Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-08-10

w Olh w dAh1s 40 -
children to come INTO me-, was not
spoken to the children; it was spoken to
the disciples. The children came readily
enough without any invitation. No
ooner did Jesus appear than the little
ones Jumped from their mothers arms,
n avalanche of beauty and love, into his
Ian. Chris did not ask John to put his
head down On his boscm; John could not
help but put his head there. | suppose
to look at Christ was TO love AIM. Oh,
how attractive his manner. Why, when
they saw Christ coming along the street
they ran into their houses, and they
wrapped up their invalids as quick as
they could, and brought them out that
he might look at them. There was
something so pleasant, so inviting. SO
cheering in everything he did, in his very
look. When these sick ones were
brought out, did he say "Do not brin {
me these sores; do not trouble me with
these leprosies2' No, no; there was a
kind look, there was a gentle word, there
vas a healing touch. They could not
keep away from him.
In addition to this softness Of caar-
acter, there was a fiery momentum. How
the kings of the earth turned pale. Here
is a plain man with a few sailors at his
back, coming off the sea Of G8lilee, going
up to the palace of the CAESARS, making
that place quake to the foundations, and
u~tteIing a word Of mercy and kindness
which throbs through all the earth, ,and
through all the heavens, n through all
ages. Oh, he was a loving Christ. But
il was not etfeminacy or insipldlty or
character; it was accompanied with
majesty, infinite and olnnipotent. Lest
the world should not realize his earnest
ness. this Christ mounts the Gloss.
You say: "If Christ has to die, why
not let Him take some deadly potion and
lie on a couch in come bright and beautl-
full home? If He must die, let Him ex-
pire amid all kindly intentions. NO,
the word must hear the hammers on he
heads of the spikes. The world must
listen TO the death rattle of the sufferer.
The world must feel His warm blood
dropping on each cheek, while it looks
up into the face of His anguish. And SO
the cross must be lifted and a hole is dug
on the top of Calvary. 1t must be dug
three feet deep, and then the cross is laid
on the ground, and the sufferer is
stretched upon it, and the nails are
pounded through nerve and muscle and
bone, through the right hand, through
the left hand, and then they shake his
right hacd to see if it is fast, and they
heave up the wood, half a dozen shoulde
under the weight, and they put the
end Of the cross in the mouth OF the
hole, and they plunge it in, all the weight
of his body coming down for the first
time on the spikes; and while some hold
the cross upright others throw In the
dirt and 'rample il down, and trample 1t
hard. Oh, plant that tree well and thor
Oughly, for il is to bear fruit such as no
other tree ever bore. Why did Christ
endure it? He could have taken those
rocks and with them crushed his cruel
tiers. He could have reached up and
grasped the sword Of the omnipotent
God, ana with one clean cut have tum
bled them into perdition. But no; he
was 10 die. He must die. His life for
your life. In a European city a young
man died on the scaifold for the crime Of
murder. Sometime after the mother OF
this young man was dying, and the
priest came in, and she made confession
10 the priest that che was the murderer
and not her son; in a moment of anger
she bad struck her husband IA blow tina
slew him. The son came suddenly into
the room. and was washing away the
wounds and trying TO resuscitate hlt
father, when some one looked through
the window and saw him, and supposed
him to be the criminal. That young
man died for his own mother. You say
1T was wonderful that he never exposed
her" But | tell you OF a graDder thing
Christ, the Son of God. died not for his
mother, nor for his father, but for his
sworn enemies. Oh, such a Christ al
that-so loving, SO patient, so self sacri
~hcing-can you not trust him? | think
there are many under the influence of TIT
spirit Of God who are saying: Il vii
trust him if you will only tell me how;
and the great question asked by thou
sands is: How? howf" And Will,
| answer your question | look up an
utter the prayer which Roland Hill
so often uttered in the midst o
his sermons Master, help! How ar
> you to trust in Christi Just as you
trust any one. You trust your partner il
business with important things. If
commercial house gives you a note pay
able three months hence, you expect tn
, payment Of that note at the end Of thre
, months. You have perfect confidence il
their word and in their ability. Or again
, you go home expecting there will be foo
: on the table. You have confidence i
y that. New, / ask you to have the sam
confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. II
! says: you believe l take away you
, sins, and they are all taken away.
What" you say, before | pray an,
: more2 Before l read my Bible an
more2 Before I cry over my sins an
!, more?" Yes, this moment. Believ
: with all your heart and you are saved
Why, Christ is only waiting to get fror
:. you what you give 10 scores Of peopl
! every day. What is that? Confidence
II these people whom you trust day b
day are more worthy than Christ, if the
. are more faithful than Christ, if the
have done more than Christ ever die
I then give them the preference; but if 20
really think that Christ is as trustworth
{ as they are, then deal with him
0 fairly. "Oh," says some one in o ligl
s way, 81 believe that Christ was born
{ Bethlehem, and | believe that he died O
r the CROSS" Do you believe it with yol
head or your hearth will illustrate ii
/ difference. You are in your own hous
} In the morning you open a newspap'
and read how Captain Braveheart on IL
sea risked his life for the salvation of h
passengers. You say, what a gran
q fellow he must have beenl His fami.