Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-03-12
REV. DIR. TALMAGE
The Brooklyn Divine's Sum
day Sermon.

lEAI: LtESUfse Joy SnAu De IN Hedren
-oter one sinner that repenteth, more than
ou>r ninety and nine just persons mho need
no Luke XIV, Z.
A lost sheep, Nothing can be more thor
oughly lost. look through the window OF
a shepherds house at night. The candles are
lighted. The shepherd has just placed his
staff against the rs ante. He has taken off
his coat, shaken OF of it the dust aud hung
it up. | see by the candle light that there
are Deighbors who have come in. The
shepherd. tagged GU: with the long tramp.
sits down on a bench, and the wife and the
children and the ~neighbors say to him,
Come, now, tell US how you found the poor
thing "N ell" he says, this morning l
went out to the yard to look at the flock.
fence than saw something wrong.
The fact was they did not count right.
N~inety-fve, ninety-six, ninety-seven,
ninety-eight. ninety-nine-only n~inety-nine.
Mcdonald, you know we had a hundred.
And %l.wonder which one was gone, and l
ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety eight, nine
tynine. Well, whistled up the dogs and
| started on the fields and across the
bridges, and I tracked the moors and 1
leaped the quilts but no beating Of the
poor thing did hear. said TO myself,
The lamb must have fallen into a ditch,
or a pack of wolves from the mountain
must have torn it to pieces and sucked
its life out But l could not give it
up You see it was q pet lamb. 1t
was that one with the black spot
on the right shoulder that used to
come and lick my hand as / crossed the field,
and somehow | could not give 1t up. Sc l
went on and on and on until after awhile l
heard toe dogs bark. and 1 said, What's
thatp Then 1 FASTENED to the top Of tho
hill, and | looked down and there / saw the
poor lamb. 1t had fallen into the ditch
and as | came where It was and bent over
the ditch and stopped down to lift the poor
thing out, | wish you could have seen the
loving and imploring and tender way it
looked at me. lifted it out, and it was all
covered with the slush and the mud. 1t was
an awful thing TODD, but l lifted it out, and
1t was SO lame and SO weak it could not walk
alone, 50 l threw it over my shoulder
and 1 started homeward, and the con-
dition Of that lamb you may judge of from
the coat which | have just hung up. But 1
tramped on and on until it is safe in
the yard, roort thing. Thank God, thank
Godf' Then the shepherds wife spread
the table and brought out the best
fare that the cabin could afford,
and they sat up very late that night,
and they talked, and they laughed, and they
sang, and they ate, and they drank, and they
danced, and told over and over again the
story Of the lost sheep that was found.
18th such tenderness and rusticity Of
illustration does Christ represent the souls
going off and the souls coming back. when
He says, Likewise there is JOY in heaven
among the angels OF God over one sinner
that %repentetb, more than over ninety and
nine just persons that need no repentance"
10 repent is to feel that you are bad, and to
be sorry about it, and to turn over a new
leaf, and to pray for forgiveness and help.
Just as soon as a man does that, they hear
right away OF it in heaven.
There are no gossips in glory going
around to chatter and laugh when a man
tails. but there are many souls in glory who
are glad to run about and tell it when a man
Is saved. The news goes very quick from
gate to gate, and from north wall to south
wall, and from east wall to west wall, and in
three minutes every citizen of heaven has
heard of it, for 'there is joy in heaven
among the angels of Goi over one sinner
that repentetn.'
l can very easily understand how there
should be JOY in heaven over q Pentecost
with three thousand souls saved in one day
no mystery about that; l can understand
how there should be joy in heaven over the
were saved under one sermon Of Mr.. Living
ston, | can understand how there should be
joy in heaven over the great awakening in
the timo of Harland Page. when in one year
four hundred and seventy-three thousand
souls were brought to God In the United
States; | can understand very easily how
there should be Joy in heaven over five hun
dred thousand souls converted in 1857, in
this country, but mark you. my text an
nounces there is joy in heaven among the
angels of God over one, just one, sinner that
repcnteth.
Some cathedrals have one tower; some
cathe1rals have two, three, four towers.
Did you ever hear thsm all ring at once? |
am told that the bell in the cathedral OF st
PAM ripDC only on rara occasions for in
stapce, at the death or the birth of a king
Have you seen a cathedral with four towers
and have you heard them all strike into ont
great chime of gladness9 Here is q mar .wh'
is moral. He is an example to a great manl
professors of religion in some things; b
never did q mean thing in his life; he pay
all his debts, aud is a good citizen end a goo'
neIghbor, but he says he is not a Christian.
Some day the Holy Spirit comes into hi
heart and he sees that he cannot depen
upon his morality for salvation. He says
- Lord God have been depending upol
my good works. l find am a sinner, ami
want Thy salvation. Lord, for Jesus's sake
have mercy on me" AMI God pardon
him. and immediately one Of the towers {
heaven strikes a silvery chine, for tnar
are four towers to the heavenly temple
dere is a mar who is bad: he knows be
bad, and everybody else knows he is bad, bu
" Gl OuuC1St-lt kTOHl DNlu( al OUT
cast. He moves in respectable circles. Blu
one day. by the power OF the Holy Ghost
he rouses no to see his sinfulness and he says
20 Lord. have mercy! l am a wanderer
and without Thee l perish. Have mercy
God hears him, and immediately two Of tn
towers OF heaven strike a silvery chime.
But here is an outcast. He was picked u,
last night out of the gutter and carried t
the police station. He has been in the pen
Tertiary three timas. He is covered an
soaked with loathsomeness AMI abominatior
Arousing from his debauch, be cries GU,
70 God. have mercy on me. Thou VIII
didst pardon the penitent thief. hear me CT
for mercy And the Lord listens and par
dons, and no sooner is the poor wretch pal
doned than three of the great towers c
heaven strike up a silvery chime. But her
lisa waif of the street. She passes under th
gasiisht, and your. soul shudders with
great horror. No pity for her. No con
miseration for her.
AS she passes down the street she hears
song in q midnight mission, and she lister
to that song she hears:
All may come, whoever will,
This Man receives poo, sinners still.
She puts into that harbor, she kneels by til
rough bench near the door: she SAYS: -
Lord. Thou who didst have mercy on Mar