The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-03-03
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
DISCOURSE DELIVERED IN OSKA-
LOOSA, a., SUNDAY, FEB. 81.


The Nearnoss of tho Celestial and tho
TerrsstriaI--JoY in Heaven Over the
Repcnting of Ono Sinful Soul.
OsKALOOsA, Feb. 21.-Rev. DR.. |
Talmage preached here today TO au
enormous audience. He expects to be |
absent from home about ten days, dur
ing which period he speaks in as many
cities. The subject OF his sermon was
''Heavenly Congratulations" His evil
dent intention was to make worlds that
seem a great way of fl ON each other ap-
pear very near. His text was taken
from Luke XIV, 7, '1lkcwisc joy shall
be in heaven over one sinner that re-
pcnteth, more than over ninety and nine
just persons who need no repentance"
A lost sheep! Nothing can be more
thoroughly lost. l look through the
window of a shepherds house at night.
The candles are lighted. The shepherd
has Just placed his staff against tie
mant Il. He has taken oY his cOa.,
shckcn out Of il the dust and hung it up.
l see by the candlclight that there are
neighbors who have come in. The shcp-
herd, tagged out with the long tramp,
sits down on a bench, and the wife and
children and the neighbors say to him,
"Come, now, tell us how you found the
poor thing?" "Well," he says, "this
morning went out to the yard to look
at the flock. No sooner had l looked
over the ienco than l saw something
wrong. The fact was they did not count
right. N'aeuy-fi.e, nil ety-siX, nil ety.
sc zen, nipety-eight, ninety. y.nine-only
nnety-n'. @. Mcdonald, you know we
had hundred. And wondered which
one was gore, and began again, and /
counted nincty-iive, ninety-slX, ninety
seven, ninety-eight, nincty-nine. Well,
l whlstled up the dogs, and l started on
the fields and across the bridges, and l
tracked the moors, and l leapcd the
gullics, but no bleating Of the poor thing
did l hear. l said TO myself, The
lamb must have fallen into ditch, or q
pack OF wolves from the mountain must
have torn it to pieces and sucked It's life
OUT But l could not give it up. You
see ii was a pet lamb. 1t was that one
with the black spot on tho right shoulder
that used to come and lick my hand as
crossed the field, and somehow could
not give 1t up. SO l went on and on
and on until after awhile l heard tho
dogs bark, and l said, WHAT'S that?'
Then hastcned to the top of tho hill,
and looked down and there l saw the
poor lamb. 1t had fallen INTO the ditch,
and as l came where it was and bent
over the ditch and stopped down to lift
the poor thing out, L wish you could
have seen the loving and implorinG and
tender way it looked at me. | lifted it
out, and it was al! covered with the
No I ,Ii,1
thing to do, but l lifted it out, aud it
was so lame and SO weak it could no..
walk alone, SO threw it over my shoul-
dcrs and started homcward, and the
condition OF that lamb YOU may Judge of
from the coat which L have Just hung
up. But trampcd on and on until it
ls sale in the yard, poor thing! Thank
God, thank God! Then tho Shepherds
whe spread the table and brought out
the best fare that the cabin could afford,
and they sat up very late that nigh,
and they talked, and they laughed, and
they sang, and they ate, and they drank,
and they danced, and told over and over
and over again the story of the lost
sheep that was found.
With such tenderness and rusticity of
illustration does Christ represent the
souls going off and the SOULS coming
back, when he says, "Likcwisc there is
JOY In heaven among the angels of God
over one sinner that rcpcnLcth, more
than over ninety and nine just persons
that need no repentance" TO repent
Is TO feel that you are bad, and to be
sorry about ii, and to turn over new
leaf, and TO pray Tor forgiveness and
help. Just as soon as a man does tha,.
they hear right away OF it in heaven.
There are no gOssips in glory gong
around TO chatter AMI laugh when man
1alls, but there are many souls In glory
who are glad to run about and tell it
when man is saved. The news goes
very quick from gate to gate, and from
north wall to south wall, ond from cast
wall to west wall, and in three minutes
every citizen Of heaven has heard of ii,
Tor There is JOY in heaven among the
angels OF God over one sinner that re-
penteth."
can very easily understand how
there should bc JOY in heaven over a
Pentccost with three thousand souls
saved in ore day--nO mystery about
that; can understand how there should
be JOY in heaven over the Parish of
Schotts, when four hundred souls were
saved under one sermon Of Mr.. LIVING
ston; can understand how there should
be JOY in heaven over the great awak-
cnlng in the time of IIarland Page, when
III one year four hundred and seventy
three thousand souls were brought TO |
God in the United States; can under
stand very easily how there should be |
Joy III heaven over five hundred thous-
ana souls converted in 1857, in this |
country; but mark you, my text announ-
ces there is Joy in heaven among the
angels OF God over one, Just one, sim
ner that repenteth.
Some cathedrals have one tower;
some cathcdrals have two, three, four
towers. Did you ever hear them all |
ring at once? am told that the bell in
the cathedral OF St. Paul rings only on
rare occasions, for instance, at the death
or the birth Of king. Have you seen
n cathedral with four towers, aud have
you heard them all strike into one great
chime OF gladness? Here Is a man who
Is moral. He is an example to a great
many professors OF religion i'm somc