Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-07-29

for Christ to tell the children to come TO
Him. "SufTer little children to come
unto Me- was not spoken to the chill
dren; it was spoken to the disciples The
! children came readily enough without
any invitation. No sooner did Jesus
| appear than the little ones jumped
from their mothers arms, an
avalanche of beauty and love,
i,into His lap. Christ did not ask
! John to put his head down on His bosom:
| John could not help but put his head
there. l suppose 20 look at Christ was to
love Him. Oh, now attractive His man
| neT! Why, when they saw Christ COM
ing along the street they ran into their
houses and they wrapped up their in
vaids as quick as they could and brought
them ont that He might look at them.
There was something so pleasant, so in
vlting, so cheering in everything He did,
in His very look When these sick ones
were brought ont did He say: ''Do not
/ bring Ne these sores; do not trouble Ne
with these leDrosies? No, no; there
was a kind look, there was u gentle
word, there was healing touch. They
could not keep away from Him.
In addition TO this softness Of character
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 Gallilea, GO
ing up to the palace OF the Caesars, max
ing that palace quake to the foundations,
and utteTing a word Of mercy and kind
ness which throbs through all
the earth, and through all the
heavens, and through all ages.
Oh, He was a loving Christ! But
it was not effeminacy or inSipidity OF
character: it was accompanied with maj
estY, infinite and omnipotent Lest the
world should not realize His earnestness,
this Christ mounts the cross.
THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
You say: off Christ has TO die. why
not let Him take some deadly potion and
lie on a couch in some bright and beauti-
ful home? If He must die, let Him ex-
pire amid all kindly intentions. - No,
the world must hear the hammers OIL the
heads of the spikes. The world must lis
ten 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 hole is
dug Cnthe 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 1t, and the nails are
pounded through nerve and muscle and
bone, through the. right hand, through
the-iefs hand; and then they shake His
left hand to. see if it is fast, and they
heave mp the wood, half dozen
shoulders 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
Dh Of in
the dirt and trample it down, and
trample it hard. Oh, plant that tree
W ell and thoroughly, for it is to bear
fruit such as no other tree ever bore.
Why did Christ endure it? lie
could have taken those rocks. and with
them crushed His crucfiers. He could
have reached M and grasped the
sword of the omnipotent God, and with
one clean cut have tumbled them into
peTditiOn. But no; He was to die He
must die His life for your life In an
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
moment of anger she had struck her hus-
band 3 blow that slew him. The son
tIliG buOuCuly lilo JliG TOOTH, anu WIS
washing away the wounds and trying to
Tesuscitate 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: cit was wonderful that he
never exposed her. - But | tell you a
grander thing. Christ, the Son of God,
died not for His mother, nor for His
father, but for His sworn enemies. Oh,
such a Christ as that-sO loving, so pa
tent, so self-sacrifcing-ca you not
trust Him? I think there are many under
the influence of the Spirit of God who are
saying, 81 viii trust Him if you viii only
tell me how and the great question
asked by thousands is, Glow? How?''
And while I answer your question ] look
up and utter the prayer which Rowland
Hill so often uttered in the midst OF his
sermons. g Master, help!'' How are
you 10 trust in Christ? Just as You
trust anyone. You trust your part
Ter III business with important
things If commercial house gives
yea note payable three months hence,
you expect the payment of THAT note at
the end Of three months. You have per-
feet confidence in their word and in their
ing there viii be food on the table. You
have confidence in that. Now, ! ask you
10 have the same confidence in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says: ''You believe /
take away your sins, and they are all
taken away. What!'' you say,
before 7 pray any more? before I read
my Bible any more? before l cry over my
sins any more?'' Yes, this moment.
Believe with ali your heart, snd you are
saved. Why, Christ is only waiting TO
get from YOU what you give to scores OF |
people every day. What is that? Con-
fdeuce. Il these people whom
you trust day by day are more worthy
than Christ, if they are more faithful
than Christ, il they have done more than
Christ ever did, then give them the pref
ereuce; but if YOU really think that Christ
is as trustworthy as they are, then deal |
with Him rs fairly. con, - says some /
one in light way - believe that Christ /
was born in Bethlehem, and ! believe !
that He died on the cross. - Do yoE. be- !
lieve 1t with your head or your heart? I I
viii illustrate the difference, You are /
IN your own house. In the morning yOI /