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THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. A. B. SIMPSON.
Subject: The Gospel of Tears.
New York City.—The famous head
of the Christian Alliance, tLe Rev. A.
B. Simpson, on Sunday preached a
notable sermon, having for its subject
“The Gospel of Tears.” The texts
were:
Jesus wept.—John 11:35.
And when He was come near He
beheld the city, and wept over it.—•
Luke 19:41.
Who in the days of His flesh, when
He had offered up prayers and sup
plications with strong crying and
t r ars unto Him that was able to save
Him from death, and was heard in
that He feared.—Heb. 5:7.
Who has not wept? Weeping we
begin life as helpless babes and, amid
the tears of mourning friends, we
pass out to the grave. Tears are the
badges of sorrow. How can they be
♦he expression of the Gospel, the glad
tidings of great joy and divine love?
And yet redemption has trans
formed the curse into a blessing and
made a rainbow of our tears.
“Jesus wept.” This little phrase,
the shortest in the Bible, has more in
it than all the books that man has
written. A single drop of ink could
write it, but all the world could not
contain its depths of love.
It tells me that my Redeemer is
human. Tears are human and the
tears of Jesus proclaim Him my
Brother and my Friend. He is the
great heroic Head of our fallen race.
One has come to us who is “bone of
our bone” and “flesh of our flesh" and
has the right to represent who is
able to right our wrongs and recover
our lost heritage of happiness and
blessing.
When God determined to save this
fallen world, He did not send some
mighty angel. He did not come in
His own awful deity; but He stooped
to become a man that He might meet
us in a gentle human form of which i
we should not be afraid. How the
Roman Catholic clings to the tender
sympathy of the virgin mother, but
we do not need even woman’s tender
ness to introduce us to the Father’s
heart; for Jesus/Christ, our Saviour,
has a heart both of woman and of
man. He has been an infant child
like us. He has traversed every stage
of the pilgrimage of man from the
cradle to the grave. He has been
everywhere that we have been. He
has felt everything that we can feel. I
He knows our nature. He bears our
name. He wears our humanity. And
for evermore the Head of this uni
verse, the King of Kings, the Lord
of angels shall be a Man like us, our
Friend “that sticketh closer than a
brother. ”
Oh, what a gospel of comfort we
find in the humanity of Christ. You
can corr.e to Him to-night, as you
would to the gentlest friend, the most
Intelligent father, the noblest man
you ever knew; and though we have
sinned and gone far astray, “He is
not ashamed to call us brethren.”
They tell us that He is able to sym
pathize with our sorrows. He wept
those tears for others. He saw
two breaking hearts before Him. He
felt their agony! He groaned in spirit
and was troubled and at last He
broke down altogether and burst into
a flood of tears. How we thank Him
for those tears. ,
This salvation is not all for the
pearly gates,,the streets of gold and
the glorious Heaven that is coming
bye and bye. We need a lot of it
down here ,in this broken-hearted
world amid our poverty and pain, our
sickness and death,our broken friend
f hips, our wrecked homes, our wrongs
and sorrows and, thank God, He has
it for us. He has experienced it and
He has not forgotten it and still in
His heavenly home we are told “He
is able to be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities.”
He was a child and has felt every
childish sorrow. He had the hard
struggle to support His mother at
Nazareth and He knows all about
hard work and hard times. He was
despised and scorned and He under
stands the sense of wrong and sting
of insult. He was deceived, betrayed
aud murdered and there is no wrong
or insult can come to us that He has
not borne and is still ready to bear
for us. Yes, He has felt the awful
weight of sin, for there was an hour
when Ho sank under His Father’s
wrath in punishment for the sins of
men. He knows the cloud of spir
itual darkness. He knows the weak
ness and agony of death and He is
with us in it all. Blessed Friend,
bow we thank God for Christ and
what a gospel of love and sympathy
and help speaks to us through the
tears of Bethany.
The tears of Jesus tell us that He
understands our danger, our destiny
and otir estate. He shed those tears
over the grave of Lazarus. They
meant much more than a sense of be
reavement. He was not weeping be
cause He had lost Lazarus. He was
not weeping because the sisters at
Bethany had lost their brother. He
knew that Lazarus was coming forth
again in a little while and that the
sorrow would be forgotten in the glad
reunion. Oh, no, He saw deeper than
that. He saw in the grave of Lazarus
every grave that had been opened
and filled through earth's forty cen
turies and that would be filled in the
twenty centuries that have passed
since then. He saw all the horrors
and agonies of the battlefield, the
ocean wreck, the lingering deathbed,
the scourge of famine and pestilence
and the ravages of the king of terrors
with the millions and billions of vic
tims that he has smitten in the past
six thousand years; and as He saw it
all, realized it all, and the vision
loomed in lurid horror before His
Omniscient eye, He realized the fear
ful curse of sin and His heart broke
down in agony and sorrow.
Nay more, He saw a sadder sight.
