The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-08-31
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: useful Suffering"

Subject: "Useful Suffering"
TEXT: at behorea Christ to suffer-
Luke XIV, 46.
There have been scholars who have ven-
tured the assertion that the pains Of our
Lord were unnecessary. Indeed it was u
shocking waste of tears and blood and ag.
,ony, unless some great en1 were to be
reached. If men can prove that no good re-
suit comes of it, then the character of God
Is impeached, and the universe must stand
ahhorent and denunciatory at the fact that
the Father allowei the butchery Of His only
begotteu Son.
We all admire the brave six hundred men
described by TenIySon as dashing into the
conflict when they knew they must die and
knew at the same time that ''some one had
blunder'd;' but we are abhorrent of the man
who made the blum Ter and who caused the
sacrifice of those brave Iuen for no use. But
shall show you, if tie Lord will help me,
this morning that for good reasons Christ
went through the torture. In other words,
''1t behoovea Christ to suffer-
In the first place, I remarA that Christ's
aaceratlonS were necessary, because mans
rescue was an impossibility except by the
payment of some great sacrifice Outraged
law had thundered against iniquity. Man
must die unless a substitute can intercept
that death. Let Gabriel step forth. He re-
fuses. Lee Michael the archangel step forth.
de refuses. No Roman citizen, no Athe-
nian, no Coripthiau, no reformer, no angel
volunteered. christ then barred His heart so
the lang. He paid for our redemption in
tears and blood and wounded feet and
ecourged shoulders and torn brow. SIT is
done" Heaven and earth heard the snap of
the PRISON bar. Sinai CEASED to quake with
wrath the moment that Calvary began -
rock in crucifixion. Christ had suffered.
"Oh," says some man, II don't like that
doctrine OF substitution; let every man
bear his own burdens, and weep his own
tears. and fight his own battles" Why, my
brother, there is vicarious suffering all over
Che world. Did not your parents suffer for
you? Do you not sometimes suffer for your
children? Does not the patriot suffer for
his country? Did not Grace Darling suffer
Tor the drowning sailors? Vicarious suffer-
Ing on all sides But how Insignificant COM
pared with tnis scene OF vicarious suffer.
ing!
Was it for crimes that had done
He aroaned upon the tree:
Au,azing pity, grace unSnown,
And love beyond degree.
Christ must suffer to pay the price Of our
REDEEM ption.
But remark again, the sufferings OF
Christ were necessary in order that the
worlds sympathies might be aroused. Men
are won to the right and good through their
gympataies. The world must feel Alright
before it can act Alright. So the cross was
allowed to be lifted that the worlds sympa-
thies might be arouss5. Men VINO have
been obdurated by the cruelties they have
by the horrors Of which they have been
guilty. have become little children in the
hresanc Of this dying Saviour.
What the swords could not do, what jug.
keruauts could not subdue, the wounded
hand Of Christ has accomplished. There
Pre- this moment millions OF people held un-
Ter the spell Of that one sacrifice. The ham
ners that struck the spikes into the cross
have broken the rocky neart OF the world.
Nothing but the agonies o. Saviour's death
throe could rouse the worlds sympathies.
suffer-" that the strength and persistence Of
the divine love might be demonstrated. Was
II the applause Of the world that induced
Christ on shat crusade from Heaven? Why,
all ths universe was at His feet. Could the
conquest of this Insignificant planet have
paio Hun for His career of pain If it had
been q mere matter of applause? All the
honorS OF heaven surging at His feet.
Would your queen give up her throne that
Phe might RUE miserable tribe In Africa?
Would the Lord Jesus Christ on the throne
OF the universe come down to our planet II
It were q mere matter OF applause and ac-
clamation?
Nor was it an expedition undertaken for
the accumulation OF vast wealth. what
could all the harvests and the diamonds OF
our little world do for Him whose are the
glories Of infnitu1e and eternity? Nor was
II an experiment-an attempt to show what
He could do iaith the hard hearted race. he
who wheels the stars in their courses and
holds the pillars OF the universe on the tips
Of HIS fingers needed to make no experiment.
to find what BE could do. Oh, will tell
gou, my friends, wnat it was. 1t was un-
disguised, unlimited, all conquering, all con-
suming, infinite, eternal, omnipotent love
that opened the gate, that started the
star in the east, with finger Of light
pointing down to the manager, that arrayed
the Christmas choir above Bethlehem, that
opened the stable door where Christ was
born, that lifted Him on the cross. Love
thirsty at the we'll. Love at the sick mans
couch. Love at the cripple's crutch. Love
sweating in the garden. Love dying on the
cannot mistake it. The blindest eye must
see it. The hardest heart must feel it. The
deafest ear must hear 1t. Parable and
miracle, wayside talk and seaside interview,
all the scenes Of His life, all the sufferings Of
His death, proving beyond controversy that
br our migrate earth God has yearned with
&upendous and inextinguishable love.
4 But I remark again, "It beloved Christ to
suffer-" that the nature OF human gull
might be demonstrated. There is not com
mon sense man in the house to-day that viii
mot admit that the machinery Of society Is
out Of gear. that the human mind and ths
Human heart are disorganized, that some
thing ought to be done right away for its re
pair and readjustment. But the height anc
depth and length and breadth and hate anc
recklessness and Internal energy OF the
human heart for sin would not have been
demonstrated if against the holy and limo.
cent one Of the cross it had not bsen hurled
in one bolt Of fire.
put to death. There had been many before
, Him put to death, but they had their whims,
the follies, their sins, their inconsistencies.
But wnen the mob outside OF Jerusalem
howled at the Son Of God it was hate against
goodness, it was blasohemy against virtue,
It was earth against heaven. What was it
in that innocent and loving face o. Christ
that excited the vituperation and the con.
tumeiY and scorn Of men? II He had ban
tered them to come on, it He had laughed
them into derision, if He had denounced
them as the vagabonds that they were. we
could understand their ferocity, but it was
against inoffensivepess that they brandished
their soears, and shook their fists, and ground
their teeth, and howled and scoffed and
jeered and Knocked.
Whist evil had He done, Whose eyesight
had He put out? None; but He given vision
to the blind. Whose child had He slain?
None; but He restored tn, dead dausel to
her mother. What law had He broken?
None; but He had inculcated obedience to
government. What foul plot had He en-.