The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-11-17


robbed him Of our services Suppose you
send man west as an agent Of your firm, |
and every month you pay him his salary, and
at the end Of ten years you find out that he
has been serving another firm, but taking
your salary: would you not at once condemn
him as dishonest, God sent US into this world
70 serve Him. He has given Us wages all the
time One half Of US have been serving
another master When a man is convicted
Of treason be is brought out; regiment sur
rounds him and the command is given: AT
tention, company. Take aim! Fire,v And
the man falls with a hundred bullets
through his heart. There comes a time
in a mans history when the Lord calls
up the troop Of his impurities, and at
Gods command they pour into him con-
concentrated vOlley Of torture. Yon say: Il
don't feel myself TO be a sinner" That may
be- Walk along by the cliffs, and you see
sunlight and flowers at the mouth of the
cave; but take a torch and 20 in, and be
fore you have gone far you see the flashing
eye Of a wild beast or hear the hiss Of ser
pent So the world seems in the sunlight Of
worldliness; but as ! wave the torch Of Gods
truth, and go down into the deep cavern
Of the heart-alas. for the bristing horrors
and the rafting fangs. Have you ever
noticed the climax in this passage Of rip
ture: "The heart is deceitful7 That seems
enough. But the passage goes on and says:
"The heart Is deceitful above all things"
VIII you not say that is enough. But the
passage goes on further and says: "The
heart is deceitful above all things and des-
perately wicked" II we could see the true
condition Of the unpardoned before God,
| what wringing of hands there would bel
What a thousand voiced shrek Of supplica-
ton and despair. But you are sinner,
Al
next TO You, but to you. You are a sinner
| All the transgressions Of a lifetime have been
| gathered up into an avalanche. At any
| moment it may slip from the cliffs and crush
| You forever May the Lord Almighty, by
| His grace help US to repent of our sins while
! repentance is possible.
This left hand cross was a relieving cross
| There was no guess work in that prayer; no
| aifr in that duplication. The left hand cross
| flung itself at the foot of the middle cross,
| expecting mercy. Faith is only just opening
the hand 10 take what Christ offers The
work is all done, the bridge is built strong
enough for us all to walk over. Tap not at
the door Of Gods mercy with s--saw FOUR
| fingers, but as a warrior, with gauHfleted
fists, beats at the castle gate, so with all the
| aroused energies Of our souls let US pound
| at the gate Of heaven That gate is locked
| You go TO it with a bunch of keys. You try
| philosophy. That win not open it. A large
| door generally has n ponderous key. l take
| the cross and place the foot of it in the lock,
and by the two arms Of the cross l turn the
| lock, and the door opens
| This left hand cross was a hardening cross.
| The crosses were only two or three yards
! apart 1t did not take long for Christ to
| hear Christ might have turned away and
said: How darest thou speak to me: l am
| the Lord Of heaven and earth. / have seen
| your violence When you struck down that
| man in the darkness l saw you. You are
! getting Just reward. Die in darlness-die
| for ever" But Jesus said not so, but rather:
| 'This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise"
as much as to say, Il see you there; don't
worry. | viii not only bear my cross, but
help you with yours"
Forthwith, the left hand cross becomes the
| abode of contentment. The pillow of the
malefactor, soaked in blood, becomes like
the crimson upholstery of a kings couch.
| When the body became still, and the sur
| geons feeling the pulse said one to another:
Ale is dead" the last mark of pain had gone
| from his face Peace had smoothed his
forehead Peace closed his eyes. Peace
| closed his lips Now you see why there were
two transverse pieces on the cross for it has
become a ladder into the skies. That dying
head is easy which has under it the promise:
| "This day thou shalt be with Me in Para
| disc. We whose lips have been filled with
| blasphemy, ye whose hands for many years
have wrought unrighteousness, ye who
have companioned with the unclean, We who
have scaled every height of transgression,
and fathomed every depth and passed every
| extreme of iniquity-mercyl mercy
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may /, as vile as he,
Wash all my sins away
/ have shown you the right hand cross and
| the left hand cross; now come to the middle
| cross. We stood at the one. and found
it yielded poison. We stood at the other, and
| found it yielded bitter aloes. Come now to
| the middle cross and shake down apples of
love Uncover your head You never saw
so tender a scene as this. You may have
seen father, or mother, or companion, or
child die, but never so affecting a scene as
| this. The railing thief looked from one way,
and saw only the right side of Christ's face.
| The penitent thief looked from the other way,
and saw the left side of Christ's face. But
from where you sit to-day, in the full blaze
| of Gospel light YOU see Christ's full face.
1t was a suffering cross. If the weapons of
torture had gone only through the fatty por-
tions of the body, the torture would
not have been so great, but they
went through the hands, and feet and
temples; the most sensitive portions 1t was
not only the spear that went into His side,
| but the sins of all the race-a thousand
| spears-plunge after plunge, deeper and
| deeper, until the silence and composure that
before characterized Him gave way into
| groan, through which rumbled the sorrows
| of time and the woes of eternity. Human
hate had done its worst, and hell had hurled
| its sharpest javelin and devils had vented
| their hottest rage, when, with every nerve of
His body in torture, and every fibre of His
heart in excruciation, He cried out; MY God,
my Godl why hast thou forsaken mel"
1t was a yicarious cross. The right hand
cross suffered for itself, the left hand cross for
itself, but the middle cross for you. When
| king was dying young man cried: Pour
my blood into his veins, that he die not"
The veins of the young man were tapped and
| the blood transferred, so that the king lived,
| but the young man died. Christ saw the race
| perishing. He cried: ~Pour my blood into
their veins, that they die not
My hand is free now, because Christ's was
crushed. Ny brow is painless now, because
| Christ's was torn. My soul escapes, because
| Christ's was bound. / gain heaven, because
| Christ for me endured the horrors of hell.
| When the Swiss were many years ago con-
"OANAA6 l1hcS saw blccc
enemies arrayed in solid phalanx, and knew
not how to break their ranks; but one of
| their heroes rushed out in front of his regi-
ment and shouted: Make way for liberty
| The weapons of the enemy were plunged
| into his heart, but while they were staying
| him of course their ranks were broken, and
| through that gap in the ranks the Swiss
marched to victory Christ saw all the pow
| ers of darkness assaiiing men. He cried out:
MAKE way for the redemption of the world"
| All the weapons of Internal wrath struck
| Him, but as they struck him our race marched
| out free
To this middle cross, my dying hearers
look, that your souls may live. I showed you
the right hand cross in order that you might
see what an awful thing it is 20 be unbe-
| hevlng. / showed you the left hand cross,
that you might see what it is TO repent Now
show you the middle cross, that you may
see what Christ has done TO save your soul.
Poets have sung its praise, and sculptors have
| attempted to commemorate it in marble, and
martyrs have chung TO it in the fire. and
Christians dying quietly in their beds have
leaned their heads against it This hour
may all our souls embrace it with an
ecstasy of affection. Lay hold of that
cross, sinner, Everything else will fail YOU,
Without strong grip on that you perish.
! Put your hand on that and you are safe,
| though a world swing from beneath your
| feet q, that might engrave on your souls
| intellectually the three crosses, and that If in
| your waking moments you will not heed.
then that in your dream this coming night,
| you might see ON the hill back of Jerusalem
the three spectacles: the right hand cross show
/ ing unbelief dying without Christ the left hand
| showing what it IS to be pardoned, while the
| central cross pouTs upon your soul the sun
burst of heaven at it says: @By all these