Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-10-03

now standing, their genealogical ancestors
having been witnesses Of the occurrences
spoken OF, the scene of horror and OF crime
came back to me, until shuddered with the
historical "reminiscences.
In further following our great Chieftain's
march through the centuries, | find myself
in crowd in front of Herod's palace in
Jerusalem, and on a meveable platform
placed upon a tasselatsd pavement Pontius
PLATE sits. And as once year condemned
criminal is pardoned. Plate let's the peo-
pie choose whether it shall be an as
sassin or our Chieftian, and they all cry
out for the liberation Of the assassin,
thus declaring they prefer a murderer to the
salvation of the world. PLATE took basin
OF water in front of these people and tried
TO wash off the blood of this murder from
his hands. but ha could not. They are still
lifted, and | see them looming up through
all the ages, eight fingers and two thumbs
standing out red with the carnage.
Still following our Chieftain, ascend tae
hin which General Gordon the great Eng
fish explorer and arbiter. made clay model
of. 1t is hard climbing for our Chieftain,
for He has not only two heavy timbers to
carry on His back, the upright aud horizon
tai pieces of the cross, but He Is suffering
from exhaustion caused by lack of food,
mountain chiis, desert heats. whippings with
elmwood rods and years of maltreatmeue.
1t took our party in 1889 only fiftesI
minutes to climb to the top of the hill and
reach that limestone rock in yonder wall,
which rolled down from the apex of Mount
Calvary. But | think our Chiaftan must
have taken long tins for the ascent, for
He had all earth aud all heaven and all he'll
on His back as He climbed from base to
summit and there endure what William
Cowper and John Milton and Charles
Wesley and Isaac Watts and james Mont
gomery and all the other sacrel poets have
.empted to put IN verse, AMI angelo and
Raphael and Titan and Leonardo da Vinci
and all the great Italian AMI German and
Spanish and French artists have attempted
to paint, AMI Bossuet and Masillon AMI
George Whitefield and Thomas Chalmers
have attempted to preach.
Something OF its overwhelming awful
ness you may estimate from the fact that
the sun which shines in the heavens could
not endure it; the sun which unfinchingly
looked upon the deluge that drowned the
world. which without blinking looked upon
the ruins of earthquakes which swallowed
Lisbon and Caracas, and has looked I'M
blanched on the battlefields of Arbela, Blen-
hahn, Megiddo and Esiraelon, and all the
scenes of carnage that have ever scalded
and drenchei the earth with human gore
that sun could not look upon toe scene. Tho
sun dropped over its face veil of cloud. 1t
Withdrew. 1t hid itself. 1t said to the mid
Ht9nIt ISSlRu W buo5 tAts Sp5SetJld upJn
which have no strength to gaia; thou art
blind, 0 mi might and for that reason com.
init to thee this tragedyp Then the night
hawk and the bat flaw by, and the jackal
howlei in the raviues.
Now we follow our Chieftain as they
carry His limp and lacerated form amid the
flowers and trees OF a garden, the gladioluses,
the oleanders, the lilies, the geraniums, the
mandrakes, down five or six steps to an aisle
of granite, where He sleeps. But only
little while He sleeps there. for there is an
earthquake in all that region, leaving the
rocks TO this day in their ashanti and rup-
tured state decorative of the fact that
something extraordinary there happened.
And we soc our Chieftain arouse
from His bries slumber and wrestle down
the ruff1aa Death, who would keep Him i'm
prisoued in that cavern. and put both heels
on the monster, aud coming forth with a
cry that will not cease to be echoed until on
the great resurrection day the door OF the
lost sepulcher shall be unhnged and flung
Changing into the debris OF demolished GENE
teries.
shoulder of Mount Olivet and without
wings He rises the disciples clutching for Hi
robes too late to reach them. and across the
great CULTS Of spacs with one bound He gains
that world which for thirty-three years had
been denied His companionship, and all
heaven lifted a shout of welcome
as He entered, and o. coronation as
up the me1iatorial throne He mounted.
