Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-03-28


Of his sins II he Win only throw him.
self upon the Snviour's grace and love,
Christ Is not one who claims an eve
for an eve. a tooth for q tooth. n hand
for a hand and foot for a foot. IIe
Is not n Shylock demanding Pull
pound Of flesh nearest 10 the human
heart because at Is so nominated IN
the bond" But Jesus IL one who is
willing to give full forgiveness for
all wrong II we are only willing 70
come and bow Mt his feet and accent
his pardon and his love. Let mo II.
lustrate this thought by the picture O,
the empty cross.
To whom did this central cross right.
fully belong? To Jesus? Nay. TO the
one whose face must have been SO
pure, so true so gentle, so loving, that
all who saw It must have felt that ONLY
love and mercy could dwell there ?
Nay. That central cross rightfuly be.
longed to one whose brow was scarred
and wrinkled with bitterness and hnte.
to one whose mouth was cruel and
merciless, to one whose hairy hands
were often covered with human blood.
That cross, that central one, rightfully
belonged to Barabbas, the murderer
and insurrectlonist. It rlghtfully be.
longed to the brutal murderer whose
heart was so hardened that he thought
no more OF taking human life than n
tiger would have of Staying a kid. And
yet, after all the mockery of that farci-
cal trial was over, after Jesus had
been adjudged guilty and sentenced to
death, God gave the Jews another
chance to accept Christ. Then PLATE
came forward and sald "Whom will
we that I release unto YOU. Jesus or
Barabbas2 You know, Jews. that once
year it is the custom of the governor
to liberate one prisoner. VIII We let
me release Won Jesus instead of Bar
abbas" Yes. Even today, after n
long life Of sin and evil, God comes to
us and says will We now accent
Jesus or Barabbas? Which? which,"
oh, the mercy of God. Oh, the for
glvencss Of God Can any human love
surpass 1t? Can any human love equal
it! Aye. human love may be very
great, but it is not IA great az the
love of my Lord and my God. Some
years ago | received letter from IL
lady in the cast which went something
like this: Il am n lonely woman who
cannot do much in this world. am
what you call 'shut-in. But, though
can do but little, do feel have
strength enough to care for some poor
little crippled orphaned child So If
you can find one that no one would
care TO love send him to me. and
will adopt him and love him and look
after him as &c he were my own child"
Was not that beautiful letter? But
how much more beautiful Is this empty
cross Of Jesus Christ. | hear voice
from the form unjustly stretched upon
II saying: 81 am on this cross instead
Of Barabbas Even after the Jews un-
Justly condemned me I was willing to
pardon their sins. Oh child, even in
thy sins today / will pardon thee If
thou wilt only come to me. Come. We
sinners. Come We who have plated q
crown OF thorns upon my bleeding
brow. Come We who have spit upon
me. Come, aud come now and find
Saviour's love and Sav1our's
peace"
Death q Liberator.
But there Is another great lesson |
which we can learn from these empty
Easter crosses. They prove that death |
FOR the redeemed spirit Is not tyrant |
He IS not one who can manacle his |
victims and shut them up in a leaden |
'ofl1n and lock them in tomb and bolt |
he door Of that tomb for thousand |
Tears. But death for the redeemed
spirit Is liberator, an emancipator.
lie Is messenger who can fly swifter
han the winds. He is one who can
~ swifter than the light. One mo.
nent he Is here; the next, with one
lutter Of the wing. he is nesting in
he bosom of the great God. where are
assembled all the redeemed spirits Of
III the ages of all times. am never
10 impressed with this thought as
when | stand before the three empty
ROSES Of the first Easter morn. And
IS l see these three empty crosses I
lways ask myh'lf this question: 81
Wonder which cross held the repented
hief; I wonder If It was the right
and cross or the left hand CROSSE"
'hen l say, II think 1t must be the
EFT hand cross" Thus when stand
'efore 1t I say Poor fellow, Poor
elbow" Perhaps he was not entirely
o blame for his sins. Perhaps his ia
her was robber. Perhaps his moth.
r was thief Perhaps he was born
n camp of robbers. But, whether he
'as born wrong or born right. he knew
hat he was n sinner He knew that
esus was unjustly condemned and
q cried out for mercy, and Jesus said
} him. This day shalt thou be with
le In paradise" There was no long
rotation for him. There was no pur-
atory for him. No sooner had his
lngs ceased to breathe than at once
Is liberated and redeemed spirit went
} heaven. And no sooner do our dead
mes leave us than at once they go to
cd. Aye, quicker than that! Even
efore their tired, wornout spirits are
berated from their prisons Of clay
ley catch glimpse Of the joys and
lie raptures beyond.
But l cannot close this sermon with
lt lingering just one instant under