Year: 1879

How many of our shrewd, practical


men, who only deal with real matters of


fact, will stop to day on their way to shop


or office to turn into the open churches


Or, what would be better perhaps, shut


themselves up alone for half an hour to
| consider seriously what real matter Of


fact reason there is why the churches
| should be open? 1t is death which is


the text of every sermon this morning.
Why2 Myriads of deaths have occurred


in every minute of time since the world


began; all the countless millions who


have trod the earth have gone inevitably
down into the grave; why should this


one death, of poor Jew upon a hill in
Syria, stand out apart from all others


Why should each detail of his last hours


be familiar to every child to day, now


that ages have passed?


1t behooves business men, and secular


newspapers, too, to ask this question, for
| there is no power at work as real or as


actual as that which comes from Calvary,


nothing which so solidly underlies and


gives basis of motive to the least part


of the every day life and business of the


world as the faith in or disbelief of that


death upon it. All other things change


and go and are forgotten. Ten years


from now. who will know or care how


stock stood to day. or what bills passed


or were vetoed Even a conquered army


or nation dying of famine is forgotten


in few months, with all the other dead.


But if Jesus has not died, if there be any


mistake or deception about the life and


sacrifice of that Man yonder upon the
Cross, then the lives, the purpose, the


deeds of all Christian men and women


baUn haan l1Aiopa,,s oh 60


then, all the finest civilization, all the


helpful brotherly humanity, all the re-


forms, all the progress of the world, in
short. for two thousand years have been
lie and been built upon lie.


This story of Calvary was meant for the


hearing of all humanity; it is curiously


free from all national traits. Socrates
died Greek among Greeks, but Jesus, a
man for men. Every detail of the histo-
ry of those days is vital with meaning to
each one of US here, in New York, to day


Take, for instance, the night on which


He was betrayed: the awful solitude in
which He stood. We forget the God in
man, as we watch Him clinging to those
friends whom He had loved as death
drew near, just as we shall cling, when
that last hour comes. How, as they sat
at meat for the last time, He gave to
them q remembrance of Himself, bidding
them farewell in words whose infinite
pathos and hope have lifted the world to
higher levels for all time, but which their
dull ears did not comprehend; how He
took those who were dearest to Him out
with Him to the mountain to watch with
Him while He passed through that un-
nameable agony which no human soul
can understand; how they would not
watch, but took their ease and slept
Angels ministered to Him, but surely
the touch of one human hand-a mans
whom He loved and for whom He was
dying-would have given more strength
in that hour than all the aid of the heav-
eLiy host. How, when He was dragged
the streets by night to judgment,
they all forsook Him and fled How, at
last, standing alone in the palace of the
High Priest, He was condemned to be
guilty of death; and the crowd spat on
Him and buffeted Him, and the very SER
wants struck Him with their palms; and
afar off was Peter, his friend,
the man who two hours before had sworn
to die with Him. He cried out as loudly
now, Il know not the man" And the
Lord turned and looked upon Peter. -
The reproach, the judgment in that look,
has come down to US through all the |
ages


And we here in New York to-day? Do |
we not call ourselves His disciples just as
did Peter? And we beside Him when |
His cause is on trial before the world |
We go to church regularly, very likely ; |
we have kept Lent and shall not eat |
meat until Easter. 1t is a creditable |
thing to go to church, and Lent is just |
now popular observance. Peter, too, |
was a faithful friend while the multitude |
crowded about his Master. But what |
about our behavior at home, ar at Change, |
Or in the Office? Are we so patient, so
honest so truthful that the man who |
buys goods from US, and the boy who |
sweeps out the office, have no doubt that
We know the Man?" Or does it need |
,nly petty annoyance OF temptation to
make US turn our backs on Him, and de-
ny as loudly as Peter?


We call ourselves Christian Nation,
90. Take the Oliver trial, and all the |
lepth Of infamy which it indexed take |
he last shooting matches in Richmond |
md New York and the condition of So |
,iety which they show; take the Tai !
mage trial and the utter lack of brotherly |
owe that it reveals among professed men
oi God; take the flight of the negroes, |
.he long, persistent cruelty which led to |
t, and the icy Indifference with which |
he whole Nation is looking at it. Take |
,he Indians-as an example of the way in
which we have dealt with His weaker
brothers whom He left to our care
W hat are these things saying to the world |
f not, I'VE know not the Man"


What if the Lord should turn now and |
ook upon Peter2