Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-08-20
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divins's Sun.
day Sermon
Subject: Useful Suffering. !"


Lord were unnecessary. In Iced it was a
shocking waste of tears AMI blood and az
ony, unless some great eni were to be
reached. III men can prove that no gooi re-
suit comes of it, taen the character of Col
impeached. and the universe must stand
aohorent and denuncatory at the fact that
the Father allowed the butchery of His only
beggotten Son.
We all admire the brave six hundred men
described by Tennyson as dashing into the
conflict when they knew they must die. and
bnew at the same time that some one had
oiunderd;7 but we are abhorrent of the man
who made the blunler and who cafsei the
,acrlhce OF those brave men FOR no use. But
snau show you, If the Lord will help me.
enis morning that for god reasons Christ
went through the torture. In other words
1t behooyed Christ to suffer-
In the firs6 place. I remark that Chrjst's
lacerations were necessary because mans
rescue was an impossibility except by the
payment OF some great sacrifice Outraged
iaw mad Numbered against iniquity Man
must die unless a substitute can lntarcept
mat death. Let Gabriel step forth. He re-
Uses Let hicnaeI the arch1ngel step forth.
lie refuses. No Roman city IN. no Athe-
man, no Corinthian, no reformer, no angel
! volunteered. christ then barred His heart 10
Inc pang. He paid for our redemption in
Sars ana blood and wounded feet and
courged shoulders and torn brow at is
] +~N' ~AeHf Oh anu ear III uedFu Lle snap OF
lhe rison bar Sinai ceased TO quake vita
wrath the moment that Calvary began to
rock IN cruclfixion. Christ had suffered
Oh, says some man, Il don't like that
loctfine OF SUBSTITUTION; let every man
/ pear MS @wn burdens and weep his own
| tears, aud fight his own battlesn Why. NV
/ brother, there is vIcarious suffering all over
me word. Dill not your parents suffer for
! YOU? DO you not sometimes suffer tor your
children? DOES not the patrio5 suffer for
MS country Did not Grace Darling suffer
/ !or tue drowning saiiors> Vicarious suffer
ing on all Sides But how Insignificant com
pared with this scene of vicarious suffer
/ ing!
Was il for crimes that I hal don.
| He sroaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity grace unknown,
ana love beyond degree
| Christ must suffer to pay the prics of our
/ redemption.
But | remark again, the sufferings OF
christ were necessary in order that the
worlds sympathies might be- aroused. Men
ire won 10 the right AMI good throu III their
ympathies. The world must feel Alright
'efore it can act Alright So the cross was
| allowed to be lifted that the worlds synps.
thies might be arouseJ Men who have
been obduratet by the cruelties they have
enacted, the massacres they have inflicted
by the horrors of wbica they have been
guilty, have become little children in the
pres snce or this dying Saviour.
What the swords could not do, what jug.
2ernauts could nos subdue the wounded
hand of Christ has accomplished. There
ere this moment millions OF people held un-
der the spell of that one sacrifice The ham
ners that struck the spikes into the cross
lave broken the rocky heart of the world
Nothing but the agonies OF Saviousis death
throe could rouse the worlds sympathes
L remark again, 1T beloved Christ to
suffer, that tho strength and persistence OF
the divine love might be demonstrated. Was
Il the applause or the world that induced
Christ on that crusade from Heaveny Why,
all the universe was at His feet Could the
conquest of this Insignificant planet have
paid him for His career of pain if it had
been mere matter OF applause? All the
honors of heaven surging at His feet.
Would your queen give UP her throne that
she might RUE miserable tribe Ill Africa?
