St. Landry democrat., 1886-11-27
face thy vail of darkness, Tell me. We lep-

| IL, the StifS CulIHe 1t, luo Foucculeu C6lo-
brate it, the angels rise up on their
| thrones to announce it. And yet on the
miserable malefactor's "if'' how many
shall be wrecked for all eternity. That lit
| tie eff" has enough venom it it's sting to
cause the death of the soul. No ''if'' about
it, know it. Ecce Deus! l feel it thor
oughly-through every muscle of the body,
and through every faculty of the mind, and
through every energy of my soul. Living
/ will preach it, dying l will pillow my
| head upon it's consolations-Jesu the God.
| Away, then, from this right hand cross.
| The red berries of the forest are apt to be
poisonous, and around this tree of carnage
grow the red, poisonous berries, of which
many have tasted and died. | can see no
use for this right hand cross, except it be
used as a lever with which to upturn the
unbelief of the world.
| Here, from the right hand cross, go to
the left; pass clear to the other side. That
| victim also twists himself up II the nails to
look at the center cross-yet, not to scott;
| it is to worship. He, too, would like to get
| his hand loose; not to smite, but to deliver
| the sufferer on the middle cross. He cries
| to the railer cursing on the other side:
| silence! between US is innocence, is
| agony. We suffer for our crimes. Silence"
,
| people; be not afraid. Bitter herbs are
sometimes tonic for the body, and the bit
ter aloes that you grow on this tree shall
| give strength and life to thy soul.
| This left hand cross is 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 in
| to an unguarded door and took all the sill
| ver the gold, the jewels, and as the sleeper
| stirred he put a 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 stones. He says: 'Oh, l am
| guilty wretch; I deserve this. There is no
| need Of my cursing; that will not stop the
pain. There is no need of disappearing
Christ, for He has done me no wrong; and
yet l can not die so. The tortures of my
body are outdone by the tortures of my
s)ul The past is a scene of misdOing; Il c
present crucifNion; the future an ever
lasting undOing. Come back, thou hiding
midday sun! Kiss my cheek with one
bright ray OF comfort. What, no help frCm
above - no help from beneath! Then l
must turn to my companion in sor-
row, the one on the middle cross. |
have heard that He knows how to help
man when he is in trouble I have
heard that He can cure the wounded. /
have heard that He can pardon the sinner.
Surely in all His Wanderings up and down
the earth, He never saw one more in need
NF lie - t,1,,,
to Thee. Wilt Thou look for the moment
away from Thy own pangs to pity me!
Lord, it is not to have my hands relieved
or my feet taken from the torture. I 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,
unless Thou wilt help me. I confess it all.
Hear the cry of the dying thief Lord, re-
member me when Thou contest into Thy
kingdom. l ask no great things. I seek
for no throne in Heaven, no chariot to take
me to the skies; but just think of me
when this days horrors have passed.
Think of me a ittle-of me, the one now
hanging at Ths side-when the shout Of
Heavenly welcome takes Thee back into
Thy glory, Thou wilt not forget me, wilt
Thou! Lord, remember me when Thou
contest into Thy kingdom. Only just re-
member me!'
Likewise must we repent. You say: II
have stolen nothing" l reply: 1--WE have
all been guilty Of the mightiest felony of
the universe, for we have robbed God
robbed Him of our time, robbed Him of our
talent, robbed Him Of our services Sup
pose you send a man West as an agent of
your firm, and every month you pay him his
salary, and at tho end of ten years you find
out 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 to serve Him. He has given
us wages all the time. One half of us have
been serving another master When man
is convicted of treason he is brought out;
regiment surrounds him and the COM
mand is given: "Attention, company!
Take aim! Firer, And the man falls with
hundred bullets through his heart. There
comes time in q mans history when the
Lord calls up the troop of his iniquities,
and at Gods command they pour into him
concentrated volley Of torture.
You say: II do not feel myself to be
sinner.'' That may be. Walk along
by the cliffs, and you see sunlight and
flowers at the mouth of the cave; but take
torch and go in, and before you have gone
far you see the flashing eye of wild beast,
or hear the hiss of serpent. SO the world
seems in the sunlight of worldliness; but
as have the torch of Gods truth, and go
down into the deep cavern of the heart
alas! for the bristliug horrors and the rat
ting fangs. Have you ever noticed the
climax in this passage of Scripture: ''The
heart is deceitful." That seems enough
But the passage goes on to say: ''The heart
is deceitful above all things" Will you
not say that is enough? But the passage
goes on further and says: 1.-THE heart is de
ceitful above all things and desperately
wicked" If we could see the true condi
ton of the unpardoned before God. what