Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1892-03-04
REV. Or. TAlMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE's SUM-
DAY SERMON.
SUBJECT: "HEAvENLY CoNGRArULA-
TONS"

TEXT: "Likeioise joy shall be in heaven
orer one sinner that repenteth, more than
ouer ninety and nine just persons 1ho need
no repentdnce."-Luke Nv, z.
A lost sheepi Nothing can be more thor
oughly lost. 1 look through the window Of
a shepherds house at night. The candles are
lighted. The shepherd has Just placed his
staff against the mantle. He has taken Off
his coat, shaken out OF it the dust and hung
1t up. see by the candle light that there
are Deighbors who have come in The
shepherd. tagged out 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" We'll" he says, this morning
went out to the yard to look at the flock
No sooner had l looked over the
fence than l saw something wrong.
The fact was they did not count right.
Ninety-hve, ninety six ninety seven,
ninety eight, ninety-nine-only ninety-nine'
Mcdonald, you know we had a hundred.
And l.wonder which one was gone and
began again, and l counted ninety-five,
nlnety-Slx, ninety-seven, ninety eight nine
ty-nine. Well, | whistled up the dogs, and
/ started on the fields and across the
bridges, and | tracked the moors ard
leaped the gullies, but no bleating of the
poor thing did l 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 il
up. You see 1t was a pet lamb. 1t
was that one with the black spot
on the right shoulder that used to
come and lick my hand as 1 crossed the field,
and somehow l could not give it up. So
went on and on and on until after awhile
heard the dogs barG, and l said, What's
thatY Then 1 hastened TO the top Of the
hill, and looked down and there | saw the
poor lamb. 1t had fallen into the ditch
and as | came where 1t 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 siush and the mud. 1t was
an awful thing to do but | lifted it out AMI
1t was SO lame and 50 weak it could not walk
Gloue so l threw it over my shoulder
and | started homeward, and the con-
dition OF that lamb you may judge OF from
the coat which have just hung up. But
trampel on ana on until it is safe in
the yard, loor thingl Thank God, thank
GodP 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 ughe1, ani 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.
With such tenderness and rusticity of
Illustration does Christ represent the souls
going Off and tho souls coming back, when
He says, Likewise there is Joy in heaven
among the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth. more than over n;n.sy and
nine just persons that neel no repentance"
To repent is to feel that you are bad, and to
la gIr nlNg,,.N
leaf, and to pray for forgiveness and help.
Just us soon as q man docs that, they hear
right away OF 1t in heaven
There are no gosstps in glory going
Wound to chatter and laugh when man
fdiSS, 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, anu from east wall to west wall, and in
three minutes every citizen OF heaven has
heard of it, for "there is JOY in heaven
amohg the angels Of God over one sinner
that repenteth.
can very easily understand how thers
should be JOY in heaven over Pentecost
with three thousand souls saved in one 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; l can understand how there should bs
Joy IN heaven over the great awakening in
the time Of Harland Page, when in one year
| four hundred aud seventythree thousand
souls were brought to God i'll 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 ycu my text an
nounces there is joy in heaven among ths
angels of God over one, just one, sinner that
repenteth.
Some cathedrals have one tower; some
cathe1rals have two, three, our 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 in.
stance at the death or the birth of king.
| Have you seen cathedral with four towers,
and have you heard them all strike into one
great chime of gladnessS Here is a man who
Is moral. de is an example to great many
professors of religion in some things; he
never did mean thing in his life; he pays
all his debts, and is good citizen and good
neighbor, but he says ne is not Christian.
Some day the Holy Spirit comes into his
heart and he sees that he clnnot depend
upon his morality for salvation. He says
10 Lord God / have been depending upon
my good works; find am a sinner, ami
want Thy salvation. Lord, for Jesus's sake
have mercy on meF AMI God pardon
him. and immediately one Of the towers o
heaven strikes silvery chime, for ther
are four towers to the heavenly temple
Here Is a man who is bad, he knows he /
bad, and everybody else knows he is bad, bu
he lis not an outcast-far from being an out.
cast. He moves in respectable circles. Blu
one day, by the power Of the Holy Ghost
he rouses up to see his sinfulness and he says
20 Lord, have mercyi l am a wanderer
and without Thee l perish. Have mercy
God hears him, and Immediately two of tn
towers o. heaven strike a slverY chime.
But here is an outcast. He was picked uE
last night out of the gutter and carried t
the police station. He has been in the peni
tentiary three times. He is covered an,
soaked with loathsomeness and abomination
Arousiny from his debauch, he cries out
20 God, have mercy on me. Thou VIII
didst pardon the penitent thief, hear me crl
for mercy.n And the Lord listens aud par
dons and no sooner is the poor wretch par
doned than three of the great towers @
heaven strike up a slvery chime. But her
is a waif of the street. She passes under th
gasight, 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 a midnight mission, and she listen
to that song she hears:
All may come, whoever will,
This Man receives poor sinners still
She puts into that harbor, she kneels by tn
rough bench near the door; she says: "
Lordl Thou who didst have mercy on Mar
Magdalen, take my blisterei feet off the rA,
not pavement Of hell" God says, M
daughter, thy sins are forgiven thee; go ii
peace" Now. all the four towers of heaven
strike a silvery chime, ami they wno pas
through the celestial streets say: "What
thatp Why, the worst sinner must hav
been saved. Hear all the four towers rim
and ring and ringP "Ani there is JOY
sinner that repenteth."
My subject impresses you, l think, wit
the thought that it is possible for us to aug
ment the happiness OF heaven. People thin
that souls before tho throne are as happy a