Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-08-14
A SUBLIME SACRIFICE
HOW CHRIST PURCHASED OUR DE-
LIveRANcE ON CALVARY.

lenge,n the text being Romans viii, 81:
"Whols he that condemneth' 1t Is Christ
that died, yea. rather that is risen again,
who Is even ut the righS hand OF God,
who also maketh intercessiou for us"
"This Is the last sermon ! shall ever
preach" said Christmas Evans on the 18th
Of June, 1855 Three days aiterward he ex-
pircd. ] do not know whit his text was,
but know that no man could choose q
better thome-thouGh he knew il was the
Inst time he should ever prcach-than the
subject found ia this text.
Paul flung this challenge Of the text TO
tho feet IT all ecclesiastical and civil au-
thority. lie feared ncitherswords nor lions,
earth nor hell Dioclotian slew uncounted
thousands under his administration, and
the world has been full Of persecution; but
all the persecutors Of the world could not
alright Paul. Was it because he was phys
ically strong' oh, no / suppose he was
very much weak ened by exposure and NAL.
treatment Was It because he was lacking
IN scnsltiycuessf No: you find the most
delicate shades Of feeling playing in and
out his letters and sermons. Some Of his
communications burst into tears. What
was II that liited Paul into this triumphant
mood The thought Of Saviour dcod,
Saviour risen, a Saviour exalted, aSaviour
intercedlug.
SUBLIME SACRIFICE.
All the world has sung the praise of Prln-
cess Alice One child having died OF a con-
tagous disease-she WIS in the room where
another WAS dying, and the court physician
said to her, You must not breathe the
breath of this child or you yourself will
die" But seeing the child mourning be-
cause OF the death OF her brother the moth
er stopped down and in sympathy kissed
the little one, caught the disease and per
ishcd All the world sang the heroism and
the self sacrifice OF Princess Alice, but |
have to tell you that when our race was dy-
ing the Lord Jesus stopped down and gave
Us the kiss Of his everlasting love and per
ishcd that we might live. ut is Christ
that died"
Can you tell me how tender hearted Paul
could find anything to rejoice at In the hor'
rblc death fcene OF Calvuryl We weep ut
funerals; we aru sympathetic when we sec
a stranger die when ii murderer steps up
on the scadOld we pray for his departing
spirit, and how could PRul-the Rruat
hearted pHul-lnd anything to be pleased
with at the funeral Of God? Besides that,
Christ had only recently died and the sor.
row was fresh in the memory Of the world,
aud how In the fresh memory Of Il Saviour's
death could Paul he exultant'
It was because Paul saw in that death
his own delyerance md the deliverance Of
race from still worse disaster. lie saw
the gap into which the race must plunge,
and he saw the bleeding hands of Christ
close it, The glittering steel on the top Of
the cxccutioncrs spear in his sight liindled
prosecutors saw over the cross five words
written IN Hebrew, Crock and Latin; but
Paul saw over the cross Of Christ only one
word-"o1piation" He heard in the dy-
ing groau Of Christ his own groan OF eter
nal torture taken by another Paul said
to himself Had Il not been that Christ
volunteered In my behalf, those would
have been my mnued hands and feet, my
gashed side, ray crimson temples"
TilE BURDEN or CIlHIsr
Men Of great physical endurance have
sometimes carried very heavy burdcns--3OJ
pounds, 400 pounda-and they have still
said, My strength ia not yet tested Put
on more weigh" But after awhile they
wero compelled to cry OUT stop. can
oairy no more" But the burden Of Christ
wns illimitablc. First, there was his own
burden Of hunger md thirst ind berenye-
mcnt and n thousand outrngcs that have
been heaped upon him. and on top Of that
burden were the sorrowB Of his poor old
mother, aud On the top OF thuse burdens the
crimes u the ruiiigns who vera executing
him.
"Stopn YOU cry. ut is enough. Christ
can bear no more.n And Christ says, Roll
on more buIdrns. Roll on me the sins of
this entire nation, Hnd after that roll on me
the sins Of the Inhabited earth, and thun
tOll on me the sins Of the 500 years past,
so i3s tls tliosp sins have been forgiven
Aud the angels OF God, seeing tho awful
pressure, cry; "stopl He can bear no more"
And the blood rushing to the nostrl md
lip seems TO cry out; "Enough lie can en-
durC 10 more" But Christ says, roll on
q ggeatvr hurdcn-roll OF the sins of the
next 1900 NCars roll on me the sins of all
the succpctiup ages; roll on NE the Agonies
Of he'll, ugcs on Cges, tho furnaces and the
prison. houses and the fortunes" That is
what the Bible means when it says, "ilr
bore our Gins and carried our sorrows.n
Now says Paul, II am free. Tlut suf
fedur purchased my delvcraucc. God nov
or collects dvot twice have n receipt IN
fun /, God tx satisfied vita me, then
what 10 all the threats Ot earth anil hell
amount toy Bring on all your witnesses,
says Paul. SHOW all your force. DO your
worst against my soul. defy you. darr
you, challenge YOU. Who IA he that
coudemncth9 1t Is Christ that died" Oh
what strong argument that puts in the
hand Of every Christian mani Some day
all the past sins of his life come down on
him IN lery troop, and they pound away
at the gate OF his soul, and they say; I've
hAye come FOR your arrest, Any one OF us
could overcome you. We are 1900 strong
Surrenderw Aud you open tho door aud
single handed aud alone You contend
against that troop, You fling this divin,
weapon into their midst You soatt.i
those sins as quick as you can think It,
ut is Christ that died" Why then bring
up to Us the sins OF our past lifei Whai
have we 10 do with those obsolete things
You know how hard IL Is fora wreckcr Il
hiring up anything that is lost near tn,
shotd OF the sen, but suppose something b,
lost hHli way between Liverpool and New
York. IL cannot be found, II cannot b,
fetched up, Now" says God, "your sin,
have cast into the depths OF the sea-
| Mid-Atlantiol All the machinery eve
fashioned in tounlries OF darkness, aut
launchci from thu doors OF eternal death
working for lO,u0J years, cannot bring VI
one OF our sins forgiven and forgotten ane
sunkcn into the depths Of the sea. When !
Tin Is pnrdoned, II Is gone--it Is gone out o
the books, Il ia gone out OF the memory, 4
| Is zone out OF existence w-31oir Elm, an,