' i
i)
THE ASSASSINATION.
a.CRAMENTAL DAY SERVICES IN
THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.
j IU-tr. lr. Talmags Clvra a Craplile 1)
Mrlt!on or the Scourging and C'rucl-
flilon of Our Barlou i The Terrible
' Crown of Thorns.
IlROOITLYN. J une 3. Tlio congregation
nt the Iiiixinaclo sans morning:
1M ulrijr Die prpcloiiii blood hfl llt,
i Hy rauM'iii from Uie dreadful guilt.
Tins is Sacramental day, and a large
liumlvr of jicrhoiuj joined tht church.
unking tlie communicant membership
4.1U1. . uut this is only a jiart or tho great
attendance that bimday mornuigH and
evenings overflow tlio immense audience
room. Tlio llov. T. Do Witt Talwage,
it. u., iooii lor nu text tlie passage:
"Whosoever doth not Lear his cross, and
I.uko xir, 27. lie preached the fl
lowing sermon:
TJio crobs was a giblt on which crlm
inuls tttru ut to death. It was some-
iiies mado in tlio filiajie of the letter 'l
'.nmtinies in the tthape of the letter X,
Roinetiiiies in the at:i; f tho letter I a
fcimj.Ie upright; sometimes two cross
pieces ng:uu.-t the jorpendicular bar, bo
that uxii tho lower cross piece the ciini-
inal partially sat. But whatever tho
htyle of the cross, it was always disgrace
ful and aJways agonizing.
thcn Darius conquered Daoylon he
put 200 captives to death on the cross,
When Alexander conquered Tyre ho ut
2,000 captives to death on the cross. So
it wnsjii-t an ordinary rnoIo of punish
merit. Uut in all tho forest of crosses on
tlie hills and in the valleys of tho earth
there is one cross that attracts mora at
tention than any other. It is not higher
th.m the others; it is not mado out of
d liferent wood; there is nothing peculiar
i i tin- notch at which the two pieces are
j. lined; and. as to the scene, they wit-
ne.iM-d crucifixions every few weeks, so
that I see a reckless man walking about
th" hill aTld kicking carelessly aside a
si. nil, and wondering who the villain was
that had so flat and misshaieri a head;
. and !:( i another skull, ami there mi
me i.ni-iiie is aii;tiic r skull, lmlecd. the
Ui'do says it was "a place of hkulls."
I'.nt ntout the victim on one of the.a
-rof si-s all ages are erving: "Who ia he?
AVas he a man? Was he a God? Was he
Van and Cod?"
7'Iii-oukIi the darkness of that gloomy
day, I couio close up enough to that
cross to see what it is. It is Jesus. How
did become there? Had lie coino up on
the top of the lull to look off upon the
beautiful landscape, or iion a brilliant
eunsel? No. Ho came there ill and ex
LauMed. People sometimes wonder why
(!irist cxpiic-l so quickly on the cross, in
kix or wvin nou s, wlulo other victims
linve ken on tho cross for forty-eight
boiirs iefore hfo was extinct I will tell
yea the rear-on. lie was exhausted when
lie came there. lie had been scourged.
We are horrified at the cruelties of the
whipping lot. but those cruelties were
mercy as compared with the scourging of
Jesus Christ.
' I saw at Antwerp a picture made by
( Rubens Rubens' picture of the scourg-
ing of Jesus Christ. It was the most
overmastering picture I ever looked at
or ever expect to ?e. Aa the long
frocked official opened the door that hid
the picture, there he was Christ with
back bent and bared. The flagellator
stood with the upper teeth clinched over
the lower lip, as though to give violence
to the blows. There were the swollen
shoulders of Christ. There were the
black and blue ridges, denied even the
relief of bleeding. There was the flesh
. adhering to the whips as they were lifted.
There were the marks where the knots
in the whips gouged out tho flesh. There
stood the persecutor with lus foot on
the calf of the leg of the Saviour, bal
ancing himself. Ol the furious and
hellish look on those faces, grinning ven
geance against the Son of God. The
picture seized me ft overwhelmed me;
it 8eomH as if it would kill me. I do
not think I could have looked at it five
minutes and have lived.
