Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-10-27

been pleading with Us on behalf OF
Christ as Pilates wife sent her mes
senger 10 her husband. pleading with
him TO Go him justice.
Shall 1 describe for you this oriental
scene? We are standing In the open
judgment hall OF Jerusalem. The
judges face is set and troubled. The
suppressed sigh. the muttered oath, the
growlings and the murmurings OF the
people are threatening him. What is
plate 10 do? Suddenly a messenger
bearing a letter forces his way through
the crowd. The governor opens the
note and reads. 1t is written by his
wife. At once the troubled face OF the
Roman governor becomes more trou-
bled There is the well known hand
writing of his loyal and loving wife
The words burn into his soul Have
nothing TO do with that just man, for
have suffered many things this day in
a dream because of him." That letter
practically meant this: Dear Husband
DO not yield to those crafty Jews.
The man before you must be more than
mortal In my dreams / hear q mes
sage from the heavens about him.
beg of you to protect him, lest the
vengeance Of God come upon you. Con
demn-him notl Condemn him mott"
Thus with us. BY the testimony OF
our fathers, mothers, wives, husbands,
children and friends pleadings are con-
tinually going on today with us. In
great chorus our loved ones voices
seem TO be calling: Condemn him mott
Condemn him not, We have had reve-
lations of the power and the divinity
of Jesus Christ! Condemn him notr'
We cannot shut our eyes to what we
nave seen. We cannot stop our ears
to what we have heard. Neither. like
Plate. can We turn away from the
Christian testimonies which are being
given by our loved ones concerning
Jesus Christ l ask you now the cues
ton which wavering and cowardly
Plate asked the Hebrew multitude
What shall I DO then with Jesus who
is called ChrlstT' Do you acknowledge
him as the Son Of God? "Yea. yeaP'
you must all answer. Il do! l do 1
do
Yielding TO His WIN.
Having intellectually acknowledged
Christ as the Son of God. the second
question is more importunate. What
will YOU do then with Jesus who Is
called Christ in reference to the will?
Are you going to let him rule your
mind. your thought aud your actions {?
When Jesus comes to you and saws. 81
am Jesus-wilt thou obey me?' are YOU
going TO answer: Yea, Christ. 1 know
that thou art the Son OF God. but I
cannot and viii not do as thou wouldst
have me. I cannot yield my will to
thine"
Christ demanded OF PLATE the same
kind Of submission to his will that the
Franciscan monks are compelled TO
give TO the head OF their order. The
story is told that many centuries ago a
monk refused TO obey the great found
er of their order. BY the command OF
the leader grave was dug. The re-
fractory monk was placed in stand.
ing position inside the grave. Then by
the order or st. Francis the monks be.
gan 10 shovel in the dirt The dirt came
TO the ankle. to the knee. 10 the hin.
Are YOU dead yetY'' called st. Fran.
els. lis your self will broken? Do you
yield to my whip The monk. with set
jaw and sullen look. refused 10 yield.
Higher and higher came the soil. now
TO the stomach. now to the chest, now
TO the shoulder. But still the refractory
monk refused to yield. At last the dirt
came TO the lip and to the nostrII. do
you yieldf" cried ST Francis. els your
self will deadT' One shovel more and
death was 20 be his. Aye, and then the
stubborn will broke. and the monk
lifted up his beseeching eyes and. with
tremulous lip. called: Father, / am
dead. My self will Is dead. yield, I
yieldr SO Christ demands not only for
us to acknowledge him king OF our in
telligences, but king or our wills. We
must submit our will TO his will. We
must obey him even as the Franciscan
monks obey their leaders. We must not
yield Christ one-third or one-half or
nine-tenths of our Wills, but we must
surrender unto him complete and abso-
Lutte obedience.
We must acknowledge Christ rs king
OF the entire will. We have more rea.
son TO do so than had Plate. though
he conceded more than some OF us are
doing. In the first place. he yielded
his will TO Christ enough for a little
while TO defy the Hebrew mob. Then,
In the next place. he tried to save
Christ by a subterfuge. He placed
alongside OF Jesus one OF the worst
criminals OF the east. and then he said:
According TO the law. 1 must pardon
one of~these criminals. Which shall It
beT He did this with the hope that
fnn nRAntn Usnt,IF fae
Then when all means failed he took a
basin or water and washed bis hands
before the people as he said: 'I am In
nocent of the blood or this Just per-
son. See ye to It," All. yes, PLATE did
much to save Christ. but he did not do
enough. With one word he could have
said, Free. free." and Christ would
have been free. He yielded his will to
the divine will one-eighth. one-fourth.
one-third. one-half, but he did not Yield
all What VIII you do then with
Jesus who is called CHRISTI" In every
department OF life will you give to him
complete obedience?
Obeyed His Father.
Would that PLATE could have real
lied that in full submission TO Christ
ne would have found his own safety!
recall the story OF the little child of
n switchman on one OF the German
railroads. The fast mail was rushing
down the track. The switchman at
MS post moved the switch to give II a
clear track. Suddenly, to the fathers
horror, the man saw his little bow run
upon the rails. The father dared not
throw the lever back. 1t would have
meant the death OF hundreds of per
sons. His own boy must be killed
rather than that Others should perish.
50 the father cried out to the child:
Lie down! Lie fat DOWN. The bow
dropped. The great engine and its
1 coaches swept past. Then it was found
that. because the boy absolutely yield.
ed his will to his fathers and lay down
nat upon the ground. his life was saved.
Oh, that PLATE had obeyed his divine
Fathers commands as that little child