The Russellville Democrat., 1888-06-14

| for he could not stand upright, so violently
 was the vessel pitching, aud he cried out: sLight up light uplD The steward said:
 ''We can't light mp; the candles are gone, and the holders are gone" The i captain said:
 q can't help that; light upi" 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 i'll it is pleasant to l have the head bathed and the hands and 1 feet rubbed. Look at the hands and feet l of Christ-look at the face of Christ. l 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 backl stand backl This is no | place for you"
 The high priests and the soldiers wanted 1t their own way; they had it their l own way.
 | The hours pass on and it is twelve l o'clock of the saviour's suffering, and it is l one o'clock, and it is two o'clock, and it is 1 almost three o'clock. Take the last look
 at that suffering face, wan and pinched,
 the purple lips drawn back against the 1 teeth, the eyes red with weeping and
 sunken as though grief had pushed them l back, blackness under the lower lid, the | whole body adroop and shivering with the last chill, the breath growing feebler 1 and feebler and feebler and feebler until He gives one long, deep, last sigh. He ts l dead.
 Ol my soul, He is dead. Can you tell l whyi Was He fanatic dying for prinoi- | pie that did not amount to any thtngf 1 Was He man infatuated? No; to save | your soul from sin, and mine, and make | eternal life possible, He died. There had
 to be substitute for sin. Who shall it l beg Let it be me-" said Christ, "let it be me-" You understand the meaning of that word substitution. You were drafted 1 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 | described in the text, and in the region
 around about the text? Are your sympa- thies aroused, or are you so dead in sin
 and so abandoned by reason of your | transgressions that you can look upon all that fearless and unmoved? No, no; l there arc thousands of people here this
 morning who can say in the depths of 1 their souls:
 ''No, no, no; if Jesus endured that, and all that for me, I ought to love Him. must love Him, will love Him, do love
 Him. Here, Lord, give myself to Thee; | 'tis all that I can do."
 But how are you going to test your love and test your earnestness? My text gives ! a test. It says that while Christ carried a cross for you, you must be willing to car 1 " cross for Christ.
 "Well," you say, II never could under stand that. There are no crosses to be | carried in this land; those prosecutions | have passed, and in all the land there Is
 no one to be crucified, and yet in the pull | pit and in the prayer meetings you all keep talking about carrying a cross. | What do you mean, sir?"
 I mean this: that is q cross which Christ
 calls you to do, which is unpleasant and | hard.
 "Ohl" you say, "after hearing the story | of this Christ and all that He has endured | for me, 1 am ready to do any thing for | Him. Just tell me what have 10 do and | l I y Suppose l should ask you at the close l of religious service to rise up announce | ing yourself on the Lords side-could you | do it?
 "Oi mo-" you say, "I have shrinking | and sensitive nature, and it would be inn | possible for me to rise before a large | assemblage, announcing myself on the Lords side"
 Just as l feared. You can not stand that cross. The first one that Is offered l you, you reject. Christ carried mount l ain, Christ carried a Himalsya, Christ | carried a world for you, and you can not | lift an ounce for Him.
 But here is man whose oross will be to | announce among his business associates | tomorrow morning on Exchange that he | has begun new fife; 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 he can influence them, to begin | with him the Christian life. Could you do | that, my brother?
 "Ol mo-" you say, mot just that. | think religion is religion, and business is | business, and it would be impossible for
 me to recommend 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 mountain for you; you can not | lift an ounce for Him.
 There is some one whose cross will be l to present religion in the home circle. | Would you dare to kneel down and pray, ! if your brother and sister were looking at l youl Could you ask a blessing at the | table? Could you take the Bible and | far nH of Christ and Heaven and your immortal l soulS Could you then kneel and pray for l 0 blessing on your household. "OW you say, mot exactly that couldn't quite do that, because I have a very quick temper, and if l professed l religion and tried to talk religion in my | household, and then after that I should lose my temper, they would scoff at me
 and say: You are pretty Christian P
 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
 & world for you; you eau not lift an ounce
 for Him. l see how it is; you want to be
 favorable to religion, you want to support Christian institutions, you like to be as sociated with those who love Jesus Christ;
 but as to taking positive step on this subject, you can not-you can not, and
 my text, like 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 simply for the lack of manliness and
 womanliness stay away from God. They
 dare not say:
 "Forever and forever, Lord Jesus. 1
 take Thee. Thou hast redeemed me by
 Thy blood, here is my immortal spirit.
 Listen, all my friends. Listen, all the
 world"
 They are all lurking about the Kingdom
 of God-they are all lurking around about
 it, expecting to crawl in some time when
 nobody is looking, forgetful of the tre-
 mendous words of my text:
 Whosoeyer doth not bear his cross and
 come after me, can not be my disciple
 An officer of a neighboring church told