The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-01-25

AAAAA - OhA uCaoAl pol IA ~
on q couch in some bright and beautiful
home? II He must die, let Him expire
amid all kindly attentions" No, the
world must hear the hammers OF
the head Of the spikes. The world mus
listen to the death rattle of the sufferer
The world must feel His warm blood
dropping on each cheek, while 1t looks
up into the face of His anguish. And sc
the cross must be lifted, and the 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 spfferefiz
stretched upon end ia naf1e Are
pound z thrsugh sxg us4sclaFa1t'
hsao. <arosxhs chs Id thf5ttgf
the hard; and fhdktzhdy shake His
rizht 6&ndt 70 see Tit 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 1t mall 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 1t down, and tram
Pile 1t hard.
o, plant that tree we'll and thorough
ly, for 1t is to bear fruit such as no other
tree aver bore. Why did Christ endure
itp He could have taken those rocks.
and with them crushed His crucifers.
He could have reached up and grasped
the sword Of the omnipotent God and
with one clean cut have tumbled them
into perdition. But 30, He was to die.
He must die. His life for my l!fe. His
life for your life. In one of the
European cities 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 hat she was the murderer, and
not her son; in q moment of anger she
had struck her husband Q blow that
slew him. The son came suddenly into
the room, and vas washing away the
wounds and trying to resuscitate his
father, when some n 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 hat he never ex-
posed her." But ] toll you Of a grander
thing. Christ, the Son Of God. died
not for His mother, not for His father,
but for His sworn enemies. o, such a
Christ as that-so loving, so self-sacri-
feing-can you not trust HimP
think there ore many under the
spirit of God who are saying: 'I will
trust Him If you will only tell me how
/ and the great question asked is:
'How7 how?"
And while l answer your question l
look up and utter the prayer which Row.
land 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
partner in business with important
things. II q commercial house gives
you a note payable three months hence,
you expect the payment OF that note at
the end OF three months. You have
perfect confidence in their word and in
their ability. You go home to-day.
You expect there will be food on the
table. You have confidence in that.
Now, I ask you to have the same conf.
dence in the Lord Jesus Christ. lie
says:
"You believer ] take away your siusy'
and they are all taken away.
"What!" you say, ''before I pray any
more7 Before road my Bible any
more9 Before I CRY yer my sins any
more2"
Yes, this moment Believe with al
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 that7 Confidence. II
these people whom you trust day by day
are moro worthy than Christ, II they are
more faithful than Christ, II they have
done more than Christ yer did, then
give them the preferences but II you
really think that Christ is as trust,
worthy % they are, then deal with Hin
~ fairly.
"Oh." says some one In D light way,
81 believe that Christ was born In
bethlehem, and I believe that He died
on the CROSS"
Do you believe 1t with your head OF
your hearth Twill illustrate the differ
ence. You are IN your own house. In
the morning you open Q newspaper, and
INa A0e4 INV SoPboAh oAoNOhooAS w
the see risked his life for the salvation
Of his passengers. You say: "What a
grand fellow be must have beenl His
family deserves very we'll OF the coun
! try" You fold the newspaper and sit
down ct the table, and perhaps do moi
think Of that incident again. That Il
historical faith. But now you are Oh
the sea, and it Is night, and you are
asleep. and are awakened by the Shrek
of
'sFirep
You rush out on deck. You hear
amid the wringing Of the hands and the
fainting, the cries:
mo hopel We are lost! we are lostP
The sail puts out its wings of fire, the
ropes make q burning ladder In the
night heavens, the spirit Of wreck Kisses
In the waves, and on the hurricane deck
shakes out its banner of smoke and dark
ness
Down with the life-boats!" cries the
captain. "Down with the life-boatsI"
People rush into them. The boats are
about full. Room only for one more
man. You are standing on the deck he
side the captain. Who shall 1t be? You
or the captain? The captain says:
you"
You Jump and are saved. He standi
there and dies. Now, you believe tina
Captain Braveheart sacrificed himsel
for his passengers, but you believe II
with love, with tears, with hot and
long-continued explanations, with grie'
ct his loss and Joy at your deliveranoe
That is saving faith. In other words
what you believe with oil the heart
and believe In regard " yourself. Oh
this hinge turns my sermon; aye. tn
salvation of your immortal soul.
You often go across q bridge you know
nothing about You do not know VIII
built the bridge. you do not know VIVA
material II Is made Of; but you come Il
IL, and walk oyer IL, and ask no ques
lions. And here Is an arched bridge
blasted from the Rock Of Ages" an
built by the Architect Of tho Who'll,
universe, spanning the dark gull be
tween sin and righteousness, and 81
God asks you is TO walk across 1t; AM
you 20 a little way on and you stop, anf
you fall back and you experiment. 1o'
say:
How do know that bridge will hol'
meP"
Instead of marching on with urn
step, asking no questions, but feeiipI
that the strength Of the eternal God
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