The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-06-07
THE ASSASSINATION.
SACRAMENTAL DAY SERVICES IN
THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.

sACRAMENTAL DAY SERVICES IN
THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.
Rev. DIR. Talmage Gives q Graphic De-
scription Of the scourging and Cruel
Rxion of Our Saviour-The Terrible
Crown of Thorns.
BROOKLYN, juno 8.-The congregation
at the Tabernacle sang this morning:
I'd sing the precious blood he split,
My ransom from tho dreadful guilt.
This is Sacramental day, and large
number of persons joined the church,
making the communicate membership
4, 1914. But this Is only part of the great
attendance that Sunday mornings and
evenings overflow the immense audience
room. The Rev. I. De Witt Talmage,
D. D., took for his text the passage:
"Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and
come after me, cannot be my disciple"
Luke xiv, 81. He preached the fol-
lowing sermon:
The cross was o gibbet ON which erim-
inals were put to death. It was some
times made in the shape of the letter 7,
sometimes in the shape Of the letter x,
sometimes 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 GRIM
inal partially sat. But whatever the
style of the cross, it was always disgrace
full and always agonizing.
When Darius conquered Babylon he
put 200 captives to death on the cross.
When Alexander conquered Tyre he put
1900 captives to death on the cross. So
1t was Just an ordinary mode of punish
ment But in all the forest of crosses on
the hills and in the valleys of the earth
there is one cross that attracts more at
tention than any other. 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 are
joined; and, as to the scene, they wit
messed cruciixions every few weeks, so
that / see reckless man walking about
the hill and kicking carelessly aside a
skull, and wondering who the villain was
that had SO flat and misshapen a head;
and here is another skull, and there on
the hillside Is another skull. Indeed, the
Bible says 1t was "a place Of skulls. !"
But about the victim on one Of these
crosses all ages are crying: "Who is he?
Was he mani Was he q God? Was he
man and Godf"
Through the darkness of that gloomy
day, I come close up enough to that
cross to see what it Is. It is Jesus. How
did he come there? Had he come up on
the top of the hill to look off upon the
beautiful landscape, or upon a brilliant
sunset? No. He came there i'll and ex-
hausted People sometimes wonder why
Christ expired SO quickly on the cross, In
six or seven hours, while other victims
have been on the cross for forty-eight
hours before life was extinct. / will tell
you the reason. He was exhausted 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.
saw at Antwerp picture made by
Rubens- -Rubens' picture of the scourg-
ing of Jesus Christ. It was the most
overmastering picture 1 ever looked al
| or ever expect to see. AS the long
frocked official opened the door that hid
| the picture, there he was-Christ with
back bent and barred. The f1agellator
stood with the upper teeth clinched over
the lower lip, as though to give violence
| to the blows. There were the swollen
| shoulders of Christ. There were the
black and blue ridges, denied even the
relief of bleeding. There was the flesh
| There were the marks where the knots
| ix,$
stood the prosecutor with his foot or
the calf of the leg of the Saviour, bal
ancing himself. Of the furious and
hellish look on those faces grinning ven
geance against the Son Of God. The
| picture seized met overwhelmed me
it seemed as if it would kill me. ! dt
not think could have looked at it five
minutes and have lived.
But that, my friends, was before
Christ had started for Calvary. Tha
was only the whipping. Are you ready
for your journey to the CROSSE
The carpenters have split the timber
into two pieces. They are heavy ant
they are long pieces, for one OF then
must be fastened deep down in the eartl
lest the struggling of the victim upse
the structure. They put this timbe
upon the shoulder of Christ very gradu
ally; first, to see whether he can stand it
and after they find he can stand it, the,
put the whole weight upon him. Forwart
now, to Calvary. The hooting and tn
yelling mob follow on. Under the weigh
of the cross, Christ being weary and sick
he stumbles and falls, and they jerk a
his robe indignant that he should hav
stumbled and fallen, and they cry: '.Ge
up, get up!" Christ, putting one han,
on the ground and the other on the cross
rises, looking into the face of Mary, hi
mother, for sympathy, but they tell he
to stand back, it is no plack for woma
-''Stand back and stop this crying"
Christ moves on with his burden upo
his shoulders, and there is boy the
passes along with hin, boy holding
mallet and few nails. wonder wha
they are for. Christ moves on until tn
burden is so great he staggers and fall
fat into the dust and faints dead away
and ruffian puts his foot on him an
shakes him as he would dead dog. Will
another ruffian looks down at him won
dering whether he has tainted away, @
whether he is only pretending to fain
away, and with jeer and contempt mde
scribable says: "Fainted, have you
tainted! get up. get on!''
| Now they have arrived at the foot c
the hill. Off with his clothes. Sha
that loathsome mob look upon the ur
robed body Of Christi Yes. The CON
manding officers say: ''Unfasten th
girdle, take off the coat, strip him.
The work is done. But bring back tn
coat, for here are the gamblers tossin
up coin on the ground. saying; "Wh
shall have the coat2" One ruffian says
~ have it, ! have tit is MINER b
rolls it up and puts it under his arm, {
he examines it to see what fabric it
made Of Then they put the cross upo
the ground, and they stretch Christ upo
it, and four or five men hold him dow
| whila thav drive the sDikee home 8