Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1897-08-18

dipping his hand in the fountains of
Heaven and shaking that hand over the
world. from the tips of His fingers
dripping the great lakes and the
oceans? Why let the Roman regiment
put him TO death. when he might have
ridden down the sky followed by all
cavalry of Heaven, mounted on white
horses of eternal victory?
You can not understand Who canp
You try To confound me. L am con-
founded before You speak. Paul said
II was unSearchable. He went climb
ing up from argument To argument.
and from antithesis To. antithesis. and
from glory To glory. and then sank
down in exhaustion as he saw far above
him other heights OF divinity unscaled.
and exclaimed. that in all things he
might have the pre-eminence.
Again: Christ was wonderful in His
teaching. The people had been used to
formalities and technicalities. Christ I'M
set all their notions as to how preach
ing ought TO bc done There was this
popularity about His preaching: the
people knew what He meant His IL
luStrations were taken from the hen
calling her chickens together; from
salt, from candles. from fishing tackle.
from hard creditor collaring a debtor.
How few pulpitS would have allowed
Him entrance! He would have been
called undignifcd and familiar in
His style of preaching And vet the
people went TO hear Him. Those
old Jewish rabbits might have preached
ON the side of Olivct 80 years and never
get an audience. The philosophers
sneered at His ministrations and said:
This will never do" The lawyers car
featured, but the common people hear
Him gladly. Suppose YOU that there
were any sleepy people in His audi
ences? suppose YOU that any woman
who ever mixed bread was ignorant
OF what He meant when lie com
pared the kingdom OF Heaven with
leaven or yeast? Suppose YOU that the
sunburned fishermen. with the fish
scales upon their hands, were listless
when He spoke of the Kingdom of
Heaven as net? We spend three
years in college studying ancient
mythology. and three years in the theo-
logical seminary learning how TO make
a sermon, and then we go out TO save
the world; and if we can not do il ac-
cording TO Claude's "Sermonizing. "
or Blairs Rhetoric" or Kames'
Criticism we will let the world
GO 10 perdition. If we save nothing
else, we will save Claude and Blair.
We see wreck in sight We must
go out and save the crew and passcn-
gers. We wait until we get on our fine
cap and coat, and find our shining oars
and then we push out methodicallv and
fiRn al Ia l..
man. in rough fishing smack. and with
broken oar-lock, goes out and gets the
crew and passengers, and brings them
ashore in safety We throw down our
delicate oars and say: What a ride
nIous thing 10 save men in that way,
You ought TO have done il scientifically
and beautifully" All" saws the
shoresman. If those sufferers had
waited until you had got out your fine
boat they would have gone To- the bot
tom
The work of a religious teacher is to
save men; and though every law of
grammar Ice snapped in the under
taking, and there be nothing but
awlIwardness and laundering in the
mode. all hail TO the man who saves a
soul
Christ, in his preaching, was plain.
earnest and wonderfully sympathetic.
We can not dragoon men into Heaven.
We can not drive them in with the butt
end of catcchism. We waste our time
IN trying 10 catch flies with acids in
stead of the sweet honeycomb of the
gospel. We try TO make crab apples do
the work of pomegranates.
Again: JeSdS was wonderful in His
sorrows. The sun smote Him. and the
cold chilled Him, the rain pclted Him.
thirst parchcd Him and hunger ex-
haustcd Him. Shall / compare his Sor-
SOW to the sea? No; for that is some
times huShed into a calm. Shall | com
pare it with the night? No: for that
sometimes CLEANS with Orion, or kin
die with Aurora. If one thorn should
be thrust through your temple you
would faint. But here is a whole crown
made from the Rhamnus or Spina
Christi-s small, sharp. singing thorns
The mob makes a cross. They put
down the long beam and on it they fas-
ten a shorter beam Got him at last
Those hands that have been
doing kindnesses and wiping away
tears. Shear the hammer driv-
iiE Aiit SPIKES through them.
Those feet. that have been going about
on ministrations Of mercy battered
against the cross, then they lift IL up.
Look. look, look, Who will helm Him
now? Come. men Of Jerusalem
whose dead He brought TO life: We
whose sick He healed; who will help
Him. Who will seize the weapons Of
the soldiers? None TO help. Having
carried such a cross for rs shall we re-
fuse 60 take our cross for Him?
Shall Jesus bear the cross alone
And an the world 20 free
No. there's a cross for every one
And there, cross for me.
You know the process Of Migrating.
You bore hole into tree. and put i'm
the branch Of another tree. This tree
OF the cross was hard and rough. but
into holes where the nails went there
have been grated branches Of the Tree
Of Life that nov bear fruit for all ma
tions. The original tree was bitter.
but the branches ingraftcd were sweet.
and now all the nations pluck the fruit
and live forever
Again: Christ was wonderful in Ills
victories
First Over the force. 81 nature. The
sea is q crystal scpulchcr. II swallow
Il d.