The Penn's Grove record., 1900-09-14
PENN,s GROVE, N. J., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER "A, 1900.

Dc1OFS tueul, 80 i buppUSc III OAS ukOluCnv
the dying malefactor thought over all his
past life-of that night when he went
into an unguarded door and took AZ the
silver, the gold, the jewels, and az the
sleeper stirred he put q knife through his
heart; Of that day when, in the lonely
pass. he met the wayfarer and regardless
of the cries and prayers and tears and
struggles of his victim he flung tie man
gled corpse into the dust Of the highway
or heaped upon it the stones. He says:
II am a guiiey wretch; I deserve This;
There is no need of my cursing. That will
not stop the pain. There is no need OF
blasnheming Christ, for He has done me
fortunes Of my body are undone by the
fortunes Of my soul. The past is q scene
of misdoing. The present a crucifixion.
The future an everlasting undoing. Come
back, thou hiding midday sun Kiss n
cheek with one bright ray Of )ort.
What, no help from aboye-no he
beneath? Then / must turn to
panion in sorrow, the One on
die cross. l have heard that
how to help a man when he is !
I have heard that He can cure
ed. / have heard that He can
sinner. Surely, in all His wan
and dowr the earth He nevei
more in need of His forgiveness
One! I turn 20 Thee! Wilt
for the moment away from
pangs to pity me? Lord, it is nj
my hands relieved or my feet ia
the torture. / can stand all this
my sins, my sins, my sins. they
through and through. They
must die forever. They will puS
into the darkness unless Thou
me. / confess it all. Hear the
dying thief, Lord, remember
Thou contest into Thy kingdom
no great things. l seek for no
heaven, no chariot to take n
skies, but just thi-k of me when
horrors have passed. Think of
of me, the one now hanging a
when the shout of heavenly
takes Thee back into Thy gid
wilt not forget me, wilt Thod
remember me when Thou CD
Thy kingdom Only just rene
Likewise must we repent. Y
have stolen nothing" l reply:
all been guilty of the mighties
the universe, for we have rob
robbed Him of our time, robh
our talent, robbed Him of our
Suppose you send a man out a
of your firm and every mont
him his salary, and at the end 0
you find out that he has been
other firm, but taking your sail
you not at once condemn him
est? God sent us into this wo1
Him. He has given us wages a
Yet how many Of us have b
another master! When a N
victed of treason he is brou
regiment surrounds him and tt ~
is given: Attention, compa Take
hundred bullets through his heArt. There
comes a time in a mans history when the
Lord calls up the troop of his %iniquities,
and at Gods command they pour into
him a concentrated volley Of torture.
You say, II don't feel myself to be a
sinner That may be. Walk, along by
ers at the mouth of the cave, but take a
torch and go in, and before you have gone
far you see the flashing eye of a wild beast
or hear the hiss of a serpent. So the
heart seems in the sunlight Of worldliness,
but as I wave the torch of Gods truth
and go down into the dep cavern of the
heart-alas, for the b~ristling horrors and
ticed the climax in this passage of Scrip
ture, "The heart is deceitful." That
seems enough. But the passage goes on
and says, 'sThe heart is 4deceitsl above all
things" Will you not say that is enough?
But the passage goes on further and says,
and desperately wicked" If we could
see the true condition of the unpardoned
before God, what wringing of hands there
would be! What thousand voiced shrek
Of duplication and despair! But you are
a sinner, a sinner. [ speak not to the per-
son who sits next to you, but to you. You
are a sinner. All the transgyessions of a
lifetime have been gathered 1tup into an
avalanche. At any moment lit may slip
from the cliffs and crush you forever.
May the Lord Almighty, by His grace,
help us to repent Of our sins while re-
p~entance is possible.
To this middle cross look, that your
souls may live. / showed you the right
hand cross in order that you might see
ing. / showed you the left hand cross
that you might see what it is to repent.
Now I show you the middle cross that
you may see what Christ has done to save
your soul. Poets have sung it's praise,
sculptors have attempted to commemor-
ate it in marble, martyrs have chung to it
in the fire and Christians dying quietly !
in their beds nave leaned their heads
against it.
This ..our may all our souls embrace it
with an ecstasy of affection. Lay hold of
that cross. Everything else will fail you.
Without a strong grip on that you perish.
Oh, that ! might engrave on your souls
inefaceably the three crosses, SO that if
in your waking moments you will not
may see on the hill back of Jerusalem the
three spectacles = the right hand cross
showing unbelief, dying without Christ;
the left hand showing what it is to be
pardoned, while the central cross pours
upon your soul the sunburst Of heaven as
It says: by al tb .se wounds plead for
thy heart. I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Rivers cannot quench it
Floods cannot drown it"
And while you look, the right hand
cross will fade out of sight, and then the
left will be gone, and nothing will remain
but the middle cross, and even that in
your dream will begin to change until it
Calvary will become radiant with glad
ness, and instead of the mad mob at the
foot of the cross will be a worshipful null
titude, kneeling. And you and | will be
among them.
But, no; we will not wait for such .
dream. In this our most aroused mood
we throw down at the foot of that mid
die cross sin, sorrow, lite, d~eath--eyery-
erance to the captive. We are thirsty;
Christ is the river of salvation to slake
our thirst. We are hungry; Jesus says,
II am the bread Of life.n We are con-
demned to die; Christ says, fFSave that
man from going down to the pit; | I'm the
ransom" We are tossed On the sea Of
is I; be not afraid" We are in darkness;
Jesus says, IT am the bright and morning
| of G:lead."
We are dead; hear the shrouds rend
| and the grave hillocks heave, as He cries,
IT am the resurrection and the life; be
that believeth in Me-, though he were
dead, yet. shall he live we want justid.
have peace with Tod through our Lord
Jesus Christ" We want 70 exercise
faith; Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