Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-08-08

lnunlIe anu Om0lpOtent' bSSI INC wi ~
should not realize His earnestness. thi
Christ mounts the cross.
You say: If Christ has TO die, VIII!
not let Him take some deadly potion an
lie on a couch in some bright and beauti
fu home: II He must die let Him expir
amid all kindly Intentions" No. tn
world must hear the hammers on the head
of the spikes. The world must listen L
the death rattle Of the sufferer. Tn
world must feel His warm blood drop
! ping on each cheek. while it looks up int
! the face of His anguish. And so tn
/ cross must BE- lifted and a hole is dug OF
the top Of Calvary. L must be dug inre'
! feet deep, and then the cross is laid on th'
! ground. and the sufferer is stretched upoI
/ it, and the nails are pounded through
nerve and muscle and bone through The
| rig hani, through the left hand, and
then tn Y shake His right hand TO see if II
is fast, and they heave up the wood, hall
a dozen shoulders under the weight, and
they put the end of :hs 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 upward others throw in the
dirt and trample it down, and trample it
hard. o. plant that tree well and thor
oughly, for it is to bear fruit such as no
other tree ever bore. Why did Christ
endure il: He could have taken those
rocks aud with them crushed His cruci-
fiers. He could have reached up and
grasped the sword OF the omnipotent God,
and with one clean cut have tumbled them
into perdition. But no; He was to die
His life for your life.
In a European city young man died on
the scaffold for the crime of murder.
Some time after the mother of this young
man was dying, and the priest came in,
and she made confession to the priest that
she was the murderer and not her son; in
a moment of anger she had struck her
husband blow that slew him. The son
came suddenly into the room, and was
washing away the wounds and trying to
resuscitate his 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: "It was wonderful that he
never exposed her." But 1 tell you of a
grander thing. Christ. the Son of God,
died not for His mother, nor for His
father, but for His sworn enemies o,
such Christ as that-so loving, so pa
tient so self -sacrifcing-can you not
trust him? l think there are many under
the influence of the Spirit of God who are
saying: II will trust Him if you will
only tell me how" and the great question
asked by thousands is: "How: how?"
And while l answer your question look
up and utter the prayer which Rowland
Hill so often uttered in the midst
Of his sermons: master help :"
How are you to trust in Christ? Just as
you trust any one. You trust your part
ner in business with important things. If
a commercial house gives you a note pay
able three months hence you expect the
payment of that note at the end of three
months. You have perfect confidence in
their word and their ability. Or again,
you 60 home expecting there will be food
IN the table. You have confidence in that
Now l ask you to have the same conf
ience in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says:
you believe take away your sins and
hey are all taken away" "Whatw you
say, before l pray any more? Before
'ead my Bible any more? Before l cry
'ver my sins any more" Yes, this mo-
nent. Believe with ali your heart and
you are saved. Why, Christ is only wait
ng to get from you what you give to |
cores of people every day. What is that? |
Confidence. If these people whom you |
rust day by day are more worthy than |
christ if they are more faithful than |
christ If they have done more than Christ |
ver did, then give them the preferences; |
Dut if you really think that Christ is as |
trustworthy as they are then deal with |
Him as fairly.
Co." says some one in light way, 81 |
elieve that Christ was born in Bethle- |
em, and believe that He died on the |
ross" Do you believe it with your
cad or your heart? l will illustrats the |
ifference. You are in your own house
q the morning you open a newspaper
nd you read how Captain Braveheart on
he sea risked his life for the salvation of
is passengers. You say: What grand
elbow he must have been! His family de-
erve very well of the country" You
old the newspaper and sit down at the
able and perhaps do not think of that
Incident again. That is historical faith.
tut now you ara on the sea. and it is
light, and you are asleep. and YOU are
wakened by the shrek of Fire" You
ush out on deck. You hear amid the
ringing of hands and the fainting
be cry: No hop! We are lostl
We are lost" The sail puts out
ut its wings of fire, the ropes
lake a burning ladder in the night
eavens, the spirit of wrecks Kisses in the
ave, and on the hurricane deck shakes
ut its banner of smoke and darkness.
Down with the lfsboatsw ~ cries the cap
II wifi ho I,fo
lie rush into them. The boats are about
lli-room only for one more man. You
re standing on the deck beside the cap
ain. Who shall it be! You or the cap
ain: The captain says, you" You
lmp and are saved. He stands there and
les. Now, you believe that Captain
raveheart sacrificed himself for his pas
engers, but you believe it with love, with
ears, with hot and long continued ex-
amationS, with grief at his loss and joy
your dellVerance. That is saving faith.
4 other words. what you believe with all
lie heart and believe in regard to your
ef. On this hinge turns my sermon;
ye, the salvation of your immortal soul. Z
ou often go across a bridge you
now nothing about You do not know
no built the bridge; you do not know
hat material it is made of, but you come
1t and walk over it and ask no ques-
ons And here is an arched bridge
lasted from the Rock of Ages" and
lilt by the architect of the whole uni
erse, spanning the dark gulf between sin
nd righteousness, and all God asks YOU {
to walk across it; and you start, and {
ou come to it, and you stop, and you go .
little way on aid you stop, and fail back =.
nd you experiment You say: "How do
know that bridge will hold me!" instead {
marching on with firm step asking no I
lestions, but feeling that the strength of I
le eternal God is under you. 7
Oh, was there ever prize proffsred so