Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1903-06-18
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE By
DR.. HOWARD DUFFIELD.

T8DnY OF OuT SOulS lS 0A"
With the Very Faithlessness Which
Blots the Memoirs of tho Apostles.
New YORK C1TY.-Dr. Howard Dufield,
pastor of the Old First Presbyterian
Church, Fifth avenue and Twelfth street,
preached Sunday, morning on "He Heart ran.
ure." He took his text from Mark XIV:
so: "And they all forsook Him and He'd"
DR.. Dufield said:
What towards! Comrades of Jesus,
shall a three years friendship with the
Master come to such an end! Shall the
intimacies Of man months go swlrilng
panic fear? Apostles of Jesus, why Will
We be p~illoried for poltroonery?. When
defeat brooded over the hills of Gllboa
and the remnants of the armies OF Israel
Law strewn through the Judean valleys,
Socrates kept tryst with death the prison
yard in which he sat became like a hall OF
banqueting and the Jail stones echoed with
the converse of devoted friends wistfui OF
sharing with him the cup of hemlock:
When the sun of Austerlitz that had
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
comrades of Christ 'forsook Him and
fled" Those that had seen Him walk the
| SCOTIn SWcpU ldhc, COuQuCl VIZ -
fnger-touch and dethrone death with a
syllable, when a squad Of hirellngs with
swords, and the riffraf of the city with
slaves, can 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
exhibited poltroonery. The call was for
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
of apostles buttressing Christ against as
sault as with q citadel of rock. We can
almost see them roofing themselves like
storm-defying oaks, and opposing the
metal ~corslets OF Chrlsts foes with the
breastplate of their invulnerabe 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 we'll nigh envlOus OF tEelr oppor-
tunity 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 antagonism. "They are not yet
Christ does not recede with the ebb OF
passing years. The men of His age are
sleeping in their sepulchers.
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.
altitude of their thrones, and they were
anxiously 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 Of
them should be greatest. Jesus had come
to give them a life of ease and self-satis-
faction. No more stormy nights out upon
Gennesaret; no more Juggling at the nets
and pulling the wet cordage Of their boats;
no more weary days brawling in the Caper-
meat and butter for their bread. Christ
had a whole %cornucopia Of splendors to
empty into their lap-kingships, and dig
mites, and thrones, and scepters. When
as with a lightning stroke all these fond
dreams went whistling down the wind,
mist at sunrise, disappointment thrust its
iron into the soul, and away they went.
spurred by an impulse which for the mo
ment was irresistible. Their thought had
been centered on the good they were tc
get, not upon the good they were to do.
It is not impossible that you and
should just as mistakenly interpret the
purpose of Christ's mission. In some piv
otal moment the consciousness of sin I'm
expectedly leaps up and chills us with it,
shadow: We are dashed by the scorpion
thought of death. The awe Of eternit,
overshadows us. With timid fingers w
. open the Book Of God. With eager ey'
q we scan the page Of Scripture. A wondrou
gospel salutes us. Glad tidings ring Xix
music through our hearts concerning On
who has a welcome for the o%utcast, VIII,
3 can whiten the most soiled soul, who viii
uplift the fallen and recall the wandering
8 and who has planted His mighty heel upo1
Il the head of death. We kneel rejoicingl,
. at the foot OF the cross. We surrender on
s life into the keeping Of Jesus. We well
Him the ready homage Of our hearts. The
81 comes the danger hour. Then we are il
IA peril Of thinking how much Christ has t
give, and too little of what He is trainin
us to give. Then we are prone to dwell i
81 imagination with the spirits Of just me
= made perfect, and the companies Of tn
shining ones who walk with Christ in glory
until we lose touch with the men an
women who throng. about us warped an
stained star5d WITH Wa the faeaa sin + and sorrow Of tn
word of the Gospel. We forget tina
pardon is not the last utterance bu
the first utterance that Jesus has Spoken
we overlook the TACT That there is a cultuT
. of character which demands the energy {
- a hero and the patience of a devotee, tina
:. there IS a service of others that calls fc
: the cruci6xion of self.
: Another element Of heart failure
: doubt. How was it possible for the apo
: ties to recognize a Messiah under arrest
: Was this the upshot of centuries of propl
: ecy? Was this the story that the messe1
: gers of God had been telling Of majest
Z and glory and of victory? Was the Prime
of the house Of David to be dragged ava
q in chains and the Lion of Judah to /
81 thrust into a cage? Clouded in their pc
So ceptions, confused in their thought, COZ
s. founded by the thrush of doubt, Jesu
81 disciples hurried away beneath the sha'
ows of a night that but family sugge
So the dark questionings that must have sha
81 owed their devoted hearts.
H This is an age OF doubt. Demon VIII
q pers are upon every breeze. Siren son,
" are at every turn. Faiths are under tt
scalpel. Creeds are in the crucible. B
Gefs are upon the anvil. A searching al
pitilcss criticism is passing under its LEI
everything that men have counted helpf
and holy in the days gone by. For one,
do not regret it. Flame will never har