The Penn's Grove record., 1903-06-12
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE BY
DR.. HOWARD DUFFlELD.
Subject: Heart Failure Tho Autobiog-
raphy of Our Souls is Often Stained
With the Very Faithlessness Which
Blots tho Memoirs of the Apostles.

A0PHy " Jul ROdhs ib OItth St8iueu
With the Very FaithIessness Which
Blots tho Memoirs of the Apostles.
New YORK CITY.-Dr. Howard Dufield.
pastor of the Old First Presbyterian
Church, Fifth avenue and Twelfth street,
preached Sunday morning on Heart Fail
ure." He took his text from Mark xiv:
so: "And they all forsook Him and fed y
DR.. Dnffield said:
shall a three years friendship with the
Master come to such an end? Shall The
lntlmacles OF man months go swirling
like leaves in the wind before a puff Of
panic fear? Apostles of Jesus. why will
We be pilloried for ~poltroonery? When
defeat brooded over the hills Of Gilboa
and the remnants of the armies of Israel
lay strewn through the Judean valleys,
Saul and Jonathan died together. When
Socrates kept tryst with death the prison
yard in which he sat became like a hall of
banque.ing and the Jail stones echoed with
the converse of devoted friends wistfuI Of
sharing with him the cup of hemlock.
When the SUI of Austerlitz that had
bathed the earth in glory at its rising. sank
eclipsed in blood behind the plain Of Wat
erloo, the files of the imperial guard drew
up as on parade and died beneath the flag.
But in the hour of His EXTREMIST need the
Jill odCo VI lO1oOOk HIM ana
fed" Those that had seen Him walk the
storm swept lake; conquer disease with a
fingertouch and dethrone death with a
syllable, when a squad Of hireiings with
swords, and the %riffraff of the city with
slaves, came out to take Him, they forsook
Him and fled.
Jesus walked the pathway of tears, and
no one kept step with Him. The hour
has sounded for chivalry. and His friends
nvh roifpn0aorrr - fEL~Lx- --E 4
heroes, and those He loved showed their
backs to Christ, instead of their faces to
the foe. Occasion beat the long roll. but
the battle line became a rout. Imagine
that scene reversed. Imagine that Gordon
of apostles buttressing Christ against as
sault as with a citadel of rock. We can
almost see them roofing themselves like
storm-defying oaks, and opposing the
metal ~corslets of Christ's foes with the
breastplate Of their invulnerable affection
We can almost see them converting Geth-
semane into a Gibraltar Of affection, and
SCATTERING the onset of embittered perse-
cution upon the impregnable front of a
devotion that was stronger than death.
We are well nigh envious Of their oppor-
tnnity of renown.
The possibility of such loyalty has not
yet passed away, it has not yet become i'm
possible for one to show a stalwart allie
glance to Jesus Christ in the face of CON
tempt and a~ntagonism. 'They are not yet
dead that seek the young child's hfe.n
Christ does not recede with the ebb OF
passing years. The men of His age are
sleeping in their sepulchers.
You and / are pushing our lives along
the line OF some cherished endeavor and
we face the problem, docs the trend OF
u daily life carry us toward Jesus or
does it bear us out into the night? Do We
take the hpa rInrs of C.1r aouroo froro Al,
meridian OF Calvary? Will we stand by
Christ or stink away from Christ? Will
we strike our colors or keep them flying
under fire? VIII we cleave to Jesus as
closely when men crown Him with thorns
as when they hail Him with hosannass:' 90
Too often the words Of the text are tran
scribed upon the pages of our experience.
The autobiography of our souls is often
stained with this very fajthlessness which
blots the memoirs of the apostles. What
does it mean?
The first element of heart failure is dis
appointment. The apostles had a very well
defined theory as to what Christ had come
to do FOR them, but they had thought very
little of what they were to do for Him.
They had a clear conception of the prere-
quisite of discipleship. They were deeply
concerned as to the pattern OF their crowns.
They knew to a nicely the comparative
Auituo VI tACAI tulOlSS. duu Luty were
anxlously parcelling out the cities over
which they were to rule. With their feet
treading the very ascent to Calvary they
were badgering each other as to which OK
them should be greatest. Jesus had come
to give them a life of ease and self-satis-
faction. No more stormy nights ont upon
Gennesaret; no more tugging at the nets
and pulling The wet cordage of their boats;
no more weary days brawling in the Caper-
naum market place to get salt for their
meat and butter for their bread. Christ
lad a whole cornucopia of splendors to
empty into their lap-kingships, and Dig
mites, and thrones, and seepters. When
as with a lightning stroke all these fond
dreams went twhistling down the wind,
and their cloud palaces ~vanquished ike
mist at sunrise, disappointment thrust its
iron into the soul, and way they went,
spurred by an impulse which for the mo-
ment was irresistible. Their thought had
been conferred on the good they were to
1t is not impossible that you and
should just as mistakenly interpret the
purpose of Christ's mission. In some piv-
0tal moment the consciousness of sin un-
expectedly leaps VI aud chills us with its
shadow. We are lashed by the scorpion
whip of conscience. We shudder at the
thought of death. The awe of eternity
oy~ershadows us. With timid fingers we
open the Book of God. With eager eye
gospel salutes us. Glad tidings ring like
music through our hearts concerning One
who has a welcome for the o~utcast, who
can whiten the most soiled soul, who win
uplift the fallen and recall the wandering,
and who has planted His mighty heel upon
the head of death. We. kneel rejoicingly
at the foot of the cross. We surrender our
life into the keeping of Jesus. We yield
Him the ready homage of our hearts. Then
comes the danger hour. Then we are liz
peril of thinking how much Christ has to
give, and too little of what He is training
us to give. Then we are prone to dwell in
imagination with the spirits of just men
made perfect, and the companies of the
shining ones who walk with Christ in glory.
until we lose touch with the men and
women who throng about us warped and
stained with the sin and sorrow of the
world. We forget that forgiveness is
word of the Gospel. We forget that
pardon is not the last utterance but
the first utterance that Jesus has spoken.
We overlook the fact that there is a culture
OF character which demands the energy OF
q hero and the patience of a devotee, that
there is a service of others that calls for
the crucifixion of self.
AnOther element OF nedrJ IdluFe Is
doubt. How was it possible for the apos-
ties to recognize a Messiah under. arrest!
Was this the upshot of centuries of proph-
ecy? Was this the story that the messen-
gers Of God had been telling of majesty
and glory and of victory? Was the Prince
of the house of David to be dragged away
IN chains and the Lion of Judah to be
thrust into a cage? Cloudedsin their per
ceptions, confused in their thought. con-
founded by the thrush of doubt, Jesus
disciples hurried away beneath the shad-
ows of a night that but family suggest
the dark q~uestionings that must have shad-
owed Their devoted hearts.
IL This is an age OF doubt. Demon whis-
pers are upon every breeze. Siren songs
are at every turn. Faiths are under the
scalpel. Creeds are in the crucible. Be
liefs are upon the anvil. A searching and
pitiless criticism is passing under It's lens
everything that men have counted helpfal
and holy in the days gone by. For one, ]
do not regret it. Flame will never harm
gold. A files tooth cannot bite a diamond.
But an age of doubt brings many a doubt
ing day into the hearts of faithful and low
ing disciples. The champions of the faith
had their. doubling days. the record of
which is written in the Scripture with a
pen dipped in tears. There came a day
when David loving, trusting. aspiring
spirit that he was, bemoaned the time
when Gods face was hidden. There came
a day when Elijah, that man with nerve