Connecticut western news., 1901-01-24
GATESARE WIDEOPEN
NO MAN IS BARRED FROM RECEIVING
 GODS GRACE.

NO MAN IS BARRED FROM RECEIVING
 GODS GRACE.
 Dr. Talnase Says Christ's sheepfoId Contains Flocks of All Denomina- tions-Churches Should Re Tn Sym pathy With the O.tside World.
 NEW YORK, Jan. 20.-On the occa- sion of the twentieth anniversary of the Bowery mission, Jan. 13, Dr. Tal- mage preached to vast audience at the New York Academy of Music. Mn isters of all denominations were pres ent. The text was, John X, 16 "Other sheep 1 have which are not of this fold"
 There Is no monopoly In religion. The grace of God Is not little property that we may fence of and have all to ourselves. It Is not kings park, at which we look through barred gate way, wishing that we might go in and see the statuary and the deer and the royal conservatory. No; 1t Is a Fa- ther's orchard, and everywhere there are bars that we may let down and gates that we may swing open.
 i In my boyhood next to the country schoolhouse 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 al low any of us to touch the fruit. Some times the lads of the school, in the sinfulness of a nature inherited from our first parents, who were ruined by the same temptation, invaded that or chard, but they soon retreated, for the man came after them at speed reck- less of making his lameness worse and cried out Boys, drop those apples or l will set the dog on you"
 We'll; my friends, there are Christian men who have the church under se- were guard. There Is fruit in this or chard for the whole world, but they have a rough and unsympathetic way of accosting outsiders, as though they had no business there, though the Lord wants all to come and take the choic- est and the ripest fruit on the prem ises. Have you an idea that because you were baptized at 8 months of age and because you have all your life been under hallowed influences you there fore have a right to one whole side Of the Lords table, spreading yourself out and taking up the entire roomf l tell you DO. You will have to haul in your elbows, for we will place on either side of you those whom you never ex- pected would sit there; for, as Christ said to his people long ago, so he says to you and to me, "Other sheep have which are not of this fold"
 Christ's sheeDfoId.
 Mcdonald, the Scotchman, has thou sands Of head of sheep. Some of them are browsing on the heather, some of them are lying down under the trees, some are strolling over the mountains, some of them are in his yard. They are scattered all around In many places. Cameron, his neighbor comes over and says: "T see you have 36 sheep. l have just counted them" "No," says Me Donald, "I have a great many more sheep than you found in this yard. Some are here, and some are else where. have 4,OOO or 5000 in my fiocks. Other sheep have which are not of this fold.'" So Christ says to us. Here Is a knot of Christians, and there 8 knot of Christians, but they make up a small part of the flock. Here is the Episcopal fold, the Metho- dist fold, the Lutheran fold, the Con- gregational fold. the Presbyterian fold, the Baptist and the Pedo- Baptist fold, the only difference between these last two being the way In which they wash the sheep. and so they are scattered all over. And we come with our statistics and say there are so many thousand of the Lords sheep, but Christ responds: ''No, no; you have not seen more than one out of a thousand of my flock. They are scattered all over the earth. Other sheep have which are not of this fold"
 Of all the merciful institutions which bless this city not one more thorough ly enters into the spirit of the text than does the Bowery mission, whose twentieth anniversary we today cele- brate. During the past year 5000 souls have been saved through It's in strumentality, and during its exist ence 1t has put its temporal and spir- itual benediction upon hundreds of thousands of the poor and suffering and lost. With the bread of this life In one hand and the bread of eternal life in the other, 1t is doing stu pendous work, and to all of its patrons Christ is saying: T was hungry, and ye fed me; naked, and ye clothed me; sick and In prison, and ye visited me. 1nasmuch as ye did it unto me, one of the least of these. ye did 1t to me-"
 Welcome the Sinner.
 We need, as churches, to go into sympathy with the great outside world and let them know that none are SC broken hearted or hard beset that they will not be welcomed. "No," says some fastidious Christian, T do not like to be crowded in church. Do not put any one in my pew" My brother what will you do in heaven, when g great multitude that no man can mum Der assemblies? They will put 90 1T your pew. What are the people as sembled in Christian churches compar ed with the mightier millions outside Some churches are like a hospital, tha should advertise that it's patients mus have nothing worse than toothache ol runrounds, but no broken heads, nt crushed ankles or fractured limbs Bring there for treatment moderat, miners, velvet coated sinners and sin ners with a gloss on.
 1t was as though at great battle there were left 10000 wounded anf dying on the field. and three surgeon. gave all their time to a half dozen pa tients in a barn hospital. The majol general comes In and says to the doc tors: Come out here and look at th' 10000 dying for lack of surgical at tendance" "No," say the three doc tors standing there flaming their pa tientA I've have a half dozen impor tant cases here, and we are attendin,