Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1889-08-15


heads Of the spikes. The world must
The world must feel His warm blood
dropping on each cheek, while it look
up into the face Of His anguish. And 80
the cross must be lifted and hole dug
ON the top of Calvary. It must be dug
three feet deep, and then the cross is
laid on the ground, and the sufferer ID
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
right hand to see If it is fast, and they
heave mp the wood, half dozen should
ers 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 hold
the cross upright others throw in the
dirt and trample it down, and trample it
hard. Oh, plant that tree we'll and
thoroughly, for it 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 omnipo-
tent 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 a European city a
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 q moment
of anger she had struck her husband a
hot c1 i'm no Il
denly into the room, and was washing
away the wounds and trying to resusci-
tate 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 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. Oh,
such Christ as that-so loving, SO pa
tient, so self sacrificing-can you not
trust Him? l think there are many I'M
der the influence of the spirit of God
who are saying: Il will trust Him if
you will only tell me how" and the
great question asked by thousands is:
How? how?" And While answer your
question look up and utter the pray er
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 partner 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. You have per-
feet confidence in their word and in
their ability. Or again, you 60 home
expecting there will be food on the
table. You have confidence in that.
Now, ask you to have the same conf
dence in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says: You believe I take away your
sins, and they are all taken away.
What" you say, before 1 pray any
more? Before read my Bible any more?
Before 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? 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 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 Bethle-
hem, and believe that He died on the
cross" Do you believe it with your head
or your heart? will illustrate the diff
ference. You are in your own house.
In the morning you open q newspaper
and you read how Capt. Braveheart on
the sea risked his life for the salvation
of his passengers. You say, What a
grand fellow he must have been! His
family deserves very we'll of the coun-
try" 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 the deck. Your hair amid
the wringing of the hands and the faint
ing, the cry, NO hope! no hope! We
are lost We are LOST" The sails puts
out its wings of fire, the ropes make q
burning ladder in the night Heavens,
the spirit of wrecks Misses in the wave,
and on the hurricane deck shakes out
it's banner of smoke and darkness.
Down with the lifeboats!" cries the
captain. Down with the lifeboats!"
People rush into them. The boats are
about full. Room only for one more
man. You are standing on the deck be-
side the captain. Who shall it be? You
or the captain? The captain says, You. !"
You jump and are saved, He stands
there and dies. Now, you believe that
Capt. Braveheart sacrificed himself for
his passengers, but you believe it with
love, with tears, with hot and long con-
tinued ordinations, with grief at his
loss, and joy at your deliverance. That
is saving faith. In other words, WHIT
you believe with all the heart, and be-
lieve in regard to yourself. On this
hinge turnsOy sermon; aye, the saliva
ton of your immortal soul. You often
go across bridge you know nothing
about. You do not know who built the
bridge, you do not know what material
it is made of; but you come to it and
walk over it and ask no questions. And
here is an arched bridge blasted from
the Rock of Age" And built by the
architect of the whole universe, spanning
the dark gulf between sin and righteous
ness, and all God asks you is to walk
across it; and you start, and you come
to it, and you stop, and you go little
way on and you stop, and you fall back,
and you experiment. You say. How do
I know that bridge will hold me?' in
stead of marching on with firm step,
asking no questions, but feeling that
the strength of the eternal God is under
you. Oh, was there ever prize prof
fered SO cheap as pardon and Heaven
are offered to you? For how much? A
million dollars? 1t 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 dollar? Less than
that. One farthing? Less than that.
Without money and without price"
No money to pay. No journey to take.
No penance to suffer. Only just one
action of the soul: Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved" Shall try to tell you what
it is to be saved? l cannot tell you.
No man. no angel can tell you. But l
can hint at it. For my text brings me
up to this point. Thou shalt be saved"
II means happy life here. and q peace