The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1903-06-04
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A LEARNED DISCOURSE ENTITLED
GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTION"

y LlHNNEO DioNOONoL LN iiILEG
GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTION"
the Subject of Il Powerful Address by
the Rev. Henry G. Swentzel-He Re-
views the Miracle From Every Point.
NEW YORK CdTY--Dr. Henry G. Swent-
eel, rector OF st. LulSes Church, preached
Sunday morning on THE Gospelo of the Res
direction" He took his text from Acts
xvii: is: HE preached unto them Jesus
and the resurrection" DR.. Swcntzel said:
With what noble confidence did the apos-
toic church set out to serve its worldwide
mission. 1t had a new religion to proclaim
a glorious message from God for all the
races of mankind 1t was not provincial,
but catholic. 1t began in Jerusalem, but it
looked forward to comprising the whole
earth. Wherever it went it encountered
beliefs and rites which were venerable, i'm
pressive and upheld by the prestige Of
wealth, rank and culture, but it was none
the less DEVOTED to its huge work. What
hopeless task it seemed to be to convert
the human family to the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The Master OF this latest cult was
jew He had been disgraced by crucifix-
ion, and there was now scarcely more than
handful of disciples to tell the story If
His career. When we consider the over
whelmlng odds against which these men
struggled as they proceeded to evangelize
the mutitudes, we are all the more pro-
toundly impressed with the confidence with
which they took up the more than hercu-
lean labor. The magnitude of the effort to
which they were called did not deter them,
persecution could not alright them, the
oppositions or Indifference OF the better
classes could not discourage them. On
they went, from city to city. from country
to country, preaching the religion of which
they were gladly the earthly champions.
Not always had they been Of this temper.
The mightiest among them, the rock-man
himself, had utterly collapsed in the high
priests palace, and after the fateful dav of
the cross they all accepted the plight
OF those who had served lost cause. But
now all this is changed. The towards are
the bravest of the brave, and each of the
apostles is ready to face every peril and to
meet death for the message Of love and sal,
vatIon which burned upon his lps
=. Nor IS the reason for this radical change
difficult to account for. Those timid and
laundering men had received a divine af-
f1atus-they had been revolutionized in
mind and heart and soul by the Lords res
direction from the dead To the gifts of
the Holy Ghost which they received was
added the indomitable assurance of the
triumph of their divine Master over death
and the, grave. The Lords resurrection
was the dominant doctrinai note in their
thinking and their teaching. and wherever
they went they bore the witness of eve
witnesses to the fact which they so boldly
declared. Although they had known Jesus
and had companied with Him as intimate
associates for several years, their spiritual
perceptions were dull until the last. and
they understood not His oft repeated saw
Ing that He would rise from the dead. But
as soon as they are satisfied of His resur-
rectlon they all come to the front. ready
Tor the tray, eager for the honor of repre-
sentmg Him in every land and willing to
endure every hardship for His cause.
st. Paul on Mars Hill is an illustration
OF the temper of the Apostolic Church. He
IS thoroughly imbued with the certainty of
the Easter story, and hesitates not to
preach it throughout the missionary Jour
neys when he so solendidlv served his Office
as the apostle to the Gentiles. As we think
OF HIM IN the Grecian capital, we can only
wonder at the calmness and courage with
which be met the ordeal which he had de-
hberately sought. What striking picture
ne IS as he stands on Areopagus, facing the
chief lntellects OF the classic metropolis and
speaking with undaunted boldness of the
risen Jesus. The Drowned traveller. a
stranger IN strange land, he knows that
ne Is IN the centre of the very best pagan
ISM, and he Is as fearless of its preiudices
and subtleties and ridicule as he had been
OF the prisons of Syria His training hith-
erto had prepared him to appreciate the
sights on which he gazed. In him the. civil
zations of Jews, Romans and Greeks met.
and ne had appropriated the finest things
OF each. His attainments enahled him to
see the antiquities all the more plainly
Evidently Hebrew, his nationality would
make It harder for him to win the respect
OF his hearers. Conscious of this handicap.
ne would feel the weight also of the ouer-
les and the bias which his words would
surely evoke. 1t was probably his first visit
to this seat of enlightenment. It's far
famed glories which he had long since de.
s1red TO see were now before his eyes in
all their bewildering splendor. He had
mastered its language and literature. and
now he walked on its streets, looked upon
It's population, gazed upon objects made
rare IN interest and celebrated in epic or
In song, visited its sanctuaries and its
schools: met its thinkers and artists. and
realized the beauty and the power of it's
disembarked at the pier his attention was
constantly arrested by the monuments and
shrlnes OF Athens, and all the tokens of
its genius and culture
Of monuments the new RELIGION has vet
had scarcely one Tt was still in the DAYS
of its poverty. Churches and cathedrals
and endowmepts were matters of the fut-
uie. w nat cOulQ SC. PauI expect In re-
spouse to his announcement? The ambas-
sador of Christ understood that he had
come hither as the legate from the courts
OF heaven to the seers and scholars of this
seat of learning to declare the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. He was face
to face with the clever scians Of the highest
intellectual culture known to antiquity;
hard by were the temples of Fumenides
and Iheseus, the Propylaeum of the Acrop-
obs, the temple of victory, and. towering
above all from its lofty pedestal. was the
bronze colossus of Minerva. Well might
he assume that Stoics and Epicureans and
other thinkers would attempt his over
throw, but he did not finch while he an
nounced religion as yet without influence
or art or literature. with scarcely COM
Portable resting place for it's Scriptures and
its sacraments. In his manner however
there are no indications that he was con
scious of any special advantages. 1t, could
not be otherwise, for he had himself seen
the risen Jesus and ne could. therefore.
not be more certain of the shining sun than
he was of the truth of the Gospel which he
preached. 1t was this unalterable convic-
ton which sustained him even on Mars
Hill while he discoursed If the redemption
accomplished by Him who died and rose