East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-04-17
KNIGHTS TEMBLAR EASTER SERMON


afternoon at p. M, Rev. Henry
Dixon Jones, rector OF the church. de-
livering the Easter sermon.
He spoke from the following text.
taken from John S:12: "Then spake
Jesus again unto them, saying: l am
the light of the world; he that fol-
loweth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life"
He then spoke as follows:
Last Easter. gentlemen OF the COM
mandery, when 1t was my pleasure to
speak to you, 1t was my Joy to COM
principles OF the Masonic brother
hood. 1t was glad tribute of praise
to lofty and ennobling ideals.
And yet, at that time l reminded
you, sir knights, that as your branch
of Masonry is avowedly a Christian
order, you ought, each one of you, to
by members OF the Christian church;
at that time I affirmed that with a
buoyant and hopeful faith l looked
forward to the time when 1t can be
said of you that you are not only
Accepted Masons. but that you are
members also Of some branch of the
holy Catholic church.
Your Masonic life springs from re-
ligion, is nourished by religion, and
must ever repose and flourish en-
girdled by religion. And your ancient
knight went forth in the name of the
Trinity. your ancient knight went forth
under the motto, "In hoe signo vim
ces,"-half priest, half soldier they
lived and fought for the cross; and
this afternoon l present TO you modern
knights, for your personal allegiance,
Jesus Christ-Jesus Christ, who, last
Friday, died on the cross to redeem
you and to redeem all mankind who
today is risen and triumphant over
death; 1 present to you for your per-
sonal allegiance to Him and to His
church, Jesus Christ, the founder of
the Christian church; Jesus Christ,
who is not only the light of your COM
mandery. but who is the light of the
world. "I am the light of the world;
he that followeth me shall not walk
in darkness, but shall have the light
of life."
Gentlemen of the commandery, do
you believe these words of Jesus
Christ? He declares that He is the
source of illumination for all the
world, the only source; and He de-
clares that those who follow Him,
who derive their illumination from
Him, shall not walk in darkness, but
ct ,,-tt 10 t-t.1
which is life. Do you believe it?
The leaders of the Jews, to whom
He spoke these words, did not believe
1t. Their answer to my Lords words
is this: Thou Dearest record of thy
self thy record is not true" And be-
cause they did not believe it, they
crucified the Lord of light and life.
He says today to the man who sees
nothing but mists all around him, 81
can bring you into the clear sun
shine" He says to the man whose
breath is stifled, whose limbs have
suffered as much from the atmos-
phere he has dwelt in as his eyes, 'I
am the light of life"-that which IL
Eliminates. quickens, makes alive. Do
you believe it? II you believe 1t, how
can you cruelty the Son of Man
afresh by Withholding from Him and
from His church the allegiance Of
your soul?
Gentlemen, I propose to prove to
you that His words are true; that He
is 'the light of the world; and then
will urge you that you accept Him
as your light and your life.
Science tells me that all terrestrial
light is from the sun, and that, tho
absent, the sun is still our light by
night-that the sun is the primal
source of the light of torch, and
of freely. light of waxen taper, of
oil lamp, and of this electric arch.
Directly and indirectly, the sun is the
light of the terrestrial world
Blot that sun from the heavens.
Let the light of the morning cease
and return no more; let the hour of
morning come and bring with it no
dawn, the outcries of horror-stricken
world fill the air, and make, as it
were, the darkness audible. The
beasts go wild and frantic at the loss
of the sun. The vegetable growths
turn pale and die. A chill creeps on,
and frosty winds begin to howl across
the freezing earth. Colder, and yet
colder is the night. The vital blood,
at length, of all creatures, stops con-
gealed. Down goes the frost towards
the earths center. The heart of the
sea is frozen; nay, Vesuvius, the vol
canoes, and the earthquakes are
frozen in their fiery caverns. The
very globe itself, too, and all the fell
low planets that have lost their sun,
are become mere balls of ice, swing
ing silent in the darkness. Such is the
light of the sun, which revisits US in
the silence of the morning.
And, gentlemen, I dare assert that
more appalling calamity would result
If Christ and Christianity were blotted
from the moral and intellectual world
of our age. Test this in imagination
by conceiving the annihilation of this
Bible, so indissolubly, so essentially
associated with Christianity. Chris
tlcn!ty triumphs when and where the
bible triumphs. Blot out the Bible,
and all literature influenced by the
Bible, First, copies OF the Bible in
all shapes and sizes, in all tongues
and versions, are collected, heaped
into pyramidal piles, and fired, until
but dust and ashes remain. No Bible