The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-06-20
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: 1.-THE Assassination"

TEXT: A" Whosoeuer doth not bear hi.
cross, and come after Ale, cannot De Ms
Disciple Luke xiv, 81.
The cross was gibbet on which criminals
were put to death. 1t was sometimes made
In the shape Of the letter T, sometimes in the
shape Of the letter <, sometimes in the shape
OF the letter Ia simple upright sometimes
two cross pieces against the perpendicular
bar, so that upon the lower cross piece the
criminal partially sat But whatever the
style of the cross, it was always disgraceful
and always agonizing.
When Darius conquered Babylon he put
200 captives to death on the cross When
Alexander conquered Tyre, he put 1000 cap
tives to death on the cross. SO it was just
an ordinary mode OF punishment. But In
ali the forest of crosses on the hills and in
the valleys Of the earth, there is one cross
that attracts more attention than any other.
It is not higher than the others, it is not
made out Of different wood, there is nothing
are Joined, and as to the scene, they witnessed
crucifxions every few weeks; so that see
O reckless man walking about the hill and
kicking careleSsly aside skull, and wonder
ing who the villain was that had SO fiat and
misshapen q head; and here is another skull,
and there on the hillside is another skull. In
deed, the Bible says it was "a place of skulls. !"
all ages are crying: "Who is he2 was he a
man? was he God' was he man and Godp'
Through the darkness Of that gloomy day
come up close enough to the cross to see
who it is 1t is Jesus. How did he come
theres Had he come up on the top of the hill
to look of upon the beautiful landscape or
upon brilliant sunsets No. He came there
Ill and exhausted. People sometimes wonder
why Christ expired SO quickly on the cross,
fv, cS-r xxyh, Victims
have been on the cross for forty eight hours
before life was extinct. I will tell you the
reason. BE was exhausted when he came
there he had been scourged. We are hor-
rified at the cruelties Of the whipping post,
but those cruelties were mercy compared
with the scourging of Jesus Christ.
I saw at Antwerp picture made by Rubens
-Rubens's picture of the scourging Of Jesus
Christ. It was the most overmastering pict-
{ure ever looked at, 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 fagellator
stood with the upper teeth clenched over the
lower hip, 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 adhering to the whips as they
were lifted. There were the marks where the
knots in the whips gouged out the flesh. There
stood the prosecutor, with his foot on the calf
of the leg Of the Saviour, balancing himself.
O! the furious and hellish look on those faces,
grinning vengeance against the Son Of God.
The picture seized me, it overwhelmed me;
1t seemed as if it would kill me. l do not
think I could have looked at it five minutes
and have lived. .--.
But that, my friends, was before Christ had
started for Calvary. That was only the
Won raedv for v0ur iOl1rn6v
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 structure. They put
this timber upon the shoulder Of Christ very
gradually first, to see whether he can stand
Il, and after they find he can stand it they
put the whole weight npon HIM. Forward
now, to Calvary! The hooting and the yell
ing mob follow on. Under the weight Of the
cross, Christ being weary and sick, he stun
.bles and falls, and they jerk at his robe, in
dignant that he should have stumbled and
fallen, and they cry: "Get up, get upI'
Christ, putting one hand on the ground and
the other hand on the cross, rises, looking
into the face of Mary, his mother, for SYM
pathy; but they tell her to stand back, it is
no place for woman. "Stand back and
Christ moves ON with His burden upon His
shoulders, and there is a boy that passes
along with Him, boy holding mallet and
q few nails / wonder what they are fora
Christ moves on until the burden is so great
He staggers and falls fiat into the dust and
faints dead away, and ruffian puts his foot
Son him and shakes him as he would dead
dog, while another ruffian looks down at him
wondering whether he has tainted away, or
whether he is only pretending to faint away,
and with jeer and contempt indescribable,
says: Tainted, have youl Tainted! Get
upl get onl'
Now they have arrived at the foot Of the
hill. Off with his clothes! Shall that loath.
some mob look upon the unrobed body OF
Christi Yes The commanding officers say:
SaUnfasten the girdle, take off the coat; strip
himl" The work is done. But bring back
the coat, for here are the gamblers tossing
have it; it is mine!" He rolls it up and puts
it under his arm, or he examines it to see
what fabric it is made Of. Then they put
the cross upon the ground and they stretch
Christ upon it, and four or five men hold
him down while they drive the spikes home.
At every thump groan-a groan. Alas!
alasl The hour passes on and the time
comes when they must cruelty him.
Christ has only one garment left now, q
cap, cap Of thorns No danger that it will
fall off, for the sharp edges have punctured
the temples and it is sure and fast. One ruff
fan takes ho.d Of one end of the short beam
OF the cross, and another ruffian takes hold
of the other end of the short beam Of the
cross, and another ruffian puts his arms
around the waist Of Christ, and another ruff
fan takes hold Of the end Of the long beam
. until they come to the hoe digged in the
: earth, and with awful plunge it jars down
with its burden Of woe. 1t is not the picture
of Christ, it is not the statue of Christ as
you sometimes see in cathedral; but IL Is
the body Of bleeding, living, dying Christ.
They sometimes say he had five wounds,
but they have counted wrong: Two wounds
wound for the side, they say; five wounds.
No; they have missed the worst and they
have missed the most Did you ever see the
bramble out of which that crown of thorns
1sas made3 l saw one on Brooklyn ferry
boat, in the hands of q gentleman who had
Just returned from Palestine; a bramble just
like that out Of which the crown Of thorns
was made. o, how cruel and how stubborn
were the thornsl And when that cap oi
thorns was put upon Christ, and it wa:
pressed down upon him, not five wounds, bu1
ten, twenty, thirty-I cannot count them.
There were three or four absences tina,
made that scene worse. First, there was tht
absence of water. The climate was hot; the
fever, the inflammation, the nervous pros
tration, the gangrene had seized upoI
him, and he terribly wanted water
His wounds were worse than gunsho
fractures, and yet no water. A Turk in the
Thirteenth century was crucifled on the bank
of a river so that the sight Of the waite
might tantalize him. And OF how th
:. thirst Of Christ must have tantalized as 81
thought OF the Eupnrates and Ine Jordan ane
the Amazon and all the fountains Of eartt
and heaven poured out of His own hand
They offered Him an intoxicating draugh
made out Of wine and myrrh, but He declined