The New York herald., 1874-07-27
CHURCH OF THB STRANGERS.
The Blessed DcaG-A Sermon by Rev. DR.
Deems.


Deems.
The church was crowded in the morning, and,
after q pleasing baptismal service, DR.. Deems
preached. The text was Re cvelauons xiv, 10,
which DR.. Deems said should strictly read thus:-
''And heard a voice from the heaven saying,
Write! Happy the dead who die in the Lord, i'm
medately Yea, saith the Spirit. that they shall
rest from their tolls and their works follow with
t1enr The voice of earth Is Happy are the
iving!' The verdict OF heaven ls, Happy are the
dead! Wnen we sec youth in its gush and man.
hood, in Its activities; when We see children romp
ing and dancing, young men pulling in regattas,
bGsy brains ard hands working so that money
comes in, and houses bailt and furniture Is
procure and with farms, shops, stores, banks,
railroads, steamers, the bar the press, the pulpit,
all life Is athrob all brains agloy all eyes aarc.
Life seems the happy thing to u.s.
In lie a man regards two things, the actual and
the ,sble. He secs what he has-his limbs his
facuitics his fortune, his family. These are present
to bin. He has them now. They may be 50
wrought together as 10 make more lie may employ
his faculties On the money In hand and BIZ aid Of
bodily exertions ana !anily nnu .nce may increase
II hundred!old. He cannot measure the pos
sbiities but his Imagination seizes the treasures
OF his memory and builds up measureless maGnih-
cencc in the future. He may accumulate Ike
tIGsus COHuucl ilhc aicAtuueI OF tdlk IKE
Tally or thunder like DemOsthenes, or surpass the
song Of Homer the chlse Of Phidias, the pencil OF
Raphael. What may he not do II he ike? But
deadl What can the dead dol Death breaks pen
and harp ana sword. Death browns the bright
ness OF life in a dire eclipse. That Is what the
world says And but for Jesus who can say the
world ''NayT' He has brought life and immor-
tauty TO light. All the world without HIM are
wecning around the graves OF earth HarK amid
the tumultuous cries and lamentations hear q
vcire from heaven: What can heaven say to
II SPEAKS TO an exed apostle In the solitude of an
island and says, BLESSED the dead John, 90 wfite
1t. Tie truth. remains when ! cease speaking
Go write IL for the ages, Tor fathers and mothers
and children and lovers, that as they stand over
the motionless feet and crossed hands and silent
dead are happy" That is what the Heaven says
TO tie Eartn. some dead then, are happy. 1t
n not S Of NECESSITY an
are 'qn the Lord.n 1t was dreadful time when
John heard that voice III Patmos. The good were
being hunted from the lace OF the etrtn. They
were imprisoned, scourged, tortured. torn TO
pieces, burned. 10 take upon ones sell the name
OF the Lord Christ almost to seal one's earthly
doom. 1t was to die ignominiously. There were
no monuments to the dead Christians. No en-, o.
gum was craven IN brass and hung In temples
/ mat time was 10 leave no fame, no fortune,
nothing but sorrow to SURVIVORS. The voice rom
heaven instructed John to proclaim 1T to the world
that whOsoever lived Tor Jesus and worked and died
for Jesus should be happy Immediately, which the
I
mean. There's man who has devoted all his
abilities to tho service Of Jesus, Striving to make
men mind the law OF the Lord and tue power Of
! lis resurrection. The prosecutor seIzcs him.
/ The Emperor has him secretly tortured. He dies
/ alone in an underground prison. In the Lord he
dies. dies nsensible through great pain and wakes
suddenly to CONSCIOUSNESS, and IL IS the soft rest
! of heaven. Lazarus died in the Lord. He lost
! conscIousness. The hard stone OF Dives, steps
grow softer than his mothers hand, soft as an
angels hand, and the sinking feeling OF bis soul Is
changed INTO sense Of uplifting, and he IS dead
M IN SpSvi,1 t,v
faith Is in the Lord. Her youth and beauty viii
not project her. RE Emperor sits up on MS high
ssnet ssrnss and 1Y nem6les "ss AND 'R RblusSe: hes
her fe oeaT she so ar oSest 90 the sns core
beautiful, dressed only IN her lOveiiness Tne hun
CRY lion IS lei in she looks to heaven rs she hears
him come. We close ewes az we see him
bound. But how can u lion hurt herr The rude
rayening with which he tears tnat pure heart rom
that white bosom Iefs heaven In. she Is dead.
she sees the hofrd faces OF the glosting crowd no
the hundred and forty-lonr thousand; she
hears the rlbald cry no more, but ON Eer
breaks the song OF thunder, harps and in
Vulnerable singers, and she Is dead and imme-
0!atciy happy. blessed Roman virgin, TO die In
Rome, before Rome discovered purgatory! Being
in the Lord' not only signifies IN his service but
sons love purely aud with mutual consecralon
each carries the other IN bis soul II you could
see INTO that mans brain a the pictures Of his
sentiments OF has soul are songs Of the beloved,
All the ACTIVITIES Of MS lie are Quickenea by his
beloved. And when Jesus Is that person to us it
j. being IN the lord. and having Him found In us
the hope Of glory
WHEN stcB DIE Tusy ARE HAPPY.
because, frs they rest rom their toll. That is the
meaning OF the word. Not WORK, but toil. Not
pleasant actiwty, but painful working: that Kind
or WORK which IS done ny repeated, wearing
stroke upon s'Ohe. Those VINO are IN the Lord tJIl
10 resist eyi.the evll that Is in themselves, the
evll tnat ls IN the world. IL is constant watching,
WORKING, bghtlDg. Then they strive to 90 good,
10 DuUd temples whcrc rude places werc-basting,
cutting shaping. carrying. They 90 into forest
covered with growth OF trees ana begin to reduce
I u INTO beautiful gardens Cr the Lord, How he
beaten nerve and the spurred brain grow tired.
Down ID the midst OF his work the lab jrcr lalls lie
~ lead ana rested Immediately. The very sudden
ness win wiich az latigue Is swept out OF him is
ffsej delicious thrill.
Ipe discourse was closed by reference to tie fact
tbat u was als0 blessed to be alive IN the Lord
Everything depends on being lin the Lord" Mis-
elaYe the lying who are out OF the IOrd blessed