The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-09-21

over thy face thy veil of darkness.
Tell me, We lepers who were cleansed,
We dead who were raised, is he the
Son Of God? Aye. aye, responds the
universe. The flowers breathe It;
the stars chime it; h redeemed cell
citrate it; the angels rise on their
thrones to announce it. And yet on
that miserable m~alefactoris if how
many shall be wrecked for all eter-
nityi That little IF > has enough
venom in it's sting to cause the death
of thesoul. No 'if' about il. I know
ii. Ecce Deus. / feel it thoroughly
through every muscle of the body, and
through every faculty Of my o
Living, I will preach. it, dying, / viii
pillow my head upon its consultations
Jesus the God
Away, then, from this right hand
cross. The red berries of the forest
are apt to be poisonous, and around
this tree of carnage TOW the red,
poisonous berries of which many have
tasted and died / can see no use for
this right HAND cross, except It be used
as a lever with which to upturn the
unbelief Of the world.
THE PENITENT MALEFACTOR.
Here from the right hand cross !
go to the left hand cross. Pass clear
to the other side. That victim also
twists himself Upon the nails to look
at the center cross. yet not to scott.
1t is to worship. He, too, would like
to get his hand loose, not to smite, but
to deliver h sufferer OF the middle
cross. He cries to the railer cursing
on he other side: Silence, Between
us is innocence in agony. We suffer
for our crimes. Silencei' Gather
round this left hand cross o we peo-
pie. Be not afraid. Bitter herbs are
sometimes a tonic for the body, and
the bitter aloes that grow on this tree
shall give strength and life to thy soul
This left hand cross is a repenting
cross. AS men who have been nearly
drowned tell us that in one moment,
while they were under the water, their
whole passed before them, so 1 sup
pose in one moment the dying male
factor thought over all his past life
of thai night when he went into an
unguarded door and took all the sill
yer, the gold, the jewels, and as the
sleeper stirred he put a knife through
his heart; of that day when, in the
lonely pass, he met the wayfarer,
and, regardless of the cries and pray
ers and tears n struggles of his vic
tim, he flung the mangled corpse INTO
the lust of the highway or heaped
upon it the stones.
He says: Il am a guilty wretch. I
/ deserve this. There is no neef1 of my
cursing. That will not stop the pain.
There is no need of disappearing Christ
for he has done me no wrong And
yet 1 cannot die so. The tortures or
my body are undone by the fortunes
of my soul. he past is a scene Of
misdoing, the present a crucifiXion, the
future an everlasting uCooing. Come
back, thou hiding midday sun! Kiss
my cheek with one bright ray IF COM
fort. What, no help from above-no
help from beneath? Then I must
turn to my companion in sorrow, the
| Ono on the mi661p cross have heard
that he knows how to help a man
when he is in trouble. L have heard
that he a cure h wounded. have
heard that he a pardon the sinner.
Surely in all his wanderings up n
down the earth he never saw n
more in need of his forgiveness.
Blessed One, I turn to thee. Wilt
thou turn for the moment way from
thy own pangs to pity me-? Lord, 1T
is not to have my hands relieved or
my feet taken from the torture-I cap
stand all this-but, oh, my sins, my
sins, my sins! They pierce me through
and through. They tell me I must die
forever. They will push me out into
the darkness unless thou wilt help me.
I confess it all. Hear the cry Of the
dying thief, Lord, remember me when
thou contest into thy kingdom I
ask no great things. 1 seek for no
throne in heaven, no chariot to take
me to the skies, but just think of me
when his days horrors have passed.
Think of me a little-of me. the one
now hanging ait thy side, when the
shout Of heavenly welcome takes thee
back into thy glory. Thou wilt NOT
forget me, wilt thou? Lord, remem-
Der me when thou contest into thy
kingdom Only just remember me-"
Likewise must we epent You say,
81 have stolen nothing" I reply,
1--WE have all been guilty of the might
lest 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 a
man out as an agent Of your firm,
and every month you pay him a sal
airy, and at the end of ten years you
find out that he has been serving an
other firm, but taking your salary.
would you not at once condemn him
as dishonest? God sent Is into this
world to serve him. He has given Us
wages all the time. Yet how many of
US ave been serving another master
When a man is convicted of reason,
he is brought out; a regiment sur
rounds him, and the command is given
Attention, company! Take aim!
Firel" And the man falls with a
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.
TRUE CONDITION OF THE UN-
PARDONED.
You say, 81 don't feel myself to be
a sinner" That may be. Walk along
by the cliffs, and you see sunlight and
flowers at the mout of the a 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 serpeant. So the heart seems in the
sunlight of worldliness. But as I wave
the torch Of Gods truth and go down
into the deep cavern Of the heart, alas,
for the bristling horrors and the rat
Ting fangs! Have you ever noticed
the climax of this passage of Scrip
ture: THE les is deceitful." That
seems enough. But the passage goes
on and says, 1.-THE heart Is deceitful
above all things" Will YOU not SAL
that is enough? But the passage goes
on further and says, 'The heart is de-
ceitful above all things and desper-
ately wicked" If we could see the
true condition OF the u~npardoned be-
| fore SJOd. what urinci10 ~ honda