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

A Comparison OF the Two Thieves Who
Were CruciGed Beside the savior, the
Believer aud the Unbeiieving-The
Glory of the Middle Cross.
BRooKLYx. Nov 14-In the Tabernacle
this morning the Rev. 7. De Witt Talmage,
ID. pastor, after expounaing some passages
Of Scripture recording scenes in the life Of
Christ gave out the hymn lightning.
Rock u ages. cleft for me,
Let me hide myself IN thee.
The subject Of the sermon was ''The Or
chard GA the Hin and the text Luke xiii,
90: "And when they were come % the place,
which Is called Calvary, there they crucified
Him and the ualefactors, one on the right
hand and the other on the left. Following
IS DR. Talnage's discourse in fun:
Just outside Of Jerusalem is o swell Of
ground toward which crowd is ascending,
for II Is the day Of execution. What
mighty assemblage. Some for curiosity 70
hear what the nalefactors viii say and to
see how they win act. The three persons 20
be executed are already there. some Of the
spectators are vile Of lip and bloated Of cheek.
Some look Up with revenge, hardly able 70
keep their hands of the sufferers. some
tear their own hair in a frenzy Of grief
Some stand In silent horror. Some break out
into uncomfortable weeping. Some slap their
hands in delight that the offenders are 70 be
ruuigbed al lat The soldiers with drawn
swords drive bael, the mob, which presses on
30 hard There Is fear that tho proceedings
may BE- intern lpted. let the German legion,
now stationed at Jerusalem, on horseback
dash along the line and force back the surg
inr multitude. Back with you" is the cry.
aHave you mover seen a man die beforef
Three crosses in row An upright piece
and two transverse pieces-one on the TOP, on
which the hands are nailed, and one at the
middle on which the victim sat Three trees
inst planted Yet bearing fruit-the one ut
the right bearing poison, and the one at me
loft bitter aloes: the ONE in the middle apples
If love Norway pine and tropical orange
and Lebanon cedar would not make 50
strange a grove as this orchard Of Calvary.
Stand and give look at the three crosses.
inst lool, at the one on the right It's victim
dies scof7ne More tremendous than ms
tbysi,.al anguish is his scorn and hatred OF
Him on the middle cross. This one on the
RIGHT furns half around on the spikes 20 hiss
at tho ono in the middle. If the scOfer could
got ono hand loose. and He were within
reach. he would srnite the middle sufferer IN
the face He hates Him with a perfect
hatred I think he wishes he were down on
the ground, that he might spear HIM. he
fUElts the fUHt'EiAItlAn Wiif WIN 49, 1891
have nailed Him fast Amid the settling
darzues, and louder than the crash of the
rocks hear him ieer out these words: An!
abi Won poor wretch, ! knew you were an
imroster, You pretended 70 be a God ana
vet Won let these legious master you. IL
was ip some such hate that Voltaire, IN hts
death hour because he thought he saw CHRIST
ia his bedroom, got up on his elbow ana cried
ont. aCI1Isb that wretch. What had the
middle cross done to arouse up this right
hand crosst Nothing. o. the enInlty OF the
natural heart against Christ. The World
likes a sentimental Christ, or a phliah-
thropic Christ, but a Christ who comes 70
snatch men away from their slns-aWay WIN
HIM On this right hand cross to-day l see
tvpifed the unbelief Of the world. Men say:
GRael- with Him from the heart win not let
Him take my sins. If He viii die, let INN
die for Himself. not for me- There has al
WAYS been a war between this right hand
cross and the middle cross, and wherever
there is an unbelieving heart, thus the nShV
goes on o. il, when that dying maleiactor
uerisbed the faithlessness Of man had per-
ished. then that tree which yields poison
would have budded and blossomed with lie
for al the world Look up into that disturbed
countenance Of the sufferer and see what
a ghastly thing it is TO reject Christ behold
in that awful face, in that pitltul look, IN
that uublessed death hour, the stings OF the
sinners departure. What plunge INTO
darkness Standing high upon the
cross on tho top of the hill, so that
all the world may look at him, he says;
Here ] 20 out a miserable life into a
Nyretcbed eternityH Onol Two! Threel
Listen to the crash of the fail, all ye agesi
So Hobbies, dying after be had seventy years
IN which TO prepare for eternity, said: Were
master of all the world ! would give 1t all
20 live one day longer Sir Francis New
port, lowering over the brink, cried out:
"Wretch that I am, whittier shall fly from
this breastl What viii become of mei Oh,
that / were 20 lie upon the fire that never IS
quenched, 1000 years TO purchase the tavor
of God and to be reconciled TO Him again!
Oh etelnitvl Oh eternity! Who can dis
cover the abyss Of eternityl Who can para
phrase upon these words: Forever and for
evers'
That right hand cross-thousands have
persisted on it, in worse agonies. For what
is physical pain compared to remorse, at the
last, that life has been wasted and only
fleeting moment stands between the soul and
its everlasting overthrow Oh God! let me
die anywhere rather than at the foot of that
right hand cross. Let not one drop OF That
blood fall upon my cheek. Rend not my
ear with that cry. | see it now as never be-
fore-the loathsomeness and horror of my
unbelief That dying malefactor was not so
much to blame as l. Christianity was not
established, and perhaps not until that day
had that man heard the Christ But after
Christ has stood almost nineteen centuries,
working the wonders of His grace you reject
Him That right hand cross with its long
beam overshadows all the earth. 1t is planted
in the heart Of the race When win the time
come then the spirit of God shall, with its ak,
hew down that right hand cross, until it shall
fall at the foot of that middle cross, and unbe-
lief, the railing malefactor of the world, shall
perish from all our hearts, Away from me,
thou spirit of uubeliefl hate theel With
this sword Of God | thrust thee back and
thrust thee through Down to hell; down
most accused 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 Cod Was there
any IF about III Tell me, thou star, that,
in robe Of light, did run to point out His birth
place. Tell me, thou sea, that didst put thy
hand over thy lip when He bid thee be stiIll
Tell me. We dead. who gou up to see Him diet
Tell mo. thou sun in mid heaven. who for
Him didst pan down over thy face thy veil of
darkness Tell me, ye lepers who were
cleansed, We dead who were raised, is He the
Son Of Coil 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 announce it. And yet on
that miserable indicators "ifn how many
shall be wrecked for all eternity That little
"if' has enough venom in its sting to cause
the death of the soul No IF" about it,
know il. Ecce Deus, | feel it thoroughly
through every muscle Of the body, and
through every faculty Of my mind, and
through every energy of my soul Living
viii preach it, dying l win pillow my head
before its cUnsOlatons-JeSus 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 SEQ no
use for this right hand cross, except it be
used as a lever with which to upturn the I'M
belief of the world
Here, from the right hand cross, go to
the left. Pass clear to the other side That
victim also twists himself upon the nails to
look at the center cross-yet, not to scoff.
IL Is TO worship. He, too, would like to get
his hand loose; not to snite, but to deliver
the sufferer of the middle cross. He cries
70 the railer eursing on the other side: Isl.
lence! between US is innocence is agony
We suffer for our crimes Silence Gather
around this left hand cross. Oh, We peoplel
be nos 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 10 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 male
factor thought over all his past life. OF that
night when he went into an unguardei door