The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-12
CALVARY.

tSctecteo TOT The AdVeftlSer,D fed Ssh TsEs H. sssss syo xsR seiiv's cruel Crucifxion was shameful and terri bie; but that there might be no doubt about It. and to add all possible dis
 s sssour as thsg Husr RS esn two thieves. On the right hand and on the left these maiefaetors adver- tised the ignominy of His pain. rcushs of Jerusaism, were @ side by side with His disciples in the crowd. The loafhing of all honest men was heaped upon them. and He. hanging there with covered with the mantle of their sin. He had come into their lot. He bore their curse and shame. He took His share. of tneir disgrace when He was
 In the prison at Jerusalem two rob- bers are waiting for their death. It Is sure to come. Their crimes have doomed them to it From their boy. the darkness of the coming death has gathered around them. They know 1t, and have known all along that it must be the end. of their wicked course :. the last morning lawns for them. Sin is finished, and on this solemn day 1t brings forth death. The soldiers are at the door and the crosses are walt
 with all this black record of this wickedness before us, think of another life which came to it's crisis on this same day. There has been a man liv- Ing in Palestine for more than thirty years, and He has never done sin. This spotless. strong, pure goodness has all been poured out in love. The Life has been all sacrifice. With never a thought for self, health and truth have gone out from Him to whoever sought or touched Hinb--a life like the shining
 Last night Jesus of Nazareth sat and talked with His disciples; those calm. comforting words have been ever since the wonder of the world. Afterwards the little group went out together lnto the Garden of Gethsema1e. And there His disciples slept from weariness and sorrow. By-and-by the soldiers came and took Jesus- and carried Him away: After that He was wholly separated from His frfends--froila everXoody that believed in or loved Him. He is hur- ried from one scene of meek trial 70 another. walking the familiar streets in disgrace. Then He is scourged; but the people want mSrs' .n Syr,r they esmana S1s,ss and He is led away to the death of q criminal. AS He goes. His procession meets another. in which two thieves are led to death, and they are all cru
 How far apart they begin, yet they meet at last. Our Saviour entered into the life of humanity at its blackest |: He had left Heaven and now He iefs which He had found upon earth. All the disciples had forsaken Him and fled. The little flicker of sympathy had vanished. He had cone into the com, 9mo thieves crucified with Him"
 That is the awful sight which we behold in those three crosses standing out sharp and terrible against; the sky. V.k AorraGf nf aQFfh'E nAfknGAS. into the deepest consequences of sin where 1t was possible for innocence to Ro the fncarnate One has gone. Our Immanuel Is with the worst of us in
 Cos sas Ssf sSsi iMtU knoM any ssursrlns which this love shall not fashom to its depths We realize the power and hideous- ness of sin when we gather tarouno Yours and mine! In the presence of Gods Son thus suffering and dying the oneness of Gods family is revealed
 It is our punishment He shares. We only blame ourselves. Our sin has brought us what we justly suffer,
 On Calvary there was no preaching ton of love such as this cruel, fallen world had never seen before. That love, so immeasurabIy great, so awful Tn its beauty, so unselfish, so utterly undeserved, what. effect has IT on @ us; self-condemned. And who shall break the silence which has now gathered
 Can anything be said to you you ,91 o1 guilt. more than the cross and those bleeding wounds have already said If you are not affected by them, you mine. Shall that Love and that Cross nlAad in Vain7