Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-03-11

i . M AhOh liz l0SOs
RE7. DR. TaLQaGE.
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject. CAN Men Arc Astr.y.,s
TEXT: IAN we, like sheep, have gon.
astray. We have turned every one to hi,
own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him tn,
iniquity OF us all."-Isaiah I'LL, 6.
Once more ring the old gospel bell. The
INST half OF my next text Is an Indictment.
All we, like sheep, have gone astray. Some
one says: "Can't you drop that 6rst wordi
Inat L. too general; that sweeps too great Q
clrcle." Some man rises In the audience
ana ne looks over on the opposite side of the
house and says: There Is q blaspbemer.
and understand how he has gone astray.
-
defaulter, and he has gone astray, And there
u an impure person, and he has gone astray."
Bit down. my brother, and look at home NV
text takes US all in. 1t starts behind the
pulpit, sweeps the circuit Of the room. and
comes back to the point where 1t started,
astray.
can very easily understand why Martin
Luther threw up bis hands after he had
found the Bible and cried out, "Oh, my sins.
my SINS" and why tho publican, according
to the custom to this day in the East, when
taey his!.a,s have any great grief, began to beat
nlmseif and cry, as he smote upon his breast.
"God be merciful to me. q sinner" was,
like many OF you, brought up In the country,
and l know some Of the habits Of sheep, and
how they get astray and what my text mesnl
when It says, "All We, like sheep. have gone
either by trying to get into other pasture. o,
from being scared by dogs. In the former
way some Of US got astray. We thought the
religion OF Jesus Christ put us ON short com.
mons. We thought there was better pastur.
age somewhere else. We thought II we could
only lie down on the banks OF a distant
stream, or under great oaks on the other
side Of some hill, We might be better fed. We
wanted other pasturage than that which
God, through Jesus Christ. gave our soul. and
we wandered on and We wandered on and
we were lost. We wanted bread, and we
found garbage. The farther We wandered,
instead OF finding rich pasturage, We found
blasted heath and sharper rocks and more
stinging nettles. No pasture. How was II
In the club house when you lost your child1
Did they come around and help you very
muchI Did your worldly associates console
you very much? Did not the plain Christian
man who came into your house and sat up
with your darling child give you more conf
fort than all worldly associates2 Did all the
convivlal songs you ever heard comfort you
In that day of bereavement so much as the
song they sang to you?-perhaps the very
last Sabbath aft ernoon Of her life:
There is happy land
Far, far away,
Where saints immortal reign
Bright, bright, as day.
Did your business associates in that da,
of darkness and trouble give you any especial
coincidence? Business exasperated you.
business wore you out, business left you
limp as a rag, business made you mad. You
got dollars, but you got no peace. God have
mercy on the man who has nothing bur
business to comfort him! The world afforded
you no iuxuriant pasturage. Afamous Eng
lisn actor stood Oh the stage 1mpersonating,
and thunders OF applause came down from
the galleries, and many thought 1t was the
proudest moment OF all his Life, but there
was man asleep just in front OF him, and
the fact that that man was Indifferent and
somnoient spoiled all the occasion for him,
and he cried, Wake up, wake up!'' So one
little annoyance in life has been more per-
vading to your mind than all the brilliant
congratulations and success. Poor pastur-
age for your soul you find In this world.
The world has cheated you. the world has
belied you. the world has mistnterpreted
you, the world has prosecuted you. It
never comforted you. Oh, this world is q
good rack from which a horse may pick
his food. 1t Is good trough from which
the swine may crunch their mess, but
It gives but little food to q soul blood
bought and immortal. What Is q souH II
Is hope high as the throne Of God. What
Is man? You say, 1T Is only a man" 1t
is only man gone overheard in sin. 1t ID
only a man gone overheard in business life.
What is a man? The battle-ground of three
worlds. with his hands taking hold OF des- /,
TIMES Of light or darkness. A man! No line |
can measure him. No,limit can bound him |
The archaDgel before the throne cannot out. !
live him. The stars shall die, but he will !
watch their rextinguishment. The world viii /
burn, but he will gaze at the confsgration. !
Endless ages will march on. He will watch
the procession. A man! The masterpiece
Of God Almighty. Yet you say, ut is only
a man." Can a nature like that be fed on /
husks Of the wildernessr
Substantial comforts will not grow
On natures barren soil; Z
All We eau boast till Christ We know
Is vanity and toll.
Some OF you got asIray by looking for bet,
ter pasturage; others by being scared by the
dogs. The hound gets over into ths pasture
field. The poor things fly in every direc.
tion. In a few moments they are torn of the
hedges and they are splashed of the ditch,
and the lost sheep never gets home unless
the farmer goes after 1t. There is nothing
so thoroughly lost asa lost sheep. It may
have been in 1857, during the financial
panic. or during the financial stress In the
fall Of 1873 when You got astray. You almost
became an atheist. You said, "Whereis God
that honest men go down and thieves pros-
PERI" You were dogged OF creditors, you
were dogsed of the banks. you were dogged
OF worldly disaster, and some Of you went
into misanthropy and some Of you took te !,
strong drink and others Of you fed out oi .
Christian association, and you got astray.
Oh, man, that was the last time when you /
ought to have forsaken God. Standing !
amid the foundering Of YOUR early failures,
how could you get along without q God tc
comfort you and a God to deliver you and
God to help you and a God to save youi
You tell me you have been through
You. I know it. 1 cannot understan
how the boat could live one hour in that
chopped sea. But do not know by what
process you got astray; some in one way and
some in another, and II you could really see
the position some Of you occupy before God
your soul would burst into an agony of tears
and you would pelt the heavens with the cry,
"God have mercy!'' Sinai's batteries have
been unlimbered above your soul, and at
times you have heard 1t thunder, 'The
wages of sin is death" "All have sipned
and come short Of the glory Of God" "By
one man sin entered into the world, and
death by Gin, and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned." ''The soul
that sinneth, it shall die" When SevastopoI
was being bombarded, TWO Russian frgates
burned all night in the haroor. throwing a
glare upon the trembling fortress, and some
Of you. from what you have told me your
selves. some Of you are standing in the night
Of your souls trouble, the cannonade, and
the confiagration, and the multiplication,
and the multitude of your sorrows and
troubles think must make the wings Of
Gods lowering angles shiver to the tip.
But the last part Of NY text opens a door