The sun., 1900-04-16
EASTER MAS A GLORIOUS Day
Many Turned Away From
Churchs and Crowds Seen
on the PrOmenades.
SHALL A MAN LIVE AGAIN ?"
DR.. William Writ King of Grace,
Says we do not Want to Die
and the Desire to Live is
God Given. A Great
Sermon.

all that bne neart could nave desired for
Easter Sunday. There was therefore no
excuse for anyone for not Joining the
throngs OF people who wended their way
t1 church in the bright morning sun
light.
Ia the Catholic, Episcopal and Metho.
dist Episcopal Churches especially, and
also in many of the others, there was
special music of high order and beauti.
full decorations in which Easter lilies
occupied conspicuous place.
After church in the morning, the usual
Easter promenade took place. Scores Of
people were seen on the Washington
street bridge, out the boulevard and on
the walks along the Brandywine. The
Easter bonnet and the Easter dress with
the gay colors just coming into style
made the fair promenaders verv attrac-
tive.
Perhaps the largest crowd at a OF
he churches yesterday morning, was at
St Pau's Catholic Church, where many
were turned away. Bishop Monaghan
was indisposed and unable to conduct
the service.
The audience at Grace Nj. Z. Church
yesterday morning was unusually large.
A most excellent sermon appropriate TO
the day was delivered by the pastor,
Rev. VIM. Writ King, D. D.
He took for his text the first portion Of
Job "a, Il: IF a man die, shall he live
again." He said in part: 1--WE do nov
want to die. No sane person, [ think,
wants to exchange worlds. Men some-
times becoming dissatisfied, disappoint-
ed and sorely troubled have expressed
desire to die, and have afiicmed that
death would be preferable to living
under the circumstances that surround
them, but have no faith in the veracty
or good sense OF any man or woman who
talks in that sort OF way.
You and want to live and this de-
sire for life is God given and is perfectly
natural and Legitimate. No matter what
may be our hopes and faiths, there is no
thought SO sad as the thought OF dying
We do not want to go through the dark
valley although it may lead to Paradise
and as Charles Lamo facetionsly said,
we do not Want to lie down in the
grave even with princes as our bed fel-
lows
"We are interlinked with this life all
through these bodies Tue grayitatiun
of our being binds us to this p,anet and
for the life OF us We Cannot Sing Ghat song
while this heart is in us: Ca That had
the wings of dove tnen | ", uid fl y
away and be at rest. We do not want
to fly away. We want to stay here and
you will find just in the proportion to
the wealth OF our human life to its III L
ness and to its depth is this deep loyalty
to the things we can see and feel and the
things pertaining to this visible world,
"lti is not pleasant thought Of contem-
plation but an exceedingly unpleasant
one that we must die auu vet unpleasant
| as is tins TACT, 1t is the unpleasant face
of which every one of u, must look, for
| it is appointed unto man, unto ali men
once to die Death accepts no bripts
turns deaf ear to all entreatles and re-
morsefnily prosecutes his work of des-
tructlon without distinction to persons,
classes or conditions. We expect to see
the black monster go into the obscure
hovel and take life. We expect to ! e
him go into the home of sqnalid wreich.
edness and misery and poverty and take
the dirty child of want from the arms Of
the wicked and slovenly mother; but as
often have we seen him with scythe
thrown over his shoulder go into tile
home of luxury and take the child Of
atlluence from the ieweled hand of it's
mother, tie crepe on the door and heart
essly go away.
"The question, therefore, that ought
to interest us is not when we NAV die
or where we may die nor how we NAV
die, but the important question is the
one we have read: If man die, shall
he live again" Is this life bounded bv
cradle on the one side and by grave
on the orther, or is it the prophecy of a
higher life and the infancy of our eter-
nal manhood yet to come? There can
be no doubt as to the teaching of Chris
tianity on this point, based upon the
revelation of God to manhood in His
Word, but turning aside from divine reve-
lation from the empty grave OF Christ,
desire that we shall at this time treat
this subject as we treat other subjects:
that We shall submit it to reason, that
we shall examine it in the light of ali
the facts which lie within the circle Of
our intelligence, that we shall consider
whether the Chr stlan doctrine is a rea-
sonable and reliable doctrine or no.?
What are the reasonable grounds for ex-
pectation that man must have a future
life? First, the nature and possibliUie
oil soul, and the reasonable ground fo
the expectation of future life is the ab
sol1te necessity of such life for tile
equalization OF the inequa titles OF thi,
life, for the explanation and verl
fication of its apparent inconsist
encies and incongruities and for
the vindication of divine justice and
goodness. But after discussing the sub
lect in this way let US not close without
saying again that the solution of this
problem of the life beyond does not lie
in the processes OF reason helpful as they
may be in its study, nor in the strength
OF an argument or the force of syl
loglsm, nor the beautiful analogies OF
nature, but in the fact that Jesus Christ,
who came from God, bringing with MIN
the disclosure OF the eternal viii of q II