Sharp County record., 1890-03-27


YOU can not expect Inc to risk tho cargo
of my immortal interests on board any
craft till you tell me what it is made OIL
and where it was made, and what IL Is
When, then, l ask you who this IS you
want me to trust in, you tell me lie was
very attractive person. You tell me
that the cotcmporary writer's describe
Him, and they give the color OF his
eyes, and the color of His hair, and they
describe His whole appearance as being
resplcndent.
Christ did not tell the children 10
come to Him. "Suffer little children 10
come unto me-" was not spoken 10 Che
children; it was spoken to the Pharl-
sees. The children had come without
any invitation. No sooner did Jesus
appear than the little ones pitched from
their mothers arms, an avalanche Oh
beauty and love into His lap, "Suiier
little children to come unto me-" 1haC
was addressed to the Pharisees; not 10
the children. Christ did not ask John
to put his head down on His BOSOM;
John could not help but put his heao
there. Such eyes, such cheeks, Such q
chin, such hair, such physical condition
and appcarance-why it must nave
been completely captivating and WIN
some. suppose look at Him was luSt
to love Him. O! how attractive HIS
manners! Why, when they saw Christ
coming along the street they ran into
their houses and they wrapped up their
invalids as quick as they could and
brought them out that lie might look at
them. O! there was something so pleas
ant, so inviting, so cheering IN every
thing He did, in His very look. When
these sick ones were brought out did lie
say: "Take away these sores; do not
trouble me with these leproSies?" No,
no; there was kind look, there was
gentle word, there was healing touch.
They could not keep away from Him.
In addition to this softness OF char
acter there was a fiery momentum How
Che old hypocrite trcmbled before Him.
lEow the kings of the earth turned pale
Here is plain man, with a few sailors
at His back, coming off the Sea of Cali
lee, going up to the palace of the
Caesars, making that palace quake to the
foundations, and uttering word OF
mercy and kindness which throhS
through all the earth, and through all
the heavens, and through all the ages.
O! He was loving Christ. But it was
not efTeminacy, 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 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. 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 then
they heaye up the wood, half dozen
shoulders under the weight, and they
put the end of the cross to the mouth
of the hole, and they plunge it 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 it down, and tram
pie it hard.
O, 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 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 no. He was to die.
lie must die. His life for my life. His
life for your life. In one of the
European 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 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:
ut was wonderful that he never eX-
posed her." But tell you of grander
thing. Christ, the Son Of God, died
not for His mother, not for His father,
but for His sworn enemies. 0, such
Christ as that-so loving, so self-sacri-
ficing-can you not trust Him?
think there are many under the
spirit of God who are saying: 81 will
trust Him if Won will only tell me hOW.''