Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-01

! being resplendent. There was no need
! for Christ to tell the children TO come TO
! Him. ''Suffer little children to come
| unto Me- was not spoken to the chill
/ dFen; 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,
| into His lap. Christ did not ask
| John TO put his head down on His bosom {;
John could not help but put mis- head
there. l suppose to look at Christ was to
love Him. Oh, how attractive His man
ner! Why, when they saw Christ com
ing along the street they ran into their
houses and they wrapped up their in
valids as quick as they could and brought
them ont that He might look at them
There was something so pleasant, so in
viting, so cheering in everything He did !,
in His very look When these sick ones
were brought out did He say: "Do not
bring Me these sores: do not trouble Ne
with these leprosies? No, no; there
was kind look, there was 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
plain man, with few sailors at his
back, coming Off the sea of Gallilee, 60
ing up to the palace of the Caesars, max
ing that palace quake to the foundations,
and uttering 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 Christi But
it was not effeminacy or insipidity of
character: it was accompanied with maj
estY, infinite and omnipotenJ Lest the
world should not realiza His earnestness,
this Christ mounts the cross
THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
You say: eff Christ has TO die, why
not let Him take some deadly potion and
lie on couch in some bright and beauti-
full home? If He must die, let Him ex-
pire amid all kindly intentions - No,
the world must hear the hammers on 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 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
left hand to see if it is fast, and they
heave up the wood, half a dozen
shoulders under the weight, and they
put the end OF the cross III 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 trample il down, and
trample it hard. Oh, plant that tree
W ell and thoroughly, for it is to bear
fruit such Us no other tree ever bore.
Why did Christ endure it? He
could have taken those rocks, and with
them crushed His crucilers. He could
have reached up and gT2sped the
sword OF the omnipotent GOD, and with
one clean cut have tumbled them into
perdition. But no; He was to die. He
must die. His life for your life, In au
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 sou; in
moment of anger she had struck her hus-
band q blow that slew him. The son
came suddenly into the room, and was
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: "It was wonderful that he
never exposed her. - But I tell you
grander thing. Christ, the Son of God,
died not for His mother, nor for His
father, bat for His sworn enemies. Oh,
such Christ as that-so loving, so pa
tient, so acknowledgment you not
trust Him? l think there are many under
the influence of the Spirit of God who are
saying, 81 will trust Him if you will only
tell me how and the great question
asked by thousands is, ''HOw? Howl
And while | 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 anyone. You trust your part
neT in business with important
things. If a commercial house gives
you note payable three months hence,
you expect the payment Of that note at
the end of three months. GU have per-
feet confidence in their word and in their
ability. Or, again, you go home expect
ing there viii be food on the table. You
have confidence in that. Now, l ask you
TO have the same confidence in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says: ''YOu believe L
take away your sins, and they are all
taken away. - What!'' you say,
6 before [ pray any more? before l read
my Bible any more? before l cry over my
sins any more?'' 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 is that? Con-
tdence. If these people whom
you trust day by day are more worthy
than Christ, if they are more faithful
than Christ, if they have done more than
Christ ever did, then give them the pref
erenee; but if you really think that Christ
is as trustworthy as they are, then deal
with Him as fairly. "Oh, " says some
one in a light way 81 believe that Christ
was born in Bethlehem, and l believe |
that He died on the cross. Do you be-
lieve 1t with your head or your heart? I !
Will illustrate the difference You are /
in your own house. In the morning you !
hpr