Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-06-16

tabernacle sang sunday morning,
PA sing the precious blood lie split,
Ny ransom from the dreadful guilt
This is Sacramento day, and a lar"c
number Of persons joined the church,
making the commitment membership
4,194. But this is only q part of the
great attendance that Sunday mornings
aud evenings overflow the immense audi
euce room. The Rev. 7. Dewitt Tai
mage, j. d., took for his text the pas
sage: whatsoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after Me, cannot be Ny
discjplc.' Luke, ell. II, ". %.
He preached the following sermon:
Tho cross was a glbbct ON which Grim
inal2 were put to death. 1t was some
time, made in the shape Of the letter 7,
soInctiu = in the shape of the letter y,
somct..,s in the shape Of the letter i
a simple upright; sometimes two cross
pieces against thc perpendicular bar, so
that upon the lower cross piece The Grim
inal partially sat. But whatever the style
Of cross, il was always disgraccful and
always agoni2ing.
When Darius conquered Babylon, he
put 200 captivcs TO death on the cross.
When Alexander conquered Tyre, he put
1000 Captives To death on the cross. SO
it was Just an ordinary mode Of punish
Ulent. Bat in all the forest Of crosses on
the hills and in the valleys Of the earth,
there is one cross that attracts more at
tcntion than any other. 4 is not higher
than the others, it is not made out Of diff
Terent wood. there is nothing peculiar in
the notch at which the We places are
TONED. and as 10 the scene, they Wit
messed crucid1ions every few weeks, 50
that I see a reckless man walking about
the hiN and kicking c0relessiy aside a
skull. and wondering who the villain was
that had 50 hat and misshapcn "A head
AMI here is another skull, and there On
the hillside is another skull. Indeed. tie
Bible says it was "a place OF skulls. y
But about the victim on of these
crosses all ares are crying: Nv ho IS he
Was he a MANI Was he q God; Was
he man and GodY'
Through the darkness Of that gloomy
day, | come close up enough 10 the cross
10 sec who il is. It is Jesus. How did
He come there? Had He come up ON the
top OF the hill to look oft upon the beau
tiful landscape, q upon u brilliant sun
set? No. He came there Ill and eX-
hauStcd. People sometimes wonder why
Christ expired 20 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 ,hc scourging OF
Jesus Christ.
saw at Antwerp a picture made by
Rubens-Rubens' picture of the Scourg-
ing Of Jesus Christ. II was the most
ovcrmastering picture | 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 beat and barred. The fiagellator
stood with the upper teeth clcnched 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 adj
herring 10 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
Savior. balancing himself. oh! the
furious and helIish look on those faces,
rrinning vengeance against the Son OF
God. The picture seized me. it over.
whelmed me; it seemed as If II would
kill me. | do not think | could have
looked at it five minutes and have lived.
But thai. my friends. was before Christ
had started for Calvary. That was only
the whipping. Are you ready Tor your
Journey to the cross?
The carpenters have split the timber
into two pieces, for one OF them must be
fastened deep down in the earth lest the
struggling of the victim upset the struc-
turc. They put this timber upon the
shoulder of Christ and very gradually
first, to sec whether he can stand 1t, and
after they find he can stand it, they put
the whole weight upon him. Forward
now. TO Calvary. The hOoting and yell
ing 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
stumbled and fallen, and they cry; Get
up, get upr' Christ, putting one hand
on the ground and the other hand ON the
cross, rises, looking INTO the face OF Mary,
his mother, for sympathy; but they tel
her stand back, it is M place for a Wo
man-"Stapd back and stop this crying.
Christ moves on with His burden upon
His shoulders, and there is a boy that
passes along with Him, a boy holding q
mallet and a few nails. wonder what
they are for. Christ moves on until TIE
burden ia so great He staggcrs and falls
fiat into the dust and faints dead away,
and n runian puts his foot on Him and
shakes Him as he would Il dead dog, whilC
another ruflian looks down at Him won
dering whether He has tainted away. OF
whether He is only pretending to FAINT
away, and with ieer and contempt indie
scribahle SAYS. Painted, haveyOuY FAINT
ed! get up, get on
Now. they have arrived at the foot OF
the hill. or with His clothes. SHAH
that loathsomc mob look upon The UNI
robed body of Christ? Yes, The com
handing officers say; "Cnfasien thc
girdle, take Off the coat. strip Him.
The work is done. But bring PACK me