The Russellville Democrat., 1890-01-23


 ant so inviting, so cheering in every thing He did, in His very look When these sick ones were brought out did He say: Take away these sores; do not trouble me with these leprosies?t No no; there was a kind look, there was a gentle word, there was a healing touch. They could not keep away from Him. In addition to this softness of char acter there was fiery momentum. How the old hypocrite trembled b'fore Him. How the kings of the earth turned pale. Here is plain man, with a few sailors at His back, coming of the Sea of Cali lee, going up to the palace of the c@sars, making that palace quake to the foundations, and utterIfIE a word of mercy and kindness which throbs through all the earth, and through all the heavens, and through all the ages Oi He was loving Christ But it was not effeminacy, or insipidity of char acter; it was accompanied with majesty, infinite and omDipotent. Lest the world should not realize His earnest ness, this Christ mounts the cross. You say: If Christ has to die, why not let Him take some deadly portion and lie on a couch in some bright and beautiful home? If He must die, let Him expire amid all kindly attentions" No, the world must hear the hammers on the head of the spikes The world must listen 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 the hole Is 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 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 right hand to see if it is fast, and then they heave up the wood, half a dozen shoulders under the weight, and they put the end of the cross to 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 tram pie it hard.
 0, plant that tree well and thorough ly, 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 omnipotent God and with one clean cut have tumbled them perditioa. But no, He was to die. must die. His life for my life. His
 for your life. In one of the ope&n cities young man died on
 scaffold for the crime of murder. time after the mother of this lg man was dying, and the priest e in, and she made confession to the st that she was the murderer, and Ter son: in moment of anger she
 struck her husband blow that
 him. The son came suddenly into
 room, and was washing away the
 ds and trying to resuscitate his
 r, when some one looked through
 indow and saw him, and supposed
 to be the criminal. That young
 lied for his own mother. You say:
 5as wonderful that he never ex-
 her" But I tell you of grander
 Christ, the Son of God, died
 His mother, not for His father,
 )r His sworn enemies. O. such a
 as that-so loving, so self-sacri-
 can you not trust Him?
 mink there are many under the
 of God who are saying: ''I will
 Him if you will only tell me how"
 he great question asked is:
 ow? how?"
 1 while answer your question I
 up and utter the prayer which Row.
 Hill so often uttered in the midst
 sermons:
 aster, help!'
 are you to trust in Christ? Just
 trust any one. You trust your
 CT in business with important
 s. If a commercial house gives
 note payable three months hence,
 xpect the payment of that note at
 nd of three months. You have
 tt confidence in their word and in
 ability. You go home to-day.
 expect there will be food on the
 You have confidence in that. -,o,,,.4 ask you to have the same conf- In