West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-06-14
ON THE CROSS.
THE SCENE AT CALVARY.
DIR. Talmagc Draws n Lesson From
the Cruciflxion of Christ.

Disciple. Luke xiv, "a.
Tho cross was gibbet on which criminals
were put TO death. IL was sometimes made
IN the shape of the letter Il, sometimes in the
snnpe OF the letter X, sometimes i'm tho shape
OF the letter la simple upright: sometimes
Two cross pieces against the perpendicular
par, so hat upon tho lower cross piece tho
criminal partially sat But whatever the
and always agonzing.
Nv hen Darius conquered Babylon he put
2OO captives TO death ON the cross When
Alexander conquered Tyre, he put 1000 cap
tiveS 70 death on the cross So IL was Just
an ordinary mode OF punishment. But in
NIL the forest OF crosses ON the hills and in
the valleys OF the earth, there j. one cross
InaI attracts moro attention than any Other.
It is not higher than tho others, Il 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 witnessed
.ruSl ni.Il every few weeks; so that ! see
a reckless man walking about the hill and
kicking carelessly aside a skull, and wonder
ing who the villain was that had so fiat and
miSshapen head and here is another skull
ana there ON the hillside is another skull In
deed, the Bible says il was "a place of skulls "
but about the victim on one of these crosses
all ages are crying: "Who is hel was he a
mani was no Godl was he man and Godpi
Through the darkness OF that gloomy day
come up close enough to the cross TO SEES
who IT Is. 1t is Jesus How did he come
therel Had he come up on the top OF the hill
TO look of upon tho beautiful landscape or
upon brilliant sunseti No. He came there
III and exhausted. People sometimes wonder
why Christ expired so quickly on tho cross
IN SIX or seven hours, while other victims
nave been on the cross for forty eight hours
before life was extinct. / will beli Won the
reason he was exhausted when he came
there He had been scourged. We are hor-
rlned at the cruelties OF the whipping post.
Duy .. tnose crueities were mercy compared
with the scourging Of Jesus Christ
saw at Antwerp picture made by Rubens
c1hncenss picture OF the scourging of Jesus
Christ lt was the most overmnstering pict-
ure ever looked at or ever expect to see.
AS the long frocked official opened tho door
that hid the picture. there he was Christ
with back bent and barred. The fiagellator
stood with the upper teeth clenched over the
lower mp, as though to give violence to the
Dlows 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 nIted. Ihere 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
VI the furious and hellish look on those faces
Krlnning vengeance against the Son of God.
me picture seized me, it overwhelmed me;
lt seemed as II it would kill me- 1 do not
tnnk could have looked at il five minutes
and have lived.
But that, my friends, was before Christ had
started for Calvary. That was only the
TO the crossa
The carpenters have split the timber into
Two pieces. They are heavy and they are
long pieces, for one of then must be fastened
oeep down In the earth, lest the struggling of
the victim upset the structure They nut
TINS timber upon the shoulder of Christ very
Kradu2ily iirst to see whether he can stand
~, and after they find he can stand it they
put the whole weight npon ham. Forward
now, to Calvary The hooting and the veil
ing mon 20, follow on. Under the weight of tho
Cos, christ being weary aid sick he STAN.
pies and falls, and they jerk at his robe il,-
dlgnant that he should have stumbled and
fallen, and they cry: "Get up get uplp
Shrist, putting one hand on the ground aud
! tne other hand on the cross, rises, looking
INTO the face Of Mary, his mother. for sym,
patty; but they tell her to stand back, IL is
no place for a woman. 'Stand back and
stop this cryingn
Christ moves ON with His burden upon His
shoulders, and there is n boy that passes
along with Him, boy holding n mallst and
Few nails. / wonder what they are for5
Christ moves on until the burden is so great
ne staggers and falls fiat into the dust and
Iaints dead away, and ruffian puts his foot
on him and shakes him as he would a 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 leer and contempt indescribabie
up! get onl'
Now they have arrived at the foot of the
h
some mob look upon the unrobed holy of
Onrlsts Yes. The commanding officers say:
Unfasten the girdle, take off the coat: strip
hlmF The work is done But bring back
tne coat, Tor here are the gamblers tossing
up coin on the ground saving: 81 have IN 4
have it; it is MINER He rolls il mn and nnts
t under his arm, or he examines IL to see
what fabric IL IS made Of Then they mt
t tn.ie cross upon the ground and they stretch
Christ upon it, and four or five men hold
down firiv ffe
AZ every thump groan--a groan. Alas
alasl The hour passes on and the time
comes when they must cruelty him.
-. SnIlst mas only one garment left now,
cap, cap OF thOrna No danger that IL will
fall OFT, for the shsrp-edges have punctured
the temples and IL is sure and fast One ruf-
nan takes ho.d OF one end of the short beam
OF the cross. and another ruhian takes hold
OF the other end Of the short beam of the
cross, and another rufTian puts his ar.rns
around the waist Of Christ. and another mi
nan takes hold Of the end Of the long beam
OF the cross, and altogether they move on
until they come 70 the hoe diggcd i'm tho
s ..,l,l ana with awful plunge it jars down
Win ITS burden OF woe. IL is not the picture
OF Christ, 1t Is not the statue Of Christ as
you sometimes see in cathedral: but ID Is
bhe cody Of bleeding, living. dying Christ
h.. ttJ, s9inet'ines say he had i've wounds,
Dut tney have counted wrong. Two wounds
Tor the hands, two wounds for the feet one
wound for the side. they say. five wounds
NO. they nave mis3o1 the worst and they
nave missed the most. Did you ever ses. the
DrhfuDie Out 81 which that crown OF thorns
was medef saw one on a BROOKLYN ferry.
boat in the hands Of gentleman who ma
just eturncd from Palestine. "a braubla inst
Ike that out Of which the crown OF fh6rne
was made. q, how cruel and how stubborn
were the thOrns And when that can al
thorns was put upon Christ aud IL was
pressed down upon him, not FIVE wounds but
ten, twenty, thirty cannot count them
There were three or four absences TINT
made that scene worse. First there was tho
absence OF water. The climate was hot. The
FEVER the Inflammation, thu nervous pro--
trat on, tho RanRrene had seized up0n
nlmy ana he terribly wanteI water
hls wounds we're worse than guu.lot
fractures, ana vet no water. IIr< iu the
lhiFtoenth century Yves crucifed on Emo hluk-
OF a river. 80 that the sight n tho vgnfaf
might tantalize him. And OF how TO
thirsi Of Christ must have taut1i1eI ae 80
thought u The Euphrate8 and the Jordan and
nc Amazon and all tho fountains of earth
80 heaven poured out Of His own hand
Ahey offered Him an intoxicating drauvhf
mace out OF wine and myrrh but he declined
IT, re wanted ~ die SOBER no vafor
nen, my friends there was the absence az
HGnt. Darkness always eEasuerafoa troubie
never shall forget the night fn tho summer
oi 1870 IN the steamer Greece mid Atlantic
every moment expecting the steamer 70 70
90Wn al the lights in the cabin were
piOwn out The Captain came craSfiiuV On
ne hands and knees Tor he could not stand
HHaN. .".H