Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-11-27

hand cross. Let not + drop of that
blood fall upon my cheek. Rend not my
ear with that cry. | see it now as
never before-the loathsomeness and
horror of my unbelief. That dying
malefactor was not so much to blame
as /. Christianity was not established,
and perhaps not until that day had
that mar heard the Christ. But after
Christ has stood almost nineteen CEN
turtles, working the wonders OF His
grace, YOU reject Him. That right
hand cross, with its long beam, over
shadows all the earth. 1t is planted in
the heart of the race. When will the
time come when the spirit of God shall,
with its axe, hew down that right-hand
cross, until it shall fall at the foot of
that middle cross, and unbelief, the
railing malefactor of the world, shall
perish from all our heartsP Away from
me, thou spirit of unbelief! hate thee!
With this sword Of God | thrust thee
back and thrust thee through. Down
to hell; down most accursed monster of
the earth, and talk to the millions thou
hast already damned. Talk no longer
to these sons of God, these heirs of
heaven.
IF thou be the Son of God" Was
there any ''if'' about itp Tell me, thou
star, that in robe of light did u to
point out His birthplace. Tell me, thou
sea, that didst put thy hand over thy
lip when He bid thee be still. Tell me,
we dead, who got up to see Him die.
Tell me, thou SUI in mid-heaven, who
for Him didst pull down i've thy face
thy veil of darkness. Tell me, We
lepers who were cleansed, We dead who
were raised,
Is HE THE SON OF GOD?
Aye! aye! responds the universe. The
flowers breathe it, the stars chime it,
the redeemed celebrate it. the angels
raise up on their thrones to
it,. And yet on that miserable male
factors ''if'' how many shall be wreck
ed for all eternity! That little ''if" has
enough venom in its sting to cause the
death Of the soul. No ''if" about it.
/ know it. Ecce Deus! feel it
thoroughly-tbrough every muscle in
the body, and through every faculty of
my mind, and through every energy of
my soul. Living will preach it, dying
| will pillow my head before it's conso-
lations-Jesus the God.
Here, from the right hand cross | 90
to the left-pass clear TO the other
side. That victim also twists himself
upon the nails to look at the centre
cross-yet not to scott. 1t is to wor-
ship. He, too, would like to get his
hand loose; not to smite, but to deliver
the sufferer of the middle cross. He
cries to the railer cursing on the other
side: Silence! Between us is inno-
cence, is agony. We suffer for our
crimes. Sllence!' Gather around this
left-hand cross. o, ye people! be not
afraid. Bitter herbs are sometimes a
tonic for the body, and the bitter aloes
that YOU grow on this tree shall give
strength and life to thy soul.
This left-hand cross is
A REPENTING CROSS.
As men who have been nearly drowned
tell us that in one moment, while they
were under the water, their whole life
passed before them, so | suppose in one
moment the dying malefactor thought
over all his past life. Of that night
when he went into an unguarded door
and took all the silver, the gold, the
jewels, and as the sleeper stirred he put
IA knife through his heart. OF that day
when, in the lonely pass, he met the
wayfarer, and, regardless Of the cries,
and prayers, and tears, and struggles
of his victim, he flung the mangled
corpse into the dust of the highway
or heaped upon it the stones. He says,
"Oh! I'M a guilty wretch; ] de,
serve this. There is no need OF
my cursing. That will not stop the
pain. There is no need of blasphem.
ing Christ, for He has done me nc
wrong; and yet | cannot die so. The
fortunes of my body are outdone by the
tortures of my soul. The past is a
scene of misdoing. The present a cru,
citiXion. The future an everlasting I'M
doing. Come back, thou hiding mid.
day sun! Kiss my cheek with one
bright ray of comfort. What! No heir
from above-no help from beneath!
Then must turn to my companion in
sorrow, the one on the middle cross.
l have heard that He knows how to
help a man when he is in trouble. !
have heard that He can cure the wound
ed. | have heard that He can pardon
the sinner. Surely in all His wander
ings up and down the earth, He never
saw one more in need Of His forgive
ness. Blessed One! | turn to thee!
Wilt Thou look for a moment away
from Thine own pangs, TO pity me?
Lord, it is not 10 have my hands re-
lieved or my feet taken from the tor
ture. | can stand all this, but oh! my
sins, my sins! my sins! they pierce me
through and through. They tell me l
must die forever. They will push me
out into the darkness Thou wilt help
confess it all. Hear the cry of
the dying thief; Lord remember me
when thou contest into Thy kingdom.
| ask no great things. | seek for no
throne in heaven, no chariot to take me
to the skies; but just
OF ME WHEN TIL DAYS HoR-
RoRs HAVE PASSED.
of me a little-of me. the one
now hanging at thy side-when the
?"