Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-10-18

you younger people o sermon; Tor
though l can't see much, can see this:
! whenever you get into tough place.
and your heart is breaking, IL you will
, look little farther into the woods,
you will see, caught in the branches. q
substitute and deliverance. My son.
God will provide himself lamb"
Thank you. mother, for that short
sermon. l could preach back to you
| for minute or two and say, never do
| you fear. / wish / had half as good
hope of heaven as you have. Do not
! fear, mother; whatever happens, no
harm will ever happen to you. I was
| going up long flight of stairs; and I
saw an aged woman, very decrepit, and
with cane, creeping on up. She made
! but very little progress, and felt very
! exuberant; and / said to her: why.
mother, that is no way to go upstairs"
and threw my arms around her and I
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 lfe's work and you
want to go upstairs and rest in the
good place that God has provided 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 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 a
suggestion, and this aged woman has
made a suggestion: / will make a 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"
l build fearful emphasis. o Isaac!
o Jesus! But this last sacrifice was a
most tremendous one. When the knife
| WIS lifted over Calvary, there was no
voice that cried Stop" and no hand
| arrested it. Sharp, keen, and tlemen-
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 it's
| 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 an
Inhalation 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 up him, you
and I would have persisted. God SO
| loved the world that he gave his only
-" / stop there, not because / have
| forgotten the quotation, but because
/ l want to think. God so loved the
world that he gave His only begotten
| Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting
life" Great God! break my heart at
| the thought of that sacgifice. 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? II he is
! going to die so soon, why not make his
last hours easy? Abraham knew that
in carrying that wood up Mount Moriah,
| Isaac was to be a 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 Lebanon cedar / suppose t may
have weighed one, or two, or three hum
dred pounds. That was the lightest
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 Mo-
riah. 0 Jesus, carrying the wood OF
sacrifice up Mount Calvary, the agonies
OF earth and hell wrapped around that
cross. | shall never see the heavy load
on Isaac's back, that l shall not think
of the 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 did not he
resist? Why was it not Isaac binding
Abraham instead of Abraham binding
Isaac? The muscle in Isaac's arm was
stronger than the muscle in Abrahams
withered arm. No young man twenty
five years of age would submit to have
his father fasten him to pile Of wood
with intention of burning" Isaac was
willing sacrifice. and so a type OF
Christ who willingly came to save the
world. II all the armies of heaven had
resolved to force Christ out from the
gate, they could not have done 1t.
Christ was equal with God. II all the
battalions Of glory had armed them
selves and resolved to put Christ forth
and make him come out and save this
world. they could not have succeeded
in it. With one stroke he would have
toppled over angelic and archangelic
dominion.
/ 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 twelve at noon,