1t was the greatest day heaven
had ever seen. They had Him back again
from tears, from wounds, from ills, from
world that never appreciated Him to world
in which He was the chief delight In all the
libretto of celestial music it was hard to find
an anthem enough conjubilant to celebrate
the joy sanity, seraphic, arch-angelic,
deific.
But still we follow our Chieftain in His
march through the centuries, for invisibly
He still walks the earth, and by the eye of
faith we still follow Him. You can tell
where He walks by the churches, and hos
pitfalls, and reformatory institutions, and
houses of mercy that spring up along tue
way. hear His tread in the sick room and
in the abodes of bereavement. He marches
on and the nations are gathering
around Him. The islands of the sea are
hearing His voice The continents are feel
ing His power. America will be His Europa
win be His Asia will be His Africa will bs
His Australia will be His New Zealand will
be His All the earth will be His Do you real
ia that until now it was impossible for the
world to be converteds Not until very re
Gently has the world been found
The Bible talks about 1.-THE ends of the
earth and the ''uttermost parts of the
world as being saved but not until now
have the lends of the earth" been dis
coverei AMI not until now have the
''uttermost parts of the worldh been re-
vealed. The navigator did his work, the
explorer did his work, the scientist did
his work, and now for the first time sincs
the world has been created has the world
been known, measured off and geogra-
phized, the lost hidden AMI unknown
tract has been mapped out, and now the
work OF evangelization will be begun with
an earnestness and velocity as yet unim
imagined The steamships are really; the
lightning express trains are ready; the print
ing presses are ready; the telegraph and
telephone are ready, millions of Christians
are ready and now sea Christ marching on
through the centuries. Marching on! March
ing on.
One by one governments will fall into line
and constitutions and literatures will adore
His name More honored and worshiped Is
He in this year of 1891 than at any time
since the year one, and the day hastens when
all nations will join one procession follow
ing the Lamb whittier soever He goeth'
Marching onl Marching on
This dear oil world whose bacai as bean
| scourged WHOSE eyes have been bliniei,
whose heart has been wrung. will yet rival
heaven This planets torn robe OF pain and
crime and dementia will come of and the
white and spotless and glttering robe OF
last wound will have stung for the last time;
the last grief will have wiped its last te1f;
tho last criminal will have repentef of his
| last crime and our world that has
been straggler among worlds, lost
star, a w4yward planet, a rebeliious globe, a
miscreant satellite, will hear the voice that
uttered childish plant in Bethlehem and
| agonizsd prayer in Gethsemaae and dying
groan on Golgotha, and this voice cries,
| Come our world will return from its wan
| dsring never again to stray. Marching on
| Marching on
Then this worlds Joy will be so great that
! other worlds besides heaven may be glad to
rejoice with u.s. By the aid OF powerful
| telescopes, year by year becoming mora
/ powerful, mountains in other stars have
oeen discovered and chasms AMI volcanoes
and canals, and the style Of atmosphere, and
this will 60 Oh, and mightter and mtghtier
! telescopes will be invented until | should
/ not wonder we will be able to exchange sig
mas with other planets And as |
have no coubt other worlds are inhab-
itel, for Gal would not have built
such magnificent wJrli houses to have the n
stand without tenants or occupants In tbs
final Joy of earth's retention allastronomy
| think will take part, we signaling other
worlds and they in turn signaling their stel
lar neighbors. Oh, what day in heaven
that will be when this march Of Christ is
hnished / know that on the cross Christ
said: 7'lt is finished" but he meant His sac
rificial work was finished.
All earth and all heaven knows that evan
gelization is not finished, but there will come
day in heaven most rapturous. It may be
! after our world which is thought to have
about fifteen hundred million people
shall have on its decxs twice its present pop
uIatio1, namely three thousand million souls
and all redeemed, and it VIII be
alter this world snail BE- 50 damaged by
cnnfia rratinn that M human fnnt cal