Milford chronicle., 1892-07-08

were submerged by wish to be popnla
Ct and TO please the people. Two distir
ie guished prisoners were IN the grasp @
n government, and the proposition wa
N made to free one Of them. There stand
d Barabbas, the murderer; there stand
T. Christ, the Saviour Of the world. At tn
d demand Of the people the renegade Is Sc
:. free, but Jesus is held. As the hard Wis
u aged and cruel eyed Barabbas goes among
II bis sympathizers, receiving their coarsl
congratulations, PLATE turns to his othe
distinguished prisoner-mild, meek, inof
fensive, loving, self sacrifcing-and he il
COMPOUNDED as to what course he had bet
ter take, 80 he impanels the mob as jury
i. TO decide, saying to them, What shall
!. do, then, with Jesusl"
Oh. it is no dried or withered question
8 but one that throbs with warm and quick
pulse in the heart OF every man and WON
an here. We must do something with
Jesus. He is here. You and / are not 80
certainly here as he is, for he fills all this
place-the loving, living, dying Christ
and each one of us will have to ask and
answer for himself the question, "What
shall ! do, then, with Jesusf" Well, my
friends, there are three or four things you
can do with him.
THE CONTEMPTUOUs WAY.
You can, in the first place, let him stand
without a word Of recognition; but do
not think your sense Of common courtesy
will allow that He comes walking on
such a long journey, you will certainly
give him chair ON which he may sit. He
Is so weary, you would not let him stand
without some recognition. If a beggar
comes to your door, you recognize him and
Bay, "What do you want?" If you meet a
Stranger faint in the street, you say,
lt'What is the matter with youW and your
FommOR humanity, and your common
/ sympathy, and your common sense Of pro-
priety will not allow you to let him stand
| without recOgnitiOn-the wounded one OF
the hills. You will ask. What makes him
weep? where was he hurtl who wounded
himi whence came her whittier goes he2
1 know there have been men who have
with outrageous Indifference hated Christ,
but l know very well that that is not what
you will do with Jesus.
Another thing you can do with him
-yoq can thrust him back from your
heart and tell him to stand aside. II an
tnOffensive person comes and persists In
Standing close up to you, and you have in
various ways given him to understand that
you do not want his presence or his society,
bhen you ask the reason of his impertinenoe
and bid him away. Well that is what we
can do with Jesus
He has stood close by us a great while
ten, twenty, thirty, forty years. He has
stood close by you three times a day,
breaking bread for your household, all |
night watching by your pillow He has
been in the nursery among your children; /
he has been in the store among your goods; /
he has been in the factory amid the flying |
wheels, and now if you donot like his socie- 1
ty you can bid him away; aye, if he win not (
go you can take him by the throat and tell
him you do not want his interference; that
you do not want his breath on your cheek;
that you do not want his eye on your
behavior. You can bid him away, or If he
will not goin that way, then you can stamp
your foot, as you would at dog, and cry,
"Begonep
Yet l know you will not treat Jesus that
way When PLATE could not do that, you
could not. Desperadoes and outlaws
might do so, but ! know that that is not
the way you will treat him, that that is
not what you will do with Jesus. There
is another thing you can do with him-you
can look on him merely as an optician to
cure blind eyes, or an aurist to tune deaf
ears, friend. a good friend, q helpful
cheerful passenger on ship
board; but that will amount to nothing
You can look upon him as a God and be
abashed while he rOuses the storm, or
blasts fig tree, or heaves a rock down the
side. That will not do you any
good; no more save your soul than the
admiration you have for John Milton or
William Shakespeare.
/ can think of only one more thing you
san do with Jesus, and that is to take him
into your hearts. That is the best thing
you can do with him; that Is the only safe /
hing you can do with him, and may the i
Lord omnipOtent by his spirit help me to
persuade you to do that. A minister Of I,
Christ was speaking to some children and !
aid, II will point you to Christ" A little
,bild rose in the audience and came upRnd
tut her hand in the hand Of the pastor and !
aid: please, sir, take me TO Jesus now. /
low with suoh simplicity Of experience
hat you and Join hands and seek after
christ and get an expression Of his bene-
action and his mercyi
THE TRUSTING WAY. :
You may take Christ into your conf !
ence. If you cannot trust him, whom can :,
-ou trustl l do not offer you dry, theO- q
ogical technicality. / simply ask you to !,
ONE and put both feet on the Rock Of i
ages" Take hold Of Christ's hands and I,
raw him to your soul with perfect aban- I,
onment and hurl yourself into the deep !,
ca Of his mercy. He comes and says, 81 :,
Yill save YOU" II you do not think he is :,
hypocrite and liar when he says that,
elieve him and say; Lord Jesus, be
eye; here is my heart. Wash it. Save a
!. Do it now Aye, it is done; for obey "
by promise and come. can do no more. q
hat is all thou hast asked I come. b
'hrist is mine. Pardon is mine. Heaven q
mine"
Why, my friends, you put more trust a
} everybody than You do in Christ, and in y
yerything; more trust in the bridge cross y
lg the stream, in the ladder up TO the =
1T; more trust in the stove that confines n
he FIRE; more trust in the cook that pre- y
ares your food; more trust in the clerk
lat writes your books, in the druggist y
nat makes the medicine, in the bargain - -
ial5er with whom you trade; more trust =
! all these things than in Christ, although Il
e stands this moment Offering without W
init, and without mistake, and without th
reception, universal pardon to all who W
ant it. Now, is not that cheap enough th
4 things for nothing9 til
This is the whole Of the Gospel as I up- ii,
5fstduu lU-tuhtl IL you DeAleft tuab CAAEAst nc
led to save you you are saved. Wheni de
ow. No more doubt about it than that ct
lu sit there No more about i Oh
ian that you have right hand. Nomore
1ubt about It than that there Is a God. t.
you had committed FIVE hundred thou Of
md transzressions Christ would forgive ru
ne iaaA a. freel1 Is K yoR had nsyeR eQm. t.