Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-02-21

Mr.. GRAsTOw' s SERMON TO YOUNG NEs, sUSDA,
EVENING.
In accordance with the invitation givel
and accepted, the Rev. l.. o. Brastov
preached. at the Winooski Avenue Congre
gregatiOnal Church, Sunday evening,
sermon to the young men, taking for hi
subject The True Estimate Of Life"
large congregation was in attendance
largely composed Of the class to whom th,
sermon was particularly addressed.
THE SERMON.
James iv:li: What Is your lite:
There is no more important question thar
this. and wise is he who answers it Alright
The true estimate of life will take into &C
count its source. What and whence ar,
inseparsble. Know the ground on which
it stands and you will better know what il
means. 1t is nearly impossible for a man oil
low birth to have high estimate of his
life. Almost every one lives on the level oil
mis- birth-few rise above it. Let man say
that he is jrst where his birth puts
him that this is bis place for lite. that
there is nothing higher or better possible
and what chance is there for higher life
The only thing that can raise men to better
things is knowledge of the Father. High
birth ennobles life. A young man having
good parents is already committed to wor-
thy life. Esau despised his birth-right
and every young man despises his birth
right who estimates his life as worth no
more than a mess of pottage. This saves
many young man. Prohigacy is only
possible by ignoring one g birth-right and its
value 1t ought to check young man to
reflect whether the life he leads which tends
to cheaper himself or his family j. the best
life. What lies beyond? Thst depends in
large measure on whence il springs or on
what it Is grounded. Whence came you
This isa vast uestiOn and one Of incalcu la BILE
importance. Protoplssm or God? Matter
or spirit? Divorce your life from its true
source in God ard you lose the keyston OF
your existence. Let man see that the
ground Of life is divine and he will see tina t
! its significance is divine. No one can
! consider it Insignificant or can neglect it,
| il it is based on God. You must get over
| this before you can loose the reins OF self
| indulgence. Ii is nothing less than divine.
| The true estimate OF life is based on per-
sonal freedom and personal Accountability.
God has put your life in your care. You
are part OF vast whole and yet at the
same time in sense se.f-complete. You
are under the law and yet above the law.
u
battle ground You stand front to front
with God and eternity. You can not free
| yourself, Gnd there is no alienation OF your
freedom. 1t is glorious thing to live; but
the conscious, intelligent life alone
is God-like. You do not know
its greatness-you have not estimated
it-until you have learned its relation to
personal freedom in God. There are mo-
ments in youthful life when God has given
US a revelation of the greatness of life in
material forms. There is tho grandeur of
the mountains-the resisting slopes and the
deiying barriers Amid such scenery have
seemed lifted up beyond all mountain
beis hts and up to the very gates of Heaven.
But in moral conflict, especially. God
reveals the greatness OF the soul. No man
knows himself until he has met and
oJIguered some great temptation or
knows his infinite llttleness until be has
yielded to 1t. What would man be without
the response OF the conscience to the Great
Authority over us?
The true estimate of life takes into
account the capacity Of manhood. We
estimate manhood by its possibilities.
We do not Judge man by
what he is now, but by what
he may become. You can not esti-
mate your lille until sou estimate your
sell, and the one estimat, will be & Oyerned
by the other. II one is insignificant, the
other will also be SO. 1t is great thing
to awake to the consciousness Of manhood.
Every man is a man of whom more might
have been made. No one sttains his full
measure. We all die hslf-grown. The
world il full of mute, inglorious sages,
poets, philosophers. Immortality is neoes-
sary TO fill out the inc0mpleteness OF life.
The inglorious ones, rich in all the powers
of manhood-the only way to estimate them
is to estimate what they may be and what
is before them. Here are young men who
do not know their measure. Their manhood
lies all unconscious. Every man has the
capacity to be and to do nobly. Each one
has his own capacity. 1t is unworthy man
to live a dwarf. 1t belittles a man not
to grow. One can grow as well in the
shop as in the library-in the kitchen as in
the drawing room. Whatever evokes the
slumbering germs of manhood is OF benefit.
How often have we to wait for some terrible
hardship to bring out our manhood. Our
war, which destroyed much. saved much
American manhood. Men, children 1t
home, became manly men, and gave US
hope OF a nation OF men.
The true estimate Of life will recognize
its opportunities. In the moral as In the
physical environment, there Isl no error. You
can conceive a better life than this. but one
giving no better chance. Ii q man pursues
only the accidents OF manhood. | admit that
there is not a good chance here. But there
is here no best chance Tor merely material |
success Too easy conquest of nature |
would give the higher manhood a poor |
chance. Life is terribly short if material |
interests sum up its significance ana worth.
But il man wants the essentials OF manhood |
wants 60 be a man and bear a manly hand
in the battle of llle-then there Is no better |
chance than here conceivable. Life Is NOR
al opportunity. You do not understand il If |
you have not realized that fact. There is al
ways and everywhere chance for manhood.
God throws the world open but men build
barriers which it takes ages TO demoiish.
All over the world men go to their graves
be Ill ID by their fellows. But God never
erected Il barrier TO serve az a Jail Tor man
hood His barriers are only breast-high
There is always chance. not only on the
crown heights. but all along the line, 1t
is here and now. Here or nowhere am
here or nowhere is my opportunity. Thore
is, it seems to me, something in the times
and in the nation that grestens our lie.
Wi hat a heritage, what a domain, We have;
what future what chance for the
young men Centres OF future power seem
to be sending message to our young men,
calling upon them to 90 forward.
The true estimate OF lite will interpret its
by Jesus Christ. 1t must be
and also be understood lt needs
its priest, Its king and its prophet Our
notions are perhaps better than our dlspo-
sition, but We have no very correct notions
Of the value of lfe and never will have,
without Christ. Young man, you do not
know the value OF your lie without Him,
~ H.. l fh. hail
you will know your life. His Interpretation
Of lie touches your life at every point of It's
history. Some of you may have sinned and
Ielt the need of forgiveness. Do you know
YOUR hearts to be bad, your purposes
weak? Then you need Christ to heal and
restore you and replace you among tho
number of the kings sons. There are other
wants. For what AMI how should | live,
and what should be the test or standard OF
my life ?" Only Jesus Only the cross can
ill the vision of the soul. That tells the
story of His life and the meaning of ours
commend Him to You. You will want
Him, bye and bye. Lie is no holiday. IL
IS u tremendous reality, and without Jesus
i is sadder than | can tell. But there is
light about the cross. Life is love and love
$ sacrifice.
The true estimate of life will recognise
!
you come from God you will surely go
beyond tho grave. Such a source demands
better than the grave As your
life moves on and on, il God is behind 1t
md il moves by His plan, 1t moves beyond
lust The present can not exhaust the full
gniGcance OF liie. 1t il impossible to
,nnoble lie il it ends with the worm. IL
! objected that the mysteries of life and
ieath can not be scientifically demonstrated.
But the universe Is unintelligible without
God lie has taught me that there is some
thing worth living for and dying for. ile
mas taught me that nv lite Is grounded on
linn. lie has touched my lie with the
immortal lite of His own Son. lie has told
no that "whosoeyer liveth and belieVeth in
lin shall never die" You are moving
Oward u goal which you will reach at last.
iood OF bad, you will find it No power in
he universe can coniOund those issues.
And now ask, What Is your life, tested
" ITS source, its freedom, its capacity, its
its Interpretation by Christ
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