The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-06-12
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE By
Or. HOWARD cuFFleLp.
Subject Heart Failure - The Au,obios-
raphy Of Our SOUS is often stained
with the Very Faitsiesspsss which
Blots the " EN- oirs of the Apostles.

New YORK CITY DIR. Howard Dufie.d.
pastor Of the Old First Presbyterian
Church, Fifth avenue and Twelfth street,
/ preached Sunday morning on Heart fall'
ure." He took MS text from Mark XIV;
/ 50: And they al forsook HIM and He'd
DR.. Dlfteld said:
Wha: towards, Comrades OF Jesus,
shall three years, friendship With the
Master come 10 such an end: Shall the
/ intimacies Of man months go swirins
/ like leaves IN the wind before pun oi
panic fear: Apostles OF Jesus, why Will
We be plliored 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 be sat became ike hall OF
baaque;ing and the jail stones echoed with
/ the converse OF devoted friends wlstfui oi
sharing with him the cup OF hemloek;
| When the sun of Austerlitz that mad
bathed the earth in glory al its rising, sank
eclipsed in blood behind the plain OF Wat
! srloo the files OF the imperial guard drew
| up as on parade and died beneath the nag.
! But in the hour Of His EXTREMIST need. the
| comrades of Christ "forsook Him and
fled" Those that had seen Him walk the
storm swept lake; conquer disease with
] finger..ouch and dethrone death with
syllable. when squad Of hlrelings with
swords, and the riffratf OF the city with
slaves came out 10 take Him, they forsook
| Him and fed.
Jesus walked the pathway of tears, and
no one kept step with Him. The hour
| has sounded for chivalry, and HIS friends
exhibited pol,roonery. The call was Tor
/ heroes, and those He loved showed their
! backs 10 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.
siuit as with citadel of rock. We can
almost see them roofing themselves IKE
siorm-dc:ying oaks, and opposing the
metal cors!ets OF Chrsts toes with the
! bfeastplate OF their invuinerable affection.
! We can almost see them converting Geth.
semane INTO a Gibraltar of affection, and
SCATTERING the onset of embittered pe-se-
cution upon the impregnable front Of a
! devotion that was stronger than death
! We are well nigh envious OF their oppor.
| tunity of renown.
The possibility Of such loyalty has not
! yet passed away, II has not yet become i'm
| possible for one TO show a stalwart ale
| glance TO Jesus Christ in the face OF con.
tempt and antagonism. They are not yet
dead that seek the young child's HE ,
| Christ does not recede with the ebb OF
J passing wears. The men OF HIS age are
sleeping in their sepulchers.
Nou and ] are pushing our lives along
the line of some cherished endeavor and
we face the problem, Does the trend OF
our daily life carry us toward Jesus or
does il bear Us out into the night! Do we
take the bearings OF our course from, the
meridian Of Calvary? VIII we stand by
Christ or sink away from Christ? viii
we strike our colors or keep them flying
under fire? Will we cleave 10 Jesus as
closely when men crown Him with thorns
as when they nail Him with hosannas|
Too often the words OF the text are tran
! scribed upon the pages OF our experience.
stained with this very faithessness which
bots the memoirs OF the apostles. What
| does IL mean!
The first element OF heart failure is dis
APPOINTMENT. The apostles had very well
defined theory as TO what Christ had come
70 do sor them, but they had thought very
| little Of what they were 10 do for Him
! They had a clear conception OF the prere-
quiste of discipleship. They were deeply
concerned as 10 the pattern OF their crowns.
4, They knew 70 nicely the comparative
altitude of their thrones, and they were
anxiously porcelling out the cities over
which they were TO rule. With their feet
treading the very ascent TO Calvary they
were badgering each other as 10 which OK
| them should be greatest. Jesus had come
TO give them a life of ease and selfsatis-
faction. No more stormy nights out upon
! Gennesaret; no more tugging az 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 10
empty into then lap-kingshps, and Dig
mites. and thrones, and scepters. When
as with lightning stroke all these fond
dreams went whstling down the wind,
! and their cloud palaces vanqushed like
| mist NJ sunrise, disappointment thrust Its
! iron into the soul, and away they went,
! spuTred by an impulse which for the mo-
ment was irresistible. Their thought had
been oentered on the good they were TO
set. not upon the good they were to do.
Ii IS not impossible that YOU and |
should just as mistakenly interpret the
purpose of Chrst's mission. In some piv-
otal moment the consciousness OF sin un-
! eXpectedly leaps up and chills us with its
shadow. We are lashed by the scorpion
whip of conscience We shudder at the
h thought Of death. v1.s The awe awe q s eternity W
open the Book OF God. With eager eye
we scan the page Of Scripture. A wondrous
gospel salutes US Glad tidings ring like
music through our hearts concerning One
who has a welcome for the outcast who
can whiten the most soiled soul, who viii
uplift the fallen and recall the wandering,
and who has planted HIS mighty heel upon
the head OF death. We kneeI rejoicngly
az 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 lr
| peril Of thinking how much Christ has 20
| give and too little OF what He ~ training
| Us 10 give. Then we are prone 10 dwell in
| imagination with the spirits OF just men
made perfect, and the comnanies 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
not the last word but the first
! word Of the Gospel We forget that
the first utterance that Jesus has spoken.
We overlook the fact that there is a culture
| Of character which demands the energy OF
a hero and the patience Of a devotee. that
| there i a service OF others that calls for
the crucfxion Of self
Another element Of heart failure is
doubt How was IL possible for the npos-
ties 70 recognize a Messiah under arrest! =!
| Was this the upshot Of centuries OF prOph-
| ecyy 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 20 be dragged away
in chains and the Lion Of judah TO be
thrust into a cage; Clouded in their per.
ceptions. confused in their thought, con.
! founded by the inrush Of doubt. Jesus
disciples hurried away beneath the shad.
ows Of a night that but family suggest
the dark questionings that must have shad.
owed their devoted hearts.
This is an age OF Goabs. Demon whis-
. pcrs are upon every breeze. Siren songs
! are A, every turn Paths are under the