The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1889-08-08

ground and the sufferer Is stretched upon It,
and the nails are pounded through nerve aud
muscle and bone, through tho right hand,
through the left hand, and then thoy shake
His right hand to see II It's fast aud they
heave up the wood, half a dozen shoulders
under the weight and they put the end Of
the cross In the mouth Of tho hole,
aud they plunge 10 in. nll the weight
OF His body coming down for the
first time on the spikes; and while
the dirt and trsmple itdown, and tramplo it
hard. Oh, plant that tree well and
thoroughly, for II is TO bear fruit such as no
other tree ever bore. Why did Christ
endure iti He could have takon those rocks
and with thom crushed His crucincrs He
couM have reached up and grasped tho
sword Of the omnipotent God, and with ono
clean cut have tumbled them into perdition.
But no; He was to die. He must die. His
life for your life. In a European city
young man died on tho scafrold
Tor. Tor The the crime Grim Of q murder, some
man was dying and the priest camo in. and
she made confession TO tho priest that she was
tho murderer and not her son; In a moment
OF anger she had struck her husband blow
that slew him. Tho son came suddenly into
the room, and wns washing away the wounds
and trying to resuscitate his father wnen
some one looked through the window and saw
him, and supposed him TO be tho criminal
That young man died for his own mother.
You say; ut was wonderful that
he never exposed herr but I
tell you Of grander thing. Christ,
the Son of God, died not for His mother nor
for His Father but for His sworn enemies.
Oh such Christ as that-so loving, so pa
tient 80 self-scrincfng-can you not trust
Himf / think there are many under the I'M
nucnce Of the Spirit Of God who arc saying:
81 will trust Him IL you will only tell mo
hOw.N nj mi inn ngLO ~
sands is: "HowS Howy' And while |
answer your question / look up aud
utter tho prayer which Rowland Hill
so oftcn uttered In tho midst of his
sermons: "Master, helpp How are you to
trust in Christi Just as you trust nny
one. You trust your partner in business,
with important things. If n commercial
house gives you note payable three months
hence, You expect the payment of that notc
at the end Of three months You have per-
feet confidence in their word and in their
ability. Or again, you go home expecting
there will be food on the table. You have
confidence in that. Now, ask you to have
tho same confidence in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He says: "You believe l take
away ,your sins, and they are all taken
any moret Before read my Bible any
more2 Before l cry over my sins any
moreY' Yes, this moment Believe with all
your heart and you are saved. Why Christ
is only waiting to get from you what you
give TO scores Of people every day; What
worthy than Christ, II they are
more faithful than Christ, II they
have done more than Christ ever did, then
give them the preference; but IL you really
think that Christ Is as trustworthy as they
are then deal with Him rs fairly. "Oh,"
says some one in light way: 81 believe that
Christ was born in Bethlehem. and believe
that lie died on the cross" Do you believe
u with your head or your hearth will illus
strato the difference You are In your own
house. In the morning you open n ncws-
! paper and you read how Capt. Bravehcart
| on the sea ristcd his life for tho salvation of
his passengers. You say, "What a grand
| fellow he must have been His family de-
| serve very well OF the country" You fold
tho newspaper and sit down at the table, and
! perhaps do not think of that incident again.
! That is historical faith.
But now you arc ON the sea, and IL Is night,
and you are asleep, and you are awakened 10y
the shriok OF "Firop You rush out on the
deck. You hear amid the wrlnging of tho
hands and the fainting, tho cry: mo hopel
no hopol We are lost we are lostr The sail
puts out its wings of fire, the ropes make n
burning ladder in the night heavens the
spirit OF wrecks hisscs in the wave, and cn tho
] hurricane deck shakes out its banner of smoke
1 and darkness. "Down with the lifcboats n
cries the captain. "Down with tho lifeboats ~
People rush into them. Tho boats arc about
| full. Room only for one more man. You are
standing on the deck beside the captain. Who
shall IL bes You or tho captain9 The cap
| tain? The captain says: "You." You j,imp
and are saved. He stands there and dies.
Now, You believe that Captain Bravoheart
sacrificed himself for his passengers. but you
believe it with love, with tears, with hot
and long continued exclamations, with
/ enf nN .,.I -
Gciivcrance. That is saving faith. In other
words, what you believe with all the heart,
and believe in regard to yourself. On this
hinge turns my sermon; ayo, the salvation
OF your immortal soul. You often go across
bridge you know nothing about. You do
not know who built that bridge, you do not
know what material it is made of; but you
come TO it and walk over it and ask no ques-
tions And here is an arched bridge blasted
from the "Rock of Age" And built by tho
| architect OF the whole universe, spanning tho
dark gulf between sin and righteousness, and
nll God asks you is to walk across il; and you
start, and you come to II, and you stop, and
you go little way on and you stop, and you
fall back, and you experiment You say;
"How do know that bridge will hold meg'
instead of marching on with firm step, ask
ing no questions, but feeling that tho
strength of the eternal God is under
you. oh, wns there ever a prize proffcred
30 cheap as pardon and heaven arc offered ~
your For how much? a million dollnrsi
II is certainly worth more than that But
cheaper than that you can have it, Ten
thousand dollars? Less than that. Five
thousand dollars? Less than that. One dol
lar? Less than that Ono farthingl Les
than that. Without money and with.
out out price, price" No money to pay
TO suior. Only just ono decisive
action of tho soul; "Belicve on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved u
Shall / try 70 tell you what it is %
be savedI 1 cannot tell you. No man, nc
angel can tell you. But / can hint nj
it, For my text bring me up to thi,
point. Thou shalt be saved" 1t means y
happy life here, and a peaceful death and
a blissful eternity. 1t is a grand thing
TO go to sleep at night and to get up in
the morning, and TO do business al
day feeling that all is right between my heart
ard God. No accident no sickness, no per-
secution, no peril, no sword can do me any
permanent damage. / am forgiven child
of God and Ho Is bound 10 see mo through
The mountains may depart, the earth may
burn, the light OF the stars may DO blown out
by the blast OF tho Judgment hurricane; but
lifo and death, things present and things tc
como are mine. Yea, further than
that-it means a peaceful death. Mrs. He
mans, Mrs. Sigourney, Dr. Young and al
most all the poets have said handsome things
about DEATH There is nothing beautiful