The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-08-09


infinite and omnipotens. Lest the world
should not realize His earnestness. this
Christ mounts the cross.
You say: IF Christ has to die, why
not let Him take some deadly potion and
lie on a couch in some bright and beauti-
full homer II He must die let Him expire
amid all kindly intentions" No. the
world must hear the hammers on the heads
of the spikes. The world must listen to
the death rattle of the sufferer. The
world must feel His warm blood drop-
ping on each cheek. while it looks mp into
the face of His anguish. And so the
cross must be lifted and 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. aud the nails are pounded through
nerve and muscle and bone through the
rigIt hand, through the left hand, and
then they shake His right hand to see if 1t
is fast, and they heave up the wood, half
n dozen shoulders under the wei Sht 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
hold the cross upward others throw in the
dirt and trample it down, aud 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 and 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 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 male 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: 1T was wonderful that he
never exposed her." But I 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
tent so f-sacrificing-can 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: how:"
And while l answer your question l 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, II
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
on the table. You have confide ice in that
Now / ask you 20 have the same conf
dence in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says:
you believe l take away your sins and
they are all taken away" "Whatw you
say, before 1 pray any more: Before l
read my Bible any more? Before l cry
over my sins any more:" Yes, this mo-
ment Believe with all your heart and
you are saved. Why, Christ is only wait
ing 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 worthy than
Christ, If they are more faithful than
Christ, if they have done more than Christ
ever did, then give them the preferences;
but if you really think that Christ is as
trustworthy as they are then deal with
Him as fairly.
or says some one in light way, Il
elieve that Christ was born in Bethle-
hem, and l believe that He died on the
cross" Do you believe it with your
head or your heart? will illustrate the
difference. You are in your own house.
In the morning you open a newspaper
and you read how Captain Braveheart on
the sea risked his life for the salvation of
his passengers. You say: What grand
fellow he must have been! His family de-
erve 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 sea and it is
night, and you are asleep, and YOU are
awakened by the shrek of Fire." You
rush out on deck. You hear amid the
wringing of hands and the flinting
the cry: No hopN, We are lost
We are lost" The sail puts out
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 lIfeboats!" cries the cap
tain. Down with the lIfeboats." Peo-
pie rush into them. The boats are about
fuli-room only for one more man. You
are standing on the deck beside the cap
tain. Who shall it be! You or the cap
tain: The captain says, You" You
Jump and are saved He stands there and
dies. Now, you believe that Captain
Braveheart sacrificed himself for his pas
sengers, but you believe it with love, with
tears, with hot and long continued ex.
CARNATIONS, with grief at his loss and JOY
at your deliverance. Thatis saving faith
In other words what you believe with all
the heart and believe in regard to your.
self On this hinge turns my sermon
aye, the salvation of your immortal soul
You often go across a bridge you
know nothing about You do not know
who built the bridge; you do no: know
what material it is made of, but you come
to it and walk over il and ask no ques.
lions. And here is an arched bridge
blasted from The Rock of Ages" and
built by the architect Of the whole uni.
verse, spanning the dark gulf between sin
and righteousness, and all God asks you
ia to walk across it; and you start, and
'ou come to it and you stop, and you &c
little way on and you stop, and fall back
and you experiment You say: "How de
know that bridge will hold me!" instead
of marching on with firm step asking nc
questions, but feeling that the strength Of
me eternal God is under you.
Oh, was there ever prize profered sc
N rdar md Haa YEN nj nffarad ff