Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-06-14

49, snae anu al tnat Tor me, i ought to
,ose HIM. must love Him; / viii love Him,
DO love Him. Here, Lord. / give mvssf ~
lhee; It's all that / can do.1
But how are you going to test yuur lovn
.nu Jest yonr earnestness! Ny text gives A
TEST III says that while Christ carried =
1oss sVr you. You must be willing TO carry A
sIo,s ior Christ .Nell,n you say, III never
oouiu understand that. There are no crosses
70 De carried In this land; ti.o,e perseeutions
have passed, and In all the land there i no
one 70 DO rruciiied, and yet in the pulpit and
~ INC prayer-meetings you all keep Taking
aoout carrying a cross What do YOU mean
err 1 mean this; That Is a eros whir,
Ohrist calls you to do which Is unpleasant
auu hard' "OhYY you say, "after hearing
sne story OIL this Christ and all that He has
endured for me l am ready 10 do any,hing
LOT Hlm. just tell me what / have 10 do ami
III 40 II. L am ready TO carry any crcssv
suppose l should ask YOU at the close OF n
nnslous service 10 rise up announcing your
sen on the Lords side-could YOU do IN sob.
no yoI say, Il have a SHRINKING and a
sensitiNe nature, and is would be i'm.
possible for me 70 rise before a larra
assemoiage, announcing myself on the LORDS
slue. Just as l feared. You cannot stand
NAV cross. The first one that Is eff,red Won,
you reject. Christ carried a H.maiaya.
Onrist carried a world for you, and YOU can
not lit an ounce for him.
But here is n man whose cross will he IN
announce among his business associates To-
morrow morning on exchange that he / a. be.
gun u new life, that, While he wants In ia
faithful in his. worldly duties, lie :sliring for
another world, and lie ought to advise ali Of
ms associates, so far as he can Influence
men, 10 Degin with the Christian life. Could
you 10 that, my brothery sob, nc.o YOU saw.
mol Just that. l think religion Is religion
ana business Is business, and 1t would be inn
possible Tor me TO recommend tue Christian
religion IN plae es OF worldly business.n Just
as 1 feared. There is a second cross offered
YOU and You cannot carry il. Christ lifted a
mouhtiin Tor you and you cannot lift an
There Is someone whose cross Il will be tn
present. religion in the home circle. Would
YOU dare 10 kncel down and pray IL your
brother and sister were looking at youy
Souia you ask a blessing. at the tea tablep
Gould you take the BlbleI and gather your
family around you and read OF, Christ aud
heaven and your immortal soul! Could Won
then kneel aud pray fer a blessing on your
household! '0l," you say, e.not exactly that.
L couiuGt quite do that. because / have n
very quick temper, and IL l proiesscd relig-
Ion ana Tried to talk religion inmy house.
ioid and after that should lose my temper,
they would scoff at me and say: lyon are
a pretty Christian 2" So YOU are .eowed
down and their sarcasm keeps YOU out OF
heaven and avail from Christ, when under
GOD you ought TO take away your whole
family into the kingdom. Christ lifted a
mountain. lifted a whole world for you; you
can not lit an ounce for Him. | sec now il
Is; you want 10 be favorable TO religion,
you want to support Christian institutions,
you IKE TO be associated with those who love
tne Lord Jesus Christ; but us to taking a nos.
tive step on this subject you can nol-yoI
can not, aad my text, like a gate Of a hun
ared bolts, bars you away from peace on
earth and glory In heaven.
There are hundreds OF men and women
here, brave enough in other things .in lie,
who simply for the lackl of manliness stay
away from God. They dare not say: "For.
ever aud forever, Lord Jesus, / take Thee.
Thou hast redeemed me by Thy blood, here
Is my immortal spirit. Listen, all my fiiends.
Listen. all the world They are lurking
around about The kingdom of God-the are
lurking around about ii, expecting to crawl
In some time when nobody Is looking. for
gettui OF the tremendous words of nv text;
hosoeNer doth not bear His cross and
come after Me cannot be My disciple"
An officer of a ~neighboring church told me
that he was in a store I'm New York--iust
happened in-where there were many clerks,
aud a gentleman came In and said to a Young
man standing behind the counter ..Are YOU
the Young man that arose the other night IN
the Brooklyn tabernacle and asked for pray.
eIsf" Without any flush of cheek he replied:
- biht r w y dANdNs btil lEHtN anu Il
have been quite bad but since l arose for
prayers | think am better than l was.' II
was only his way Of announcing that lie had
started for the higher life. God will not
cast out a mar who Is brave enough 10 take
a step ahead like that.