Dut that, my friends, was before
ChrUt had started for Calvary. That
was only the whipping. Are you ready
for cur journey to the cross?
Tlie cariK-ntc-rs have 6plit the timbers
into two pieces. They are heavy and
t!:oy are long pieces, for ono of them
niu.-t lie fastened deep down in the earth
L-s-t tlie struggling of the victim upset
the structure. They put tliis timber
upon the shoulder of Christ very gradu
ally; first, to Fee whether he can stand it,
tii.l after thy find he can stand it, they
p;;t the whole weight upon him. Forward
iiow, to Calvary. Tlio hooting and tho
yelling mob follow on. Under the weight
cf the cros Christ being weary and sick,
I e stun.l.li s and falls, and they jerk at
bis rJhi indignant that he should have
f tunihli-d and fallen, and they cry: "Get
i:;. get up!" Christ, putting ono hand
o:i tin? ground and the other on the cross,
j-L '. kM.kir.g into the face of Mary, lus
mot!.cr. for sympathy, but they tell hei
to stand lic!r. it is no plack for a womaE
"Sian 1 back and stop this crying."
Christ moves on with his burden ujKin
his shoulders, and there is a boy thai
parses along with him, a boy holding a
mallet and a few nails. I wonder what
they are for. Clirist moves cn until tlio
burden is so great ho staggers and falls
flat into the dust and faints dead away,
and a ruffian puts his foot on him and
fahaL.es hiui as he would a dead dog, while
another ruffian looks down at him won
dering whether he has fainted avray, or
whether ho is only pretcnJing to faint
away, and with jeer and contempt inde
scribable 6ays: ."Fainted, have you?
fainted! get up, get onr'
Now thev have arrived at Iho foot of
the hill. Oil with Lis dollies. Shall
that loathsome mob look upon the un
rolled body cf Christ? Yes. Tlio com
manding officers 6ay: "Unfasten tho
firdlo, take off the coat, strip him."
The work is done. Cut bring back the
coat, for hero are tho gamblers tossing
up coin on tho ground, saying; "Who
fch..ll have the coat?" One ruffian says:
"I have it, I have it it is mine!" no
rolls it up nnl puts it under his arm, or
he examines it to 6ee what fabric it is
made of. Then they put the cross upon
tlie 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 I Alasl
TOE
alas! tlio hour passe ou and the time
conies when they must crucify him.
Chrii-t has only one garment left now.
a cap, a cap of thorns. No danger that
it will fall off, for tho sharp edges liave
punctured the temples and it is sura and
fast. One ruffian takes hold of one end
of tho short beam of the cross, and
another ruffian takes a bold of the other
end of tho short beam of tho cross, and
another ruffian puts his arms around the
waist of Clirist, and another ruffian takes
hold of the end of the long beam of the
cross, and altogether they move on until
they come to tlie hole digged in the
earth, und with awful plungo it jars
down with its burden of woe. It is not
tho picture of a Christ, it is not the statue
of Christ, as you sometimes see in a cathe
dral; but it is the body of a bleeding,
living, dying Christ.
They sometimes say ho had five
wounds, but they have counted wrong.
Two wounds for the hands, two wounds
for tho feet, ono wound for tho side, they
say, five wounds. No, they have missed
the worst and they have missed the
most. Did you ever see the bramble out
of which that crown of thorns was
made? I snw one on a Brooklyn ferry
lio.it, 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. Oh I how
cruel and how stubborn were the 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 I cannot count them.
There were three or four absences that
made the 6cene worse. First, there was
the absence of water. Tlie climate was
hot, tho fever, the inflammation, the
nervous prostration, tho gangrene had
seized upon him, and he terribly wanted
water. His wounds were worse than
gunshot fractures, and yet no water. A
Turk in tho Thirteenth century was cru
cified on the banks of a river so that the
sight of the water might tantalize him.
