Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-01-11
He declares. Their sins and their In
EQUITIES will remember no more"
Convincing Proof.

CONVINCING Proof.
Do you-<ant more proof that God Is
lover Yea, disintereStcd love. No
compensation for its bestowal. No re-
ward for its sacrifices. But call that
back. The world did pay him. Ii paid
him on Calvary, paid him with bram-
bles on the brow and four spikes. two
Tor the hands and two for the feet. and
one spear for the side near the heart:
paid him In execration. paid him with
straw pillow In a barn and cross on n
hill, paid him with third of n century
OF maltreatment and hardship save one
year-yea, is paying him yet in rejec-
ton OF his mission of mercy. Having
dethroned other kings. the world would
Ike to dethrope the King of kings But
he knew what he was coming to when
he left the portals of pearl and the land
where the sun never goes down. Yes:
he knew the world, how cold It Is. and
knew pain, bow sharp 1t is, and the
night, how dark IL is, and expiation.
how excruciating II is Out OF vast
eternity he looked forward and saw
Pilates criminal courtroom and the
rocky bluff with three crosses and the
lacerated body in mortuary surround
ings and heard the thunders toll AT the
funeral OF heavens favorite and under
stood that the palaces of eternity
would hear the sorrow of a bereft God.
What do the Bible and the church lit
urgies mean when they say, HE de-
scended into hell?" They mean that
his soul left his sacred body for awhile
aud went down into the prison of
moral night and swung back its great
door and lifted the chain of captivity
and felt the awful lash that would
have come down on the worlds back
md wept the tears of an eternal sacri-
fee and took the bolt of divine indig-
nation against sin into himself and.
having vanquished death and hell.
came out and came up. having achiev-
ed an eternal rescue IL we will accent
1t. Read it slowly, read II solemrlv.
read It with tears, "He descended into
hell" He knew what kind of pay be
would get for exchanging celestial
splendor for Bethlehem caravansary.
and he dared all and came the most IL.
lustrious example in all the ages Of dis
interested love.
Yea. 1t was most expensive lore.
1here is much human love that cssts
nothing, nothing of fatigue. nothing of
money. nothing OF sacrifice. nothing OF
humiliation. But the most expensive
movement that the heavens ever mnde
was this expedition salvatory. IT cost
the life of King. 1t put the throne OF
God In bereavement. 1t set the uni
verse aghast. 1t made omnipotence
weep and bleed and shudder. 1t taxed
the resources of the richest of all en-
pires. 1t meant angelic forces detailed
10 light forces demoniac. 1t nut three
worlds into sharp collision-one world
TO save, another to resist and another
TO destroy. 1t charged on the spears
ana rang with the battlcaxcs OF human
and diabolic hate. Had the expedition
or love been defeated the throne of God
would have fallen, and satan would
nave mounted into supremacy. and sin
would have forever triumphed. and
mercy would have been forever dead
The tears and blood of the martyr of
the heavens were only part OF the IN
Unite expense to which the Godhead
went when 1t proposed to save the
world.
Now, the only fair thing for human
hearts to do is to echo back that sover- |
eign love. You and 1 have stood i'm |
mountainous regions where. uttcrlnr
one distinct word, the echoes would
come back with resonance startling |
and captivating, and from all our
hearts there should sound unto the |
heavens responses glorious and long
continued. Let the world change its
style OF payment for heavenly love. No |
more payment by lances. by hammers.
no more payment by blows OH tho
check and scourging on the back and
hooting of mobs, but payment I'm ardors
or soul, In true surrender OF heart and
love to the God that made us and the
Christ who ransomed us and the Etcr-
nal Spirit who by regeneratinC power
makes us all over again.
beyond Comparison.
Alexander the Great, with his host.
was marching on Jerusalem 20 CAPTURE
ana plumber ii. The Inhabitants came
out clothed In white. led on by the high
priest. wearing n inter and glitterinc
Dreastplate on which was emblazoned
the name OF God, and Alexander. see
Ing that word, bowed and halted his
army, and the city was saved. And IL
we had the love OF God written I'm all
our hearts and on all our lives and ON
all our banners at the sight OF Il the
hosts or temptation would fan back.
ana we would so on from victory unto
victory until we stand in Zion and be-
fore God.
Leander swan across the Hellespont
oh n t,l. ~ |
heiu from one OF her tower windows.
ana what Tablespoons of earthly strug.
gle can we not breast as long as we can
see the torch of divine love held ont
from the tower windows OF the Kinpi
Let love OF God TO us and our love 70
Tod clasp hands this minute. O ye dis
and distressed souls who roam
he world over looking for happiness
ma nnding none, why not try this love
't COO as q solace and Inspiration and
'ternai satisfaction? When king was I
'rossing desert In caravan, no water ,
vas to he found, and man and beast
we're perishing from thirst. Along the !
way there were strewn the bones OF :
caravans that had preceded. There I
we're harts or reindeer in the kings ,
recession, and some one knew their
,een scent for water and cried out.
Let loose the harris or reindeer" II
vas done. and no sooner were these c
FEATURES ioosened than they went sour. I
ying In all directions looking for wa. i
er and soon found 1t. and the king and I
is caravan were saved. and the king I
Frote on some tablets the words, which G
e had read some time before. 'As the I
art panteth after the water brooks SO +
anteth my soul after thee, o God" Il
some have compared the love of God =
the ocean, but the comparison fails,
or the ocean has n shore, and Gods
we Is boundiess. But if you insist on
omparing the love of God to the ocean &
Ut on that ocean four swift sailing b
raft and let one sail to the north and G
ne to the south and ono IN tha aas. | +