St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-07-16
EARTHLY GREATNESS.
The Way Greatness Here Il
Looked Upon in Heaven.

At the Church of Christ yester-
day morning, Rev. w. j. Lhamon
preached FROM Mark tx, SO to 3S. Fol-
lowing is an abstract of Their sermon:
ga heavenly view of earthly great
ness" Mark tx, SO to 3S). What is
greatness? Ask the mummies of the
Pharaohs, the ashes of the Caesars, the
monuments of the BOurbOns and the
master at writing epitaphS. Here is
one:
'Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay.
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away"
Or again
Are all thy conquests, glorious triumphs,
Shrunk to this little meaSure!'
Alexander stood by the grave of
Cyrus. A Greek had broken open the
tomb. Alexander ordered him to be put
to death for the dissertation, but was
curious enough himself to read the cpl
taph: so man, whoever you are, and
whenever you come. (for come | know
you wilD, l am Cyrus, who founded the
Persian empire. Envy me not this little
earth that covers my body" The dis
ciples of Jesus disputed the question as
to who should be greatest. They had
the spirit of this world. They were
Z.
Speaking in modern way, they wanted
political preferment, newspaper noto-
riety, position in poStOffice, a seat in
congress, OF the senate, or a secretary
ship, or the presidency, or they would
be dukes, princes, lords, kings
anything to have place and
pension. Jesus knew the
llttleness of all such great
ness. He knew that fame is tickle: that
power and great place are but the play
things of time: perhaps, ALSO, he knew
that these things are too often associ-
ated with cruelty and crime and suffer-
ing and shame and sin. From the
standpoint of heaven all such great
ness must look infinitely little and
mean. and its associated sin must ap-
Jesus rebuked his disciples. "He that
is the greatest shall be the servant of
ALL" From the littleness of thrones
and conquering armies to the greatness
of the Good Samaritan-alOng that
path Jesus would lead the world.
''He took child and set him
in the midst of them.' There
are four things tor which a little
child is remarkable purity, humility,
docility and possibility. A little child
is pure. Nobody knows anything about
its sin but an Out-groWn theology. A
little child has nothing of which to re-
pent, it has no sins to be washed away,
it needs no baptism; in the arms of
Jesus it is type of heaven. A little
child is humble, it fears and trusts, it
neStles close to stronger bosom; in
the arms of Jesus it is masterpiece of
faith. A little child is docile, it can
learn, it seeks knowledge, it looks up
to the father, the mother, the master; in
the arms of Jesus it looks I'D
into the face of divine wis
dom. A little child has possibilities,
it can grow; o the possibilities of
child in the arms of Jesus; heaven alone
can suffice for its growth, and heavenly
growth means greatness Incompatible
with earth. The greatness of service
means the greatness of goodness. The
greatness of the believing child means
eternal growth. Together we have the
greatness of eternal growth and good
ness. When Saladin was dying he or
dered the trophies and ensigns removed
from his palace doors and winding
sheet hung out in their place, and
servant cried. "ThiS is all that Saladin,
the conqueror of the East, has obtained
from his victories" When Paul was
about to die he said, ''There is crown
laid up for me-" Our choice must be
between the winding sheet of death and
the crown of life. Which is greater?