Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-08-08

muscle ana pgne, through the right hand
lnrougn the let hand, aud then they shake
his right hand TO see if il is fast. and thev
heaye up 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 weiohf
OF His body coming down for I'M
nrst time ON the spikes; and while
/ some nolo the cross upright, others throw in
| the dirt and trample it down. and tramnle II
hard Oh, plant that tree we'll and
| thoroughly, for 1t 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 crucifiers. 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 He must die His
life for your life. In European civ
young man died on the scaffold
for the crime of murder. Some
time after the mother of this vounp
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; ut was wonderful that
he never exposed herr But L
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
tent, so self-sacrifcing-ca you not trust
Him? | think there are many under the in
huence of the Spirit of God who are saving;
Il will trust Him if you will only tell me
how and the great question asked by thou
sands is: How? Howl" And while |
answer your question l look up and
utter the prayer which Rowland Hill
so often uttered in the midst of his
sermons: Master, helpm How are YOU to
trust in Christi just as you trust any
one. You trust your partner in business
with important things. If commercial
house gives you 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
ability. Or again, you go home expecting
there will be food ON the table You have
confidence in that. Now, | ask you TO have
the same confidence in the Lord Jesus
Christ He says: s'You believe | take
away your sins, and they are all taken
away" 'Whatp you say before | pray
any mores Before l read my Bible any
morei Before / cry over my sins any
morew 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' Confidence. If these people whom
you trust day by day are more
more faithful than Christ, il they
have done more than Christ ever did, then
give them the preference; but If you really
think that Christ is as trustworthy as they
are, then deal with Him as fairly. oh
says some one in light way: Il believe that
Christ was born in Bethlehem. and | believe
that He died on the cross" Do you believe
it with your head or your hearts / viii illus
strate the difference You are In your own
house. In the morning you open news
paper and you read how Capt. Braveheart
on the sElrisked his life for the salvation of
his passengers. You say "What grand
fellow he must have beenl His family de-
serve very well OF the country" You fold
the newspaper and sit down at the table, and
perhaps do not think of that incident again.
That is historical faith.
But now you are ON the sen, and it is night,
and you are asleep, and you are awakened by
the shrek of ''Firem You rush out on the
deck You hear amid the wringing of the
hands and the fainting the cry: mo hope.
no hope We are lost we are lostg The sail
puts out its wings OF fire, the ropes make a
burning ladder In the night heavens, the
spirit Of wrecks Kisses in the wave, and on the
hurricane deck shakes out its banner of smoke
and darkness Down with the lifeboatsW
cries the captain Down with the lifeboatsr'
People rush into them. The boats are about
full Room only for one more man. You are
on the deck beside the captain Who
shall it beg You or the captain? The cap
taiuY The captain says: ''Youn You jump
and are saved. He stands there and dies
Now, you believe that Captain Braveheart
sacrificed himself for his passengers, but you
believe it with love, with tears with hot
and long continued ordinations, with
grief at his loss, and JOY at your
deliverance 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; aye, the salvation |
of your immortal soul. You often go across
n bridge you know nothing about You DO |
not know who buff 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 the /
architect of the whole universe, spanning the
ark gulf between sin and Righteousness, ana /
God asks YOU is to walk across it; and you
irt. and you come to it. and you stop, and
~ 60 little way on and you stop, ana you
all 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 the
strength of the eternal God is under
you. Oh. was there ever prize proffered
% cheap as pardon and heaven are offered to
your Tor how much? million dollarsf
It is certainly worth more than that But
cheaper than that you can have it. Ten
thousand dosars2 Less than that. Five
thousand dollarss Less than that One dol
ars Less than that One farthing? Less
han that. without money and with
mt price, No money to pay
No Journey to take. No Penance
o suffer Only just one decisive
,ction of the soul: believe on the
ord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved "
Shall / try to tell you what it rs to
,e saved9 i cannot tell you. No man, no
nigel can tell you. But l can hint at
I. For my text bring me up to this
,oint. ssThou shalt be saved" 1t means a
,annv life here. and peaceful death and
! blissful eternity. 1t is grand thing
o 20 10 sleep at night and to get up IN
he morning, and to do business an
law feeling that all is right between my heart
nd God. No accident, no sickness. no per-
acution no peril, no sword can do me any
permanent damage / am forgiven cnlld
f God and He is bound to see me through
The mountains may depart, the earth may
urn. the light of the stars may De blown OUT
- 40 tIaef of the Judgment hurricane, but