The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-04-15
FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH.


The Rev. DIR. Armitage preached In his usual logical
anu forcDlc the subject OF 1.Chrst's Ac-
quaintance with Grief" He took his text from ISAIAH
| ill.,, 3--"A man OF sorrows and acquainted with
gric.n How deiicatey acute 5aid the reverend gen
| tletnan, was tho IN Isaiahs soull The bending
seer listened and there came floating down to him
solemn, low wailinrs OF grief from the bosom Of
unborn future. sobs End sighinss find their
way ous OF It's yelled reccsses and melt MIN
| into the paihos OF tears. white in stuffed notes
! his iyre repeats the hcartbreakings OF tho
oman OF sorrows in his asquain lance with grief :"
One says or the evangelist prophet that no eagle
OF tho sun, and his nest 10 IN Calvary; but whe this
is beautifully trne, his muied In tho text In
that Of the widowed turtle dove mourning In tho
shade Of the cross The thome which tho prophet
brings before Is OF awful moment, and it becomes
us to touch II with solemn reverence. In Isaiah one
cfor, to tell the he embraces the whole concep
ton In the fcwost words. ga OF SORROWS and nc
quainied with grief"
No other words which he could have chosen wero
Sufficient to supply the pcrsonincat,on OF hts highly
lrurative sentence Not only does he utter volumes
10 denomnating Jesus a man Of sorrows, as II he
made up the nbrc and staple OF his life. you caicl
the profound aud unparalleled thought when he per
soniIes grief; thus cndowins with living attn utes
aud max, ng u an intimate personal acquaintance Of
the ''Man of Sorrows"
Tho essence OF grief is moral pain. Grief. simple
and pure felt the heart beeds under the loss OF
grin or anger Grief may be very transient aud
acute or 1t NAV be chrome and abiding, but It's vo-
cnco is generally proportoncd to tho suddenness OF
ia cause wnsn IL nils NIL tho chambers Of tho soul
II Is overwhelming II Is like the dark side OF planet.
which cannot be secn I'll relieved b. the light OF
another winch u ccipscs When a soul Is ovcrtaSen
by paroxvsms OF greet its effects fclt
upon ali the bodily functions rho heart and
lungs arc thrown into state OF
structure aud sunocalion great Is tho oppression
OF mental aiction that the whole cbsst will feet
II bound with a strong cord. Tho breathing becomes
long ana deep. Nc AIR enough could not be inhacd
ana frequent signing prociams that the vitals nave
been strcKcu win calamity Tue lungs need enlarge.
ment to facilitate the passage oil blood through tbsm
and thus alleviate their own pain ana that 81 tho
heart SO remarkable - the elect OF deep grisf ON
the heart that we call " heartacie, until Lhc pnsa
tons OF this organ tnril with sharp distress, or tho
viaim has died. u VIC say. haartorokcn. Fiji
Gricf ~ thing that others tGan tuose who endure
" read aud interpret tho visage becomes dis
,orted unucr rs action, and takes au expression Of
gloomy suffering strikingly significant OF the PAIN
within, an anguish whieh explodes 70 the secretion
OF Hoods OF tears and convulssd sobbings; or this
outlet Is not granted from thu eyes the pressure (
within becomes the violent, for the energies OF
sorrow concentrate III they have Denumbcd all the
actions Of i:c This Is the fell power with which tho
prophet says our Lord was acquaintcd. 10 more or
less OF these. It's dire intmacies, and this umacy
between "sricf'' aud 'thc man Of Sorrows" opcns
10 us
cnalsr's WONDERFUL CAPACITY FOR surFRRfsG.
Ths thought leads US at once 10 contemplate
Chrsfs Intense hum tnity. aud only that but tho
elements OF that soul we're OF tho prandcst and
migntiest order. Tho sympathy which high human
spirit nas with grtef Is proportioncd 10 tho magnitude
OF tha spirits powers that the greatest and profound
est human sou has the largest capacity Tor suffering
Men oil feeble and narrow natures cannot suffer much,
cannot onJoy mucu, b.causc their porceptiye power
Is small aud Their CONSCIOUSNESS on 40 limited
scae that their scnsitlvencss ~ dwar;ed The least
conscious seldom laugh aud seldom sorrow while tho
most Conscious are tue most susceptible both TO pleas
ue aud path, showing that the in,ud registers itself
~ THIS particular as welt az others a regular scac
The great aud primary cause OF Christs sorrow aud
gfci was the en- % others IL was not lis own gries
which lie carried. surrey he has borne griels and
carried our s0rrows." because there WIS no native
sin Ia Ills nature there SORROW no grief a. OF
necessity Sorrow nnd grief IN absolutely holy na.
ture would be upnatural aud even mVnstrous, except
" may be voluntarily assumed aud en-
dured Tor purpose. Wac heard OF an
uniaiIcn anger being flied with OF
uniallen man las acquainted gfieifr
IL was His representative character only tina, our
Lord man OF sorrow aud acquainted WITH grien
lie was bruised, but u was Tor our "sins,' lie was
wounded. but 10 was Ior our transgressions. lie