Would the LORD Jesus Christ on the throne
OF the universe coma down to our planet if
1t wers 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 indnitu !e aud eternity? Nor was
II an superintendent attempt To show what
He could do With the hard hearted race. He
who wheels the stars i'll their courses and
holds the pillars of the universe on the tips
of His fingers nse3ei to make no experiment
to find what He could do Oh | w.i tell
you, my frienis, what it was. 1t was IN
disguised unlimited, all conquering, all con-
sumiug inhuite, eternal, omnipotsnt 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, thai
opened tho stable door where Christ was
born, that liftel Him on the cross. Love
thirsty at the well. Love at the sick mans
couch Love at the cripple's crutch Love
sweating in the garden, Love dying on the
cross. Love wrapped in the grave. You
cannot mistake ii. The blindest eye must
see IT, The hardest heart must feel it The
reafest car must hear it. Parable an /
miracle, waysde talk and seaside interview,
all tue scenes of His life all the suferingS OF
His death, proving beyond controversy thai
Tor our migrate earth Col has yearned WITH
stupendous and insxtingu shAble love.
But | remerk qSaip, 1T beloved Christ Il
suffer- tna5 th3 nature of human guilt
might be demonstrated. There is not a com.
mon sense man in the house to-day that will
not admit that the machinery of society is
out OF gear, that the human mind and the
human heart are disorganize1, that some
thing ougnt to be done right away for its re-
pair and reimbursement But the height and
depth and length and breadth AMI hate and
recklesSnesS and Internal energy OF the
mum III hcdIt LOI SIN would NOT nave been
demonstrated if against the holy and limo
cent one of the cross it had not been hurlei
in one bolt of FIRE
Christ was not the first man That had been
put to death. Taere had bean many before
Him put TO death, but they had their whims
the follies, their sins, their inconsistencies.
But wnen the mob oqtsi ie OF Jerusalem
howled at tho Son OF Col it was hate against
goo mess, 1t was blasohsmy against virtue,
It was earth against heaven. What was if
IN that innocent AMI loving facs Of Christ
that excite | tIs vituperaton and the con
tumeiy and scorn of men? II He had ban
tered tn I'm to come GU, if He had laughed
them into derision, if He hal denounced
them as the yagabonds that thsy were, we
could understand their fcrocitv but it was
against inof1ensiveDess that they brandished
their spears, and shook their fists, and ground
their teeth, and howled and scoffed and
jeerad and Knocked.
What evil had He done? Whose eyesigbt
had He put outs None; but He given vision
to the blind Whose child hal He slim?
None but He restored tho deal dlmsel to
her mother. What law had He broken9
None; but He had inculcated obelieucs to
government What foul plot had He en-
acted against the happiness OF Me- raca?
None; lie had come to save wor1I. Tbs
only cruelty He ever enacted was to heal thu
SICK. The only ostentation He ever dis
played was to sit with publicans AMI sinners
and wash the disciples feet
The only selisiness He ever exnibits1
was to give His life for His ensmies, And
yet all the wrath of the world surrei
against His hoy heart, Hear the radlot
scorn OF the world Kissing in the pools of
aviour's blooi! AMI standing there to.
day let us see what an unreasonable. loatl-
some, hateful blasting, damning thing is
the inlq uty OF the human heart. UnlooseI.
what will not sin do? II will scale any
height, it will fathom the very depth of hell.
1t Will revel in all lasciviousn4ss. There is
no blasphemy it viii not utter there are no
rrl1eltes on VIII oh it will not gorra itself. 1t
will walloW in filth, 1t will braIrde TIL air o;
ch1rnelhouses of corruption and call than
aroma, it will quaif the blood OF immortal
sous and call it nectar.
When sin murdered Christ on the cross it
showed what it would do VITA the IIorlGo1
Almighty if it could get at Him. The
prophet had declare IL think il was Jere-
miah-had declared CENTURIES before the
truth but not until sin shot out its forked
tongue at the crucifx and FOSSIL its sting
into the soul of martyrsd Jesus was it il
lustrated that "ths heart IS deceitful above
all things, and des )erately vic ied"
Again, at beloved Christ to sn fFsrD
that our affections might be excited Christ
ward. Why, sirS. the behavior of our Lord
has stirred the affections of all those who
have ever heard of it. 1t has been the art
galleries o. the world with such pictures as
Ghirlandaios "Worsiip Of the Maei. Giot.
to's Baptism of Christ" Holman Hunts
Christ in the Temple" Tintoret'S HAa,,y,v