The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-08-16


and call it nectar When sin murdered
Christ on the cross it showed what it would
do with the Lord God Almighty if it could
get at Him. The prophet had declared
think it was Jeremiah-had declared cen
turtles before, the truth, but not until sin
shot out it's forked tongue at the crucitix-
ion and tossed its sting into the soul of a
martyred Jesus was it illustrated, that
''the heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked"
Again: ut bchoovcd Christ to suffer"
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 hung the art
galleries of the world with such pictures as
Ghrand'Gs Morsh f c of the H Mng
Hunts Christ in the Temple Tintorets
agony in the Garden" Angeles "Cruci-
fxion,' and it has called out Handcl's
Messiah" and rung sweetest chimes in
Young's might Thoughts" and filled the
psalmody of the world with the pentential
tian triumph. Show me any other king
who has many subjects. What is the
most potent name today in the United
States, in France, in England, i'll Scotland
in Ireland? Jesus. Other kings have had
many subjects, but where is the king who
has so many admiring subjects as Christ?
Show me a regiment of Il thousand men in
their army, and | will show you a bat
TALON of ten thousand men in Christ's
army.
Show me in history where one man has
given his property and his life for any one
else. and i will show you in history hun
drcds and thousands OF men who have
chcerfully died that Christ might reign.
Aye, there are a hundred men in this house
who, if need were, would step ont and die
for Jesus. Their faith may now seem to
be faint, and sometimes they may be in-
consistent; but let the fires of martyrdom
ba kindlcd, throw them into the pit cover
them with poisonous serpents, pound them,
fail them, crush them, and | will tell you
what their last cry would be: Come, Lord
Jesus, come quicklyw
oh, yes! the Lord Jesus has won the af
fections of many of us: There are some
of us who can say this morning, Lord
Jesus, my light and my song; my hope for
time, my expectation for eternity" AL
together lovely Thou art My soul is raw
ishesl with the vision. Thou art mine.
Come, let me clasp Thee. Come life, come
death, come scOrn and pain, come whirl
wind and darkness, Lord Jesus, / cannot
give Thee up. | have heard Thy voice. l
have seen Thy bleeding side. Lord Jesus,
if had some garland plucked from heaven
ly gardens / would wreathe it for Thy
brow. If l had some gem worthy of the
place, / would set in Thy crown. If I
had seraphic harp, l would strike it in
Thy praise. But I come lost and ruined
and undone, to throw myself at Thy feet.
No price I bring;
Simply to Thy cross l cling
Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest
that | lo,e Thee.
But l remark again: at behooved Christ
to suffer- that the world might learn how
to suffer. Sometimes people suffer because
they cannot help, themselves; but Christ
had in His hands aikxthe weapons to punish
His enemies, and yet@ip quiescence lie
endured all outrage. He might have hurled
the rocks of Golgotha upon His pursucrs,
He might have cleft the earth until it swal-
lowed up His asSailants; He might have
called in reinforcement or taken any thun-
derbolt from the armory of God Omnipo-
tent, and hurled it seething and fiery among
His foes: but He answered not again.
o nv nearer! has there ever been in the
history of the world such an example OF
enduring patience as we find in the cross !!
Some of you suffer physical distresses,
some of you have lifelong ailments, and
they make you fretful. Sometimes you
| think that God has given you n cup too
deep and too trimming. Sometimes yrt
see the world laughing and romping on the
highways of life, and you look out OF the
window while seated in invalids chair.
/ want to show you this morning One
who had worse pains i'll the head than
you have ever had, whose back was
scourged. who was wounded in the hands
and wounded in the feet, and suffered all
| over; and ] want that example to make
TO make you say, Father, not my will
but Thine be done" You never have had
any bodily pain, and you will never have
any bodily pain that equalcd Christs tor
ture ut behooved Christ to suffer" that
He might show you how physically to
suffer.
Some of you are prosecuted. There are
those who hate you. They criticise you.
They would be glad to see you stumble and
fall. They have done unaccountable mean
t,NlE nd limos Fool
angry. You feel if you would like to
retort Stop Look at the closed lips. look
at the still hand, look at the beautiful de-
meanor of your Lord. Struck not strik-
ing back again. Oh. if you could only APP
preciate what He endured in the way of
persecution, you never would complain of
persecution. The words Of Christ would
be your words: Father, if it be possible
let this cup pass from me; but if not, Thy
will be done" 1T behooved Christ to suf-
fer persecution. that He might show you
how to endure persecution.
Some of you are bereft. 1t is no random
remark, because there is hardly n family
here that has not passed under the shadow
You have been bereft Your house is
different place from what it used to be-
The same furniture, the same books, the
same pictures, but there has been voice
hushed there The face that used to light
up the whole dwelling has vanished. The
pattering of the other feet does not break up
the loneliness. The wave has gone over
your SOUL and You have sometimes thought
what You would tell him when he comes
back; but then the thought has flashed
upon you, he will never come back! All!
my brother. my sis:er, Christ has sounded
all that depth Jesus of the bereft soul is
here today. Behold Him. He knows
what it is to weep ut the tomb. 1t seems
to me if all the storms of the worlds
sorrow were compressed into one sob, and
that sob were uttered in two words: Jesus
wcpt."
| close my sermon with doxology:
blessing. and glory. and HONOR and power,
be unto Him that stitch upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb, forever. Amen, and
amen!'