The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-11-24
TREASURES IN HEAVEN
Strong Morning Sermon By Right Rey. W.a.
Lawrence, Bishop of Massachusetts.
ITWEATY.FIRST VERSE AND NINETEENTH
Chapter OF Matthew, is The IL,
From which This Eminent ix,ne
Stirring Religious Tr,"s u,,oh
VIII fro'' fooa Cor Thought.

,,erfoo. srae unto him, If thou wilt be
give to r. and sell that thou hast. and
treasuyG the poor, and thou shalt have
low rft;c i'll heavens: and come and fol-
GHhe.-Niatt. xix:2l
NhNhat place has religion in the life of
"a young man, vigorous. sclf-reliant and
. honorable2 What does 1t do for him?
How does II appeal TO him?
Almost everybody agrees that religion
10 good for children. helpful to women.
and comforting to the sick and aged
but what use is Ii TO young man?
We Will emphasize only two points
Isn't II true that there Is no time in
life in which the ideal and the heroic
make so strong appeal as In the
years of carly manhood?
Older men who have passed through
years OF business, political and social
compromises, may get into the habit of
looking upon. life series of cumpro-
misses, n matter of give and take between
virtue and expediency, between crime
and self-fnterest. But when run
across n young man OF vigor and cour-
age we have right to look for and find 81
nobler ideal of life.
Taking life as II is, and history as II
has gone. and where heroic deeds are
done and ideal convictions held, there
you Will find young men OF strength,
vigor and hope
honor? Whatever it may be 10 The
Il politician, ii is n question OF honor TO
not to compromise, but to fight. suffer and
die. Do we realize that large part of
the heroes of our civil war were under %
years of age, many of them wounded or
dead at the nge that many men enter col
lege?
Is 1t a question of what is right, true
and worthy of n gentleman? Whatever
may be the opinion of the worldling or
the cynic, the deep instinct OF youth
prompts him to do what is right and true,
regardless OF results
Jesus held out to that rich young man
what ought to have appealed to him, the
ideal and heroic, 'if thou wilt be per
feet" you cannot compromise, you
cannot count the cost; give away. throw
away whatever stands in your path; give
yourself and YOUR whole self, That was
too much for him; he weakened: he lack
ca the iincr temper OF manhood. Chris,
stands beside the man who Will not count
the cost, and who courts the heroic.
8 The mother of two young men came to
Jesus, asking for seats for them on his
right and left hand How his answer mp.
peaied 70 their best nature; Are We able
to drink of the cup that l drink Of, and
be baptized with the baptism that | nm
Y baptized with--the cup of sorrow shame
nnd defeat-the baptism of death? Are
yen able? If so, you may stand beside
n me In the struggle; but even then have
y no promise to make you, no certainty o:
s reward; that Is In my Fathers hands"
@Ss oyer in Algier's there has been ira
dition, some 800 years old. of a singular
Il martrydom An Arab baby captured by
Il the Spaniadrs was baptized Geronimo
ana brought UP in the Christian faith
X Al years of age he was rccaptured by
4 ms own people, and. saying nothing Of
s MS faith, lived as Moha mInedan At
rs. however. he could no longer live false
TO his belief, and he escaped to the Span
iards, gained honor as a soldier, and was
IN nigh favor with Ia general Again re-
captured In war by his countIvmcn. he
to nh I,,t,
Prisoned am hard-pres scd. he stood firm
An ingenious form Of torture was tinal!,.
applied. In the morning he was led int
the pasha's presence. and then dragged
by a hooting crowd to the spot where the
fort of Bab-cl-Ourd was building "poci
do you refuse to return TO the faith of
. Islam" he was asked. u an, a Chris
tan, and as Christian will die" WINS
buried alive" DO your will, Death shall
not make me abandon my faith" were
& Geronimo's last words. He was then
thrown upon bed of plaster: plaster was
lay subject to the brutal blows of the
crowd, until life went out of his body
The hardened block Of plaster was then
bnilt into tie fort, So ran the tradition
for $50 years; but it was only tradition.
until 40 years aga, when the walls of thar
fort were being taken down the form tho
bones of man were found In one of the
great blocks of cement. a cast was taken,
tmo, with bound head and broken ribs
testifies to visitors Mt the museum the
fact of.a Christian martyr. The Chris
Gen faith aways goes hand in hand with
the heroic.
OF course. there are men who pretend
TO- ibe religious Whose lives are fun OF com
premise with viltue; there are unworthy
soldiers In every army. But that is not
true religion.
Il Run your thoughts hack through tho
/
Will find that the Heroic lives, the men
that give romance to life and chiyalry 10
E ancient chronicles have been CHRISTIAN
IN their faith. And the man who has
z stood to all English speaking people I'm
this generation as the type OF an thar
was heroic. chivalrous and true. Cen
( Gordon, was saturated with the shirt of
/, Christ
How could it be otherwise. One canno,
READ a page of the Gospel without recog
nizing In Jesus Christ the ideal of an
true men, the contamination of all thai
l.ts honorable. pure and courageous. IIn
withstood alone the social and political
sampromisers OF the day He was chjv
2 a!rous TO woman, not to some women
high born and of equal rank but to all wo-
men OF all ranks and character lie was
SO heroic that in the hour of death
himself. -
The need Of society to-day is for youn..
u men, finn in character. true to thei.
highest ideals. full Of courage in meeting
popular compromises in society and poli-
ticsi OF heroic mould. Such Characters
are gained by catching the spirit OF