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage Talks to
the Skeptic and Prodigal.
The Father is Ever Ready to Welcome
Back His Errlng Sons, and Reaches
Out to Save All who Call
on Him.

S"DDdIh III blOOhlJu anu NCW lOl
city, the text being:
Other sheep l have which are not of this
fold.-John X, IS.
There is no monopoly in religion.
The grace of God is not a nice little
property fenced off all for ourselves.
1t is not Kings park at which we look
through barred gateway, wishing we
might go in and pluck the flowers and
look at the deer and the statuary. 1t is
a fathers orchard, and there are bars
to let down and gates to swing open.
In my boyhood days, next to the coun.
try schOol-house where l went, there
was an apple orchard Of great luxuri-
ance, owned by very lame man who
did not gather the apples and they went
to waste by scores of bushels. Some
times the lads of the school, in the sin
fulness of 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 the fact that
there was a surplus, and all 60
ing to waste, the owner of that or
chard, reckless of making his lameness
worse, would take after these lads, and
shout "Boys, drop those apples, or I'll
set the dog on your' Now there are
Christians who have severe guard over
the Church of God They have rough
and unsympathetic way of treating out
siders. 1t is great orchard into which
God would like to have all the people
come and take the richest and ripest
fruit, and the more they take the better
He likes it. But there are those who
stand with hard and severe nature
guarding the Church of God, and all the
time afraid that some will get these ap-
pies when they really Que t not to
have them.
There are those here, perhaps, who
say: 1T is now ten, fifteen years since
was in the habit, the regular habit,
of church-going." l know all about
your case. l am going to tell you some
thing that will be startling at the first,
and that is, that you are going to be-
come the Lords sheep. "Oh," you say,
''that is impossible; you don't know my
case; you don't know how far l am from
any thing of that kind" know all about
your case. have been up and down
the world. I know why some of you
do not attend upon Christian services.
go further and make another an
noucement in regard to you, and that
is, you are not only to become the
Lords sheep but you are going to be-
come the Lords sheep this hour. God
issgoing to call you graciously by His
spirit; you are going to come into the
fold of Christ. This sermon shall not
be so much for those who are Chris
tians. l have preached to them hun
dreds and thousands of times. The SER
mon that preach now is going to be
chiefly for those who consider them
selves outsiders, but who may happen
to be in the house, and the chief en-
ployment of the Christian people here
to-day will be to pray for those who are
not accustomed to attend upon Christian
sanctuaries
When the steamer Atlantic went to
pieces on Mars Rock, why did that brave
minister of the Gospel, of whom we
have all read, go out in the life-boat?
Why did he not stay and look after the
passengers that got ashore; wrapping
tlannels around them and lsindling fires
for them and preparing them food?
There was plenty of work to be done on
the shore for those who had already
escaped. All! that brave man knew
that there were others who would take
care of those, and so he said:
"Man the life-boat! Pull away my
lads, pull away Yonder is a man;
there is woman freezing in the rigging.
Pull awayw / see the oar-blades bend
in the strong pull of the oarsmen. Then
they come up to the wreck, The wom-
an is frozen, She drops into the wave
alas! poor woman-and washes out to
sea. But then Mr.. Ancient says There
is man yet hanging in the rigging
Full away, my lads, pull away" They
come up, and he says; Hold now there
five minutes, and we will save you,
Steady! steady Now give me your hand.
Leapl Thank God he is saved Thank
God he is saved"
So there are mennow in the breakers.
They have made u shipwreck of life.
While we come out to save them some
are swept off-swept off before we can
reach them-and there are others stip
hanging on, Steady there among the
slippery places Steady Leap into this
life-boatl Now is your chance for
Heavenl This hour some of you are
going to be saved, Far away from God,
you are going to be brought nigh.
"0thcr sheep have which are not Of
this old"
Christ says that ministers Of the Cos
pol are TO be fishers for men. Now,
when ! go fishing | do not want to fish
in any body else's pond, do not want
to go along lloholSus creek, where there
ara ten or fifteen men fishing, and drop
my line just about where they are
dropping their lines, | should like TO
G Vt in n Newfoundland fishing smack
and push out TO sea fifty miles beyond
the breakers, do not thinl, the Church
Of God gains q great deOl when you
take sheep from one fold and put them