And oh! how the thirst of Christ must
have tantalized as he thought of the Eu
phrates and the Jordan and the Amazon
and all the fountains of earth and heaven
poured out I his own liand. They of
fered him an intoxicating draught made
out of wine and mvrrh. but ho declined
it. He wanted to die sober. No water.
Then, my friends, there was tX
sence of litrht. Vaikr'- nia-or.
Irates trouble. 1 never shall forget the
night in the summer of 19751. In tim
steamer ureece. raid-Atlantic
moment expecting the steamer rr.
down. All the lurhts in th
blown out. Tlie captain came frawlino.
in on hands Rod knees, for he could not
etand upright, so violently was the ves
sel pitching, and ho cried out: "Lieht
up, light upl" Tho steward said; W
can't light up; the candles are gone and
mo noiuers are gone. The captain said :
"l can't help that; Hsrht ud." The storm
was awful when the lights were burning-
worse when the lights went out.
Then there was the absence of faithful
nurses. When you are iU, it is pleasant
to have the head bathed and the handa
and feet nibbed. Look at the hands and
feet of Christ, look at the face of Christ.
There were women there who had cared
for the 6ick, but none of them mighfc
come up near enough to help. There
was Christ's mother, but she might not
come up near enough to help. They said:
tanu bacK. stand back: this is no
place for you." Ihelugh pries t3 and
tho boldiers wanted it their own wav:
they had it their own way.
The hours pass on and it is 12 o'clock
of the Saviour's suffering, and it is 1
o'clock, and it is 2 o'clock, and it is al
most 8 o'clock. Take the last look at
that suffering face, wan and pinched,
the purplo lips drawn back against the
teeth, the eves red with weenine and
sunken as though grief had pushed them
back, blackness under the Jower lid, the
whole body adroop and shivering with
the last chill, the breath frrowinsr feebler
and ieeoier and feebler and feebler until
he gives one long, deep, last sigh. He is
dead I
O! my soul, he is dead. Can you tell
why? Was he a fanatic dying for a prin
ciple that did not amount to anything?
as lie a man infatuated? No; to save
your soul from 6in, and mine, and make
eternal life possible, he died. There had
to bo a substitute for sin. Who shall it
be? "Let it be me," said Christ: "let it
heme." You understand the meaning
of that word substitution. You were
drafted for the last war; some ono took
your place, marched your march, suf
fered your wounds and died at Gettys-
ourg. unnsc comes to us wnue we are
lighting our battle with sin and death
and lielL and he is our substitute. He
marches our march, fights our tattle.
sutlers our wounds, and dies our death.
Substitution! Substitution!
How do you feel in regard to that scene
described in the text, and m the region
round about tho text? Are your sympa
tliics aroused? or aro you so dead in sin,
and 60 abandoned by reason of your
transgressions that you can look upon all
that tearless and unmoved? No, no;
1 1 were arc thousands of people here this
morning who can say in the depths of
their soul: "No, no, no; if Jesus en
dured that, and all that for me, I ought
to love him. I must love him, I will
love lum, I do lovo him. Here, Lord, I
give myself to thee; 'tis all that I
can do."
But how are you going to test your
love, and test your earnestness? My text
gives a tert. It says that while Christ
carried a cross for you, you must be will
ing to carry a cross for Christ. "Well,'
you say, "I never could understand
that. There are no crosses to be carried
hi this land; those persecutions have
1 Kissed, and in all the land there isio one
to bo crucified, and yet in the pulpit and
in the prayer meetings you all keep talk
ing about carrying a cross. What do
you mean, sir?" I mean this: Thai is a
cross wliich Clirist calls you to do, which
is unpleasant and hard. "Oh," you say,
"after hearing the story of this Christ
and all that he has endured for me, I am
ready to do anything for him. Just tell
me what I have to do and I'll doit. I.
am ready to carry any cross."
Suppose I should ask you at tho close
of a religious service to rise up announc
ing yourself on the Lord's side could
you do it? "Oh! no, you say, "I have
a shrinking and a sensitive nature, and
it would be impossible for me to rise
before a large assemblage, announcing
myself oc the Lord's Bide. Just as I
f.ared. You cannot stand that cross.
