Christian Age Acts 25:19 But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Standing in the crypt of the cathedral of St. Paul's in London your eye is attracted by a huge mass of porphyry, to gain which they searched the continent of Europe. They wanted something large, massive, grand. At length they came upon it in Cornwall, England. They cut it, shaped it, polished it, at last lifted it upon its plinth of Aberdeen granite, and dedicated it as the tomb of their grandest man. On one side you read, "Arthur, Duke of Wellington, born May 1, 1769; died September 14, 1852." A great man was buried when they buried him. His hand had been for many a year on the helm of the British Empire. His influence remains, indeed, but his personality has departed. Pass beyond the Channel, and in Paris take your place beneath the golden dome of the Hotel des Invalides, and behold the most magnificent sepulchre in the world. You are gazing now at the burial place of Wellington's chief antagonist. But Napoleon himself has gone. His influence remains, but he is not in the world. Him neither can France have in any way of personal presence. Go to Rome, stand for a moment under the encircling dome of the Pantheon. Raphael loved that majestic building, more majestic even than St. Peter's. It was his wish that he might be buried there. Look! There on the wall it is written, "Here is the tomb of Raphael." But Raphael is not there. You may gaze entranced upon his "Transfiguration" in the Vatican, you may be touched and softened as his wonderful Madonnas tell you the story of that virgin motherhood with its pains, its mysteries, its beatitudes. But Raphael was done with this world at thirty-seven. He puts colour no more to canvas. Everywhere in Rome you may see something that he has done; nowhere can you see anything that he is doing. His works last; he has gone forever. The great heroes, painters, poets, teachers — they have been; but, as to this world, they are no longer. They have gone elsewhere. They have carried their presence with them. They are memories, they are not presences. But Christ is a present, personal, living Saviour. (Christian Age.) Parallel Verses KJV: But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. |
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