The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-14

1 another thong. and another thong There
is the lamp pickering In the wind, ready
] 10 be put under the brush wood of the al
] tar There is the knife. sharp and keen.
Q branam-struggllng with his mortal feel
I lngs on the one side, ana tne commands
J OF God on the Other-takes that knife. rubs
/ the fiat Of it on the palm Of his hand, cries
Z TO God for help. comes up TO the side Of
7 the altar, puts parting kiss on the brow
/ of his boy. takes a message from him FOR
] mother and home, and then, lifting the
I glittering weapon for the plunge Of the
] death-stroke-hi muscles knitting for the
Z work-the hands begins 10 descend. II
/ fallsl Not on the heart of Isaac. but on
/ nc arm ~ Coz WHO drIests tiit sliohe'
I making me wilderness quake with the
Z cry "Abrahaml Abraham. lay not thy
/ hand upon the lad, nor do him any harmi
What Is this sound back in the woods It
I is a cracking as of tree branches a bleat-
/ ing and struggle Go. Abraham, and see
I what il is Oh, II was ram that, going
I through the woods, has its crooked horns
] fastened and entangled i'm the brush wood
and could not get loose: and Abraham
SEXES il gladly, and quickly unloosens
isaac IrOm the altar, puts the ram on In
/ his place, sets the lamp under the brush
WOOD OF the altar, and as the dense smoke
I Of the sacrifice begins TO rise, the blood
rolls down the sides of the altar and drops
Kissing into the fire. and hear the words:
Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins Of the world"
Wen, what are you going to get out OF
thls2 There is an aged minister of the Cos
pei he says: I should get out Of il that
when God tells you to do a thing, whether
it seems reasonable TO you or not, go ahead
and do il. Here Abraham couldn't have
been mistaken. God didn't speak so indfs-
tinctly that 1t was not certain whether he
called Sarah, or Abimelech or somebody
else; but with divine articulation, divine
iniionatlon,. divine emphasis, he said:
Abraham! Abraham rushed blind
knowing that things would come
There is a mystery of your life. There
IS some burden you have TO carry. You
dont know why God has put il on you.
Ihere is some persecution, some trial,
and you don't know why God allows it,
Ihere Is work for you to do, and you
nave not enough grace, you think, to do
u. DO as Abraham did. Advance, and
do your whole duty. BE willing to give
up Isaac, and perhaps you will not have
IL sT o1a up W q nrgTda ehoyshjreh
THIS old minister gives us.
out yonder, in this house, is an aged
woman; the light of heaven in her face;
she IS halfway through the door; she
mas her hand on the pearl Of the gate.
Mother Mother what what would you get out of this
that it is in the last pinch that God
comes to the relief. You see the altar
was ready, and Isaac was fastened on
II, and the knife was lifted; and just at
the last moment God broke in and stop
ped proceedings. So II has been in my
life of 20 years. Why, sir, there was a
slIne when the flour was all out of the
house; and / set the table at noon and
mad nothing to put on it; but FIVE min
utes of one o'clock a loaf of bread came.
sick and / said: Dear Lord, you don't
mean to take him away from me, do you?
Please, Lord, don't take him away.
Why, there are neighbors who have three
and four sons; this is my only son; this
is my Isaac. Lord, you won't take him
away from me, will your But / saw ne
was getting worse and worse all the time;
and l turned round and prayed, until af-
ter awhile ] felt submissive, and could
say: Thy WILL O Lord be doner The
doctors gave him up, and we all gave
him up. And. as was the custom in those
times, we had made the grave clothes,
and we were whispering about the last
exercises when / looked, and ] saw some
perspiration on his brow, showing that
the fever had broken, and he spoke to us
so naturally that l knew he was going to
get well. He did get well, and my son
Isaac, whom l thought was going to be
slain and consumed of disease, was loos-
ened from that altar And bless your
souls, that's been so for seventy years;
and If my voice were not so weak and if
l could see better, could preach TO you
younger people sermon; for though /
can't see much, / can see this; when
ever you get into a tough place, and your
neart Is breaking, II you VIII look little
farther into the woods, you will see,
caught in the branches, a substitute and
a a, deliyerance; Ny son, God will provide
Thank your mother for that short ser
mon. 1 could preach back to you for a
minute or two and say, never do you
fear. wish had half as good a hope of
heaven as you have. DO not fear, moth
er; whatever happens, no harm Will ever
happen to you. / was going up a long
fight of stairs; and / saw an aged wo-
man. very decrepit and with a cane creep
ing on up. She made but very little pro-
gress. and J. felt very exuberant; and l
said to her: why, mother, that is no way
TO go up-stairs;" and l threw my arms
around her and / carried her up and put
her down on the landing at the top of the
stairs. She said: Thank you, thank you;
/ am very thankful" o mother. when
you get through this lifes work and you
want to go up stairs and rest in the good
will not have to climb up-you will not
have to crawl up painfully. The two
arms that were stretched on the Cross
will be flung around you, and you will be
WEAKNESS and all struggle. May the God of
Abraham and Isaac be with you until
you see the Lamb on the hill-tops.
Now, that aged minister has made
suggestion, and this aged woman has made
suggestion; / will make a suggestion:
Isaac going up the hill makes me think
of Abraham. Jesus the only Son of God
On those two ''onlys" l build a fearful
emphasis. o Isaaci Jesusl But this last
sacrifice was a more tremendous one
When the knife was lifted over Calvary,
there was no voice that cried "Stopr and
no hand arrested it. Sharp, keen and ire
mendous, ii cut down through nerve and
artery until the blood sprayed the faces
of the executioners, and the midday sun
dropped a veil of cloud over its face be-
cause it could not endure the spectacle.
o Isaac. of Mount Moriah O Jesus, of
Mount Calvary! Better could God have
thrown away into humiliation a thousand
| worlds than to have sacrificed his only
| Son. 1t was not one of ten sons-it was
| his only Son. If he had not given him
/ up you and 1 would have persisted. God
/ so loved the world that he gave his
! only" 1 stop there not because 1 have
! forgotten the quotation, but because I
want to think God so loved the world
| that he gave his only begotten Son. that
whatsoever believeth in him should not
/ perish, but have everlasting life.' Great
| Cod break my heart at the thought of
! that sacrifice. Isaac, the only, typical of
/ Jesus the Only.
You see Isaac going UP the hill and car
| rying the wood o Abraham, why not
| take the load off the boy? If he is going
| to die so soon, why not make his last
/ hours easy2 Abraham knew that in car
/ rying that wood up Mount Moriah Isaac
was to be a symbol of Christ carrying his
own cross up Calvary. I do not know how
| heavy that cross was-whether il was
made of oak, or acacia, or Lebanon cedar.
I suppose it may have weighed one, or
! two, OF three hundred pounds. That was
the lghtest part of the burden. All the
sins and sorrows of the world were wound
| around that cross. The heft of one, the
! heft of two worlds; earth and hell We're
/ on his shoulders. o Isaac, carrying the
! wood of sacrifice up Mount Moriah O
/ Jesus. carving the wood of sacrifice IN