The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1896-03-19
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BIZ THk
NOTED DIVINE
Subject. "Gathering Around Christ"

! TEXT: unto Him shall the gathering Of tn
people be. Genesis Xix, 10.
Through supernatural lens, or what
might call prophescope, dying Jacob look
down through the corridors of the centufie
until he sees Christ the center of all popula
attraction and the greatest beingin oil thu
world, so everywhere acknowledged. 1t wa
not always so. The world tried hard to pu
Him down and to pet Him out. In the yea
1900. while excavatipg for antiquities fifty
three miles northeast OF Rome.a copper plate
tablet was found containing the death war.
rant of the Lord Jesus Christ. reading in thi:
| wise:
I'm the year II OF the empire Of Tiberiu.
| Caesar, and on the 25th of March, l, Pontiut
PLATE, governor of the Pretore, condemn
| Jesus of Nazareth to die between two thieves
| place of execution"
The death warrant was signed by Several
names. First, by Daniel, rabbi Pharisee;
secondly, by Johannes, rabbi; thirdly. by
Raphael; fourthly, by Capet, a private citi-
zen. This capital punishment was executed
according 10 law. The name OF the thief
crucified on the right hand side OF Christ
was Dismas. The name OF the thief cruel
fled on the left hand side of Christ was Ges-
tus. Pontius PLATE describing the tragedy
says the whole world lighted candles
from noon until night. Thirty-three years
OF maltreatment. A wall Of the city, built
ABOUT those times and recently exposed by
psychologists, shows caricature of Jesus
Christ, evidencing the contempt in which He
was held by many in His day, that caricature
on the wall representing a cross and dom
key nailed to it. and under It the inscription,
This is the Christ whom the people wor-
ship" But rcjoce that that day i5 gone
by. Our Christ is coming out from under
the world abuse. The most popular name
on earth to-day is tho name OF Christ Where
He had one friend Christ has a thousand
friends The scoffers have become the wor-
shippers. or the twenty most celebrated in
fdelsi in Great Britain in our day sixteen have
come back to Christ, trying to undo the
blatant mischief Of their lives - six
teen out OF the twenty. Every man
who writes letter or signs a doc
ument. Willingly or unwittingiy, honors
Jesus Christ. We date everything as B. C.
or A. D.-B. c., before Christ; A. D., Ammo
Domini, in the year of our Lord. All the
ages OF history on the pivot of the upright
beam OF the cross of the Son of God, B. G.,
A. D. l do not care what you call Him
whether Conqueror or King or Morning Star
or Sun of righteousness or Balm of Gilead
or Lebanon Cedar or Brother or Friend or
take the name used in the verse from which
take my text and call Him Shilo, which
means His Son, or the Tranquilator, or the
Peacemaker, Shiloh. l only want to tell
you that "unto Him shall the gathering OF
the people be-
In the first place, the people are gathered
around Christ for pardon, No sensible man
or healthfully ambitious man is satisfied
with his past life. A fool NAV think he is all
right. sensible man knows he is not, 1
do not care who the thoughtful man Is the
review Of his lifetime behavior before God
and man gives to him no especial satisfac-
hasg 1855 49,
many things | have done l ought not to
have done; there have been so many things
nave said ought never to have said: there
nave been so many things 1 have written I
ought never to have written; there have been
SO many things Ihave thought 1 ought never
to have thought! 1 must somehow get
f bnHe f,. 1 1eadj j. must Ts somehow
mn ne q, Phil which cry out against
NTH, J.J. @.- Is 1 f5s,fa | sstw
Saal R Il. MillerA Mr..
.'e"'1 -. ,.a..oy ooii,eru,rites At. lie
does not erase the record of our misdoing
with a dash of ink from registers pen, out
lifting His right han1 crushed, red at the
palm He puts it against His bleeding brow
and then against His pierced side, and with
the crimson accumulation of TALL those wounds
He ru5s out the accusatory chapter. He
blots out our iniqulties, Oh. never be anxious
about the future; better be anxious about
the past! 1 put it not at the end OF my SER
mon: must put it at the front-mercy and
pardon through Shiloh. the sin pardon1ng
Christ. Unto Him shall the gathering OF
the people be-" sob" says some man. II
have for forty years been as bad asI could
be. and is there any mercy for me?"
Mercy for you. "Ob," says some
one here, 81 had grand ancestry,
the hottest of fathers and the tenderest OF
not GERS. and for my perfdy there is no ex-
cuse. Do you think there is any mercy for
me?" Mercy for you. but" says another
man. II fear I have committed what they
call the objectionable sin, and the Bible
saws il a man commit that sin he is neither
TO be forgiven in this world nor the world to
CONF Do YOU think there is any mercy for
me-" The fact that you have any solicitude
about the matter at all proves positively
that YOU have not committed the unpardon-
able sin. Mercy for you? Oh, the grace OF
God which bringeth salvation!
The grace of God. Let US take the sur
veyor's chain and try to measure Gods
| mercy through Jesus Christ. Let one sur
| veyor take that chain and go to the north
aud another surveyor take that chain and &C
| to the south and another surveyor take thai
| chain and go TO the east. and another sur
veyor take that chain aud go to the west
and then make report of the square mile
you will have to wait to all eternity for tn,
report of that measurement. 1t cannot b.
measured. Paul tried to climb the height o
| it. and he went height over height, altitud
above altitude. mountain above mountain
then sank down in Encouragement and CAV
it up, for he saw Sierra Nevadas beyond an
Matterhorns beyond and waving his hand
back TO US in the plains he says, "PaSt find
ing out; unsearchabe. that in all things b
might have the pre-eminence You motto
that nearly all the sinners mentioned as par
doned in the Bible were great sinners-Davi
a great sinner, Paul a great sinner
Rahab great sinner, Magdalene
great sinner. the prodigal son grea
sinner. The world easily understood HOY
Christ could pardon half and half sinner
but what the world wants to be persuaded c
is that Christ will forgive the worst sinner
the hardest sinner, the oldest sinner, the mos
nexcusable sinner. To the sin pardonin
Shiloh let all the gathering of the people be
But, l remark again, the people wi
gather around Christ as sympathizer. or
we all want sympathy / hear people tai
as though they were Independent Of il
None OF US could live without sympathy
When parts of our family are away, hoy
lonely the house seems until they all &C
home! But, alas, for those who never com
home. Sometimes it seems as IL it must
impossible. What, will their feet neve
again come over the threshold? Will the
never again sit with us at the table? Wi
they never again kneel with US at famil
prayer? Shall we never again look int
their sunny faces? Shall we never agai
| on earth take counsel with theI