The Penn's Grove record., 1903-05-29
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
IA LEARNED DISCOURSE ENTITLED
:. GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTION :.
Christ Ar / en- From the Tomb II Made
the Subject of a Powerful Address BY
the Rev. Henry G. swentke1.He re-
views the Miracle From Every Point,

Sunday morning on The Gospelof the Res.
direction He took his text from Acts
xvii: 49,: He preached unto them Jesus
and the resurrection" DR.. Swentzel said:
With what noble, confidence did the apos.
tolic church set out to serve its worldwide
mission. 1t had 2 new religion to proclaim,
p glorious message from God for all the
races Of mankind. It was not provincial.
but catholic. It began in Jerusalem, but it
looked forward to comprising the whole
earth. Wherever it went it encountered
beliefs and rites which were venerable, inn
pressive and upheld by the prestige Of
wealth, rank and culture, but it was none
the less devoted to its huge work. What a
hopeless task it seemed to be to convert
the human family to the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The Master Of this latest cult was
a Jew. He had been disgraced BY crucifix.
ION, and there was o scarcely more than
a handful OF disciples to tell the story If
His career. When we consider the over.
whelming odds against which these men
struggled as. they proceeded to evangelizs
the multitudes, we are all the more pro.
foundly 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 Che 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:
Ihe mightiest among them, the rock-man
himself, had utterly collapsed in the high
priests palace, and after the fateful day of
the cross they all accepted the plight
of those who had served a 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
yatlon which burned upon his bps.
Nor is the reason for this radical change
difficult to account for. Those timid and
laundering men had received a divine af-
hatus-they had been revolutionized ii
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 doctrinal 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 c%ompanied 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-
rection they all come to the front, ready
Tor the tray, eager for the honor Of repre-
sentlng 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 splendidly served his Office
as the apostle to the Gentiles, As we think
OF hlm IN the Grecian capital, we can only
wonder at the calmness and courage with
Wheh ne met the ordeal which he had de.
ilberately sought. What a striking picture
ne ls as ne stands on Areopagus, facing the
Chief inteilects of the classic metropolis and
speaking with undaunted boldness Of the
risen Jesus. The sun-browned traveller. a
stranger in a 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.s In him thecivil.
lzatlons of Jews, Romans and Greeks met.
and he had appropriated the finest things
OF each. HIS attainments enabled him to
see the difficulties all the more plainly.
Evidently a Hebrew, his nationality would
make IT harder for him to win the respect
OF his hearers. Conscious of this handicap.
he would feel the weight also of the uuer.
les and the bias which his words would
surely. evoke. 1t was probably his first visit
to this seat of enlightenment. Its far
famed glories which he had long since de-
sired to see were now before his eyes in
mastered its language and literature, and
now ne walked on its streets, looked upon
its population, gazed upon objects made
rare in interest and celebrated in epic or
In song, visited its s~anctuaries and it's
schools, met it's thinkers and artists, and
realized the beauty and the power Of its
life and thought. From the time that he
disembarked at the pier his attention was
constantly arrested by the monuments and
its genius and culture.
OF monuments the new religion has yet
had scarcely one. 1t was still in the9days
of its poverty. Churches and scathedrals
and endowments were matters of the fut-
ure. What could st. Paul expect in re-
Spouse to his pronouncement? The ambas-
sador OF Christ understood that he had
come miner as the iegates 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
70 face with the clever scions Of the highest
intellectual culture known to antiquity;
marc by were the temples Of Eumenides
and Iheseus, the Propylaeum of the Acrop-
oils, the temple Of victory, and, towering
above all from its lofty pedestal, was the
bronze colossus of Minerva. Well might
ne assume that Stoics and Epicureans and
other thinkers would attempt his over
throw, but he did not finch while he an
bounced a religion as yet without influence
Or art or literature, with scarcely a COM
portable resting place for its Scriptures and
its sacraments. In his manner however,
there are no indications that be was con-
scloqs Of any special advantages. It could
not be otherwise, for be had him self seen
the risen Jesus and he 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
again. He was not splitting hairs nor tell
ing fables nor playing with metaphysics.
he upheld the risen Christ to challenge at
tention and support his truths and win the
souls of his distinguished audience.
The basis Of st. PalPs confidence Qs a
dence in believing. The first Christians
were Easter enthusiasts. Their untriling
belief in the resurrection of Jesus, had
much to do in making them worthy Of ven
Grafton as the best among Gods family of
saints. All that had aeen written concern
ing the son OF Man they pondered. with
pious devotion, but they never forgot that
He came forth alive again from the grave.
They would think Of Him as the Son of
Mary; they would hear of His childhood
years; they would study His sayings and
His works; they would contemplate His
sufferings and death, but always would
they include His victory and coronation.
with great power gave the apostles wit
ness OF the resurrection Of the Lord Jesus
and great grace was upon them all" The
apostolic church is a model, not only in
matters of polity and usage and doctrine,
but also in the religious type Of. it's spirit
and faith. 1t was pre-eminently an Easter
corporation. Filled with the Holy Ghost,
it bore abundant fruirs and did abundant
labors and achieved ABUNDANT results be
cause in all it's ideas and plans 1t STOOD
upon the platform that God raised up His
Son Jesus Christ from the dead. The same
cause, we cannot doubt, would to-day pro-
duce the same effect.
All this is Of solemn. practical moment
to our own times. Although the preacher
is not among those who oeheye that the
cause of religion is waning, he is bound
with all thoughtful people to recognize
the peculiar difficulties which besct the
church Of the twentieth century. Our only