Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-04-06


ing. Of course they were at home
asleep. Consequently Christ entered
the courtroom with the rutfians.
Worlds Best Friend.
Oh, look at-hIm. No one to speak 6
word for him. lift the lantern unit
can look into his face. and as my
heart beats in sympathy for this tht
best friend the world ever had, himself
now utterly fricndlcss. an officer Of the
courtroom comes up and smites him
in the mouth, and | see the blood steal
ing from gum and lip. Oh, 1t was 9
| farce OF a trial. lasting only perhaps
an hour. AMI then the judge rises fol
sentence. Stopl II is against the law
| to give sentence unless there has beer
an adjournment Of the court between
condemnation and sentence. But what
cares the Judge for the law? "The mar
has no friends Let him die" says the
! Judge. And the rulIians outside the
rail cry: "Aha. aha! That's what we
want Pass him out here to us! Away
with him. Away with him"
Oh. | bless God that amid all the in
justice that may have been inflicted
upon us in this world we have divine
sympathizer! The world cannot lie
about you nor abuse you as much as
they did Christ. and Jesus stands today
in every courtroom. in every house, In
every store. and says: Courage! BY
all my hours of maltreatment and
abuse will protect those who are
trampled upon" And when Christ for
gets that 9 o'clock morning scene. and
the stroke of the rufIian on the mouth,
and the bowling Of the unwashed
crowd. theD he will forget you and me
in the injustices of life that may be in
tiicted upon us.
Further | remark. the last great in
stallment paid for our redemption was
the demise 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
nOOnday went to their perch, and we
felt a gloom as we looked at the as
Economical wonder 1t was dark day
In London when the plague was at its
height and the dead with uncovered
faces were taken in open carts and
dumped in the trenches. 1t was a dark
day when the earth opened and Lisbon
sank. but the darkest day since the
90 hn NO w
carnage Of Calvary was enacted.
On CnIvnry's Cross.
1t was about nocn when the curtain
began to be drawn. 1t was not the
coming on Of a night that soothes and
refreshes: it was the swinging Of a
great gloom all around the heavens.
God hung it. AS when there is dead
one in the house you bow the shutters
or turn the lattice. so God In the after
noon shut the windows Of the world.
AS it is appropriate to throw black
pail upon the coffin as 1t passes along,
so it was appropriate that everything
should be somber 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. How
ever you may have hated or carca-
tured a man, when you hear he Is dy-
Ing silence puts Its hand on your lips,
and you would have q loathing for the
man who could stand by deathbed
making faces and scofing. But Christ
in his last hour cannot be left alone.
What! Pursuing him yet after so long
a pursuit? You have been drinking
his tears. Do you want to drink his
blood? They come Up closely. 80 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 ard bring them back wet with
blood and wipe them on their gar
ments.
Women stand there and weep but
can do no good 1t is no place for the
tender hearted women. 1t wants q
heart that crime has turned into gram
ite. The waves of mans hatred and Of
hell's vengeance 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 trampled him with
both feet. How the cavalry horses
arched their necAs and champed their
bits anI reared and snuffed at the
blood. Had Roman officer called out
for light bis voice would not have
been heard 10 the tumult, but louder
than the clash Of spears, and the wall
ing Of wonanhood, and the neighlng OF
the chargers. and the believing Of the
crrricers there comes voice crashing
through loud, clear, overwhelming,
terrific. 1t Is the gyoanlng Of the dying
son Of God Look. What scene!
Look. world. at what you have donel
lift the covering from the maltreat-
ed Christ to let you count the wounds
anu estimate tue cost Ou, Nucu lhC
nails went through Chrlsts right hand
and through Christ's left hand, that
bought both your hands with all their
power to work and lift and write.
When the nails went through Christs
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 Chrlst'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 1t to the
surface. No sooner had it been brought
to the surface than they lifted shout
of exultation, but the cable slipped
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