The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-15

REV. ROGERS ISRAEL.
church are justly renowned. Easter
lilies We're arranged profusely and in
artistic manner on the eastern wall,
and the fragrant odor perfumed the
large, chancel.
A massive and costly lecturn was
unveiled in the morning. The beautiful
gift had been presented to the church
by Mrs. Goodhand Clark, of 145 Jeffer-
son avenue, in memory of her late hus-
band, Goodhand Clark.
At the 1880 a. m. service Rev. Rogers
Israel delivered an exceptionally in
structive sermon based on Psalm
cxviii, "a: "This is the day which the
Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be
glad in it." In the course of his sermon
the reverend gentleman said:
II come this morning, my dear
friends and parishioners, to congratu-
late you upon the fact of the resurrec-
ton. This age is superior to all other
ages in that we have the certainty of
the resurrection of the dead. The
Christian hope is superior to all other
hopes of the future in that it speaks
IlOl Olliy VI llle, Dul VI IeCOSIltlOll, dlSO,
beyond the grave.
Death Is Vanquished
To-day the satin sheen and exquisite
ly beautiful calyX of the lily, the wav-
ing fronds of the palm and the sweet
odors of many flowers intermingling
with the gentle voices of tender youth
and hoary age. all bear testimony to
thn fact that 1ao n, iS I,nnunicha1 nd
life victorious. The mysterious bourne
has been crossed and back in gloritied
semblance and actual structure comes
One to meet and tell us the secret of the
future. Today Is the very crown of
days, for today life, death and i'm
mortality are as an open book to those
who read.
"The Christian religion differs from
all others in that while their founder,
or Holy One. is dead, Christ liveth-
and liveth forevermore. They worship
dead prophet-we resurrected, liv-
ing Savior. They live upon past men,
cries and completed works we live
upon an ever present, actual existence
and upon continuous victories. 1t is
we'll for us to keep we'll in the forefront
of our thought this great festal day,
that we worship not a dead but living
Jesus-not an entombed but a risen
Lord-as upon Good Friday we saw
Him hanging dead upon the cruel
cross, inclosed in the new hewn
sepulchre-so today we behold that
sepulchre risen and the dead alive.
Upon us in these last days has come the
joys of the resurrection.
But we are slow of heart and dulled
of sight. Spiritual truths are long
making an impression. Like Gideon of
old we want more than vision, a reve-
lation, we ask a sign like the coming
down from the cross, and like Zacharias
we may be struck dumb, until in the
silence of bereavement and suffering
our spirits are ouickened, Jour eyes
opened and our hearts enlightened with
the knowledge of God"
Grow from Truth to Truth.
The reverend gentleman then con-
tinued his theme by saying that it was
not altogether our own fault inasmuch
as sin and its weaknesses hindered
men in their efforts to live better lives,
Sin was inherited and gotten by trans
mission, but virtues also were inherited
and as rule we grow from truth to
truth little by little.
1t was very difficult to realize q great
sorrow or q great joy, and the soul, like
the spirit, is slow to grasp extremes.
We must pass through the experience
before the deepest emotions are aroused
and we must know before we can real
hot n,
day in the Resurrection might be lit
tie, but as year afterryear passed and
we know the Resurrection one better
and better, our gladness increases and
our JOY grows, for 1t Is not a dead Christ
whom we worship, but a living Christ.
1t is not only a future resurrection in
which we rejoice today, but an ever
present one.
In concluding his sermon the rever-
end gentleman said: I'VE, today, may
rejoice in the resurrection of ourselves
to a nobler fuller life, in a faith which
places us in direct communication with
the Resurrected Lord, making us in
deed flesh of His flesh and by immedi-
ate contact receiving a life in the liv-
ing present indestructible by death,
placing the very present living soul in
actual possession of Immortality death
being converted into but a necessary
step to its larger requirement and bet
ter development.
Let us, then, each in proportion to the
revelation he has received, rejoice and
be glad in this holy day. looking for
ward to the final resurrection when we
shall be with our risen Lord always"
Throughout the day excellent Easter
music was rendered by the choir, under
the direction OF J. Willis Conant.