Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-10-25
It il. Oh. it was a ram that, going through
a. - - ;+z orookad horns faetnnnd

| puts the ram on his place, SETS THO ramp un-
der the brushwood Of the altar, and as the
dense smoke Of the sacrifice Degns 10 rise
fine 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"'
Well. what are you going to get out OF
this2 There is an aged minister OF the Cos
mel. He saws: II should get out OF 1t that
when God tells you to do thing, whether it
seems reasonable to you or not go ahead
and do it. Here Abraham couldn't have
been mistaken. God didn't speak so lndistlnct-
| lv that il was not certain whether ne called
Sarah or Abimelech or somebody else, but
with divine articulation. divine intonation
divine emphasis, he said, ABRAHAM: Aora-
ham rushed blindly ahead TO 90 MS outy,
| knowing that thincs would come OUT rlgnt'
| Likewise do so yourselves. There is mys'
ferv Of your life. There is s )me burden you
have to carry. You don't know why God
has put it on you. There Is some persecu-
tion some trial, and you don't know why
God allows it. There is work for you TO
/ do, and YOU have not enough grace, you
| think, to do it. Do as Abraham did Ad-
vance and do your whole duty. Be willing
to give up Isaac, and perhaps you will not
have to give up anything. 'Jehovah-jlreh
] ~the Lord will provide" A capital lesson
| this old minister gives ue.
Out yonder in this house is an aged
woman, the light OF heaven in her face. She
| is half way through the door. She has her
hand on the pearl of the gate. Mother, whaf
| would you get out of this subject? ooh"
| she says. "I would learn that it is in the last
| pinch that God comes to the RELIEF. You see.
| the altar was ready, and Isaac was fastened
| on if, and the knife was lifted. and just at
| the last moment God broke in and stopped
| proceed ings. SO it has been in my life OF
| seventy years. Why, sir, there was a time
| when the flour was all out OF the house, and
| / set the table at noon and had nothing 10
| put on ii, but five minutes OF o'clock Loaf
| of bread came. The Lord will provide. Ny
| son was very sick. and said: Dear Lord,
YOU don't mean to take him away from
| 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 You?
| But saw he was getting worse and worse
| all the time, and turned round and prayed.
until after awhile felt submissive, and
could say, Thy will, D Lord be doneP The
doctors gave him up, and we all gave him
up Aud. as was the custom in those times.
we had made the grave clothes, and we were
! whispering about the last exercises, when L
| looked and l saw some perspiration on his
brow, showing that the fever had broken,
and he spoke to us so naturally that knew
he was going to get well. He did get well,
| and my son Isaac, whom 1 thought was go
| ing to be slain and consumed of disease. WAS
| loosened from that altar. And, bless your
| souls, that's been so for seventy years, and
| if my voice were not go weak, and If could
| see better, l could preach to you younger
| people sermon, for though Icantsee much
| / can see this-whenever you get into
tough place and your heart is breaking, II
you will look little farther into the woods,
you will see; caught in the branches. sub
stitute and deliverance. My son. GOD will
provide Himself alamb.
Thank YOU. mother, for that short sermon.
| / could preach back to you for a minute or
two and say; never do you fearl wish had
! half as good hope of heaven as you have.
| Do not fear, mother Whatever happens, no
harm will ever happen to you. was going
I'D q long flight of stairs and l saw an aged
woman, very decrepit and with a cane,
creeping on up. She made but very little
| progress, and 1 felt very exuberant, ard
said to her, "Why, mother, that is no way to
20 upstairs" and 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. l am very
| thankful" o mother, when you get through
| this lifes work and you want to go upstairs
and rest in the good place that God has pro-
vided for you, you will not have to climb up,
you will not have to crawl up painfully. The
| two arms that were stretched on the cross
will bo flung around you, and you will be
hoisted with glorious lift beyond all weari-
ness and all struggle. May the God OF Abra-
! ham and Isaac be with you until you see the
J Lamb on the hilltops.
| Now, that aged minister has made a sug-
| gestion, and this aged woman has made
suggestion. will make suggestion: Isaac
going up the hill makes me think OF the
| great sacrifice Isaac, the only son OF Abra-
ham. Jesus, the only son of God. On those
two "onlys'' build a fearful emphasis. 0
Isaac! o Jesus! But this last sacrifice was
more tremendous one. When the knife
was lifted over Calvary there was no voice
that cried "Stop' and no hand arrested it.
Sharp, keen and tremendous it cut down
| through nerve and artery until the blood
| SPRAYED the faces of the executioners, and
| the midday sun dropped veil OF cloud over
| its face because it could not endure the
spectacle. o Isaac Of Mount MOriah! o
! Jesus of Mount Calvary! Better could God
have thrown away into annihilation thou
| sand worlds than to have sacrificed His only
Son. 1t was not one OF the ten sons; IL was
| His only Son. If He had not given uD Him,
YOU and | would have persisted. "God 50
| loved the world that He gave His only" L
stop there not because 1 have forgotten the
| quotation, but because | want 10 think.
| tGod SO loved the world that He gave His
| onlv begotrol Son that whatsoever belevcth
in Him should not perish, but have everlast-
ing life." Great God, 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 carry
ing the wood. o Abraham, why not take
the load off the boy2 If he is going to die so
soon, why not make his last hours ,y?
| Abraham knew that in carrying that wood
up Mount Moriah Isaac was to b. Il symbol
of Christ carrying his own cross up Calvary.
| do not know how heavy that cross was
whether it was made Of oak or acacia or L..
| banon cedar. supposed may have wejghe J
100 or 200 or 500 pounds. That was the light
est part of the burden. All the sins and sor-
rows of the world were wound around that
cross The heft Of one, the he}t OF two
worlds-earth and hell were on His shou-
ders. 0 Isaac. carrying the wood OF sacrific3
up Monnt Moriah! o Jesus, carrying tho
wood of sacrifice up Mount Calvary th9
hgonies of earth and he'll wrapped around
that cross I shall never sea the heavy load
on Isaacs back that [ shall not think OF ths
crushing load on Christ's back. For whom
that load? For you. For you. For me.
| For me. Would that all the tears that we
have ever wept over our sorrows had been
saved until this morning, and that we might
| now pour them out on the lacerated back
| and feet and heart OF the Son of God.
| You say: "If this young man was twenty
| or thirty years of age, way did not he resist?
Why was it not Isaac binding Abraham, in
stead Of Abraham binding Isaac? The mus.
| Gle in Isaacs arm was stronger than the
muscle in Abraham's withered arm. No
| young man twenty-five years OF age would