Milford chronicle., 1907-03-29

| Roman prOfigate. "Ahaw cried all the
intrenched forces Of sin. eve shall
forever live and triumph If we can
only slay this upstart, Jesus Christ
So what did they do? They united
their forces of evil. They defied and
overrode every law of justice. They
captured Jesus by night They ran
him to court and tried him by night,
which was contrary to every known
Hebrew and Roman usage. Then In the
early morning they hanged him upon
the cross. Then they stood at the foot
Of the cross and cried: "Ahal We, the
powers Of evil, have forever won!
Aha! Jesus, our denunciatOr, himself
Is dead!' And he was dead. Have you
ever seen Rubens' greatest master
piece, called "The Descent From the
Cross" All. that picture well illus
trates how dead Jesus wasl
He Was Dead.
When your little girl died and the
kind friends washed her and dressed
her and laid her out in the casket, sur
rounded by flowers, It did not seem as
though she could be dead. There she
lay with a smile upon her lips, just as
you had seen her lying a hundred
times in her crib. As you watched her
you could almost see her breast heave
and see her roll over in her sleep.
Then you said, "Oh, she is too beauti-
full to be put away in the dark gravew
But in Rubens' Descent From the
Cross" there is no doubt about Christ
being dead. His skin is as CHASTITY
white as the white sheet they are
wrapping about him. The blue veins
seem to be standing out like whip
cords upon his forehead. His feet, his
hands and his head seem to be hanging
as heavy as tons of lead. He could not
nave been more utterly beyond restora-
tiOn If he had lain in his grave thou
sand years. And yet within three days
within sight of his empty cross Christ
arose and walked and moved and lived
and had his being. My friends, like the
Of old, you may be able to
defy Christ for a little while but re-
member the day of Christs burial IS
to be followed by his day Of resurrec-
ton. Remember that question Of Pl-
late, "What shall I then do with Jesus
who Is called the Christi" must find its
echo in "What shall Jesus then do with
me at his judgment seat?" Christ in
the tomb means Christ coming to his
The empty cross of the
first Easter morn proves It.
But there is another fact I want you
to notice about this central cross on !
hill. 1t proves that even aft |
er a man has sinned seventy times |
seven Christ is willing to pardon him |
Of his sins if he will only throw him
self upon the Saviour's grace and love. |
Christ is not one who claims an eye |
for an eye. a tooth for TOOTH hand |
for a hand and foot for a foot. He |
Is not a Shylock demanding a full |
pound of flesh nearest to the human
heart because at is so nominated in
he bond" But Jesus Is one who IS
willing to give a full forgiveness for
Ill wrong if we are only willing to
,ome and bow at his feet and accept
lis pardon and his love. Let me IL
ustrate this thought by the picture of
he empty cross.
But l cannot close TINS ser1HUn Uitn-
,ut lingering just one instant under
he empty cross of the unrepentant
hief. Oh, It is so empty! 1t seems to
.ry out In words of agony: "The last
nance for heaven is gone. The last
nance for salvation is forever, ever
ver gone.
ri r.-..- rL:.e