The Forrest City times., 1888-06-09

and mine. and make eternal life possible He died. There has to be a substitute fof sin. Wbo shall it bel "Let it be mes" said Christi 'let it be me" You understand the me an ing or that word substitution. You were drafted Tor the last war; some one took your place, marched your march, suffered your wounds and died at Gettysburg Christ comes to us while we are fighting our battle and be is our Substitute. He marches our march, fights our battle, suffers our wounds, tinni
 How do you feel in regard to that scene de. scribed In the text, and in the region arouud about the text Are yo,fr sympathIes arousedi ot are you so dead in sin. and so abandoned hy reason Of your transgressions that you can look upon all that fearless and unmoved. No, no; there are thousands of people here this morning who can say in the depth of their soul; "No, no, no; If Jesus endured that and all that for me. l ought to love Him 1 must love Him, l will love Him, do love Him Here; Lord, l give myself to thee; 'tis all
 But how are you going to test your love, and test your earnestness, My text gives s test It says shat while Christ carried a cross Tor yon, you must be willing to carry a cross for Christ "Well,p you say, fl never could understand that There are no crosses to be carried in this land; those prosecutions have passed, and in all the land there is no one to be eruelfied. and yet in tbe pulpit and in the prayeF meetings you all keep taking about carrying cross What do vor VI si.T ! mean this: ,s -s pa cross which SnIist es. .... you Co do, which !. unpleasant -sd nard, 'Of' you say. 'after hearing the story of this Christ and ali that He has en- dnred for me, am ready to do anything for Him. Just tell me what 1 have to do and I'll do 1t. l atn ready to carry any crosan
 suppose should ask you at the close of q religious service to rise up announcing your n Nhn ARANE aHA 70 no" you say T have shrinking and a sensitive nature. and 1t would be impossible for me to rise before large assemblage, announcing myself on the Lords side" Just as I feared. You cannot stand that cross. The first one that Is offered you, you reject. Christ carried 6 mountain, Christ carried a Himalaya, Christ carried world for you, and you cannot lift an ounce for Him.
 But here Is a man whose cross will be to an- nounce among his business associates to- morrow morning on Exchange, that he has begun Jew life, that while he wants to be faithful in his worldly duties he Is living for another world, and he ought to advise all those who are his associates, so far as he can influence them, 10 begin with him the Chris tan life. Could you do that, my brother "Oi mo-" you say. mot just that think religion Is religion, and business Is business and t would he impossible for me to recon mend the Christian religion in places of
 
 is second cross offered you, and you cannot carry 1t. Christ lifted 6 mountain for you; you cannot lift an ounce for Him.
 There is some one hose cross will be to you dare to kneel down and pray, if your brother and sister were looking at youi Could you ask a blessing at the tea-tablel Could you take the Bible and gather your family around you, and read of Christ and heaven and your immortal souli Could you
 
 householdi ''0ri you say, mot exactly that l couldn't quite do that, because I have very quick temper, and if professed religion and tried to talk religion in my household, and then after that should lose my temper they would scoff at me and say: You are a pretty ChristianPn n So you are cowed down and their sarcasm keeps you out of heaven and away from Christ when under God you ought to take your whole family into the kingdom. Christ lifted mountain lifted world for you; you can not lift an ounce for Him. I see how 1t is; you want to be favorable to religion, you want to support Christian institutions you like to be associated with those who love Jesus Christ; but as to taking a positive step on this subject you cannot-you cannot and my text, like gate of a hundred bolts bars you away from peace on earth and glory in heaven.
 here brave enough in other things in life who simply for the lack of manliness and woman- Illness stay away from God They dare not sayi Forever and forever, Lord Jesus, I take Thee. Thou hast redeemed me by Thy blood, here is my immortal spirit. Listen all my friends. Listen all the world" They are lurking around about the kingdom of God-they are lurking around about it, ex- pectng 10 crawl in some time when nobody is looking, forgetfu of the tremendous words my of text: "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My dis ciple.
 An officer of a neighboripg church told me that he was in store In New fOrk-just hap pened in--where there are many clerks, aud a gentleman came in and said to & young man standing behind the counter: Are you the young man that arose the other night in the Brooklyn Tabernacle and asked for prayersf' Without any flush of cheek, he re- piled: 'I am. I haven't always done right, and I have been quite bad; but since I arose for prayers, think am better than was" It was only his way of announcing that he had started for higher life. God will not cast out a man who is brave enough to take step ahead like that
 1 tell you these things this morning be. cause. my dear friends, l want 10 show you how light the cross is that we have to carry compared with that which Christ carries for us You have not had the flesh torn off for Christs sake in carrying your cross. He tainted dead away under His cross. You have not carried the cross until 1t fetched.the blood. Under His there was a pool of carnage that splasbed the horses fetlocks You have friends to sym pathize with you in carrying the cross; Christ trOd the winepress of Gods wrath alone, alone The cross that you and l ought to carry represents only a few days or a few years of trial The cross that Christ carried for us had compressed into 1t the agonies of eternity.
 There has some one come here today whom you have not observed. He did not come through the Tront door; He did not come down any Of these aisles. yet know He Is here. He is from the East, the far 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 His coat and l say: 'It does not seem to fit Theen "No," He says, 'it is not mine; it Is borrowed; it does not belong to me now. For my vesture did they east lots" And I say to Him: ''Thine eyes are red as though from loss of sleep" Hc says: 'fes, the Son of man had not Nbere to lay His head.n And touch the log on Ills back and say; "Why earliest Thou thisi" "Ahp' He says, that is a cross carry for thee and for the sins of the whole world That is a cross. Fall into line, march on with me in this procession, take yogr smaller crosses and your lighter burdens, and join me in this march to Heaven" And we join that pro cess oh with our smaller crosses and our lighter burdens, and Christ looks back and he sees some are halting because they cannot endure the shame or bear the burden, and 
 impotence, He cries until all the earth trembles; "Whosoever doth not bear bis cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple"
 Oi my brethren, my sisters-for l do not speak professionally, l speak as a brother would speak to brother or sister-my broth CT. can you not bear a cross fl at last you can wear a crownf Come now, let us divide of. Who Is on the Lords sldei Who Is ready to turn his back upon the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins Of the worldf
 A Roman emperor said to a Greek architect; "You build me a coliseum, good coliseum, aud if 1t suits me I win crown you in the presence of sli the people, and will make a great day Of festf val on your account.n The Greek architect did his work, did it magnifcently, planned the building. looked after its construction. The building was done The day for open ing arrived. In the coliseum were the em- peror and the Greek architect The emperor rose mid the plaudits of a vast assembly and said: We have gathered here to-day. to open this coliseum, and to honor the Greek architect It is a great day for tue Roman Empire. Let this building be prosperous, and let honor be put upon the Greek architect O. we must have a festival today Bring out those Christians and let us have them put 10 death at the mouth of the lions" The Christians were put into the centre of the
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