The Southern herald., 1917-03-30
WELCOME FOR ALL
What the Cross PTOCIaimS to All
Who Will Heed the Message
That It Conveys.

What does the cross stand for in our
thinking? First Of all 1t stands for
the utmost effort on the part Of God
to bridge a chasm between himself
and errant man. What more could the
prOdigal's father have done than he
did when he ran to meet the ragged,
fOotsore wanderer before he reached
the gate Of home. The cross is where
God meets the penltent long before he
reaches home. The attitude Of God
toward the sinner, the temper of God
toward the man who has fallen and
failed, is revealed in the cross as no
where else. That there is welcome for
the sinner, and that the heart Of the
eternal is most wonderfully kind, the
cross prOclaims as nothing else.
There is the story of the king many
Of whose subjects rebelled against Rim.
He might have crushed them, but he
was magnanlmous monarch, who pre-
ferred to win them. So he appointed
an envoy to confer with them, offering
amnesty to such as conformed to rea.
sOnable requirements, and appointed a
day and place for them to come to
him, relate the story Of their wrongs
as they conceived them, promising that
If their complaints were well founded
their wrongs should be redressed. The
meeting place was at a distance from
the kings palace and under the spread
ing broadcast Of an ancient oak. The
rebels came and were received by the
king himself. They stated their griev-
ances, which the king himself guaran-
teed should be redressed; and each reb.
ell, putting his hands between the kings
hands, swore to be his faithful man
thereafter.
The Cross for Mankind.
The parallel is not exact. We have
no complaints against God. He has
not wronged us nor oppressed us. Yet
we are rebels, and he invites us to re-
turn and be reconciled to him. Now
what is the cross2 The cross is the
spreading tree under which the king
Of heaven meets his rebel subjects and
receives them with open arms and pity
ing heart.
There once came to me young man
who had run away from home. He
was too proud to ask to be taken back.
His father was too proud to ask him to
come back. The boy said, II would be
glad to go back If only the way were
Open." Well, the way was opened pres
emily to personal intercessiOn, and the
runaway boy was restored to his ia.
theirs arms and his mothers heart
Does anyone of US say, II would be
glad to 60 back home to God, If only
the way were Open?" The cross is the
way home!
Lives Again in His Followers.
Jesus laid downihis life at the cross
but he finds his life again In the lives
of all who follow him. Whatever We
sacrifice when we enter his disciple
ship, we find again on earth and II
heaven. There came into a country dis
trict not long ago a demonstration Of {
remarkable machine. In the marke
place of a village where the countr!
people gathered on a holiday, he Sc
up his machine and asked for common
metal objects, articles Of iron or brass
or even tin. He took them and i'm
mersed them in the silver bath ant
presently restored them to their own
ers transfgured at least exteriorly
changed as to their nature.
At the cross Of Christ by faith W
who yield our lives as common instru
ments of Christian service discover
similar metamOrphOsis, yet not cor
fined to the surface, for it penetrate
throughout. We give him clay and &c
back iron. We give him iron and ge
back brass. We give him brass an
get back silver. We give him silvel
and gold is our reward. Gold we Of
fer, and lOl eternal life is Ours.-ReN
Charles @. Albertson, D. D.