Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-12-11

OF his victim, he flung the mangled corpse
into the dust OF the highway, or heaped upon
it the stones. He says: "Oh! am a guilty
wretch. deserve this There is no need Of
my cursing. That will not stop the main
There is no need of disappearing Christ, for
ne has done me no wrong; and yet l cannot
die SO. The tortures of my body are out.
done by the fortunes Of my soul. The past
IS a scene of misdoing. The present cruel
fixion. The future an everlasting undoing.
Come back, thou hiding midday sanI Kiss
my cheek with one bright ray of comfort
what! no help from above-no help from be-
meath. Then must turn to my companion
in SORROW the One on the middle cross. /
have heard that He knows how to help
man when he is in trouble l have
heard that He can cure the wounded have
heurd how Heca pardon thesinner. Surely.
IN all Ills wanderings up and down the earth
he never saw one more in need of His for.
glveness.
Blessed onel turn to Thee! Wilt Thou
look for the moment away from Thine own
pangs to pity moi Lord, it is not to have my
hands relieved or my feet taken from the
torture ! can stand all this; but Oh! my
SINS! my siusl my sins! they pierce me
through and through. They tell mo must
die for ever, They will push me out into the
darkness unless Thou wilt help. confess il
ALL Hear the cry of the dying thief. Lord,
remember me when Thou contest into Thy
kingdom. 1 ask no great things. seek for
no throne in heaven--no chariot to
take me to the skies; but lust
think Of me when this days horrors
have passed. Think of me a little-of me,
the one now hanging at Thy side: when
the shout of heavenly welcome takes Thee
back into glory, Thou wilt not forget me,
wilt Thou! Lord, remember me when Thou
contest into Thy kingdom-only just remem.
Der me.
Likewise must we repent. You say: 81
have stolen nothing reply: We have all
universe, for we have robbed God-robbed
Him of our time. robbed Him Of our talents,
robbed Him of our services Suppose you
send a man West as an agent of your
firm, and every month you pay him
his salary, and at the end of ten years
you find out that he has been serving another
firm, but taking your salary; would you not
at once condemn him as dishonestl 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; a regiment surround him, and the com
mand is given: Attention, company Take
1iml Fire" And the man falls with hun
dred bullets through his heart. There come
times in a 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: "I don't feel
myself to be sinner" That may he.
Walk along by the cliffs and you
see sunlight and flowers at the mouth
OF the cave, and a chandelier of stalactite
near the opening Of the cave: but take a
torch and go in, and before you have gone
lar you sea the flashing eye of a wild beast
or hear the hiss Of a serpent So the world
seems in the sunlight of worldliness; but as
wave the torch Of Gods truth, and go down
INTO the deep cavern of the heart-alasl for
the DrlstlinS horrors and the rafting fangs.
Have yon ever noticed the climax in this
passage of scripture: THE heart is deceitful'
That seems enough. But the passage goes on
and says: 1.-THE heart is deceitful above all
things" Will you not say that is enough
bnt une passage goes on further and says
The heart is decetful above all things and
desperately wicked" If we could see til.
true condition of the upardoned before
GOD what wringing of hands
there would be? what a thousand
Voiced shrek of supplication and despair
But you are sinner-a sinner. speak not
to the person who sits next to you, but to
you. You are sinner All the transgres-
sions OF lifetime have been gathered up
into an avalanche, At any moment it may
slip from the cliffs and crush you forever.
May the Lord Almighty, by His grace, help
us to repent of our sins while repentance is
possible.
The left hand cross was a believing cross.
There was no guess-work in that prayer; no
IF" in that duplication. The left-hand
cross flung itself at the foot of the middle
cross expecting mercy. Faith is only just
opening the hand to take what Christ offers
us. The work is all done, the bridge is built
strong enough for all of us to walk over. Tap
not at the door of Gods mercy with the tip
OF your fingers: but as a warrior, with
gauntleted fists, beats at the castle gate, so,
with all the aroused energies of our sonls,
let us pound at the gate of heaven. That
gate is locked. You go to it with bunch of
keys. You try philosophy; that will not
Open it. You try good works; that will MOI
open IT. A large door generally has pom
derous key. take the cross and place the
loot of it in the socket of the lock, and by
the two arms of the cross / turn the lock and
the door opens.
This lefthand cross was pardonipg cross
The crosses We're only two or three yards
apart. 1t did not take long for Christ to
hear. Christ might have turned away, and
said: How darest thou speak to Me! / am
the Lord of Heaven and Earth. / have
down that man in the darkness, saw YOU.
You are getting just reward-de in dark
ness-die forever. But Jesus said not so; but
rather: "1his day shalt thou be with Me in
Paradise;" as much as to say: II see you
there; don't worry. Twill not only bear my
CiOoSs DuO uoip you WIFI yours.
Forthwith the leftrhand cross becomes the
abode of contentment. The pillow of the
malefactor soaked in blood becomes like the
crimson upholstery Of a King couch. When
the body bacame still, and the surgeons feel
ing the pulse said one to another: she
is dead" the last mark of pain had
gone from his face. Peace had
smoothed his forehead; Peace closed his
.eyes; Peace closed his lips Now you see
why there are two transverse pieces on the
Cross, for it has become ladder into the
skies. That dying head is easy which has
under it the promise: This day shalt thou
be with Me in Paradise" Ye whose lips have
been filled with blasphemy, We whose hands
for many years have wrought uurighteous-
ness, ye who have companioned with the I'M
clean, we who have sealed every height of
transgression, and fathomed every depth,
and passed every extreme OF iniquity-mercy
mercy
''The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
Aud 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 tho other and
found it yielded bitter aloes. Come now to
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