Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1905-04-20
AN EASTER SERMON.


to discuss religious subjects. That is
our own opinion. The special field OF
the newspaper is elsewhere. 1t deals
with the secular, rather than the
spiritual, leaving the latter to that
profession which has made it study
and is best fitted by talent and training
to treat it. However, a passing word,
now and then, may be allowed even
a layman, and may be received with
all the more attention because OF the
fact that he seldom speaks or writes
on these topics. conscious as he is Of
his own many and serious short
comings and the obscurity that must
rest upon his vision in consequence
OF them.
This is the Easter season. Last
Sunday was Palm Sunday, celebrating
Christ's triumphal entry into Jeru-
salem. Tomorrow is Good Friday.
corresponding to the day of His
crucifixion. Next Sunday is Easter
Sunday on which, nearly nineteen
centuries ago, the Risen Lord came
forth. This is Passion Week. mark
ing the close of the Savior's earthly
labors. 1t is a season of intense
interest to Christians everywhere
As the hours OF this week fit by, the
story OF Christ's tragic end and glori-
Gus ascension becomes real in a way
it does not at other times. just as
the observance OF a great secular
event, like the discovery Of America,
the battle OF Bunker Hill or the eman-
cipation proclamation on certain day
serves to impress us the more forcibly
with the event itself, so the observ-
ance OF the Christmas and Easter
tides brings home to us in all its
the reality OF the earth
life of the Founder.
We live in an age OF skepticism,
OF unbelief, extending far beyond the
mere subject Of religion. We have
passed beyond the age when we be-
lleve what we read or what is told us
merely because some book records
it or some man recounts it. We de-
mand the proofs. We believe only
when, taking into account all that we
are able to learn and weighing it upon
the scales of our judgment, it seems
easier to believe than to disbelieve
Even then our faith may be at times
faint and wavering. And as our zeal
depends largely upon our faith It
should be the constant effort of those
interested in promoting any cause to
urge without ceasing the soundness
OF their belief and put forth the most
convincing reasons Tor the faith that
is in them. II is one fault OF the
Christian ministry today that they
assume too much in matters of faith;
that they appear to be under the i'm
preston that the congregations they
address Sunday after Sunday accept
the basic facts on which their dis
courses rest as fully as they do them
selves. IL is a mistake. The pews,
scarcely less than the highways and
byways, contain skeptics who 90
searching after the light, and who
often leave still in darkness.
II seems to us that Easter affords an
not TO be lost of driving
home to the minds OF such one funda-
mental truth, the acceptance of which
is absolutely essential to every Chris
tian the denial OF which places the
denier beyond the reach OF further
or solicitation. That truth
is the resurrection OF the Lord Jesus
Christ. If person can be made to
believe and accept in its full signif-
canoe that Christ the crucifed One.
bCltii Va lAAN anu tuAoiubtu A. llDIAals
are when dead, did actually arise, as
the Gospels record. all the rest is easy
to him. For he has admitted the one
great truth. in comparison with which
all the other miracles performed, as
are quite Insignificant.
He has given his assent to post
norton existence with all that II i'm
plies. He has conceded the divine
relation OF Christ, for the human
mind cannot conceive of such an
thing as Christ's resurrection
without admitting the hand OF a power
so supernatural as to be no less than
the hand Of the Creator itself as the
primal, direct cause.
When we read or hear OF any re-
markable event, we study carefully
al the incidents, all the conditions.
that bear upon il. If a murder is
committed and a certain person is
adruea1 of tho rriflna rra rs,.ss,,