DR. TALMAGE’S SERMON, The Assassination. bear his cross, and Luke “Whosoever does not rome after cannot be my disciple.” 4:27. THE cross was a gibbet on which swiminals were put to death, It was sometimes made in the shape of the let- ter T, sometimes in tbe shape of the letter X, sometimes in the shape of the etter I—a simple upright; sometimes lwo cross-pieces. against the perpendi- sular bar, so that upon the lower cross- plece the criminal partially sat. But whatever the style of cross, it was al- ways disgraceful and always agoniz- ng. When Darius conquered Babylon, he sut two hundred captives to death on lhe cross. When Alexander conquered Iyre, he put thousand captives to death m the cross, So it was just AN ORDINARY MODE OF PUNISHMENT. But in all the forest of crosses on the ills, and in the valleys of the earth, here 18 one cross that attracts more at- ention than any other. It is not high- 11 vitnessed crucifixions every few weeks, w that 1 see a man Wout the hill, and kicking carelessly wide a skull, and wondering who he villain was that had so flat ind © misshapen a head: and here sku and there on s another skull, another skull. Indeed, the It ckless illside is But one of about the victim on rrosses all ages are crying. He? Was He a man? Was tod? Was He man and God?" Through the darkness of that gloomy day. 1 come close enough up to cross to see who 1t 1s, It is Jesus, How did He come there? on the top of the hill to look upon the beautiful landscape, or upon a bril- liant sunset? No. He and exhausted. der why Christ expired so quickly on the cross, in six or seven hours, whil other victims have been on the for forty-eight hours before life was ex- tinct. I will tell you the reason. He was exhausted when He came there, He bad been scourged., We are horri fied at the cruelties of the whipping- post, but were mercy as compared with Christ, I saw at Rubens RUBENS'PI He he} ster} off Cross it those cruelties the scourging of Jesus ¢ made by Antwerp a pictur IE SCOURGING, URE OF Ti It was the most over- I ever looked at, or 1 opened the door that hid the ; there He was—Christ with back bent and bared. The flagellator stool with the upper teeth clenched over the lower lip, as though to violence to the There were the of Christ. TI give here denied 4 od » There was whips as they marks i bleeding, $ g to the lifted. There were the the knots in the whips ia There stood the iis foot on t he calf . balancing himself, look on those against the me, as if it fhiel % think I cou goug perse of the Saviour ious and hellish grinning vengeance God. The picture verwhelmed me; it would kill me. I do not id have looked at it five minutes and have lived. But that my friends, was be- fore Christ bad started Calvary. That was only the whipping. Are you ready for your journey to the cross? The carpenters have split the timber into two pieces, They are heavy and they are long pieces, for one must be fastened deep down earth lest the struggling of the victim upset the structure. They put this timber upon the shoulder of Christ very gradually, first, to see whether He can stand it, and after they find He can stand it, they put the whole weight upon Him. Forward now to Calvary. The hooting and the yelling mob follow on. Under THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS, Christ being weary and sick, stumbles and falls, and they jerk at His robe, in- seelned for in the and fallen, and they cry: ‘‘Get up, get up!’ Christ, putting one hand on the ground and the other band on the cross rises, looking Into the face of Mary, His mother, for sympathy; but they tell her to stand back, it is no place for a woman—*‘Stand back and stop this crying.” Christ moves on with lis upon His shoulders, and there is a boy that passes along with Him, a boy hold. ing a mallet and a few nails. I won- der what they are for. Christ on until the burden is so great He stag- foot on Him and shakes Him as he would a dead dog, while another ruffian looks down at Him, wondering whether He has fainted away, or whether He 1s only pretending to faint away, and with jeer and contempt indescribable says: “‘Fainted, have you? fainted? get up, get on!” Now, they have arrived at the foot of the bill, that loathsome mob look upon the un- robed body of Christ? Yes, The com- manding officers say: ‘“‘Unfasten the irdle, take off the coat, strip Him.” The work is done. Bat bring the coat, for here are THE GAMBLERS tossing up coin on the ground, saying: “Who shall have the coat?’ One ruf- flan says: ‘‘I1 have it, I have it—-it 1s mine!” He rolls it up and puts it un- dex his arm, or he examines it to see what fabric it 18 made of. Then they put the cross upon the ground, and they stretch Christ upon it, and four or five men hold Him down while they drive the spikes home, at every thump a groan, a groan! Alas! Alas! the hour passes on and the time comes when they must crucify Him, Christ has only one garment left now, a wap a cap of thorns, No danger that it will fall off, for the sharp edges have punctured the temples and it is sure and fast, One ruflian takes hold of one «nd of the short beam of the cross, and suother rufilan takes hold of the other end of the short beam of the cross, and another ruffinn puts his arms around the waist of Christ, and another ruflian takes hold of the end of the long beam of the cross, and altogether they move on until they come to the hole digged in the earth, and with awful plunge it jars down with ITS BURDEN OF WOE, It is not the picture of a Christ, it is not the statue of Christ, as you some- times see In a cathedral; but it is the body of a bleeding, living, dying Christ, They sometimes say He had five wounds, but they have counted wrong. Two wounds for the hands, two wounds for the feet, one wound for the side; they say, five wounds, No, they have missed the worst and they have missed the most. Did you ever see the bram- ble out of which that crown of thorns was made? I saw one on a Brooklyn ferry-boat, in the hands of a gentleman | who had just returned from Palestine, a bramble just like that out of which the crown of thorns was made, O! how cruel and how stubborn were the i thorns, And when that cap of thorns was put upon Christ, and it was pressed down upon Him, not five wounds, but ten, twenty, thirty —1 cannot count them. There were THREE OR FOUR that made that there was the climate was hot, the fever, | mation, the nervous prostration, the | gangrence, had seized upon Him, and | He terribly wanted water, His wounds were worse than gunshot fractures, and yet no water. A Turk, in the thir- teenth century, was crucified on the banks of a river, so that the sight of the water might tantalize him. And oh! bow the thirst of Christ pnust have tan- | talized, as He thought of the Euphrates { and the Jordan and the Amazon and all the fountains on earth and Heaven | poured out of His own hand. They of- fered Him an intoxicating draught | made out of wine and myrrh, but He | declined it. He wanted to die sober, No water! Then, ny frien sence of light. 1 perates tro ' ) the ght ABSENCES Worse, 3 of walter, scelie The ab ence there was the ah- rkness always exas- ; never shall in the summer of 1873, id-Atlantic, every steamer to go 1 the cabin were forget » nd in the Hon down. blown out. aptain came crawling in on his hands and knees, for he could not stand upright, so vielently was the vessel and he { “Light up, up!” said: “We can't ight and the holders are gone.” y said: “I cant help that: The storm was awful when irning, worse when the lights went out, Then there was the absence f When you as pleasant to have the head i! } rie 11 $ £ in t t cried out The steward Ups the candies pitcuing, i light of faith- ' i TNUrses, 'h he he } © who had Care them might con up en help. ‘here + she might said: ‘Stand back, stand no place for : he and the 30 way, they hud The ho 1 8. o'clock of the Savio is one o'clock, and it Is almost Take | the last look at that suffering face; wan and pinched, the purple lipsdrawn back against the teeth, eyes red with weeping, and sunken as though grief had pushed them back; biackness under the lower lid, the whole body adrocp and shivering with breath growing feebler, until 1 $ ails last sigh nigh Lo sh ’ ' f mother, bul ot cote U to help, back; thi : high priests wanted it i own their own way, 1, and it is twelve it'd suffering, and is two o'cloek, three o'clock. their hd ers il it Pass of is ie iw the and feebler and He gives one long, deep, 3 feabler DEAD! Oh, my soul, He is dead! Can you tell why? Was He a fanatic, dying for a principle that did not amount to any- thing? Was He a man infatuated} | No; to save your soul from sin, and | mine, and make eternal life possible, He died. There had to be a substitute for sin. Who shall it be? “Let it be | Me,” said Christ: *‘let it be Me." You he meaning of that understand t | word, substitution. You were drafted HE IS place, marched your march, suffered your wounds, and died at Gettysburg, | ing our battle with sin, and death, and hell, and He is our Substitute, marches our march, fights our battle, suffers our wounds, and dies our death. Substitution! Substitution! How ou feel In regard to that ¥ 14 5 do { region around aboul the text? dead in sin, and so abandoned, by rea- sen of your transgressions, that you can led? No, no; there are thousands of | people here this morning who can say | in the depths of their souls, **No, no, i no; If Jesus endured that, and all that { for me, I ought to love Him. I must {love Him, 1 wil love Him, I do love | Him. Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee; "tis all that I can do.” jut how are you golng to test your love, and test your earnestness? My text gives a test, It says, that while Christ carried A CROSS FOR YOU, | you must be willing to carry a cross for Christ. “*Well,”" you say, *1 never could understand that, There are no crosses to be carried In this land; those srsecutions have passed, and in all the and there is no ote to be cructiied, and yet in the pulpit and in the prayer- meetings you all keep talking about carrying a cross, What do you mean, sir?’ 1 mean this, that is a cross which Christ calls you to do, which is unpleasant and bard. *'Oh,"” you say, “after hearing the story of this Christ, and all that He has endured for me, 1 am ready to do anything for Him, Just tell me what 1 have to do, and I'll do it. I am ready to carry any cross,” Snppose I should ask you at the close of a religious service, to rise up, an- nouncing yourself on the Lord's side-- could you do it? “Oh, no,” you say, “1 have a shrinking and a sensitive na- ture, and 14 would be impossible for me to rise before a large assemblage, wn ib nouncing myself on the Lord’s side.” Just as 1 feared. You CANNOT STAND THAT CROSS, The first one that is offered you, you re- ject, Christ carried a mountain, Christ carried a Himalaya, Christ carried a world for vou, and you cannot lift an ounce for Him, But here is a man whose cross will be to announce among Is business as- soclates to-morrow morning on Ex- change, ‘that he has begun a new life; that while he wants to be faithful in his wordly duties, he is living for an- other world, and he ought to advise all those who are his associates, so far as he can influence them, to begin with him the Christian life. Could you do that my brother?” ‘Oh, no," yousay, “not just that, 1 think religion is re- ligion, and business 18 business, and it would be impossible for me to recom- mend the Christian religion in places of worldly business,” Justas I feared. There is a second cross offered you, and you cannot carry it. Christ lifted a | mountain for you; you cannot lift an | ounce for Him, | There is some one whose cross will be to present religion in the home circle, WOULD YOU DARE TO KNEEL down and pray if your brother and sister Could you ask a | at the tea-table? Could you | jible and gather your family | and read of Christ and | your Immortal soul? kneel and pray for a household? 'y ny hat, I couldn’t have a very professed re- in my after that I should my temper, they would scoff and Say: So you are cowed down, casm Keeps vou from Christ, when, to blessing take the around you, and you ti Could en your “not exactly t that, ause | temper, and if I 11 talk on yOu say, be quick Ligion and trie religion household, ana Lien 08 atl ne are a p take your ngdom, you wand you want you t hose ho |} LOS WHO | taking a positive associated i ‘hirist; but as to this subiect, be Jesus ( ike Ww \ ’ We Ad step On i i, and my text, bolts, bars you yOu cannot—you Cann gateof a l i away from peace on earth and glory in heaven, $ CArTY which Christ carried f us, not had the flesh torn off sake in car YOUr Cross, not carried th ross until it blood, U His there w of carnage that plashed the fetlocks, You have friends ze with 3 in carrying the hrist trod the winepress of The cross that vou to sympa- hize yl Cross t { (soul's wrath alone, alone! and I ought CAITY a few days or a few years of trial Cross t for tha compressed agonies represents only The 3 had of carried it the 11% 4 There has some one come here to-day He did front door: He any of here, East, whom you have not observed, net come through the wn Ke He is Fast. the far blistered foot, and with broken and cheeks red, not with health with blood from the temples, 1 take hold of his cont and I say: “It Thee. ** “No.” he 11 12 not mine; it borrowed, it does not belong to me now For my vesture did they cast And | to Him: ‘“Thine eves are red as though from loss of sleep.’ He says: “Yes, the Son of man had not where to lay His head.” And I touch the log on His back and I say: “WHY CARRIEST THOU THIS 7" “Ah!” He says, ‘‘that carry for thee and for the sins of the whole world, That 8 a cross, | Fall into line, march on with Me in this | procession, take your smaller crosses | and your lighter burdens, Me in this march to Heawen.”” And we join that procession with our smaller crosses and our lighter burdens, and Christ looks back and He sees some are halting because they cannot endure the shame, or bear the burden, and with a voice which has in it majesty and omnipotence, He eries until all the earth trembles: “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.’ O! my brethren, my sisters—for" 1 do not speak professionally, I speak as a brother would speak to a brother or sister--my brother, can you not bear a cross if at last you ean wear a crown ? Come now, let us divide off. Who ison the Lord's side? Who is ready to turn his back upon the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world ? A Roman emperor said to . A GREEK ARCHITECT @ “You build me a coliseum, a grand coliseum, and if it suits me 1 will crown these gisles: He is from He comes Fs ¥ heart BAVA, 1% ot jobs, say 8 across 14 : and J Wn you fu the presence of all the people, and I will make a great day of festival on your account,” The Greek archi- tect did his work, did it magnificently, planned the building, looked after its construction. The building was done, The day for opening arrived. In the coliseum were the emperor and the Greek architect. The emperor rose amid the plaudits of a vast assembly and said: *“Wej have gathered here to-day, to open this coliseum, and to honor the Greek architect. It i8 a great day for the Roman Empire, Let this building be prosperous, and let honor be put upon the Greek architect. O! we must have a dring out those Christians and let have them put to death at the mouth of the lions,” The Christians were put in- to the centre of the amphitheatre, It was to great celebration in their destruction, Then the lions, hungry and three-fourths starved, were let out from their dens in the the amphitheatre, and they came forth with mightw spring to destroy Christians, 1s be a side of Long hen the Greek architect arose by the galleries and shouted until in 4 Vast 1 7T of i wemblage all heard : AM A CHRISTIAN |? and they seize 1 in flung hi ild beasts bod y : and dead, tumbled over and over agamn amphitheatre. Cou at? L for Chri I TOO mm 1 A W bid iS tv and sh he II Heaven Hb aid There will showing the flames began on that «dd soul took wing of flame from Constance, There McKkall ready to point « his neck where axe There will be MeMillan an and A 1S. TT J LAS 4 the Freeman, the evican aries who with thei: were put to death in that awful at Cawnpore, showing the places v the daggers of the Sepovs struck There will be the where their limbs were bi day when the FPiedmontes y ti rocks, is to show ”? Waldenses show 3 . men on the soldiery sitehed them over th Will vou and I have any wotimn Have we fought any battles for Christ? OO! that we might all be enlisted for Christ, that we might all be willing to suffer for Christ, that we might all bear a cross for Christ. When THE SCOTTISH CHIEFTAINS wanted to raise an army, they would make a wooden cross, and then set it on fire, and carry it with other crosses they had, through the mountains, through the highlands, and among the people, and as they waved the cross the fight for Scotland. So to-day, 1 coma It is a flaming suffering, flaming with glory. it out among all the people, on the Lord's side? I carry Who will Who will “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot, cannot be My disciple.” ASD A ASA Formation of Mountains, M. Faye, the well known French as. tronomer, has drawn attention at a re- cent meeting of the French Academy of Sciences, to the apparent geological Jaw that the cooling of the terrestrial crust goes on more rapidly under the sea than with a land surface. Hence, he argues that the crust must thicken under oceans at a more rapid rate, aud 80 give nse to a swelling up and distor- tion of the thinner portion of the crust —in other words, to the formation of mountain chains, Tur Indiana Farmer remarks: A few carrots given to horses during the winter mouths are relished by them as oh 28 apples are by children, SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 1888. SECOND QUAR TERLY REVIEW, HOME READINGS, Lesson I. Matt, 92:1. Monday, June 18: dl onach 11, Matt 23; aro (Lesson IIL Matt, 