The first onj that is offered you, you re- j
DAILY. IIERaLD: PLATrettQiira. mSiVKASKA. MONDAY,
jecL Christ carried a mountain, Clirist
carried a Himalaya, Christ carried a
world for you, and you caruiot lift an
ounce for him.
But here is a man whose cross wQl bo
to announce among his business asso
ciates to-morrow morning on exchange,
that he has begun a new life, that while
he wants to be faithful in his worldly
duties, he is living for another world,
and he ought to advise all those who are
his associates, so far as he can influence
them, to begin with him tho Christian
life. Could you do that, my brother?
"Oh! no, w you say, "not just that. I
think religion is religion, and business is
business, and it would lie impossible for
me to recommend the Christian religion
in places of worldly business." Just as 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 lam.
There is some one whose cross will be
to present religion in the homo circle.
Would you dare to kneel down and pray
if your brother and sister were looking at
you? Could you ask a blessing at tho
tea table? Could you take the Bible and
gather your family around you, and read
of Clirist and heaven and your immortal
soul? Could you then kneel and pray
for a blessing on your household? "Ol"
you say, "not exactly that. I couldn't
quite do that, because I have a very
quick temper, and if I professed religion
and tried to talk religion in my house
hold, and then after that I should lose my
temper they would scoff at me and say :
You are a pretty Christian!' " So you
are cowed down and their sarcasm keens
you out of heaven and away from Christ,
when under God you ought to take your
whole family into the kingdom. Christ
lifted a mountain, lifted a world for jou:
you cannot iift an ounce for him. I see
how tt is; you want to bp favorable to
religion, you want to support Christian
institutions, you like to bo associated
with those who love Jesus Christ: but as
to taking a positive step on this subject,
you cannot you cannot, and my text,
like a gate of a hundred bolts, bars you
away from peace on earth and glory in
ueaven.
There are hundreds of -
her l.tnvn ,...- - -Jiaiiuwomen
life yu ' oincr iiungs in
v -o Bimply. for the lack of manli
ness and womanliness, stay away from
God. They dare not say: "Forever and
forever, Lord Jesus, I take thee. Thou
haat redeemed me by thy blood; here is
my immortal spirit. Listen, all my
friends. Listen, all the world." They
are lurking around about tho kingdom
of God they aro lurking around about
u, expecting to crawl in some time when
nobody is looking, forgetful of the tre
mendous words of my text: "Whosoever
uoth not bear his cross, and come after
me, cannot be my disciple."
An officer of a neighboring church told
me that he was in a store in New York
Ittel - V 3 , . .
uappeueu in wnere mere were
many clerks, and a gentleman came in
and said to a young man standing behind
me counter: "Are you the young man
ma arose trie other night in the Brook
lyn tabernacle and asked for prayers?'
without any flush of cheek he replied:
-a am. i naven t always done right,
and I have been quite bad, but since I
arose tor prayers I think I am better
thau I was." It was only his way of
announcing inat lie had started for the
higher hfe. God will not cast out a man
who i3 brave enough to take a step ahead
une uiai.
I tell you these things this morning be
cause, my dear friends, I want to show
you how light the cross is that we have
to carry compared with that which Christ
carried ror us. You have not had the
flesh torn off for Christ's sake in carrying
your cross. ie fainted dead awr.y under
his cross. You have not carried the cross
until it fetched the blood. der his
there was a pool of carnage that plashed
the horses' fetlocks. You have friends
to sympathize with you in carrying the
cross. Christ trod the wine press of
God's wrath alone, alone 1 The cross
that you and I ought to carry represents
only a few days or a few years of trial.
The cross that Christ carried for us had
compressed into it the agonies of eternity.
There has some one come here today
whom you have not observed. He did
not come through tho front door; he did
not come down any of these aisles; yet
I know he is here. He is from the east,
tho far east. He comes with blistered
foot and with broken heart and cheeks
red not with health, but with blood from
the temples. I take hold of his coat and
I say: "It does not 6eem to fit thee."
"No," be says; "it is not mine; it is bor
rowed ; it does not belong to me now.
