The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-09-08

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acter, but ! can not trust them. There
is some dishonesty in their looks that
makes me know that shall he cheat
ed if ! conGdc in them. You can not
put your hearts confidence i'm "a man
until you know what stuff he is made
of, and am | unreasonable when ! stop
to ask Won who is ;hi~ that you want
me to trust in? No man would think of
venturing his life on a vessel going out
to sea that had never been inspected.
No, You must have the certificate
hung amidship, telling how many tons
1T carries, and how long ago it vas
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 il is.
When, then, 1 ask you who this is
you want mc to trust in. you tell me
He is a very attractive person. Con-
temporary writer's describe His whole
appearance as being rcsplendcnt.
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 one 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. | suppose n
look ut 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 ps they could. and brought
them ont hat lie might look Mt them.
Oh, there was something so pleasant,
so inviting. so cheering in everything
He did. in His very look. When these
sick one were brought ont did lie say:
"Do not bring before Me these sores.
do not trouble Me with these leprosics?'
No, no; there was n kind look, there
was a gentle word, there was n healing
touch. They could not keep away
from Him.
In addition to this softncss of char
actcr there was a fiery momentum.
How the kings of the earth turned
pale. Here is n plain man, with a few
sailors at his back, coming off the sea
of Galilcc, going up To the palace of the
CAESARS, making that palace shake to
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.
nh Ita NruS - l,rinr Ghrigt Ut,l II
was not efiiminacy or insipidity of
character; it was accompanied with
majesty, infinite and omnIpotcnt. Lest
the world should not realize His
earnestness, this Christ mounts the
cross.
You say: "If Christ was to die, why
not let Him take some deadly potion
and lie on Il couch in some bright and
beautiful home? II lie must die, let
Him expire amid all kindly attentions
No, the world must hear the hammers
on the heads of the spikes. The world
must listen to the death-rattlc IF the
sufferer. The world must feel His
warm blood dropping on each check,
while it looks up into the face of His
anguish. And so the cross must he
lifted, and n hole is dug on the top of
Calvary.
1t must be dug three feet deep. and
then the cross is laid on the ground,
and the sufferer is stretched upon it,
and the nails are pounded through
nerve and muscle and bone, through
the right hand, through the left hand
and then they shake His right hand to
see if it is fast, and they hcave up the
wood. half u dozen shoulders under the
weight, and they put the end of the
cross to the mouth of the hole. and
they plunge it in, all the weight OF
His body coming down for the first
time on the spikes; and while some
hold the cross upright, others throw in
the dirt and traInple it down, and
trampic il hard.
Oh, plant hat tree we'll and thor.
oughly, for it is to bear such fruit as M
other tree ever bore. Why did Christ
endure it? He could have taken those
rocks, and with them crushed His cru.
offers. lie could have reached up and
Graspcd the sword of the Omnipotcnt
God, and with one clean cut have tum
bled them into perdition. But no; He
was to die. lie must die. His life for
your life. In a Europeon city n young
man died on the scaffold for the crime
of murder. Some time after, the moth.
err of this young man was dying, and
the priest came in, and she
made confession to the priest
that she was the murderer, and
not her son; in a moment of
anger she had struck her hus.
band a blow That slew him. The sor