Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-02-14

the SIdIudTy, dib
royal conservatory. No, it is the Fath-
er's orchard and everywhere there are
bars that we may let down and gates
that we may swing OPEN
In my boyhood, next to the country
school house, there was an orchard OF
apples, owned by a very lame man,
who, although there were apples in the
place perpetually decaying, and by
scores and scores of bushels, never
would allow any of us to touch the
fruit. One day, in the sinfulness of
nature inherited from our first parents,
who We're ruined by the same tempta-
ton, some of US invaded that orchard;
but we soon retreated, for the man
came after us at a speed reckless Oh
making his lameness worse, and cried
out: Boys, drop those apples, or III
set the dog on YOU"
Well, my friends, there are Christian
men who have the church under severe
guard. There is fruit in this orchard
for the whole world; but they have
rough and unsympathetic way of ac-
costing outsiders, as though they had
no business here though the LORD
wants them all to come and take the
largest and ripest fruit on the premises
Have you an idea that because you
were baptized at thirteen months of age
and because you have all your life been
under hallowed influences, that there
fore you have right to one whole side
of the Lords table, spreading yourself
out and taking up the entire room!
l tell you no. You will have to haul in
your elbows, for / shall place on either
side of you those whom you never eX-
pected would sit there; for, as Christ
said to his favored people long ago,
so he says to you and to me: "Other
sheep l have which are not OF TINS
fold
Macdonald, the Scotchman, has four
or five dozen head of sheep. Some of
them are browsing on the heather
some of them are lying down under the
trees, some of them are in his yard;
they are scattered around in eight or
ten different places. Cameron, his
neighbor, comes over and says: Il see
you have thirty sheep; / have just
counted them" NO" says Macdonald,
Il have a great many more sheep than
that. Some are here and some are else
where. They are scattered all around
about. l have four or five thousand in
my focks. Other sheep l have which
are not in this fold.
So Christ says to us. Here is a knot
of Christians and there is a knot OF
Christians but they make up small
part of the flock. Here is the Episcopal
fold, the Methodist fold, the Lutheran
fold, the Congregational fold, the Pres
byterian fold, the Baptist and the Pedo-
Baptist fold; the only difference between
these last two being the mode of sheep
washing; and so they are scattered all
over; and we come with our statistics
and say there are so many thousands of
the Lords sheep; but Christ responds:
mo, no; you have not seen more than
one out of thousand of my flock. They
are scattered all over the earth. Other
sheep I have which are not of this
fold"
Christ in my text was prophesying
the conversion of the Gentiles with as
much confidence as though they We're
already converted, and he is now. in
the words of my text prophesying the
coming of great multitude of outsid-
ers that you never supposed would
come in, saying to you and saying to
me: "Other sheep have which are not
of this fold
In the first place, l remark, that the
heavenly Shepherd will find many Of
his sheep among the non-church goers
There are congregations where they
are all Christians, and they seem to be
completely finished, and they remind
one of the skeleton leaves which, by
chemical preparation have had all the
greenness and verdure taken off them
and are left cold and white and delicate
nothing wanting but a glass case to
put over them. The minister of Christ
has nothing to do with such Christians
but to come once a week and with ost-
rich feathers dust off the accumulation
of the last six days, leaving them bright
and crystalline as before. But the
other kind of a church is an armory,
with perpetual sound of drum and fife,
gathering recruits for the Lord of Hosts.
We say to every applicant: DO you
want to be on Gods side, the safe side
and the happy side? If so, come in the
armory and get equipped Here is a
bath in which to be cleansed Here are
sandals to put upon your feet. Here
is helmet for your brow. Here is a
breast plate for your heart Here is a
sword for your right arm, and yonder is
the battle field Quit yourselves like
men,"
There are some here who say: 81
stopped going to church ten or twenty
years ago" My brother, is it not
strange that you should be the first
man l should talk to to-day? / know
all your case; l know it very WELL You
have not been accustomed to come into
religious assemblage, but have a sur
prising announcement to make to you:
you are going to become one of the
Lords sheep. "Ah," you say, st is i'm
possible. You don't know how far 1
am from anything of that kind"
know all about it. 1 have wandered up
and down the world and 1 understand
your case / have a still more startling
announcement to make in regard to
you; you are not only going to become
one of the Lords sheep, but you will
become one to-day. You will stay after
this service to be talked with about
your soul. People of God, pray for that
man! That is the only use for you
here. l shall not break off so much as
crumb for you, Christians, in this SER
mon, for | am going to give it all to
the outsiders. "Other sheep l have
which are not of this fold"
When the Atlantic went to pieces on
Mars Rock, and the people clambered |
upon the beach, why did not that heroic |
mi nic Of Of nf xuh