The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1901-04-11

go up in the tower of Antwerp and look
off upon Belgium, so Satan brought
Christ to the top of the temple: Some
people at great height feel dizzy and a
strange disposition, to jump. so Satan
comes to Christ iii that very crisis. Stand
ing there at the top of the temple, they
look off, A magnificent reach of country.
Grainfeds, vineyards, olive groves, for
ests and streams, cattle in the valley,
ffocis on the hills and villages and cities
and realms. Now" says Satan, I'm
make a bargain. Just Jump off [ know
it Is great way from the top of the TEN.
pie to the valley but if you are divine
you can fly. Jump off. 1t won't hurt
you. Angels will catch you. Your Father
will hold you. Besides. III make you a
large present if you will I'll give you
Asia Minor. III give you China, III
give you Ethiopia, III give You Italy, III
give you Spain, I'll give you Germany, I'll
give, you Britain, I'll give you all the
world What a temptation it must
have been!
But I bless God that in the triumph
over temptation Christ gives us the as
surance that we also shall triumph. Hav-
ing Himself been tempted, He is able to
succor all those who are tempted.
In a violent storm at sea the mate told
boy-for the rigging had become entan-
gled in the mast-to go up and right it.
A gentleman standing on the deck said
Don't send that bow up. He will be
dashed to death" The mate said. 81
know what | am about" The boy raised
his hat in recognition Of the order and
then rose hand over hand and went tc
work. And as he swung in the storm the
passengers wrung their hands and ex
pected to see him fall. The work DONE
he came down in safety, and Christian
man said to him. why did you go down
in the forecastle before you went up"
l., CoiA fhn how +n
pray. Ny mother always taught me, be-
fore [ undertook anything great to pray
What is that you have in your vest"
ooh that is the New Testament" he
said. II thought I would carry it with
me if really did go overheard" How
well the boy was protected!
l care not how great the height or how
vast the depth, with Christ within us
and Christ beneath us and Christ above
lis and Christ all around us, nothing can
befal us in the way of harm. Christ Him
self having been in the tempest will de-
liver all those who put their trust in Him
Blessed be His glorious name forever.
Further | remark, the last great install
ment paid for our redemption was the de-
mise of Christ. The world has seen many
dark days. Many summers ago there
was a very dark day when the sun was
eclipsed. The fowl at MONDAY went to
their perch, and we felt gloom as we
lOOhtu dL blie dSGIDlOulltdI WOHueE. IL
was a dark dav in london when the
plague was at its height and the dead
with uncovered faces were taken in open
cars and dumped in the trenches. It was
dark dav when the earth opened and
Lisbon sank, but the darkest day since
the creation of the world was when the
carnage of Calvary was enacted.
1t was about noon when the curtain be-
gan to be drawn. 1t was noC the coming
on of night that soefhes and refreshes:
It was the swinging OF a great gloom all
around the heavens. God hung it. AS
when there is a dead one in the house you
bow the shutters or turn the lattice, so
God in the afternoon shut the windows
of the world. As it is appropriate to
throw black pail upon the coffin as it
passes along. so 1t was appropriate that
everything should be sombre that day
as the great hearse of the earth rolled
on bearing the corpse of the King. A
mans last hours are ordinarily kept
sacred. However you may have hated or
earicatured a man, when you hear he is
dying silence puts its hand on your lips,
and you would have a loathng for the
man who could stand by a deathbed max.
ing faces and SOOTHING. But Christ in His
last hour cannot be left alone. What!
Pursuing Him yet after so long a pursuit
you want to drink His blood? They come
up closely. so that notwithstanding the
darkness they can glut their revenge
with the contortions of His countenance.
They examine His feet; they want to feel
for themselves whether those feet are
and touch the spikes and bring them
back wet with blood and wipe them on
their garments.
Women stand there and weep, but can
do no good 1t is no place for the ten
der-hearted women. 1t wants a heart
that crime has turned into granite. The
waves of mans hatred and of helPs ven
geance dash up against the mangled feet,
and the hands of sin and pain and torture
clutch for His holy heart. Had He not
been thoroughly fastened to the cross
they would have torn Him down and tram
pied Him with both feet. How the cav:
airy horses arched their necks and
snutfed at the blood Had a Roman
officer called out for a light his voice
would not have been heard in the tumult
but louder than the clash of spears, and
the wailing of womanhood, and the neigh
ing of the chargers, and the believing of
the crucifiers there comes voice crash
ing through-loud, clear, overwhelming,
Son Of God! Look What a scene! Look,
world, at what you have done!
[ lift the covering from the maltreated
Christ to let you count the wounds and
estimate the cost On, when the nails
went through Christ's right hand and
through Chrst's left hand. that bought
both your hands with all their power to
work and lift and write. When the nails
went through Christ's right foot and
Christ's left foot, that bought your feet,
with all their power to walk or run or
climb. When the thorn went into
Christ's temple, that bought your brain,
with all its power to think and plan.
When the spear cleft Christ's side, that
bought your heart, with all its power
to love and repent and pray
When the Atlantic cable was lost in
1865, do you remember that the Great
Eastern and the Midway and the Al
bany went out to find it? Thirty times
they sank the grapnel two and half
miles deep in water After awhile they
found the cable and brought it to the
surface. No sooner had it been brought
to the surface than they lifted shout
of exultation, but the cable slipped back
again into the water and was lost. Then
for two weeks more they swept the sea
with the graphing hooks, and at last they
found the cable, and they brought it up
in silence. They fastened it this time
Then with great excitement they took
one end OF the cable to the eleetrician's