For my vesture did they cast lots. " And
I say to him: "Thine eyes are red as
though from loss of sleep." Ho 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?" "Ah 1" he says, "that is a cross I
carry for thee and for the sins of the
whole world. That is a cross. Fall into
line, march on with me in this proces
sion, take your smaller crosses and your
lighter burdens and join me in this
march to heaven." 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 omnipo
tence, he cries until all the earth trem
bles: "Whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be mv
disciple."
Oh! my brethren, my sisters for I do
not speak professionally, I speak as a
brother would speak to a brother or
s iiter my brother, can you not bear a
cross if at last you can wear a crown?
Come now, let us divide off. Who is on
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 I will
crown you in the presence of all tlie
people, and J will make a great day of
festival on your account." The Greek
architect did his work, did it maernifi-
cently, planned the building, looked after
its construction. The building was done.
Tlie 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:
"We have gathered here today to open
this coliseum, and to honor the Greek
architect. It is a creat dav for tl.A T?n.
man empire. Let this buildkuj be proa-
perous, and let honor lie put upon the
Greek architect O! we must have a
festival today. Bring out those Christ ians
and let us have them put to death at the
mouth of the lions." Tho Chri.sti.-uis
were put into tho center of the amphi
theatre. It was to bo a great celebration
in their destruction. Then the lions,
hungry and three-fourths starved, were
let out from their dens in the side of the
amphitheatre, and they came forth with
mighty spring to destroy and rend tho
Christians, and all the galleries shouted,
"Huzza, huzza! Long live the enieioi 1"
Then tho Greek architect arose in one of
tlie galleries and shouted until in the vast
assemblage all heard him: "I too mi a
Christian 1" and they seized him in their
fury and flung him to the wild l easts.
until his body, bleedine and dead, wrm
tumbled over and over again in the du.- t
of the amphitheatre.
Could you have done that for Christ?
Could you, in a vast assemblage, all of
whom hated Christ, have said: "1 am a
Christian," or, "I want to be a Chris
tian?" Would you have had the
10,000th part of the enthusiasm and the
courage of the Greek architect? Nay, 1
ask you another question: would you in
an assemblage where they aro nearly all
Christians in jui assemblage a vast mul
titude of whom lovo ChrLst and aro will
ing to live, and if need be to die for him
would j-oii dare 6ay: "I am a Chris
tian," or, "I want to lie a Christian?"
Would you say in tho presence of the
friends of Christ, as much as the Greek
architect said in the presence of the ene
mies of Christ? Ol are there not t-t-J i
tude? hero thij uioi
h
io are read v
to say: "Let tho world look on; let nil
the galleries of earth and heaven and hell
look on, I take Christ this day. Como
applause or abuse, come sickness or
health, come life or death, Christ now,
Christ forever."
Are you for ChrLst, are von aorainr-t
him?
Tho destinies of eternity tremble
in the balance. It seems as if the lust
day had come and we were jrathe-,':'
tho reckoning. "Beheld '
with clouds, und : .,e c:u( tl)
What- . .ry eye snail see mm
. oiiv io one l sav ro an. nai
are you doing for Christ? What are
you bearing for Clirist?
Oh! Christian man, Oh! Christian
woman! Ilavo you any scars to show in
this conflict? When a war is over the
heroes have scars to show. One hero
rolls back his sleeve and shows a gunshot
fracture, or he pulls down the collar and
6hows where he was wounded in the
neck. Another man says: "I have
never had the use of my limb since I
was wounded at that great battle."
When the last day comes, when all
our battles are over, will we have
any wounds for Christ? Some have
wounds for sin, wounds for the devil,
wounds gotten in fighting on the wrong
side. Have we wounds that we can
show wounds gotten in the battle for
Christ and for the truth? On that resur
rection day Christ will have plei:ty of
scars to show. Chris; will stand there
and show the scars on his brow, the scars
on his hands, and the sears on his feet,
and he will put aside the robe of his roy
alty and show the scar on his side, and
all heaven will break down with emotion
and gratitude in one great sob, and thr-n
in one great hosanna. Will you and I
have any scars to show?
