Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-03-05
LIKE SHEEP ASTRAY.
AND REV. DR.. TALMAeE SAYS II
MEANS EVERYBODY.


throngs pack and overflow the church to
which DR.. Talmage breaches twice each
Sabbath. His text this morning was
Isaiah iii, 9: GAN we, like sheep, have
gone astray. We have turned every one to
his own way, and the Lord hath laid on
him the iniquity of US all"
Once more 1 ring the old gospel bell.
The first half of my next text is an indict-
ment, "All we, like sheep, have gone
astray." Some one says: Cant you drop
that first wordi That Is too general; that
sweeps too great circle" Some man
rises In the audience, and he looks over on
the opposite side of the house and says:
"There is blasphemer, and understand
how he has gone astray, and there In an
other part of the house Is a defaulter, and
he has gone astray, and there is an impHre
person, and he has gone astray." Sit
down, my brother, and look at home. My
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,
when 1t says, "All we, like sheep, have
gone astray."
can very easily understand why Mar
tin Luther threw up his hands after he had
found the Bible and cried out, "Oh, my
sins, my sinsp and why the publican, 40
cording to the custom to this day in the
east, when they have any great grief, be.
gan to beat himself and cry as he smote
upon his breast, "God be merciful to me,
a sinner" I was, like many Of you,
brought up in the country, and know
some of the habits of sheep, and how they
e-ak ND dxrrh hof fow vuh0r
1t says, "All we, like sheep, have gone
astray." Sheep get astray in two ways
either by trying to get into other pasture
or from being scared by the dogs. In the
former way some Of us got astray. We
thought the religion of Jesus Christ put
us on short commons. We thought there
was better pasturage somewhere else. We
thought If we could only lie down on the
banks of 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 wan
dered on, and we wandered on, and we
were lost. We wanted bread, and we found
garbage. The farther we wandered in
stead Of finding rich pasturage we found
blasted heath and sharper rocks and more
singing nettles. No pasture. How was
1t in the clubhouse when you lost your
childS Did they come around and help
you very muchp Did your worldly associ-
ates console you very muchP Did not the
plain Christian man who came into your
house and sat up with your darling child
give you more comfort than all worldly as
sociatesp Did all the convivial songs you
ever heard comfort you In that day of be-
reayement SO much as the song they sang
to you-perhaps the very song that was
sung by your little child the last Sabbath
afternoon of her life?
There is happy land
Far, far away,
Where saints immortal reign
Bright, bright as day
A Man, Soul.
Did your business associates In that day
of darkness and trouble give you any es-
pecial condolences? Business exasperated
you, business wore you out, business left
you limp as rag, business made you mad.
You got dollars, but you got no peace.
God have mercy on the man who has moth
ing but business to comfort himl The
world afforded you no luxuriant pasturage.
A famous English actor stood on the stage
impersonating, and thunders of applause
came down from the galleries, and many
thought it 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 somnolent spoiled all
the occasion for him, and he cried: wake
upl Wake upl' So one little annoyance
in Life has been more pervading to your
mind than all the brilliant congratulations
and success. Poor pasturage for your soul
you find in this world. The world has
cheated you, the world has belied you, the
world has misinterpreted you, the world
has prosecuted you. 1t never comforted
you Oh, this world is good rack from
which horse may pick his food; it is q
good trough from which the swine may
crunch, their mess, but it gives but little
food to soul blood bought and immortal !
What is soulP 1t is hope high as the
throne of God. What is man? You
say, "It is only man." 1t is only man
gone overheard in sin. 1t is only man
gone overheard in business life. What is
a mani The battle-ground of three worlds,
with his hands taking hold of destinies Of
| light or darkness. A mani No line can
measure him. No limit can bound him.
The archangel before the throne cannot
outlive him. The stars shall die, but he
will watch their extinguishment. The
world will burn, but he will gaze at the
oonflagration. Endless ages will march
on. He will watch the procession. A
mani The masterpiece Of God Almighty.
Yet you say, "It is only man." Can a
nature like that be fed on husks Of the
wildernessf
| Substantial comfort will not grow
| On natures barren soil;
All we can boast till Christ we know
| Is vanity and toll.
| Some of you got astray by looking for
better pasturage, others by being scared
| by the dogs. The hound gets over into the
pasture field. The poor things fly in every
direction. In few moments they are
torn of the hedges, and they are FLASHED Of
the ditch, and the lost sheep never gets
home unless the farmer goes after it,
There is nothing so thoroughly lost as a
lost sheep. 1t may have been in 1857,
during the financial panic, or during the
financial stress in the fall Of 1878, when
you got astray. You almost became an
atheist. You said, "Where is God that
honest men go down and thieves proSperp'
You were dogged of creditors, you were
dogged Of the banks you were dogged Of
worldly disaster, and some Of you went
Tinto misanthropy, and some of you took to
strong drink, and others Of you fled out of
Christian association, and you got astray.
Oh, man, that was the last time when you
ought to have forsaken Godl Standing
amid the laundering Of your earthly fail
ures, how could you get along without a
God to comfort you, and God to deliver
you, and God to help you, and a God to
save your You tell me you have been
| through enough business trouble almost
| to kill you. know it. cannot under
stand how the boat could live one hour In
Condensed Testimony.
Chas. b. Hood, Broker and Manu-