Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-02-20

and where IL was maui anu NHdb ~ 10
When, then, ask you who this is you
want me to trust in, you tell me de was
very attractive person. You tell
me that the contemporary writers de-
scribe Him, and they give the color OF
His eyes and the color of His hair and
they describe His whole appearance as
being resplendent. 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 Pharisees. The children had
come without an invitation. No sooner
did Jesus appear than the little
ones pitched from their mothers
arms, an avalanche of beauty and
love, into His lap. ''Suffer little
children to come unto Me-" That was
addressed to the Pharisees; not to the
children. Christ did not ask John to
put his head down on His bosom; John
could not help but put his head there.
Such eyes, such cheeks, such a chin,
such hair, such physical condition and
appearance-why, it must have been
completely captivating and winsome. l
suppose to look at Him was just to 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 their in
valids as quick as they could, and
brought them out that He might
look at them. o! there was something
so pleasant 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 leprosiesp'
No, no; there was 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
character there was fiery momentum.
How the old hypocrites trembled before
Him. How the Kings of the earth turn
ed pale. Here is a plain man with
few sailors at His back, coming OF the
Sea of Galilee, going up to the palace OF
the CAESARS, making that palace quake to
the foundations, and uttering word of
mercy and kindness which throbs
/ through all the earth, and through all
the heavens, and through all the
agesl o! He was loving Christ.
But it was not effeminacy, or in
sipidity of character; it was ac-
companied with majesty, infinite and
omnipotent 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 couch in some
bright and beautiful home? If He must
die let Him expire amid all kindly at
tentions." 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 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. 1t must me 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 IL 1t Is
fast, and they shake his left foot
to see if it is fast, and then they heave
up the wood, half dozen shoulders I'M
der 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 trample it
hard. o, plant that tree we'll and thor
oughly. 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 crush his crucifiers.
He could have reached up and grasped
the sword of the omnipotent God and
with one clean cut could have tumbled
them into perdition. But no. He was to
die He must die. His life for my life.
His life for your life. In one of the Eu-
ropean cities 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 a
moment of anger she had struck her
husband blow that slew him. The son
came suddenly into the room and wash
ing away the wounds and trying to re-
suscitate 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 moth
or. You say: "It was wonderful that
he never exposed her." But tell you
OF grander thing. Christ, the son of
God, died not for his mother, nor for
his father, but for his sworn enemies.
o, such a Christ as that-so loving, so
self-sacrifcing you not trust Him2
/ think there are many under 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 in this assemblage is: 'How,
how?" And while l answer your ques-
ton / look up and utter the prayer
which Rowland Hill so often uttered in
the midst of his sermon: master,
helpp' How are you to trust in Christ?
| Inst 40 Won trust any one Won trust