Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-04-05

have been!
But t 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 violent storm at sea the mate told
boy-for the rigging had become entan'
gled IN, the mast-to 60 up and right It.
a gentleman standing on the deck said
Don't send that boy up. He will Dc
dashed to death" The mate said, I
know what am about" The boy raised
his hat in recognition of the order and
then rose hand over hand and went to
work. And as he swung in the storm the
passengers wrung their hands and eX'
pected to see him fall. The work done,
ne came down in safety, and Christian
man said to him. "Why did you 60 dowm,
in the forecastle before you went up!
"Ah!" said the boy, II went down to
fore / undertook anything great to pray,
"0h, that is the New Testament" he
said. II thought would carry it with
me if | really did go overheard How
well the boy was protected!
/ care not how great the height or how
vast the depth, with Christ within us
and Christ beneath us and Christ above
us 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 l 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 very dark day when the sun was
eclipsed The fowl at MONDAY went to
their perch, and we felt a. gloom as we
looked at the astronomical wonder. Ii
was dark day 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. 1t was
a dark day 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 not the coming
on of night that soothes and refreshes,;
it was the swinging of a great gloom all
around the heavens. God hang it. As
when there is 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 a black pail upon the coffin as it
passes along, SO it 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
caricatured man, when you hear he is
dying silence puts its hand on your lips.
and you would have a loathing for the
,.oon ,,,bo could efoo1 h,, daafhbod n, l.,
ing faces and scofing. But Christ in His
last hour cannot be left alone. What!
Pursuing Him yet after so long pursuit
You have been drinking His tears. Dc
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
really spiked; they put out their hands
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 hell's 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
they would have torn Him down and tram
airy horses arched their necks and
champed their bits and reared and
snuffed 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 cruci6ers there comes a voice crash
ing through-loud, clear, overwhelming,
terrific. It is the groaning of the dying
Son of God! Look! What a scene! Look,
world, at what you have done!
/ lift the covering from the maltreatedi
Christ to let you count the wounds and
estimate the cost. Oh, when the. nails
went through Christ's right hand and
through Christ's let hanl, that bought
work and lift and write. When the nails
went through Christ's right foot and
Chrst's left foot, that bought your feet,
with all their power 70 walk or run or
climb. When the thorn went into
Uhrist's temple, thai 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 a half
miles deep in water. After awhile they
found the cable and brought it to the
surface. No sooner had it been brought
l. L. taI eh4 ,,f
of exultation, but the cable slipped back
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 electricians
room to see if there were really any life
in it, and; when they saw a spark and
knew that message could be sent, then
every hat was lifted, and the rockets flew,
and the guns sounded until all the YES
sells on the expedition knew, and the con-
tinents were dashed together. Well, my
friends, Sabbath after Sabbath gospel
have come searching down for
your souls. We have swept the sea with
the graphing hook. of Christ's gospel.
Again and again we have thought that you
were at the surface, and we began to
rejoice over your redemption, but at the
moment of our gladness you sank back
again into the world and back again into
sin. To-day we come with the gospel
searching for your soul. We apply the
cross of Christ first to see whether there
is any life left in you, while all around the
people stand, looking to see whether the
work will be done, and the angels Of God
bend down and witness, and, oh, if now
we could see only one spark of love and
hope and faith we would send up a shout
that would be heard on the battlements
of heaven, and two worlds would keep
Jubilee because communication is open be-
tween Christ and the soul and your ma
ture that has been sunken in sin has
been lifted into the light and the Joy of
the gospel.