Connecticut western news., 1895-02-14

So there are those here today who are safe on the shore of Gods mercy I will not spend any time with them at all, but I see there arc some who are freezing in the rigging of sin and sur rounded by perilous storms. Pull away, my ladsl Let us reach them. Alas, one is washed off and gone. There is one more to be saved. Let us push out for that one. Clutch the rope Oh, dying man. clutch it as with death grip. Steady, now, on the slippery places. Steady. Thore-sared, saved Just as thought For Christ has declared that there are some still in the breakers who shall como ashore. "Other sheep have which are not of this fold.
 Searching For Stray Sheep.
 Christ commands his ministers to be ishermen, and when go fishing I do not want to go among other churches, but into the wide world, not sitting along Hohokus creek, where eight or ten oth- CT persons arc sitting with hook and line, but, like the fishermen of New foundland, sailing of and dropping net away outside, 40 or 30 miles from shore. Yes, there are nonchurchgoers here who will como in. Next Sabbath they will be here again or ill some better church. They are this moment being swept into Christian associations. Their voice will be heard in public prayer They will die in peace, their bed surrounded by Christian sym pathies and to be carried out by devout men to be buried and on their grave be chiseled the words, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. " And on resurrection day you will get up with the dear children you have already buried and with your Christian parents who have already won the palm. And all that grand and glo- rious history begins this hour. "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold
 I remark again, the heavenly shep- herd is going to find great many of his sheep among those who are positive rejectors of Christianity. do not know how you came to reject Christianity. It may have been through hearing Theo, dore Parker preach, or through reading Renan's Life of Jesus, '" or through the infidel talk of some young man in your store. It may have been through the trickery of some professed Christian man who disgusted you with religion. do not ask you how you became so, but you frankly tell me that you do re- ject it. You do not believe that Christ is divine being. although you admit that he was very good man. You do not believe that the Bible was inspired of God, although you think there are somo very fine things in 1t. You believe that the Scriptural description of Eden was only an alleSory. There are 90 things that believe that you do not be- lieve. And yet you are an accommodate ing man. Everybody that knows you says that of you. Ii l should ask you to do kindness for me, or if any one else should ask of you kindness, you would do it. Now, have a kindness to ask of you today. It is something that will cost you nothing and will give nc great delight. I want you by experiment. to try the power of Christ's religion. If should come to you, and you were very sick. and doctors had given you up and said there was no chance for you, and should take out bottle and say: "Here is a medicine that will cure you It has cured 50 people, ard it will cure you. you would say, 'I have no confidence in it." I would say, Wont you take it to obliRe me;" We'll" you would gay, eff it's any accommodation 10 you, I'll take it." My friend, will you be inst as.i accommodating in matters of re- ligion? There are some of you who have found out that this world cannot satisfy your soul. You are like the man who told mo one Sabbath afte-. tho service was over: II havc tried this world and found it an insufficient portion. Tell me of something better" You have rome to that. You are sick for the need of divine metlicament
 Ready to Obey.
 Now come and tell you of rhysi- cinn who will cure you, who has cured hundreds and hundreds who were as sick as you are. "Oh, you say, T have no confidence ill him. Y But will you not try him? Accommodate me in this matter; oblige mo in this matter;N just try him. am very certain he will cure you. You reply, 'I have no especial confidence ill him, but if you ask mo as matter of accommodation introduce him" So 1 do introduce hinl-Christ, the physician who has cured more blind eyes and healed more ghastly wounds and bound up more broken hearts than all tho f. Si,, tho fi,,,o nF ,la- plus. That divine physician is here. Are you not ready to try him? Will you not. as a pure matter of experiment., try him and state your case before him this hour? Hold nothing back from him. If you cannot pray, If you do not know how to pray any other way, say: 70 Lord Jesus Christ, this is strange thing for me to do. 1 know nothing about the formulas of religion. These Christian people have been talking so long about what thou canst do for me I am ready to do whatever thou colne.andest me to do. 1 am ready to take whatever thou commanders me to take. If there be any power in religion, as these people say, let mo have tho advantage of it." Will you try that experiment now? do not at this point of my discourse say that there is anything in religion. but sim ply say try it, try it. Do not take niy counsel or the counsel of any clergy man, if you despise clergymen. Perhaps we may be talking professionally; per haps we may be prejudiced in the mat ter; perhaps we may be hypocritical in our utterances; perhaps cur advice is not worth taking. Then take the coun- sel of some very respectable laymen, as John Milton, the poet; as William Will berforce, the statesman; as Isaac New ton, the astronomer; as Robert Boyle, the philosopher; as Locke, the meta physician. They never preached or pre- tended to preach, and yet putting down, one his telescope, and another his par liamentary scroll, and another his elec- trioians wire, they all declare tho adapt edness of Christ's religion to the wants and troubles of the world. If you will