The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-08
A F0RCEFUL SERMON
REV. STEWART MCQUEEN SPEAKS
ON RESURRECTION.


|
At the Episcopal church of the Holy
Comforter Rer. Stewart Mcqueen, the
rector. preached . forcsful sermon.
| The text was chosen from LIST Cor
inthians, 1914. If Christ be not risen,
then Is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain
Mr.. -cQueen said:
| In this passage, you observe, st.
Paul rests everything upon the Resur-
| rection of Christ Himself Our preach
ing-that Is the Gospel itself-and your
| faith--that is your belief in the truth
| OF the Gospels also vain; all is de-
fusion, a fable, II Christ be not risen.
True. in this very chapter. from
which the text is taken, st. Paul makes
wonderful use of the analogies of Ma
ture In order to strengthen and con-
| Arm our faith in the Resurrection. He
appeals also to our moral convictions
and to the revelation of Christianity
to the world. together with The work
ings of Nature, in his reasoning about
the Resurrection. He does this. how
ever. not SO much to prove anything
thereby as to confirm what we have
already learned to believe from the
sole source of Authority-which is the
Word Of God itself-that we must
believe with all our hearts. Then. and
only then. will the analogies in Ma
| ture to the Resurrection be Of help or
comfort to US at all.
For instance. we see gorgeous
butterfly sporting and rejoicing in the
| flashing rays of the midday sun. 1t
| may prompt US to reflect upon the
time when 1t was a mere worm lying
entombed In the vault of nature. This,
| in turn, may beget the thought, with
/ in US, of our present condition OF
| earthliness. the thought also of the
] time when our own bodies shall rest
In the tomb. Then, In the exercise OF
faith, we may go on to mediate upon
tsa equally sure and certain time when
we-if we now follow faithfully in the
| footsteps of the Resurrection--shall
| help to make up that throng of the
| white-roi ed Redeemed in Heaven.
Nevertheless, the butterfly could not
| suggest all this unless we had known
of the Risen Lord.
True, 1t helps to confirm our faith
but it does not prove anything. We
must ultimately fall back upon st.
Pauls words: IF Christ be not risen,
then Is our preaching vain, and your
| faith Is also vain"
| 1T is the same with the longing and
| convictions of the human heart. See
David in fearless sorrow bending over
his dead child. Hear his infinitely pa
| thetic cry-the cry of unnumbered be-
reaved parents throughout all the ages
| shall go to him, but he shall not re-
| turn to met What is it but the uni
versal picture of humanity demanding
| is own again? What is 1t but an Illus
| tration of the truth found wherever
| man is found that love never gives UP
| that which 1t loves without seeking
| and demanding of the heavens above
| and the earth beneath, an assurance
that 1t shall some day see the beloved
| object again face to face, shall some
| day hear once more the sound of a
voice that is still. What IS all this,
however aside from the Risen Christ.
but hope only hope and not certainty
True, Ii brings thoughts and conjec-
| lures which are better than measure
| less despair. True. 1t satisfies yearn-
| ings and cravings which are better
| than an empty and an aching heart.
! But, after all, we must turn again to
| the text; IF Christ is not risen, then
| Is our preaching vain and your faith
/ is also vain"
Yes, even in the region of chemistry
| with its cold and cruel laws. we find
an analogy to the Resurrection. We
read story told of working man of
| the great chemist Faraday. By acci-
dent, he knocked into a jar of acid
little silver cup. 1t disappeared, was
| not be found. The question arose
whether it could ever be found. One
said he could find 1t. Another said 1t
| was held in solution and there was no
| possibility of finding It, The great
chemist came in and put certain
| chemical into the jar. Immediately,
| every particle of silver was precipitat-
| ed to the bottom. He lifted 1t out,
shapeless mass, sent 1t to silver
smith and the cup was restored. We
read this incident and we read con-
/ corning ourselves
| IF Faraday could precipitate that
| silver and restore his cup surely God.
| the Maker and Preserver of all things
| the Creator of the Universe, can re-
store our sleeping and scattered dust.
| But these illustrations, from nature.
! from the Inevitable longings of the
human heart, and from chemistry, while
they are glorious in their suggestive
ness, while they are comforting in their
deductions, while they are helpful In
confirmation of our faith, do not prove
that this corruptible shall put on In
corruption, and that this mortal shall
put on Immortality. All, no! II our
preaching is not to be vain, IL your
faith also is not to be vain, We must
turn ever and always to the Risen
Christ; turn to Him alone, and say not
only I believe. but L know; yes,
He shall stand at the latter day upon
| the earth, and though. after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my
| flesh, shall see God, Whom l shall see
for myself and mine eyes shall behold
and not another Yes, we must still
turn to Him. the Risen Christ. For,
in Him alone those imperious convic-
lions of our nature find their eternal
satisfaction; those imperious convic-
lions which tell us that we are more
than we seem to be. In Him alone that
inwrought, fundamental consciousness
of Immortality so ineradicable within
us attains its everlasting realization.
I'm Him alone we see the interpreta-
ton of all that is good and pure and
holy in life; see the Ideal Man. Gods
perfect creation; see the expression OF
both ideal and actual manhood; see, in
word. the crown and contamination
of Gods work on earth!
"And He is risen from the dead!
Therefore we are not dependent upon
natural suggestions. nor upon moral
or physical, or anological reasoning.
Nor need we depend for proof upon