The Russellville Democrat., 1888-06-14
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Story of the Cross-An Bu-
 charistal Sermon.
Only Those Who Bear Their Cross in This Life Fitted to Wear the Ir- mortal Crown in That to Come
 -Business and Religion.

 His text was;
 Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, can not be my disciple. Luke, xiv. V.
 The cross was a gibbet on which crim- inals were put to death. It was some- times made in the shape of the letter T, sometimes in the shape of the letter X, some times in the shape of the letter la simple upright; sometimes two cross pieces against the perpendicular bar, so that upon the lower cross piece the crim- inal partially sat. But whatever the style of cross, it was always disgraceful and always agonizing.
 When Darius conquered Babylon he put two hundred captives to death on the cross. When Alexander conquered Tyre he put two thousand captiyes to death on the cross. So it was just an ordinary mode of punishment But in all the for est of crosses, on the hills and in the val leys of the earth, there is one cross that attracts more attention than any Oth- CT. It is not higher than the others, 1t is not made out of different wood, there is nothing peculiar in the notch at which the two pieces arc joined, and as to the scene, they witnessed crucifxIons every few weeks, so that l see a reckless man walk ing about the hill and kicking carelessly aside a skull, and wondering who the villain was that had so fiat and mis- shapen a head; and here is another skull, and there on tho hillside is another skull. Indeed, the Bible says it was "a place of skulls" But about the vichm on one of these crosses all ages are crying: "Who is Hey Was He a man? Was He Godi Was He man and GodW
 Through the darkness of that gloomy day, l come close up enough to the cross to see who it is. It is Jesus. How did He come there? Had He come up on the top of the hill to look of upon the beautiful landscape, or i'll and exhausted People sometimes wonder why Christ expired so quickly on the cross, iu six or seven hours, Shiie other victims have been on the cross for forty eight hours before life was ex- tinct. will tell you the reason. He was ex- hausted when He came there. He had been scourged. We are mortified at the cruelties of the whipping post, but those cruelties were mercy as compared with the scourging of Jesus Christ.
 l saw at Antwerp a picture made y Rubens-Rubens' picture of the scourg- ing of Jesus Christ. Itwas the most over mastering picture l ever looked at, or ever expect to see. As the long -frocked official opened the door that hid the pict- ure, there He was-Christ, with back bent and barred. The flagellator stood with the upper teeth clenched over the lower lip, Us though to give violence to the blows. There were the black and blue ridges, denied even the relief of bleeding. There was the flesh adhering to the whips as they were lifted. There were the marks al. the flesh. There stood the persecutor, with his foot on the calf of the leg of the Saviour, balancing himself. Oh the furi- ous and hellish look on those faces, grim ming vengeance against the Son of God. The picture seized me, it overwhelmed me; it seemed as if it would kill me. Ido not think could have looked at it five minutes and have lived.
 But that, my friends, was before Christ had started for Calvary. That was the only whipping. Are you ready for your journey to the cross?
 The carpenters have split the timber into two pieces. They are heavy and they are long pieces, for one of them must be fastened deep down in the earth lest the struggling of the victim upset the struct- ure. They put this timber upon the shoulder of Christ very gradually, first, to see whether He can stand it, and alter they find He can stand it they put the whole weight upon Him. Forward, now, to Calvary. The hooting and the yelling mob follow on. Under the weight Of the cross, Christ being weary and sick, He stumbles and falls, and they jerk at His robe indignant that He should have stum- bled and fallen, and they cry: 'tGet up, get upW Christ, putting one hand on the ground and the other on the cross, rises, looking into the face of Mary, His mother, for sympathy; but they tell her to stand back, 1t is no place for woman-"Stand back and stop this crying"
 Christ moves on with His burden upon His shoulders, and there is boy that passes along with Him, boy holding a mallet and 6 few nails. 1 wonder what they are for. Christ moves on until the burden is so great He staggers and falls flat into the dust and faints dead away, and a ruffian puts his foot on Him and shakes Him as he would dead dog, while another ruffian looks down at Him, won Q dering whether he Has tainted away, or whether He is only pretending to faint away, and with jeer and contempt inde- scribable says: Painted, have youf Faintedl Get up, get onw
 Now, they have arrived at the foot of the hill. Off with His clothes. Shall that loathsome mob look upon the unrobed body of Christ? Yes. The commanding officers say: "Unfasten the girdle, take of the coat, strip Him." The work is done. But bring back the coat, for here are the gamblers tot otsing up coin on the ground, saying;
 ''Who shall have the coatg" One rutfian says:
 q have it, have it--it is minep He oils it up and puts it under his arm, or le examines it to see what fabric it is made of. Then they put the cross upon he ground and they stretch Christ upon {, and four or five men hold Him down nile they drive the spikes home, at every aump a groan, a groanl Alas Alas 10 hour passes on and the time comes hen they must cruelty Him.
 Christ has only one garment left now, a lp--a cap of thorns. No danger that it i'll fall of, for the sharp edges have incurred the temples, and 1t is sure and st One ruffian takes hold of one end of short beam of the cross, and another fian takes hold of the other end of the ort beam of the cross, and another ruff puts his arms around the waist of
 rist, and ano ther rufian takes hold of end of the long beam of the cross, and
 Ogether they move on until they come
 the hole digged in the earth, and with
 ful plunge 1t jars down with its burden
 woe, It is not the picture of a Christ,
 not the statue of Christ, as you some-
 tes sec it in cathedral; but it is the
 ly of a bleeding, living, dying Christ
 hey sometimes say He had five wounds,
 they have counted wrong. Two
 Inds for the hands, two wounds for the
 t, one wound for the side, they say,
 wounds. No, they have missed the
 st and they have missed the most.
 you ever see the bramble out of
 ch that crown of thorns was madef
 one on Brooklyn ferryboat in the
 ds of a gentleman who had just re-
 ed from Palestine, bramble just like
 out of which the crown of thorns was
 @. Ol how cruel and how stubborn
 the thorns. And when that cap of
 us was put upon Christ and it was scd down upon Him, not i've wounds, on, twenty, thirty--I can not count