on, about the amazing pity, grace, love shown when the Maker died for the sin of the creature, the wild men began to creep down the hillside, nearer and nearer; and the chief cried out, "Where did you learn that? Sing us more; we never heard the like before." The savages were subdued. The stranger was safe from their spears, and welcomed to their huts and best hospitality. The cross has never lost its charm. (Text.)—Missionary Review of the World.
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CROSS GLORIOUS
My God, I have never thanked thee for
my thorn. I have thanked thee a thousand
times for my roses, but not once for my
thorn. I have been looking forward to a
world where I shall get compensation for
my cross, but I have never thought of my
cross as itself a present glory. Thou divine
Love whose human path has been perfected
through sufferings, teach me the glory of
my cross, teach me the value of my thorn.—George
Matheson.
(631)
CROSS IMPERISHABLE
Matthew Arnold had a brother-in-law,
Mr. Cropper, who lived in Liverpool, and
attended Sefton Park Church, where Dr.
John Watson ("Ian Maclaren") ministered.
Visiting Mr. Cropper, Mr. Arnold accompanied
him to church one Sunday morning,
which proved to be Arnold's last Sunday on
earth. Dr. Watson preached on "The
Shadow of the Cross"; and the congregation
afterward sang the familiar hymn, "When
I survey the wondrous cross." At lunch
that day Mr. Arnold referred to an illustration
which the preacher had drawn from the
Riviera earthquake. "In one village," said
Dr. Watson, "the huge crucifix above the
altar, with a part of the chancel, remained
unshaken amid the ruins, and round the
cross the people sheltered." "Yes," remarked
Arnold in speaking of this, "the cross remains,
and in the straits of the soul makes
its ancient appeal." (Text.)
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CROSS, THE
Many preachers, while they do not ignore the cross, dim or obscure it by eliminating from it the element of redemption. But however obscured, it will emerge in human life, for the cross is the center of faith.
One of the most magnificent ecclesiastical
structures in the world is the mosque of
Hagia Sophia, or "Holy Wisdom," commonly
known in our language as St. Sophia.
This was originally the famous temple erected
by Constantine in 325, as a Christian
church. But it was destroyed by fire in 404
in a riot connected with the exile of Chrysostom.
Rebuilt at once, in 530 it was again
burnt to the ground, and the present edifice
was reared by Justinian, and on Christmas
day of 537 was dedicated as a Christian
cathedral. In 1453 it was converted into a
mosque. Jesus was put aside for Mohammed,
the cross was supplanted by the crescent,
and the Bible was dethroned by the Koran.
Yet tho in many places the cross is wholly
hidden under plaster with fine filigree work,
here and there it can be perceived. (Text.)
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CROSS, THE VEILED
The cross of Jesus Christ was to the
Greeks foolishness and a stumbling-block of
the Jews. They could not see its meaning;
just as I have walked out on the porch of
a north Georgia home two hours before
day, and in the dim starlight I could see
only the faint outline of mountain and hill.
I could not tell what they were. It was an
indistinct picture that had in it no meaning
to me. I have gone back to my room and
after a while have walked out on the porch
again. The sun had risen on the scene and
bathed hill and mountain and valley in a
flood of light, and then I looked and saw
hills and mountains and valleys and streams
that mine eyes had never seen before.—"Famous
Stories of Sam P. Jones."
(634)
CROWD AND THE EXCEPTION
Sam Walter Foss sings of the man who comes up from the crowd in these verses:
There's a dead hum of voices all saying the same thing,
And our forefathers' songs are the songs that we sing,
And the deeds by our fathers and grandfathers done
Are done by the son of the son of the son,
And our heads in contrition are bowed.
And lo, a call for a man who shall make all things new
Goes down through the throng. See! he rises in view!
Make room for the man who shall make all things new!
For the man comes up from the crowd.
