The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1896-03-13

o"SOPo " WIZ q
circle" Some man rises in the audi
ence and he looks over on the opposite
side Of the house and says: There
is a blasphemer; and I 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 impure person, and he has gone
astray." Sit down, my brother, and
look at home. My next tex takes us
all in. 1t starts behind the pulpit,
sweeps the circuit of the room, and
comes back to the point where it start
ed, when it says, All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. I can very easily
understand why Martin Luther threw
up his hands after he had found the
Bible and cried out, ooh! my sins, my
to the custom to this day in the east,
when they have any great grief, began
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 I
know some of the habits of sheep, and
how they get astray, and what my text
means when it 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 get astray. We thought the
religion of Jesus Christ put US on short
commons. We thought there was bet
ter ~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 want
ed other pasturage than that which
God, through Jesus Christ, gave our
soul, and we wandered IN, and we wan
dered n, and we were lost. We wanted
bread, and we found garbage. The
farther we wandered, instead of find
ing 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 0 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 COM
fort than all worldly associates? Did
all the convivial songs you ever heard
comfort 0 in that day of b~ereaye-
ment so much as the song they sang
to you-perhaps the very song that was
sung by your little child the last Sab
bath afternoon Of her life.
There is a happy land
Far, far 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 ex-
asperated you, business wore you out,
business left you limp as a rag. bust
but you got no peace. God have mercy |
on the man who has nothing but bust |
ness to comfort him. The world afford |
ed you no luxuriant pasturage. A IA
nous English actor stood on the stage
impersonating, and thunders of ap-
plause came down from the galleries,
and many thought it was the proudest
moment Of all his life; but there was
a 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 up, wake
49, G. 1-1 1;tfIo - I.cz
has been more p%ervading to your mind
than all the brilliant congratulations
and success. POOR pasturage for your
soul you find in the world. The world
has cheated you, the world has beiied
you, the world has misinterpreted you,
the world has prosecuted you. 1t never
comforted you. On this world is a
good rack from which a horse may
pick his food; it is a good trough from
which the swine may crunch their mess:
but it gives but little food to a soul
and immortal. What is a
soul? 1t is a hope high as the throne
OF God. What is a man? You say, 1T
Is only a man" 1t is only a man gone
in sin. 1t is only a man gone
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 car measure him. No limit can
bound him. The archangel before the
cannot outlive him. The stars
shall die, but he will watch their ex-
tinguishment. The world will burn,
but he will gaze at the cO%nf1agration.
Endless ages will march on; he will
the procession. A man, The
masterpiece of God Almighty. Yet you
say, "It is only a man." Can a nature
ike that be fed on husks Of the wilder
ness?
omfort 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
Tor better pasturage; others by being
Of the dogs. The hounds get over
into the pasture-field. The poor things
dy IN every direction. In a few moments
they are torn OF the hedges and they
are FLASHED Of the ditch. and the lost