The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-12-01

whose hands have for many years wrough,
unrighteousness, ye who have compan-
Toned with the unclean, ye who have scaled
every height Of transgresson, and faith
omed every depth and passed every OK
treme OF iniquity-mercy, mercy.
"The dying thief rcioiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And thore may I, though vile rs 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 1t yielded bitter aloo5.
Come now to the middle cross, and shake
down apples Of love. Uncover your head.
You never saw so tender scene as Ihis.
You may have seen father, or mother, or
companion. or child die, but never so Of
fecting scene as this. The railing thief
looked from one 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
q suffering cross. II the weapons of
torture had gone only through the fatty
portions 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 tho
spear that went into His side. but the sins
Of all the racc-a thousand spears-plunge
after plunge, deeper and 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 fiber Of
His heart in excruciation, He criod out
my God, my God, why hast Thou forsakeL
Me."
1t was vicarious 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 My brow ia. painless now,
because Christ's was torn. My soul es-
capes, because Christ's VI bound Igain
Heaven, because Christ fOf me endured the
horrors of hell. When the Swiss were
many years ago contending against their
enemies, they saw these enemies arrayed
in solemn phalanx, and knew not how to
break their ranks; but one Of their heroes
rushed out in front of his regiment and
shouted: ''Make way for liberty" The
weapons 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 vic.
tory. Christ saw all the powers of dark
ness assailing 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. l showed
you the right hand cross, in order that YOU
might see what an awful thing it Is to b.
unbelieving. showed you the left hant
cross, that you might sec what it is to re-
pent. Now show you the middle cross
that you may see what Christ has done ID
save your soul. Poets have sung its
praise, and sculptors have attempted Il
commemorate it in marble, and martyr.
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 ecstacy OF
affection. Lay hold Of that cross, sinner
Every thing else will fail you. Without
a strong grip on that you perish. Pu
your hand on that and you are safe
though world swing from beneath youi
feet.
o, that might engrave on your souls in
effaceably these three crosses, and that if il
your waking moments you will not heed, ther
that in your dream this coming night you
might see on the hill back of Jerusalem
the three spectacles--the right-hand cross
showing unbelief dying without Christ
the left hand showing what it is to be par
doned, while the central cross pours upor
your soul the sunburst of Heaven, az i
says: "By all these wounds plead for thy
heart have loved thee with an everlast
ing love. Rivers can not quench it; food
can not drown it," And while you lool
the right-hard cross will fade out of sight
and then the left will be gone; nothing bu
the middle cross will remain, and even tina
in your dream will begin to change, unit
it becomes throne; and the worn face O
Calvary will become radiant with gladness
and instead of the mad mob at the foot o
the cross will be multitude kneeling. An,
you and will be among them.
But no, we will not wait for such
, dream. In this our most aroused mood W
throw down at the foot of tAat middle eros
sin, sorrow, life, death, ~ - thing. w
are slaves; Christ gives deliverance to tn
captive. We are thirsty; Christ is the rive
, of salvation to slake our thirst We ar
| hungry; Jesus says: II am the Bread o
Life" We are condemned to die; Chris
says: "Save that man from going down
J the pit; am the ransom" We are tosse
on o sea of trouble; Jesus comes over il
saying: ut is l, be not afraid" We ar
; in darkness; Jesus says: VI am the brigh
| and morning star" We are sick; Jesu
, is the Balm of Gileadr We are dead
hear the shrouds rend and tn
grave hillocks heave, as He cries: ~ al
J the Resurrection and the Life; he that be
lieveth in Me, though he were dead, ye
} shall he live" We want justification
, Being justified by faith, we have peac
, with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
We want to exercise faith. believe in tn
0 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
want to get from under condemnation
"Ther, is now, therefore, no condemnatio
: to them who are in Christ Jesus" The eros
D He carried it. The flames Of hell-He sui
$ fered them. The shame-He endured il
r The crown-He won it. Heights of Heave
sing it, and worlds of light to worlds Q
! light all round the heavens cry: Glory
. Glory
t Let us 60 forth and gather the trophie
Y for Jesus. From Golconda mines we gathe
l the diamonds; from Celon banks we gathe
9 the pearls; from all lands and kingdom
n we gather precious stones, and we brin
u the glittering burdens and put them dow