The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1915-08-27

which, however
slow men may be
to hear, he most
delights to tell. And thus he has writ
ten down, as a part of Holy Scripture,
certain things that transpired, that.
wherever the story of the cross
should be told, these things must be
told in connection Herewith.
Let us look at three of these.
The Place.
First, then, the place of the crucif1x-
ion will speak to US. And when
they were come unto a place called
Golgotha, that is to say, the place
of skull" There, at the place of
a skulP'-the utter wreck of human
wisdom, did they put to death the
Wisdom of God" For of him are
We in Christ Jesus, who has made
unto us wisdom from God"
The world boasts of it's wisdom to-
day, boasts of the achievements of
science. and philosophy, but for the
most real problems-sin and death, it
has found no solution, nor has it
taught us anything about God. ''The
world by wisdom knew not God
"And the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish foolishness." Herein
is the offense Of the cross. that 1t sets
aside all of mans wisdom forever, as
we'll as all his glory. The Greeks we're
wisdom worshipers, but at Corinth
tho opocfJo uouId Lpor, N afhinoy eco xyo
Jesus Christ and him crucified,' the
cross in all its marvellous attractive
ness for hearts enlightened from
above, in all it's intolerable repulsive-
ness for unregenerate men. Modern
rationalism despises the cross, but the
humblest believer in it has found it
to be what the apostle declares, "The
power of God and the wisdom OF
God"
The Crown Of Thorns.
The -last king of Davids line to be
crowned at Jerusalem Is crowned with
thorns. In derision they crown him,
but the Spirit of God writes it down,
for that crown, symbolizes the curse
which he has come to put away! In
Genesis we read Of the curse pro-
nounced upon creation because of
mans sin: Cursed is the ground for
thy sake thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth unto thee. "
Thorns, then, have become the EN-.
blem of the curse of sin, and now we
see them on the Savior's brow. I'm
sorrow" goes on the announcement,
shalt thou eat Of it." but the One
who wears the crown of thorns is the
Man of Sorrows" saying, as he goes
to the cross, Now is my soul exceed
ing sorrowful, even unto death" In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread" and of him who hangs on the
cross it lis written, His sweat was
as 1t were great drops of blood falling
from him" So the thorns are telling
of what he is made for us: Christ
hath delivered us from the curse of
the law, being made curse for
us, as it Is written, cursed is every
one that hangeth on tree" Made
curse!" How simple to utter the
words; how unutterable the depth of
their meaning!
The Supernatural Darkness.
THE darkness sought his woes to
hide" is beautiful hymn which some
times we sing. but it does not explain
that awful darkness. That darkness
over all the land" is witness that God,
who is light, has withdrawn his pres
ence from scene in which he can
have no part. And it was faint out
ward expression of deeper darkness
that pressed upon the Savior's soul
And thus his own cry interprets it.:
"My God, my God. why hast thou
forsaken me-" And there is no an
swer from God. Where shall we find
the answer to that cry of forsaken
sorrow? We have but 20 turn to the
Twenty-second Psalm. from which it
Is quoted, and there we shall find the
Holy Sufferer answering his own ques-
ton. Thou art holy, oh, thou who
inhabitest the praises Of Israel" God
Is holy and he turns away Thou
art of purer eyes than to behold in
iquity and canst not look upon sin"
Sin upon the sinless One? Yes, yours
and mine.
Christ in the darkness. Christ for
saken ,of God is Christ made sin. "
He hath made him to be sin for
u.s." And this was his anguish To
Calvary they take him, as unfit to
die within the holy city For the
bodies of those beasts whose blood is
brought into the sanctuary by the
high priest for sin, are burned with
out the camp. Wherefore Jesus also.
that he might sanctify the people with
his own blood, suffered without the
gate" Christ on Calvary. Christ
abandoned, is the true sin Offering.
The darkness. expressing Gods in
finite holiness. is a terrible warning
to men. If God would turn away from
his own beloved Son, this Sinless One,
because sin was laid upon him, what
will he do with the sinner whose sins
are his own by nature and practice
when he stands before him, as stand
before him he surely will?
Oh may God help those who hear
the old story of the cross to cry out
with the apostle, "The Son of God
loved me and give himself for me-
for. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life