The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-06-08

every moment expecting the steamer to 20
down All the lights In the cabin were blown
out The captain zane crawling on his
hands and knees, for he could not stand up-
right, so violently was the vessel pitching,
and he criedi Light up, light upI' The
teward said: "We can't light up; the can
dies are gone and the holders are gone" The
captain said: ~ can't help that; light upr'
The storm was awful when the lights were
burning; worse when the Lights went out.
Then there was the absence Of faithful
nurses. When you are Ill, IL Is pleasant to
have the head bathed and the hands and feet
rubbed. Look at the hands and feet of
Christ, look at the face of Christ. There were
women there who had cared for the sick, but
none of them might come up near enough to
help. There was Christ's mother, but she
might not come up near enough to help.
They said; Stand back, stand back, this Is
no place for you The high priests and the
soldiers wanted it their own way; they had 10
their own way.
The hours pass on and It Is IL O'Clock of the
Saviour's suffering, and 1t Is 1 O'Clock, and Il
Is Q o'clock, and 1t is almost 8 o'clock. Take
the last look at that suffering face; wan and
| pinched, the purple lips drawn back against
the teeth, the eyes red with weeping and
sunken as through grief had pushed them
back, blackness under the lower lid, the whole
body adroop and shivering with the last chill.
the breath growing feebler and feebler and
feebler and Efeebler until he gives one long,
deep, last sigh. He Is deadi
Of my soul, he Is dead Can you tell whyf
Was he a fanatic dying for 4 principle that
did not amount to anythingf Was he a mar
infatuated No; to save your soul from sin,
and mine, and make eternal life possible he
died. There had to be a substitute for sin.
Who shall it BET "Let IT be me" said Christ,
'let it be me-" You understand the mean
ing Of that word substitution. You were
drafted for 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
with sin and death and hell, and he Is our
substitute. He marches our march, fights
our battle, suffers our wounds and dies our
death Substitution substitution
How do you feel in regard to that scene de-
scribed In the text, and in the region around
about the texti Are your sympathies
aroused7 Or are you SO dead In sin, and so
abandoned by reason Of your transgressions
that you can look upon all that fearless and
unmoveda No, no.; there are thousands Of
people here this morning who can say In the
depths of their soul: "No, no, no; IL Jesus
endured that, and all that for me, l ought to
love him. / must love him. I will love him,
do love him. Here, Lord, I give myself to
thee; it's all that l can do"
But how are you going to test your love,
and test your earnestness7 My text gives O
test. It says that while Christ carried q
cross for you, you must be willing to carry q
cross for Christ. "Well," you say, 81 never
could understand that. There are no crosses
to be carried in this land; those prosecutions
nav passed, and In all the land there Is no
one to be crucifed, and yet in the pulpit and
in the prayer meetings you all keep talking
about carrying a cross What do You mean.
sirF' Imean this: That this Is a cross which
Christ calls you to do, which Is unpleasant
and hard. "Or you say, latter hearing the
story of this Christ and all that he has en-
dured for me, | am ready to do anything
for him. Just tell me what I have to do and
VII do it. am ready to carry any cross"
Suppose should ask you at the close Of q
religious service to rise up, announcing your
self on the Lords side-could you do ito "OI
no" you say, II have a shrinking and O sem
sitive nature, and it would be impossible for
me to rise before q large assemblage, an
nouncing myself on the Lords side" Just
as | feared You cannot stand that cross
~AS NSS AN NANS - NLLSAO0 1Oos 1Ou lclCCU.
Christ carried a mountain, Christ carried a
Himalaya, Christ carried a world for you,
and you cannot lift an ounce for him.
But here Is q man whose cross will be to
announce among his business associates to
morrow morning IN exchange that he has
begun q new 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 b can
influence them, to begin with HIM the Chris
tian life Could you do that, my brotheri
"Oh, no" you say, mot just that. l think
religion Is religion and business Is business,
and it would be impossible for me to recon- |
mend the Christian religion In places Of
worldly business" Just as / feared There
Is a second cross offered you, and you can
not carry it Christ lifted q mountain for
you; you cannot lift an ounce for him
There is som one whose cross will be to
present religion in the home circle. Would
you dare to kneel down and pray, If your
brother and sister were looking at youi
Could you ask a blessing at the tea tablet
Could you take the Bible and gather your
family around you, and read of Christ and
heaven n your immortal soull Could you
then kneel and nay for a blessing on your
household2 "Ohp you say, mot exactly
h1ss SSuAAAt oAO oN Shoo, OSSASuo 4 uaNO
a very quick temper, and If I professed re-
ligion and tried to talk religion In my house
hold, and then after that / should lose my
temper, they would scott at me and say,
You are a pretty Christianp" 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 a |
mountain, lifted a world for you; you cannot
lift an ounce for him. / see how It 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 q positive step on
this subject, you cannot-you cannot; and
my text, like a gate Of a hundred bolts, bars
you away from peace on earth and glory In
heaven.
There are hundreds Of men and women here
brave enough In other things in life who SIM
ply, for the lack of manliness n womanlt-
ness. stay away from God. They dare not
say. "Forever and forever, Lord Jesus, I
take thee. Thou hast redeemed ne by thy
blood, here Is my immortal spirit. Listen,
all my friends Listen, all the world" They
are lurking round about this kingdom OF
God-they are lurking around about Il, ex-
pecting to crawl In some time when nobody
is looking, forgetful Of the tremendous words
Of my text; "Whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my dis
ciple."
An officer of a n~eighboring church told me
that he was In a store In New York-just
happened in-where there were many clerks,
and a gentleman came in and said to o young
man standing behind the counter; "Are you
the young man that arose the other night In
the Brooklyn Tabernacle and asked for pray
ersg' Without any flush Of cheek he replied;
81 am. haven't always done right, and ]
have been quite bad; but since ] arose for
prayers l think | am better than ! was" 10
was only his way of announcing that he had
started for the higher life. God viii not cast
out O man who Is brave enough to take astep
ahead like that
/ tell you these things this morning be-
cause, my dear friends, I want to show you
how light the cross Is that we nave to carry
compared with that which Christ carried for
us. You have not had the flesh torn OFF for
Christ's 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 car
mage that FLASHED the horses fetlocks You
have friends to sympathize with you In
carrying the cross: Christ trod the wine
press of Gods wrath alone, alonei The cross
that you and I ought to carry represents
only a few days or a few years Of trial The
cross that Christ carried for US had com
pressed into it the agonies of eternity.
There has some one come here today whom
you have not observed. He did not come
through the front door; he did not come
down any Of these aisles; yet I know he Is