The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-10-18

pared 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 be flung
around you, and you will be hoisted
with glorious lift beyond all weari-
and all struggle.
Now, that aged minister has made
suggestion, and this aged woman has
made suggestion; will make sug-
gestion: Isaac going up the hill makes
me think of the great sacrifice. Isaac,
the only son of Abraham. Jesus, the
only Son of God. On those two ''onlys"
1 build a fearful emphasis. o lsaacl
o Jesus. But this last sacrifice was
more tremendous one. When the knife
was lifted over Calvary, there was o
voice that cried stop and no hand
arrested it Sharp keen and tremen-
dous, 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 a
thousand worlds, than to have sacri-
feed His only Son. It was not one of
ten sons-it was His only Son. If he
had not given up Him, you and would
have persisted. God SO loved the world
that He gave His only" | stop there,
not because | have forgotten the quo
tation, but because | want to think.
God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whatsoever
believed in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting 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
carrying 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 easy? Abraham knew that
in carrying that wood UP Mount Mo-
riah, Isaac was to be symbol of Christ
carrying his own cross up Calvary. l
do not know how heavy that cross was
whether it was made of oak, or aca-
kcia, or Lebanon cedar suppose it may
have weighed one, or two, or three
hundred pounds That was the light
est 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
were on his shoulders. o Isaac, carry
ing the wood of sacrifice up Mount
Moriah. o Jesus carrying the wood of
~, Mount "a no aunDiaS
of earth and hell wrapped around that
cross l shall never see the heavy
load on Isaac's back, that l shall not
think of the crushing load on Christs
back. For whom that load? For you.
For you. For me. For me.
You say: IF this young man was 30
or 30 years of age why did he not re-
sist? Why was it not Isaac binding
Abraham, instead of Abraham binding
Isaac? The muscle in Isaac's arm was
stronger than the muscle in Abra-
hams withered arm. No young man
% years of age would submit to have
his father fasten him to pile of wood
with intention of burning" Isaac was
a willing sacrifice, and so a type of
Christ, who willingly came to save the
world. If all the armies of Heaven
had resolved to force Christ out from
the gate, they could not have done it.
Christ was equal with God. If any of
the battalions of glory had armed
themselves and resolved to put Christ
forth and make Him come out and save
the world. they could not have sue
ceeded in it. With one stroke He would
have toppled over angelic and arch
angelic dominion.
But there was one thing that the
Omnipotent Christ could not stand.
Our sorrows mastered Him. He could
not bear to see the world without an
offer of pardon and help, and if all
Heaven had armed itself to keep Him
back, if the gates of life had been
bolted and double barred, Christ would
have flung the everlasting doors from
their hinges and would have sprung
forth. scattering the hindering hosts
of Heaven like chaff before the whirl-
wind, as He cried: 10. 1 come to suf-
fer. Loi | come to die" Christ-a
willing sacrifice. Willing to take
Bethlehem humiliation, and Sanhedrim
outrage and whipping post maltreat-
ment, and Golgotha butchery. Will
ing to be bound. Willing to suffer.
Willing to die. Willing to save.
How does this affect you? Do not
your very best impulses bound out to-
ward this pain-struck Christ? Get
down at His feet, o We people. Put
your lips against the wound on His
right foot and help kiss away the pang.
Wipe the foam from His dying lips.
Get under the cross until you feel the
baptism of His rushing tears. Take
Him into your heart with warmest
love and undying enthusiasm. By
your resiStances you have abused Him
long enough. Christ is willing to save
you. Are you willing to be saved? 1t
seems to me as if this moment were
throbbing with the invitations of an
all-compassiOnate God.
l have been told that the cathedral
of St. Marks stands in a quarter in
the center of the city of Venice and
that when the clock strikes y at noon,
all the birds from the city and the re-
gions round about the city fly to the
square and settle down. 1t came in
this wise: A large hearted woman,
passing one MONDAY across the square,
saw some birds shivering in the cold,
and she scattered some crumbs
of bread among them. The next
day. at the same hour. she scat
tered more crumbs of bread
among them, and so on from year
to year. until the day of her death. In
her will she bequeathed a certain
amount of money to keep up the same
practice. and now, at the first stroke