The Bossier banner., 1894-10-18

dent1alS and certificates OF good char
acter, but can not trust them. There
is some dishonesty in their looks that
makes me know that shall be cheat
ed if | confide in them. You can not
put your hearts confidence in a man
until you know what stuff he is made
to ask you who is this that you want
me to trust in? No man would think of
venturing his life on vessel going out
to sea that had never been inspected.
No, you must have the certificate
hung amidship, telling how many tons
it carries, and how long ago it was
built, and who built it, and all about
it. And you can not expect me to risk
the cargo of my immortal interests on
board any craft till you tell me what it
is made of, and where it was made, and
what it is.
When, then, ask you who this is
you want me to trust in, you tell me
He is a very attractive person. Con-
temporary writer's describe His whole
appearance as being resplendent.
There. was no need for Christ to tell the
children to come to Him. Suffer lit
tie children to come unto me-" was not
spoke to the children; it was spoken to
the disciples. The children came
readily enough without any invitation.
No sooner did Jesus appear than the
little ones jumped from their mothers
arms, an avalanche of beauty and
love, into His lap. Christ did not ask
John to put His head down on His
bosom; John could not help but
put His head there. I suppose a
look at Christ was just to love Him.
How attractive His manner! Why,
when they saw Christ coming along the
street, they ran into their houses, and
they wrapped up their invalids. as
quickly as they could, and brought
them out that He might look at them.
Oh, there was something SO pleasant,
so inviting, so cheering in everything
He did, in His very look. When these
sick ones were brought out did He say:
''Do not bring before Me these sores;
| do not trouble Me with these leprosies?'
| No, no; there was kind look, there
was gentle word, there was ahealing
touch. They could not keep away
| from Him.
| In addition to this softness of char
acter there was fiery momentum.
How the kings of the earth turned
pale. Here is a plain man, with a few
sailors at his back, coming off the sea
of Galilee, going up to the palace of the
Caesars, making tnat palace shake tC
the foundations, and uttering a word
of mercy and kindness which throbs
through all the earth, and through all
the heavens, and through all ages.
Oh, He was a loving Christ But il
was not efiminacy or insipidity Of
character; it was accompanied with
majesty, infinite and omn1potent. Lest
the world should not realize His
earnestness, this Christ mounts the
| cross. H
You say: ''If Christ was to die, why
not let Him take some deadly potion
and lie on couch in some bright anC
beautiful home? If He must die, lei
Him expire amid all kindly attentions.
No. the world must hear the hammer
on the heads of the spikes. The world
luuSU IlSGGll W btlC dOb1C II OAi'
sufferer. The world must feel Hi
warm blood dropping on each cheek
while it looks up into the face of Hi
anguish And so the cross must b.
lifted, and a hole is dug on the top o
4 Calvary.
1t must be dug three feet deep, AM
then the cross is laid on the ground
and the sufferer is stretched upon ii
and the nails are, pounded through
nerve and muscle and bone, through
the right hand, through the left ham
and then they shake His right hand t
sec if it is fast, and they heave up tn
wood, half a dozen shoulders under tn
J weight, and they put the end of th
cross to the mouth of the hole, an
| they plunge it in, all the weight c
, His body coming down for the frs
| time on the spikes: and while som
hold the cross upright, others throw
j the dirt and trample it down, an
5 trample it hard.
' Oh, plant that tree well and tho
5 oughly, for it is to bear such fruit as Il
: other tree ever bore. Why did Chris
S endure it? He could have taken thos
: rocks, and with them crushed His err
S offers. He could have reached up an
grasped the sword of the Omnipote1
q God, and with one clean cut have tRu
e bled them into perdition. But no; I
e was to die. He must die. His life fl
t your life. In a Europeon city a your
man died on the scaffold for the erin
S of murder Some time after, the mot
4 er of this young man was dying. al
) the priest came in, and 81
), made confession to the prie
# that she was the murderer, al
a not her son; in a moment
S anger she had struck her hu
It band blow that slew him. The 81
it came suddenly into the room, and w
e washing away the wounds and tryil
% to resuscitate his father, when som
t, one looked through the window al
saw him, and supposed him to be t
t. criminal. That young man died !
20 his own mother. You say: 1T W
n wonderful thathe never exposed hel
1t But tell you of a grander thir
1t Christ, the Son of God. died not for
lr mother, not for His father, but for T
ne sworn enemies. Oh, such Christ