24: Tuesday, June 19: < 42.81, {Lesson IV. Matt, 2s: 1.18 Slesson V. Malt. 25: 14.30 tLenson VI. Matt 25:8147 lesson VII, Mutt, § 17-36 “ Lesson 6-446. § Lesson | Lesson § Lesson { Lesson Wednesday, June 20 : Thursday, June 21 VIIL Matt. 26 : IX. Matt, 26:61.756 X. Matt, 27 : 58-00 XL Mattes: 1.18 Xi Matt, 25:16-20 Acts 1:11] Friday. June 223 Saturday, June 28 : unday June 94. The Ascension. m—————— TITLES AND GOLDEN TEXTS. GOLDEN TEXT FOR THE QUARTER! But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesu because of the suffering of de ath crowned with glory and honour. Heb, 2 : 9. IL. THE MARRIAGE YEAST. Blessed are they } to the marriage supper of § which are 5 reals NING, inmea clean hu and renew Psa. 51 : 10. 111, CHRISTIAN WATCHF! And what | i Watch, ; CHRISTS LAST WAIL hea a right spirit st hiir il i yAiLE13E) AY, iY 11 Teachers man seeth; fi 1 ward appearance, but the Lord 1 the on wart {1 Sam, yn what day Know therefor Your for ye Know ne cometh, master what wal this, that if He had Was JOLSe 4 thiet | i 6% SIEMG Known and suffered his house to be Therefore ve also hour that ve think 1 Matt, t have te ol nan cometh 24 : And what I say un . Wateh (Mark 1 Watch iit you like men 16 : 13). Let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober {1 Thess, 5 6 M Then Superintendent and Lesson 4. those VIFgIins arose, their lamps the wise, Give us of lamps are going out, oil: for the your But Onur Wise an- for that not be enough rather to them sell, Scholars: And they that were ready the door was shut { Matt, 25 : 10). Teachers: When once the master of the honse is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and. to knock at the door,.... he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are {Luke 13 : 25). All: Jesus, remember me when 9% to. Lesson 5, — Superintendent: Now after a long time the lord of those ser vants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them, And he that received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: lo, 1 have gained other five talents, His lord said unto him, Well done, good amd faithful ser- vant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord ( Matt, 25 : 10-21), Scholars: Be thou faithful unto death, and 1 will give thee a crown of life (Rev. 2 : 10), Teachers: Consider the Apostle and Hich Priest of our confession, even Jesus; who was faithful to him that ap pointed him (Heb. 3: 1, 2). All: let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unte Jesus (Heb, 12 : 1, 2). Lessom 6, Superintendent : when the Son of man shall i glory, and all the angels with him, ther shall he sit on the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all the nations and he them one from another, as the shepher separateth the sheep from the go and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left (Matt, 25 : 31-33). Scholars: everl But come in Ln shall separate i i yale : bail . And Sli HO as shimment: bul Lhe Matt these asting righteous into life 46}. Teachers into pun i eternal Rejoice, i let thy heart ana hh aru] wie , BRING WAIN CJ) young cheer the days of thine the ways and of all these thin rife 4 « Hie ja Teachers ave this mim i hie Have t} 1 «3 bow 4 bh was also in Christ Jesus All By that same rul (Phil. 3 : 16). ig, and his miment wi 48 SNOW: of him the wat . and became as dead mer gel answered and said unt Fear ve : for 1 know Jesus, which hath been hers; for he is Come. see the lay (Matt, : women, not seek He is risen, even as he place where the 1 24) ye not said. ord 28 Scholars: ut now is Christ from the dead, and become the fruits of them that slept {1 Cor. 15 Teachers: Death is swallowed up 2 O) death, where is thy victory Cor 15 risen first- 20), 54, 55.) All: Thanks beto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15 : 57). Lesson 12, — Superintendent: And Jesus came to them and spake unt them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth, G0 ye therefore, and make discipies of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whateoever 1 coms mand yon: and lo, I am with you al way, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28 ; 18-20), Scholars: The Lord gave the word great was the company of those that published it (Psa, 68 : 11). Teachers: But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that whict we preached unte you, let him Is anathema (Gal, 1:8), All: 1 am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salva. tion to every one that belleveth (Row, 1: 16)
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