There will be Ignatius, on that day
showing the mark of the paw and teeth
of the lion that struck him down in the
Coliseum. There will lie glorious John
IIuss showing just where on hi3 foot the
names began on that day when his soul
took wing of flame and soared up froaa
Constance. There will lx Hugh McKail
ready to ioint to the mark on his r.eck
where the ax struck him. There will
be McMillan and Campbell and Freeman,
the American missionaries who with
their wives and children were put to
death in the awful massacre at Cawnpcre,
showing the places where the daggers of
the Sepoys struck them. There will be
tlie Waldenses showing where their limbs
were broken on the day when the Pied-
montese soldiery pitched them over the
rocks. Will you and I have any wounds
to show? Have we fought any battles
for Christ? Oh ! that wo might all bo
enlisted for Christ, that we might all bo
willing to suffer for Christ,- that we
might all bear a cross for Christ.
When tlie Scottish chieftains wanted
to raise an farmy they would make a
wooden cross and then set it on fire snd
carry it with other crosses thev had
through the mountains and among tho
people, and as they waved tho cross the
people would gather to the standard ami
tight for Scotland. So today I coir.o
out with the cros3 of the Son of God. It
is a flaming cross flaming with suffer
ing, flaming with triumph, flamiug with
glory. I carry it out among all the peo
ple. Who will be on the Lord's side?
Who will gather to the standard of
Emanuel? A cro?3, a cross, a cross!
"Whosoever doth not bear bis cross and
come after me cannot be mv tLmcmle.
A FEW STRAY ITEMS.
A new steamer, tho Empress, on tlio
Dover-Calais route, is expected to cross
the channel in fifty minutes.
A man in Connecticut, who built a
fancy barn, stole eight tombstones from
a graveyard to build his mangers.
A nugget of ruby ore, weighing 1.000
pounds, and estimated to be worth 10,
000, wa3 taken from a mine near Elko,
Cai., a few days ago.
Tlie Cliinese government has decided
to erect monuments to Gen. Gordon on
the scenes of his victories over the Taip
ing rebels.
In the state of Maine there aro S4.000
pounds of ground wood fiber and ISS.onj)
pounds of chemical wood (Iter made
daily,
A prominent land owner of Elko, Nev,,
Is seeding Im ranch to tea. .Indian wo
men and children will bo employed ia
gathering the leaves.
The cathedral at Ulm, which is large
enough to take in 23,000 persons, will l
completed in 18S9. It was begun in 1377
as a Roman church, but has been Protes
tant since the reformation.
A Swiss Engineer Scheme.
A Swiss engineer named Ritter wants
the city of Paris to adopt his plan for ob
taining an inexbauFtible supply of water
from tho lake of Neufchatel, Switzerland,
S12 miles away. The cost would be
$60,000,000. Boston TranscripU-
JITXE 4. 1888.
DON'T READ THIS !
ess you want to know
JJargaiti in
BOOTS AND SHOES I
e. are now
olltrin
own
Ami the most we pride oureclves on is our excellent line of
Ladies' Hand-Turned Shoes
At their Present Low IVices. Liulies looking lor such a
Shoe should not fail to call on
A
BOEGK
attsmoui
is
on joying a
i&lUY AMD WSIELY
EDITION S.
Year
'J. lie
Will he one durinir
national interest
iiiu
strongly agitateu ana tlie election oi a
President will take jlace. 'Ihe people of
Cass County who would like to learn of
Political, Commercial
and Social Transactions
of this year and would keep apace
the timco should
roi:
Daily
or Weekly Herald.
Now while we have the subject before the
people we will venture to speak ot our
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py Kit i
Which is first-class in all respects and
from which our job printers are turnino
out much satisfactory work.
PLATTSMGUTH,
where to pet tlie I Jest "Cusli'
S
pe
cia
1 J'
ricf? in
IBoozn in both, its
which the subjects of
i , m t
importance win ie
with
riTHEit TLii;
NEBRASKA.
Hera
1888
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sa B' tela M
BWM&aUm a rj