Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-11-15

I
have been filed with blasphcmy, ye Whose
hands for many years haye wrought un'
righteousness, We who cOmpanioned with
the unclean, We who have scaled every
height of transgreSsion, and tathOmed
every depth, and passed every extreme o
iniquity ty-mercy-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 scene rs this. You may
have seen father, or mother, or companion,
or child die, but never SO affecting a scene
rs this. The railing thief looked from one
way, and saw only the right side of fChrist's
face. Thhe 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 suffering cross.
If 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 the spear that went into His
side, but the sins of all the race-a thOus-
and spearS-plunge after plunge, deeper
and deeper. until the silence and
cOmpOsure that before characterized Him
gave way into 4 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
iavelin, 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 God! why hast thou forsaken mer'
1t was
A 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 n
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 is painless now,
because Christ's WAS torn. My soul es-
capes, because Christ's was bound. gain
heaven, because Christ for me endured the
horrors of hell. When the Swiss were
many years ago cOntending against their
enemies, they saw these enemies arraycd
in solid 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 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 powers of darkness aSsailing men. lie
cried out: Make way for the redemp-
ton of the world" All the weapons of
internal wrath struck Him, but rs they
struck Him our race marched out free.
To this middle cross, my dying hearers,
look, that your souls may liYc. showed
you the right hand cross in order that you
might see what IN awful thing it is to be
unbelieving. ] showed you the left hand
cross that you might see what it is TO re-
pcnt. Now | show you the middle cross
that YOU may see what Christ has done 10
save your soul. Poets have sung its
praise, and sculptOrs have attempted to
commemorate it in marble, and martyrs
have clung 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,
EVERYTHING ELSE WILL FAIL YOU.
Without a strong grip on that you perish
Put your hand on that and you are safe,
though world swing from beneath your
feet O, that might cngrave on your
souls inefl;lccahly the three crosses, and
that if in your waking moments you will
not heed, then that in your dream this COM
ing night, you might see on the hill back
of Jerusalem the three spectacles-thc
right hand cross showing unbelief, dying
without Christ; the left hand, showing
what it is to he pardoned, while the CEN
tral cross pOurs upon your soul the sun
burst ai heaven rs it says: "By all these
wounds plead for thy heart. have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Rivers can
not quench it. Floods cannot drown il. "
And while you look, the right-hand cross
will fade out of sight, and then the left
will be gone; nothing will remain but the
middle cross, and even that i'll your dream
will begin to change, until it becomes a
throne; and the worn f;Ice of Calvary will
become radiant with gladneSs; and instead
of the mad mob at the foot of the cross
will be q multitude kneeling. And you
and | will be among them. But no! we
will not wait for such dream. In this
our most aroused mood we
throw down at the foot
of that middle cross sin, sorrow, life,
death, everything. We are slaves; Christ
gives deliverance to the captive. We are
thirsty; Christ is the river of salvation to
slake our thirst. We are hungry; Jesus
says: IL am the bread of life" We are
condemned to die; Christ says: "Save that
man from going down to the pitt am the
ransom" We are tossed on a sea of trOu-
BILE; Jesus comes over it, saying: ut is |,
be not afraid" We are in darkness; Jesus
says: Il am the bright and morning star. y
We are sick; Jesus is the balm of Gil
lead" We are dead; hear the shrouds
rend and the grave hillocks heave, as He
cries: Il am the resurrection and the life;
he that believeth in Ne, though he were
dead, yet shall he live" We want justi-
fcation: Being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ" We want to
EXERCISE FAITH:
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved" l went to get from
under condemnation: There is now,
therefore, no condemnation to them who
are in Christ Jesus" The cross-He car
,ried it. The flames of hell-He suffered
them. The shame-He endured it, The
crown-He won it Heights of heaven
sing it, and worlds of light to worlds OF
light all round the heavens cry: GLORY.
glory"
Let us go forth and gather the trophies
for Jesus. From GOlconda mines We