Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1890-01-25

uescrloe MS wnoIe appearance rs re-
ing resplendcnt. Christ did not tell
the children to come to him. Suffer
little children to come unto me" was
not spoken to the children;. it was
spoken to the Pharisecs. The children
had come without any invitation. No
sooner did jesus appear thanthe little
ones pitched from their mothers arms,
an avalanche of beauty and love, into
his lap. Suffer little childrep to come
unto me. That was addressed to the
Pharisees; not to the children. Christ
did not ask John to put his head down
OH his bosom; John could not help
but put his head there. Such eyes,
such cheeks, such chin, such hair,
such physical condition and appear
ance-why, it must have been com.
pletcly captivating and winsome. 1
suppose look at him was just 10 love
him. O! how attractive his manner.
Why, when they saw Christ coming
along the street, they ran into, their
houses, and they wrapped up their5ili-
valids as quick as they could, and
brought them out that he might look
at them. OF there was something SO
pleasant, SO inviting SO cheering in
everything he did, iii Ills very look.
When these sick ones were brought
out did he say: Take away these
sores: do not trouble me with these
leprosics?" No, no; there was a kind
look, there was a gentle word, there
was healing touch. They could not
keep away from him.
TERRIBLE AS WELL AS GENTLE.
In addition to this softness Of char
acter, there was fiery momentum.
How the old hypocritcs trcmbled be-
fore him. How the kings of the earth
turned pale. Here is Il plain man with
a few sailors at his back, coming off
the Sea of Galilee, going up to the
palace of the Caesars, making that pal
ace quake To the foundations, and ut
tering word of mercy and kindness
which throbs through all the earth,
and through all tile heavens, and
through all the ages. Oh he was a
loving Christ. But it was not etfcm-
macy, or insipidity of character; it
was accompanied with majesty, inf
mite and omnipotent Lest the world
should not realize his carncstness, this
Christ mounts the cross. You say: '.If
Christ has to die, why not let him take
some deadly potion and lie on couch
in some bright and beautiful lome2 If
he must die, let him expire amid all
kindly attentions" 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 OH each check, 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. 1t 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 they shake his left
foot to see if it is fast. and then they
heave up the wood, half dozen Shout
ders under the weight, and they put
the end of the cross to tho mouth of
the hole, and they plunge it in, ell 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 tralnple it down,
and tramplo it hard. O, plant that
tree well 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 cruci6ers. He
could have reached up and graspcd
the sword of the omnipotent God and
with one clean cut have tumbled them
into perdition. But no, he was to die.
Hemust die. His life for my life. His
life for your life. In one OF the Eu-
ropean cities young man died on the
scafoA 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 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: sit was wonderful that lie
never exposed her." But tell you OF
a erander thing. Christ, the Son OF
God, died not for his mother, not for
his father, but for his sworn enemies.
o, such Christ as that-so loving, SO
self sacrifcing-can you not trust
him2
HOW TO TRUST JESUS.
I think there are many under tho
spirit of God who are-saying: II will
trust him if you will only tell me
how" and the great question asked
by thousands in this asSemblage is:
"How2 how?" And while l answer
your question look up and utter the
prayer which Rowland Hill so often
uttered in the midst of his sermons:
master, helpl" How are you to trust
in Christi Just as you trust any one.
You trust your partner in business with
important things. If a commercial
house give you note payable three
months hence, you expect the pay
ment of that note at the end OF three
months. You have perfect confidence
in their word and in their ability.
You 20 home today. You expect
there will be food on the table. You
have confidence in that. Now, l
ask you to have the same conf
dence in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says: You believe; | take
away your sins;n and they are
all taken away. What you say,
"before 1 pray any more9 Before |
read my Bible any morea Before l
cry over my sins any moreT Yes,
~ Po1;ava with oil TGI1p