He saw a deeper grave. He saw the
eternal grave beyond all, that we be
hold in death. He saw the death that
never dies; the fire that never is
quenched; the yawning gulf of end
less woe into which the sinful soul
must sink forever. It was the sight
of that horror that had brought Him
from Heaven to earth. It was the
thought of man perishing in ever
lasting darkness that had made Him
glad to live and suffer and die, and
as it all rose before Him as through
a glass in the tomb of Lazarus “Jesus
wept. ”
Oh, that we might realize it a 3 He
did.
Did Christ o’er sinners weep
And shall our tears be dry?
Christ never thought or spake of
eternal punishment in cold, hard
words. He did it with a breaking
heart. He did it with tenderness and
tears, but none the less He did it;
for none knew so well as He that
eternal sin must bring eternal hell
and that all we know and fear of
death is but a paradise compared
with that second death—
* * * * whose pang
Outlasts the fleeting breath;
Oh, what eternal horrors hang
Around the second death.
The tears of Jesus teli us of His
atonement. He did not cotfle down
to earth to weep in helpless sorrow
but to rise in almighty strength
against our doom —and rescue us
from it.
When Hercules came to the place
where the helpless virgin lay bound
upon the rock and the dragon was
coming to devour her, her parents
and all around were frantic with
tears, but Hercules cried, “This is no
time for tears; this hour is for res
cue,” and he slew the dragon and
saved the maiden.
So Jesus came, not merely to weep
but to help, and by His own tears and
His own agony and His own blood to
meet our peril and our penalty and
save us from eternal sorrow.
And so we read of another instance
of His tears in Heb. 5:7. These were
the tears of Gethsemane and the an
guish of His passion. These were the
tears that we deserved to shed. These
were the pains that we deserved to
suffer. But as our great Substitute
and Sacrifice, He bore our sins in His
own body on the tree, and having
paid the penalty and satisfied the
claims of justice, He comes in the
glad message of the Gospel to an
nounce our pardon and salvation.
O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head;
Our load was laid on Thee;
Thou stoodest in the sinner’s stead,
Didst bear all sin for me;
Jehovah lifted up His rod,
O Christ, it feil on Thee:
Thou wast sore stricken of Thy God,
Thy bruising healeth me.
Hindu mythology has a strange
tale typical of the atonement, the
story of a dove pursued by a hawk
until in desperation it flung itself
into the bosom of Vishnu, one of their
deities. But the hawk demanded sat
isfaction, declaring that the dove was
her lawful prey and that Vishnu must
not only be merciful to the dove but
just to its claims. Then Vishnu, hold
ing the trembling dove in her bosom,
bared her breast and bade the hawk
devour of her own living flesh as
much as would compensate for the
dove, while all the time the dove lay
fluttering there and knowing the fear
ful cost of her deliverance. Yes, we
are safe within His bosom, but oh,
the cost to Him. “He saved us, Him
self He could not save.” He wipes
away our tears, but in order to do
this He had to weep when there was
no eye to pity and no arm to save.
Don’t you think the least that you
could do would be to thank Him and
give Him your heart, your love, your
grateful tears?
We have yet one more picture,
Luke 19:41. He was entering Jeru
salem from Olivet. He had just
turned that point where the whole
city suddenly bursts upon the trav
eler’s view. As He gazed upon it in
its singular beauty, there arose be
hind the scene another vision that a
few years later was to fill all that
valley: a city besieged, cruel Roman
legions around on every hill top, the
narrowing cordon of destruction, a
breach at last in the walls of defense,
the breaking in of the brutal con
queror, the streets running with
blood, the Temple rising in smoke
and flames, the shrieks of mothers,
maidens and little children in the
cruel grasp of the conqueror, and
then, a long train of captives going
forth to distant lands while behind
them lay a plowed held of desolation
where once their beautiful city had
been.
And as He saw it all and how it
might have been prevented if they
had only received Him, He cried, “If
i thou hadst known even now in this
thy day the things that belong to thy
peace, but now they are hid from
thine eyes.” It was too late; but
even yet He had for them His tears.
These tears tell us of Christ’s com
passion. They tell us how He longs
to save.
They tell us that He is here to
night with infinite pity and power to
l wipe away your tears, to wash away
your sins and make you happy and
holy through His love.
But they tell us also that if you re
fuse and reject Him. there may come
a time, there will come a time, when
He can do nothing for you but weep.
They tell of a judge before whom
was brought for punishment his old
est friend. As he stood up to pro
nounce the sentence upon him, the
memory of their boyhood days to
gether came upon the judge’s heart
with overwhelming force and he
broke out in floods of weeping. “My
friend,” he said, “how can I, by a
single word, consign you to a felon's
cell and a life of banishment front
home and friends and all that earth
holds dear? But I am a judge and
must be just. Why did you force me
to do this thing?” And they wept to
gether, but it was too late to save
him from his fate. From that scene
of weeping, he went forth a doomed,
ruined man to spend his day 3 in fruit
less tears.
