The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-09-26

nearC, OF lIdt ddJ NHeli' III '
pass; he met the wayfarer and regard esq
Of the cries and prayers and tears md
struggles of his victim he flung the ran
gled corpse into the dust OF the highway
or heaped upon it the stones. lie says;
"I am a guilcy wretch; deserve tlls;
There is no need of my cursing. Ihat Tll.
not etop the pain. There is no need OF
blaspheming Christ, for He has done ~ ne
no wrong, and yet cannot die SO. Inc
tortures Of my body are undone ny tne
tortures of my soul. The past Is scene
of misdoing. The present q cruc'h[xS,on [Sc
The future an everlasting unaU'ngK ,n Kiss v rnv
cheek with one bright ray OF comfort:
What, no help from above-no help from
beneath? Then I must turn to my com com
panion in sorrow, the One on the MID
die cross. | have heard that He knows
how to he'll, a man when he is in trouOte.
I have heard that He can cure the wounSa-
ed. have heard that He can pardon tlie
sinner. Surely, in all His wanderIngs up
and dowr the earth He never say oGg
more in need Of His forgiveness; besseu
One! I turp 20 Thee! Wilt Thou T turn
pangs to pity me? Lord, it is not to have
my hands relieved or my feet taken IRON
the torture. / can stand all this, but, on,
my sins, my sins, my sins, they pierce mg
through and through. They tell me l
must die forever. They will push me opt
into the darkness unless Thou wilt help
me. confess it all. Hear the cry OF the
dying thief, Lord, remember me wRen
Thou CONTEST into Thy kingdom, ask
no great things. l seek for no throne IN
heaven, no chariot to take me, to the
skies. but lust thi-k of me when this days
horrors have passed. Think of me little
of me, the one now hanging, at Thy SIDE
when the shout of heavenly welcomes
takes Thee back into Thy glory. ,ThoiH
wilt not forget me, wilt Thou? LORD
remember" me when Thou comest lnt0
Thy kingdom Only just remember me"
Likewise .aust we repent, You say, Il!
have stolen nothing" B reply: We have,
all been guilty of the .mightiest felony OF
the universe. for we have robbed God,
robbed Him of our time, robbed Him OF
our talent, robbed~Him of our services,
Suppose you send man out as an agent
of your firm and every month you pay
him his salary ald at the end of ten years
you find out ttnAt he has been serving an,
other but taking y,ur salary, would
est? God sent ttfs int this world to serve
Him. He has given us wages all the time.
Yet how many of us have been serving
another master! When a man is con-
victed of treason he is brought out; a
regiment surrounds him and the command
is given: Attention, company! Take
aim? Firew And the man falls with
hundred bullets through his heart, There
comes time in mans history when the
Lord calls up the troop OF his inquitles,
and at Gods command they pour into
him concentrated volley Of torture.
You say, II don't feel myself to be a
sinner That may be. Walk, along by
the cliffs, and you see sunlight. ard flow.
era at the mouth of the cave, but take
torch and 20 in, and before you have gone
far YOU see the flashing eye of wild beast
or. hear the hiss of serpent. 80 the
heart seems in the sunlight of worldliness,
but ais I wave the torch of Gods truth
and 90 down into the dep cavern OF the
heart-alas, for the bristling horrors and
the rafting fangs! Have you ever no
ticed the climax in this passage of Scrip
ture, "The heart is deceitful." That
seems enough. But the passage goes :on
and says, "Phe heart is deceitful above all
things" Will you not say that is enough!
But the passage goes on further ana says,
"The heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked: II 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
sinner, a sinner. / speak not to the per-
son who sits next to you, but to you. You
are a sinner. All the transgressions OF
lifetime have been gathered up into an
avalanche. At any moment it 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-
pentance is possible.
To this middle cross look, that your
souls may live. ! showed you the right
hand cross in order that you might see
what an wful thing it is to be unbellev-
ing. I showed you the left hand cross
that you might see what it is to repent;
Won NAV 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 ,clung to 1t
in the fire and Christians dying quietly
in their beds have 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 strong grip on that you perish.
Oh, that might engrave on your souls
ineffaceably the three crosses, so that II
in your wakingt moments you Will not
heed, then in your dreams at night you
may see on the hill back of Jerusalem the
three spectacles - the right hand cross
the the Iefs 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 tt ,se wounds plead for
thy heart. I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Rivers cannot quench 1t
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
becomes a throne, and the worn tace OF
Calvary will become radiant with glad
ness, and instead Of the mad mob at the
foot of the cross will be a worshipful null
ttude, kneeling. And you and l 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, life, .death--eyery-
thing. We are slaves; Christ give; de!iv-
erance to the captive sare thirsty;
Christ is the river of salvation to s!ake
our thirst. We are hungry. Jesus says,
II am the bread of life" We are con.
demned to die; Christ says, Save that
man from going down to the pit; am the
ransom" We are tossed on the. sea OF
trouble; Jesus comes over it,. saying, 1T
is I; be not afraid" We are in darkness;
Jesus says, II am the bright and morning
star" We are sick; Jesus is the balm
of G;lead"
We are dead; hear the shrouds rend
and the grave hillocks heave, as lie cries,
II am the resurrection ana the, lite; ne
that beleveth in Me, Though ne :.;r were