/ tell you these things this morning be.
cause, my dear friends, 1 want TO show you
how light the cross is that we have 10 carry
compared with that which Christ carried
for Us. You have not had the flesh torn eli
for Cbrists sake i'm carrying your cross. He
tainted deal away under His cross. You
have not CARED The cross until 1t letchc !
the blood. Under His there was a pool OF
carnage that splashed the horses fetlockS.
You have iricnis to sympathize with you
In carrying the cross. Christ trod the wine.
press of Gods wrath alone, alone. The
cos that YOU and / Ought to carry repre-.
sents only a few days or a few years of trial.
Tn cross that Christ carried for us had com.
pressed into 1t the agonies of eternity.
There has someone come here to-day
whom you lave rot observed. He did not
come through the front door; lie did mol
come down any Of these ~aisles; yet l know
He il here. He is from the east, the fat
east He comes with blistered foot. and
with broken heart, and cheeks red not with
health, but with blood from the temples. /
take hold Of Ills ccat and / say: at does
not seem to fit Thee" NO" He says .it
Is not mine il i, borrowed; it does not be-
long to Me now. Fof My yesture did they
cast lots" And 1 say 10 Him: .'Tdine
eyes are red as thou I'll from loss Of sicep."
He SAYS: ..Ycs, the son of man had not
where 10 lay His bead.n And 1 touch the
log on His back and 1 saw: "'Why earliest
Thou thisy' '.Ah!v' He says, t'that is a
crossI carry for thee and for the sins of the
whole world. That Is a cross Fall ibto
line, march on with me in this procession,
a k your smaller crosses and your lighter
burdens and JOIN me in this march 10
heaven Ana we JOIN that procession with
our smaller crosses AMI our lighter burdens,
and Chr 81 looks back and He sees some are
hating because they can not endure The
shame or bear the burden, and with a voice
which has in IL majesty and oIniPoteiice,
He cries until all the earth trembles: "Who-
soeyer doth not bcar his cross and come az
ter me can not be My disciple"
oh, my brethren. my s~isters-for j do not
speak professionally; l speak as a brother
would speak toa brother or sister-my
brother, can you not bear q cross IL at Lass
YOU can wear "A clown. Come now. let Us
divide off. Who is on the Loro's slider Who
is ready 10 turn his back upon the Lamb OF
God, tlat t1keth away the sin OF the world!
A Roman Emperor said TO 4 Greek archie
tect: "leu buId me n coliseum, a grand
coliseum OF all the people, and l will make
a great day of festival on our account"
The Greek architect did his work, did it
magnifcently, planned the building, looked
after its construction. The building was
done. The day for opening arrived. In the
coliseum were the emperor anu the creek
architect. The emperor arose amid the
plaudits of a vast assembly and said; ave
have gathered here today to op.n This
coliseum and to honor the Greek architect.
1t Is a great day for the Roman empire. Let
this building be prosperous, and let II mr. be
put upon the Greek architect. Oh, We must
have a festival t. day. Bring out those
Christians and let'Gs have them put TO death
nj the mouth Of the lions.o The Christians
were put into the center OF the amphithca-
ter. IL was 70 be a great celebration In
their destruction. Then the lions, hungry
and three-fourths starved, were let out fIom
their dens in the side Of the amphltheatre,
and they came forth with mighty spring to
destroy and rend the Christians, anu all the
Galleries sI.ouled: .sHuzzal Huzza! Long
i've the emperor!' Then the Greek arclii-
tect arose in one of the galleries and shouted
until in the vast assembIagc all heard him:
al. too, am a ChristianP p and they seized
him in their fury and flung lin to the wild
beasts, until his BODY, bleeding aud dead,
was tumbled over and over again In the dust
of the amphitheater.
Could you have done that for Christ!
Could YOU, in a vast assemblage, all OF whom
hated Christ, have said: 81 am a Chris
tian,'o or, 81 want 10 be a Chrisiiang'
Would YOU have had the ten theusandth
part Of the enthusiasm and the courage OF
Inc Greek architecty Nay, 1 ask you another
question: would you in an nssembiage
where they are nearly all Chrlstians--in an
assemblage n vast multitude Of whom love
Christ and are willing to live, and il need
he 10 lie, for Him-would you dare to say,
al am a Christian or, II want TO be a
Christian, Would you say in the presence
Of the friends OF Christ, asmuch as the Greek
architect said in the presence OF the enemies
n Christ OH, are there not mul;itudes
here this morning who are ready TO say:
81 ~ the world lcox on, let all the galleries
Of earth and heaven and hell look on. l
t.te Christ this day. Come applause or