The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-02
STRAYING AWAY OF THE SHEEP
THE INIQUITY OF EACH LAID on
Is ALL.

Comforter of Those Who Have
Wandered From the Path OF
RighteOuSness - Graphic stories
From Real Life.
Washington. March 1.-The Gospel sends
out its gIaddest sound in this sermon from
the nations capital Immense throngs
pack and overflow the church 10 which DR..
TaImage breaches twice each sabbath.
His text this morning was: Isa. $3.50:
'AH 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 I ring the old gospel bell.
The first half of my next text is an in
dictment. All we. like sheep, have gone
astray Some one says: Cant you drop
that first word? that is too general; that
sweeps too great a circle" Some man
rises in the audience, and he looks over
on the opposite side Of the house and says:
There is a blasphemer: and l understand
how he has gone astray. And there, in
another part of the house, is "a defaulter,
and he has gone astray. And there is an
impure person. and he has gone astray."
Sit dow, my brother and look at home.
My text takes us all in. 1t starts be
hind the pulpit, sweeps the circuit of the
room, and comes back to the point where
ii started, when it says: All we, like sheep
have gone astray. / can very easily I'M
derstand why Martin Luther threw up his
hands after he had found the Bible and
cried out: "Oh, my SINS my sins! and
why the publican, according to the custom
TO this day in the east when they have any
great grief. began TO beat himself, and
cry, as he smote himself upon his breast:
''God be merciful to me, a sinner" l
was, like many of you, brought up in the
country, and 1 know some of the habits
of sheep, and how they get astray. and
what my text means when II 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
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 further we wandered, in
stead OF finding rich pasturage, We found
blasted heath and sharper rocks and more
singing nettles. No pasture. How was
it in the club house when you lost your
child? Did they come around and help you
very much? 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 comfort than all worldly asso-
ciates? Did all the convivial songs you
ever heard comfort you in that day of
bereavement 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 a happy land
Far, lar away,
Where saints immortal reign,
Bright, bright as day.
Did your business associates in that
day of darkness and trouble give you
any especial coincidence? Business exas-
perated you, business wore you out, bus
iness lett 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 but business to
comfort him! The world afforded you no
luxuriant pasturage. A famous English
actor stood on the stage impersonating
ana thunders of applause came down
from the galleries, and many thought
Il was the. proudest moment of all his
nfei but there was a man asleep just
in front of him, and the fact that that
man was Indifferent and somnolent spoil
ed ed al the occasion for him,
upr' So one little annoynace
in life has been more pervading to your
COn&EdlulH-
tons 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
a good rack from which a horse may
which the swine may crunch their mess:
but il gives but little food to a soul blood
bought and immortal. What is a soul?
II is hope high as the throne Of God.
What IS man? You say. 1T is only a
man. 1t is only a man gone overheard
IN SIN 1t IS only a man gone overheard
IN business life. What is a man? The
battle ground of three worlds, with his
hands taking hold of destinies of light
or darkness. A man! No line can meas
ure him. No limit can bound him. The
archangel before the throne cannot OUT
live him; The stars shall die, but he will
watch their eXtinguishment The world
will burn, but he will gaze at the contia-
grafton. Endless ages will march on; he
viii watch the procession. a man! The
say, 1T is only a man" Can a nature
like that be fed on husks of the wilder
ness2
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
of the dogs. The hound gets over into
the pasture field. The poor things fly in
every direction. In a few moments thev
are torn of the hedges and they are
FLASHED of the ditch, and the lost sheep
never gets home unless the farmer goes
after II. There is nothing so thoroughly
lost as a lost sheep 1t may have been
in 1857, during the financial panic or dur
ing the financial stress in the fam of 1873
when you got astray You almost be-
came an atheist. You said: where is
God that honest men go down and thieves
prosper?" You were logged of creditors
you were logged Of the banks, you We're
dogged of worldly disaster, and some
of you went into 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
torsaken God. Standing amid the foun-
dering of your earthly failures how could
you get along without a God to comfort
you, and a God to deliver you and
God to help you, and a God to save you?
You tell me you have been through enough
business troubles almost TO Kill YOU. /
know it, l cannot understand how the
boat could live one hour on that chopped
sea. But do not know by what pro-
cess you got astray; some in one way
and some in another, and if you could
really. see the position some of you oc-