The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-09-20
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
DISCOURSE BY THE EMINENT DI
VINE LAST SUNDAY
Subject Lessons to Be Learned From the
Three Crosses-On Right Unbelief ana
Remorse, on Left Penitence and Con-
tent, in the Centre Everlasting Love.

this discourse. which DR.. Talmage sends
from the quaint Bavarian town, but the
| theme which inspired the painters awak.
ems in the great preacher thoughts OF
| the redemption of the human race, winch
was the supreme design of that scene OF
xiii, SO, "There they crucified Him and
the maefactors, one on the right hand
and the other on the left :,
| Just outside of Jerusalem is a swell OF
ground, toward which a crowd are ascend
ing, for it is the day of execution. What
mighty assemblage. Some for curiosity
| to hear what the Indicators will say and
to see how they will act The three per
sons to be executed are already there;
| Some of the spectators are vile of lip and
bloated of cheek. Some look up with re
venge, hardly able to keep their hands
off the sufferers Some tear their own
hair in a frenzy of grief. Some stand IN
silent horror Some break out into un-
comfortable weeping. Some clap their
hands in delight that the offenders are to
be punished at last The soldiers with
drawn swords drive back the mob. which
| presses on so hard. There is fear that the
| proceedings may be Interrupted. Let the
| legion. now stationed at Jerusalem. on
horseback, dash along the line and force
back the surging multitude Back, with
you" is the cry. "Have you never before
seen a man die?'
| Three crosses in a rowan upright
| piece and two transverse pieces one at
| the top, on which the hands are nailed,
and one at the middle, on which the vic
! tim sat. Three trees just planted. yet
| bearing fruit-the one at the right bear
| ing poison and the one at the left bitter
aloes; the one in the middle. apples OF
love. Norway pine and tropical orange
and Lebanon cedar would not make so
strange grove as this orchard OF Cal
vary. Stand back and give look at the
| three crosses.
Just look at the cross on the right. It's
victim dies soothing More awful than his
of Him on the middle cross This wretched
man turns half around on the spikes to
hiss at the One in the middle If the scot
| fer could get one hand loose, and he were
within reach, he would smite the middle
sufferer in the face. He hates Him with
a perfect hatred. 1 think he wishes he
were down on the ground that he might
with their nails have nailed Him fast
| Amid the settling darkness and louder
| than the crash of the rocks hear him jeer
out these words: "Ah, you poor wretch!
| knew you were an imposter! You pre-
tended to be God. and yet you let these
| legions master you" 1t was in some such
| hate that Voltaire in his death hour, be-
cause lie thought he saw Christ in his bed
room, got up on his elbow and cried out,
| Crush that wretch" What had the
| middle cross done to arouse up this right
hand cross? Nothing. Oh, the enmity
of the natural heart against Christ! The
world likes a sentimental Christ or a phi
lanthropic Christ, but Christ who comes
to snatch men away from their sins-away
with Him! On this right hand cross to-
day l see typiied the unbelief of the
world. Men say: Back with Him from
the heart 1 will not let Him take my
sins If He will die. let Him die for Him
self, not for me-" There has always been
a war between this right hand cross and
| an unbelieving heart, there the fight goes
| on. Oh, if when that dying malefactor
| perished the faithlessness of man had
persisted, then that tree which yields poi
son would have budded and blossomed
with life for all the world.
| Look up into that disturbed counte
| nance of the sufferer and see what a
CHASTITY thing it is to reject Christ. Be.
hold In that awful face, in that pitiful
| look, in that unblessed death hour, the
stings of that sinners departure. What
a plunge into darkness Standing high
| upon the cross on the top of the hill, so
that all the world may look at him, he
says, Here ! go out of a miserable life
into a wretched eternity" One, two,
three! Listen to the crash of the fall, all
we ages! So Hobbies, dying after he had
seventy years in which to prepare for
eternity. said, "Were l master of all the
world | would give it all to live one day
longer" Sir Francis Newport, lowering
over the brink, cried out: wretch that
am, whittier shall 1 fly from this breast?
| What will become of me? Oh, that l
We're to lie upon the fire that never is
| quenched a thousand years, to purchase
| the favor of God and to be reconciled to
| Him again! Oh, eternity; oh, eternity,
Who can discover the abyss Of eternity?
| Who can paraphrase these words, For
| ever and forever"
That right hand cross-thousands have
| persisted on it in worse agonies. For
| what is physical pain compared to re-
morse at the last, that life has been
wasted and only heeting moment stands
| between the soul and its everlasting over
| throw? o God, let me die anywhere
rather than at the foot of that right hand
| cross! Let not one drop of that blood
fall upon my cheek. Rend not my ear
! with that cry, | see it now as never be-
| fore-the loathsomeness and horror Of my
unbelef That dying malefactor was not
so much to blame as /. Christianity was
not established, and perhaps not until
| that day had that man heard the Christ
| years, working the wonders of His grace
| That right hand cross, with its long
beam, overshadows all the earth. 1t is
| planted in the heart of the race. When
will the time come when the spirit of God
| shall, with its ak, hew down that right
| hand cross until it shall fall at the foot of
| that middle cross and unbelief, the rail
ing malefactor of the world, shall perish
| from all our hearts? Away from me, thou
spirit of unbelief! l hate thee, With
this sword of God thrust thee back and
thrust thee through! Down to hell!
| Down, most accursed monster of the
earth, and talk to those thou hast already
| damned! Talk no longer to these sons of
| God, these heirs of heaven
"If Thou be the Son of Cod" Was
there any "if' about it? Tell me, thou
star, that in robe of light did run to
point out His birthplace Tell me. thou
sea, that didst put thy hand over thy lip
| when He babe thee be still Tell me, We
| dead, who got up to see Him die Tell me,
| thou sun in mid heaven, who for Him
| didst pull down over thy face the veil of
| darkness. Tell me, we lepers who were
aleansed, We dead who were raised, is He
the Son of God? Aye, aye! responds the
universe The flowers breathe it; the
stars chime it; the redeemed celebrate it
| tha annals riSa IN thaiy fbrOoas 70 On