The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1902-11-22

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death of the bottomless pit.
A wandering sheep is lost sheep.
What though the sun does shine, and
the way seems easy and fringed with
the succulent blades of tender grass :?
What though the sheep seems for a
time to thrive and prosper as well
away from the shepherd and flock as
with them? 1t is lost sheep, just
the same, and cannot find its way back
alone. This is one of the peculiar
ities of sheep. A wandering sheep is
always lost sheep. The thicket is
Just ahead, the thorny path, the des-
ert waste, the rocky sleeps and the
chill mountain air. The wandering
sheep sooner or later falls into these
perils, and soon perishes If the faithful
shepherd does not go out after the
lost and bring it book to the shelter Of
the fold. The world Is like unto a
wandering sheep. 1t Is lost. 1t cannot
find its own way back to the fold and
safety, but the Good Shepherd has
gone out into all the world seeking
that which was lost. If the sheep will
but hear His voice He will lead back to
the green pastures and the still wa
tiers of Eternal Life.
The wandering sheep Is helpless
sheep. What is more helpless than a
sheep at all times? 1t is absolutely de-
pendent upon the shepherd for lead
ing, for protection, for it's food and it's
drink. But wandering sheep! 1t
III, III Int ha hrin n
thistles, it stumbles and falls over the
rocky ground, it heedlessly rushes over
the precipice into the chasm below, or
out into the barren wastes away from
pasture lands and the flowing streams.
And the world, like wandering sheep,
is helpless. 1t rushes blindly hither
and thither, knowing not whittier it is
tending; it seeks the broad way of it's
own desires and recklessly draws near
er and nearer to the abyss of its own
destruction. 1t is utterly helpless,
but Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is al
ways within reach and quickly hears
the cry for help. But if no cry of help
less need is raised, the Good Shepherd
cannot find and save the wandering
sheep. 1t is related, of an oriental
shepherd who searched day after day
for his lost sheep that at last he found
it cold and stiff and dead, hid
den in the thicket close to the
pathway over which he had passed
and repassed in his search. One faint
bleat from the helpless sheep would
have brought the sorrow-stricken
shepherd to it's side, and it would not
have persisted, but would have been
tenderly lifted to the strong, willing
shoulders Of the shepherd and carried
back to the fold and safety. And oh!
if the lost sheep of the world would
only raise one faint cry for help and
salvation as Jesus, the Good Shep-
herd, passes to and fro seeking for the
lost sheep, how quickly 1t would reach
His ear, and His nail-pierced feet
would speed to the side of the helpless
and dying one, and the nail-pierced
hands would reach out and with in
finite love and tenderness release the
fettered soul from the cruel thorns
and the tangled briars. Helpless, dy-
ing sheep of the world, send out your
cry to the Good Shepherd before it is
too late and you are left cold and life
less on the mountain side of sin!
The wandering sheep is sure and
easy prey of the wild beasts which Turk
in the thicket and among the rocks.
Utterly powerless to resist attack, its
life is speedily crushed out and its
life's blood sucked up by the blood
thirsty beast. The world as n wander
ing sheep is utterly powerless to re-
sist the attack of its adversary, the
devil. Unlike real sheep, it is true that
it does resist and fight against the
devil, but he is just as certain of his
final victory over that soul as is the
great lion that is crunching the bones
of the helpless, dying lamb. just as
certain!-unless faint cry for help
goes out to the Good Shepherd, when,
like the contemplate coward that he
is, the devil sinks off in ignominious
defeat. The world thinks it gives the
devil some pretty hard raps, some
times, but the hardest rap the world
ever gave him was like the tickling
stroke of feather, and it set him
and all his legions of black devils to
shouting with glee. The devil plays
his victim like a cat plays with the
mouse. They are perfectly helpless
within his grasp. unless the cry of
faith to the Good Shepherd brings
Him to their side, for He alone can
set them free from the wiles and pow
err of the devil.
The Supreme victory.-"The Good
Shepherd giveth His life for the
sheep" Greater love hath no man
than this, that man lay down his
life for his friends" In the Fathers
House the only begotten Son of God
beheld sinful and perishing man as
scattered and wandering sheep plung-
ing helplessly to destruction. He
laid aside His crown, His scepter and
His k;ngly robe and came all the
way from Heaven to earth to become
the Good Shepherd which giveth His
life for His sheep. The hireling
fleeth, leaving the helpless sheep to
the merciless attack of the wolf, but
the Good Shepherd, seeing the dan
ger, and knowing that tne life of the