Oh, sinner, beware! lest some day
on the Throne of Judgment you look
in the face of a weeping Saviour and
hear Him say: “How often would I
have gathered you even as hen doth
gather her brood under her wings
and ye would not. Oh, that thou
hadst known the thing. 3 that belong
to thy peace, but now they are hid
from thine eyes. ”
SMALL PART OF BOOTY RECOVERED
Letten’s Wife and Son Come Across With
Over $6,000.
The recovery in cash of over $6,-
000, alleged to be part of the $116,-
000 stolen from the state by Tax Clerk
Charles E. Letten, was announced by
the police in New Orleans Saturday.
Letten’s son George was arrested when
he arrived in the city from a nearby
town and admitted that he has $2,001
which his father game him recently.
He promised to give the money up.
No charge was made against him.
The police announce also that the
tax clerk’s wife gave Mm $4,038 in
bills which she had drawn from a
bank.
The tax clerk in his confession said
e gave nearly all the money he stole
to Virginia Reed, a negress. Legal
proceedings are under way to recovei
money from her.
JAMESTOWN
Ter-Centennial Exposition April t
November, 1907.
Exceedingly low rates have been
authorized by the Southern Railway
to Norfolk, Va., and return, account
Jamestown Ter-Centennial Expos!
tion.
Stopovers will be allowed on sea
son, sixty day and fifteen day tickets,
same as granted on summer tourist
lickets. Tickets will be sold daily
commencing April 19th, to and moul
ding November 30th, 1907.
The Southern .Railway is taking a
very great interest in this exposition
and doing everything within their
power to promote its welfare for ihe
reason that it is located on historic
and southern grounds, and has evi
denee of being one of the most import
ant and attractive affairs of this kind
that has ever been held.
Through train service and sleeping
car service to Norfolk during the ex
position has not yet been announced,
but it is expected that most excel
lent schedules will be put in effect
so as to make the trip comfortable
and satistoctory in every way.
Fuil and complete information will
be cheerfully furnished upon applica
tion to any ticket agent of the South
era Railway company. r;
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LOCUST GROVE DRUG CO.
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Sample tube and Booklet by mail ioc.
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St. Louis. M«.
R. O. JACKSON,
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E. M. SHITH,
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Me Donctnw, Ga.
Office over Star Store, south side square.
All work carefully and promptly attended
to. IST' Am premared to negotiate loans
on real estate. Terms easy.
HELP IS OFFERED
TO WORTHY YOUNG PEOPLE
Wc earnestly request all you ns persons, no matter
how limited their means or education, who wish to
obtain a thorough business training and good posi
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The Ga.-Ala. Dullness College, Macon, Ga.
VERY LOW RATES
TO
NORFOLK, VA., AND RETURN
Account Jamestown Ter-CentenniaJ Exposition
VIA
Southern Railway
Season, 6o day and 15 day tickets on sale daily commen
cing April 19th, to and including November 30th, 1907.
Stop Overs will be allowed on Season, Sixty-day and
fifteen-day tickets, same as on Summer Tourist Tickets.
For full and complete information call on Tioket Agents Southern
Railway, or write :
For rates, routes and schedules or any infor
mation, address,
C. R. PETIT, Trav. Pass. Agent
Macon. Ga.
JOHN B. WATKINS,
VETERNARY SURGEON,
Office at flack Goodwin’s stables below county jail.
Office hours: 1.30 to 2.30 p. m., Friday, Saturday and
Sunday. All calls promptly attended to. Office Phone 44;
Residence Phone 131, Jackson, Ga.
FOR SALE-LOTS IN LOCUST
GROVE, GA.
1 Acre, $l5O. Dicken Street 165 ft iront, 500 ieet Irom
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I*4 Acres, SSOO. Clevelrnd Street 100 ft front, facing
Railway Crossing. 400 feet from Southern Railway depot.
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ATLANTA, CA.
Atlanta, Oct. 10th to 26th inclusive |
jw “The Sport of Kings” 'll
(I Each clay there will be five intensely thrilling running races. This ex- |t|
JrttfX hibition of speed and courage of horse flesh will bring together many of ill
the most noted running horses of America. pi
sJbp $lO,OOO in Prizes — ls County Exhibits JHi
iff! . Wednesday. Oct. 16th, will be FARMERS'UNION DAY. This will be a
mil I banner day—magnificent dtsnlays ot every conceivable piece of agricultural
«1 tii 1 * * ,r * ze ’ w * im * n S> ilve stock, poultry and farm products will bo at Yfil
J V The Midway ~r7\
fI P Grand and gorgeous side shows; bewildering, entertaining and instructive, t/fllf
1# exhibiting the queer people of the Orient and Occident, the reproduction of a
gold mine i;i operation; these, and many more, will create unlimited mer-
Reduced Rates gtj all Railroads
JLj. FRANK WELDON, Scc'y £f Gen’l Mgr. *£3\JiV\ \j/
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