Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-12-11
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE ORCHARD ON THE HILL


Text: "And when they were come to tn,
place, which is called Calvary, there they
crucihed Him, and the malefactors ore on
the right hand, and the other on the left ~
Luke xiii. SO.
Just outside Of Jerusalem is a swell oil
ground, toward which crowd are ascend
ing; for it is the day of execution. What
mighty assemblage Some for curiosity tc
hear what the malefactors will say, and tt
SEQ how they will act. The three persons tc
be executed are already there. Some of the
spectators are vileof lip and bloated of cheek
Some look up with revenge, hardly able to
keep their hands off the sufferers. Some teal
their own hair in frenzy Of grief. Some
stand in silent borrow. Some break out into
uncomfortable weeping. Some clap their
punished at last. The soldiers, with drawn
swords, drive back the mob which press on
30 hard. There is fear that the proceedings
may be interrupted. Let the German
Legion, now stationed at Jerusalem, on
horseback, dash along the line, and force
back the surging multitude. Back with
your is the cry; "Have you never seen
man die beforeq'
Three crosses in a 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
Jucp Pl0uOeug Jtu Dodlluk lluib-UuO Ouc at
the right bearing poison, and the one at the
left bitter aloes; the one in the middle, apples
of love- Norway pine, and tropical orange,
and Lebanon cedar, would not make
so strange grove as this or
chard on the hill Stand, and give
one on the right. Its victim dies soothing.
More tremendous than his physical anguish
is his scorn and hatred of Him on the middle
cross. This one on the right twists half
around on the spikes to hiss at the One on the
middle. If the scoffer could get one hand
loose, and he we're within reach, he would
smite the middle sufferer i'll the face He
hates Him with perfect hatred. think he
wishes he were down on the ground, that he
might spear Him. He envieS the mechanics
who, with their nails, have nailed Him fast.
Amid the settling darkness. and louder than
the crash of the rocks, hear him jeer out
these words: "Ah! oh! you poor wretch,
to be a God, and yet you let these armed
legions master you" 1t was in some such
hate that Voltaire, in his death hour, because
he thought he saw Christ in his bedroom, got
up on his elbow and cried out: "Crush that
wretchin
What had the middle cross done to arouse
up this right-hand CROSSE Nothing. Oh, the
enmity of the natural heart against Christ.
The world likes sentimental Christ or
philanthropic Christ: but a Christ who
comes to snatch men from their sins, away
with Him. On this right.hand cross, to.
night, see typifled the unbeief of the world.
Men say: Back with Him from the heart.
viii not let Him take my sins. If He will
die, let Him die for Himself not for me-"
There has always been war between
this righthand cross and the mid
die cross, and wherever there is ian
unbelieving heart, there the fight goes
on o, If, when that diving malefactor per-
fgf1Qd the faifhiQScnoeG ~ y11o had f1arSncd
then that tree which yields poison would
have budded and blossomed with life for all
the world Look up into that disturbed
countenance of the sufferer, and see what
CHASTITY thing it is to reject Christ. Behold
in that awful face, in that pitiful look, in
that unblessed death hour, the stings Of the
sinners departure. What q plunge into
darkness! Standing high upon the cross on
the top of the hill, so that all the world may
look at him, he says: Here l go out
Of miserable life into a wretched
eternity onel Twoi Threei Listen
ages! So Hobbies, dying after he had seventy
years in which to prepare for eternity, said:
"Were | master of all the world, would
give it oil to live one day longer" Sir Fran
els Newport, lowering over the brink, cried
out: wretch that l am, whittier shall l fly
from this breast! What will become of met
o, that were to lie upon the fire that never
is quenched, a thousand years, to purchase
the favor of God and be reconciled to Him
Z again! O, eternity o, eternityI. Who can
discover the abyss of eternity. Who eau
paraphrase upon these words: For ever and
for everf'
That right-hand cross, thousands have
For what is physical pain com
pared with remorse. at the last,
that life had been wasted, and onlya fleeting
moment stands between the soul and its ever
lasting overthrow! o God, let me die any
where 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. Isee it now as never beforc-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 won
ders OF His grace, you reject Him. That
right-hand cross, with its long beam, over
shadows all the earth. 1t is planted in the
heart of the race. When will the time come
that the Spirit of God shall, with its axe,
hew down that right-hand cross, until it shall
fall at the foot OF that middle cross, and un
belief, the railing malefactor Of the world
shall perish from all our hearts Away from
mel thou spirit of unbelief! l hate thee
With this sword of God thrust thee bacI
and thrust thee through. Down to hell
uOWu, InOSb accurSeQ monster or 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 God" Was there
any ''if' about it, 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 still. Tell me, ye
dead who got up to see Him die Tell me,
thou sun in mid-heaven, who for Him didst
pull down over thy face the veil of darkness
Tell me, ye lepers who were cleansed, We
dead who were raised, is He the Son of God7
Aye, ayel responds the universe. The flow
ers breathe it.; the stars chime it; the re-
deemed celebrate it; the angels rise up on
their thrones to announce it. And yet on
that miserable malefactor's "ifn how MANY
shall be wrecked for all eternity. That little
1T" Is the insect which has enough venom in
It's sting to cause the death of the soul No
'if' about it. know it Ecce Deus Ifeel
il Observation-Disclosures every muscle of the
body, and through every faculty of my mind |;
and through every energy of my soul Liv-
ing, will preach it: dying, will pillow my
head upon its consultations Jesus the Godl
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 mouse
for this righthand cross, except it be used as
q lever with which IN urfttru Tho ,,nhaIiaf ~