Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-27
A CHRISTIAN, LAITY
Of the First Importance to tho Ad-
vancement of Religion.
NONE OF THE APOSTLES A PRIEST.
The Master Called Them From Among the
Publicans and Sinners.
A QUESTION FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL

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Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and
Simon the Zealot, aud Judas the brother OF
James"
These men looked one day out Of tho
windows of an upper room, and behold, in
the street below, there passed funeral pro-
cession-the funeral procession of religion.
Faith was dead. And Roman, Greek
and Jew walked together in the company of
mournera
For the Romans and Greeks the ancient
creeds had long since lost their charm. The
Gentiles believed nothing but the absurd,
the grotesque and the incredible. Worship
had turned to witchcraft The old div1ni-
ties of Greece and Rome had, at least, been
stately and dignifed and beautiful. And
they had symbolized great truths. They
had met, in some measure, that deep long
ing in the heart of man to draw near to
God and to have God draw to him, which is
satisfied for us in Jesus Christ. But now
they were all dead. Great Pan was dead,
and all the household of the Pan
theon lay dead beside him. A
plague of doubt had slain the gods.
Some Hope of Publicans.
There was some faith, indeed, among the
Jews But even here the air was pestilen-
tiaL Two classes of men led the religious
thought of Judea. And one of them, the
Saducees, had lost faith in the supernatural;
while the other, the Pharisees, was given
over almost altogether to the study of dress
and posture, of mint, anist and cumm1n, of
the petty, the inconssquential, and the i'm
pertinent When Christ came, looking for
religion, he was rarely able to find any
except among the 1rreligious He had
some hope OF publicans and sinners, bnt
there seemed to be nothing whatever in
common between the Son of God and the
representatives of devotion and of ortho-
doxy In the dav in which He came. He said
distinctly that they were the children of
the devil.
The disciples looked down from the
windows OF the upper rom. and the sire cts
were full of mourners Some OF them were
sad enough; others were foolish and indii-
ferent; like the people in the carriages at
any funeral But on they went with empty
hearts. For faith was dead.
And then this little company hurried
down out of that upper room into the street,
and stopped the funeral procession, and
brought the dead to lite. AMI ialth rose
up and began to speak. From that day
direction. 1t began with the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, and it will never end it's
work until it has accomplished the resur-
rection of the race. The old, dead religion
of the world began that morning in Jerusa-
lem to live again, and to live new life,
different and better. Light and hope and
faith and Joy and love began once more to
stir the hearts of men. The Christianity
and the civilization in which we live to-day
go back for their origin to that scene in old
Jerusalem. All that is best in human lite
dates, like the century in which we live, to
the advent OF Jesus Christ; and after HIM
to Peter and John and James and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Mat
thew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon
the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.
Not Priest Among Them.
One of the most remarkable things about
these men is at'they were laymen. There
was. not a priest among them. 1t is true
that they had received the highest and
holiest of all ordinations; they had been
commissioned to their Office by the Lord
Jesus Christ himself Nevertheless, it is
plain enough they had no valid orders as
theoiogians in those DAYS measured validity.
They were simply laymen.
Presently we read that great company
of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Where did they learn the faith? Why,
from these devout, enthusiastic laymen,
who had a better understanding of the
truth of God than the priests had, and were
an example and an inspiration to the pries:s,
as laymen have been upon thousand ocea-
sions since that day.
Everything that grows in this world
needs revival. Spring, summer, autumn
and winter are the stages of tie succession
of life, not only in the world OF nature, but
in the realm OF human history. Winter is
inevitable. The .iruit comes to maturity
and is harvested, ard the boughs are bare.
By and by even the leaves blow of. The
trosts fall. The brooks are frozen over
Life appears TO st p. That is true also In
the realm of religion. They were living in
the winter time when Christ came 1t is
significant that He was born in the chill
December. And the winter has returned
good many times since then, and, l suppose,
will come again. But spring comes also
The miracle of the resurrection is re-
enacted. Life goes on. stronger and richer
than before. Thank GOD, spring is as sure
as winter.
The Reviving Sunshine.
What is it that brings about this glorious
spring-time? Why, the sun, shining
clearer than before and nearer than be ore
"
there is an end to winter Aud when the
sun of righteousness shines like that in the
hearts of men there is an end to another
kind of winter. Hate and selfshness melt
into love; truth shows signs of life; and
presently all spiritual nature is awake. But
it has proved true, again and again, that
this reviving sunshine has glowed the
brightest and the warmest in the hearts OF
laymen. The laity have saved the church.
There was the thirteenth century.
At the beginning of it the whole
world lay frozen in the depths OF winter.
There seemed to be no lite in religion. 1t
was next to impossible to find any company
of the priests who were obedient 10 the
faith. And then the sun began to shine IN
the heart of St. Francis OF Assissi; and
out of his heart into the hearts and lives of
hundreds of good men, laymen like him.
self; and they went everywhere, carrying
sunshine, preaching the gospel, the blesseI
gospel of the resurrection. And spring
came.
The Church All One Party.
There was the eighteenth century Re,
ligion never seemed nearer to death in the
Church of England than at that time. The
Puritan revolution had ended in defeat
The Restoration had followed. The leaders
of the dominant party in the Church had
taken advantage of their power and had ex-
PEELED their opponents. They had sue
ceeded in accomplishing that which foolish
enthusiasts in the Church are forever desir-
ing to accomplish-they had put the other
party out There was nobody left who did
not agree with them. The Church was all
one party. And then came winter, fast and
hara.
Religion fell into the cold fetters of for
malism And then at last the warm sun
began to shine again in the heart of St.