Preacher Unknown - Good Friday Service Part 3 (April 20, 1962) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

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The bitter climax of this period of the Christian year,

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which we call passion tide, is now approaching.

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The last two weeks of the Lenten season,

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call attention to the passion

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of our Lord's sacrifice.

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Passion is a word that literally means, suffering.

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For 20 centuries,

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the events of these last days,

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have been reenacted

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by means of verbal and musical

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and visual reminders

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of a single theme,

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His blessed passion and precious death.

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Readings from the entire Bible are called upon,

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and services held, each day of holy week.

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Ancient songs or song,

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a Messiah, presented by our choirs.

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The Christian world replays its destiny

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of sacrifice and rebirth,

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and seeks to emulate an example

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that is virtually unattainable, except by act of faith.

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The principle crosses of our churches are veiled

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as again, an ancient sign of mourning.

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And as a reminder,

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that His passion was hidden from the world

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these centuries ago, even perhaps as it may be today.

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Palm Sunday has its origin in His triumphal entry

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into the city of Jerusalem, on a Sunday,

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before His crucifixion.

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On Wednesday of holy week,

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the office of shadows is held

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wherein the lights gradually extinguished

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until finally even the Christ light is gone.

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The triumphal entry is a thing of the past.

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The blackness of Good Friday is apparent to everyone.

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Now at this moment,

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and I've seen with no proper anticipation

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of the forthcoming message of Easter,

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we read on still another day of these long 20 centuries,

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these words, "I thirst."

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It is very hard for us to understand

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now the poverty and meanness of those times,

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and the physical cruelty of crucifixion

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as a form of legal punishment.

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The crunch of nails through flesh and bone,

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the nude bodies weight suspended on its very flesh,

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the loss of blood,

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the inhuman triad of care and pain and shock,

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the cruelty of one human being to another.

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According to the Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church,

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crucifixion was abolished by Constantine,

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sometime between the years of 274 and 337.

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Although isolated instances of physical crucifixion

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are recorded later in the fourth century.

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Society has often replaced as you well know,

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one form of barbaric behavior

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in this particular area, by others.

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Today in France, for instance,

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a general of the French army has been

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sentenced to die by the guillotine.

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In North Carolina a more humane technique

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of the gas chamber is in current use.

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Whether shocked or hardened by such examples

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of physical horror,

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our society as nonetheless accepted into its language,

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this word, crucified.

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Although as I have noted the substantial right

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or act of crucifixion disappeared, certainly,

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by the end of the fourth century.

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We have used this word in the past and do so today,

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to signify the more sophisticated forms of crucifixion

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that are common to our modern world.

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The crucifixion of holding to a different creed

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or that crucifixion of belonging to a different race.

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The majesty of our proper civil law in this democracy,

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does not condone any element of travesty of justice.

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It may conduct its affairs, however,

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in an unholy glare of publicity and fanfare.

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Wrongdoings of men or women, are punished quite correctly,

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but the impact of television and radio and newspaper

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reiterating this wrong to what seems to be

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a monstrously interested public,

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truly crucifies those innocent

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but must standby the wrongdoers.

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We see this as an instance of a growing phenomenon

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and a savage world,

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and wonder if the tradition of the sponge of vinegar,

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has disappeared from our culture.

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And if the word crucify,

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will always be part of our language.

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Perhaps in a more singular way,

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we may use this word to describe the more difficult

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nuances of intellectual segregation.

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We may affirm starkly a sense of,

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or the importance of intellectual neutrality,

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and thus deny the responsibility of a commitment.

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This man on the cross made a commitment,

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and died in physical anguish that we might live.

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Pilate, a single minded, but rather perplexed,

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Governor of Rome, swept aside

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all it was pitiful and disturbing,

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all it was in conflict with the goals of the Roman empire.

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In short the lessons of ancient or modern crucifixion

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would both suggest that science, education

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and political values are not enough in themselves

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and in our success or failure,

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and the conduct of human affairs,

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is dependent in large part upon ethical values.

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And the identification of these ethical values

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is a very difficult matter.

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And it is difficult for us also to keep fresh in our minds

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that this man lived much of His life

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at the side of the wrong people.

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They were beggars, sinners, outcasts of all types,

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hardly people that one could call, respectable people.

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Now He dies in torment and says, "I thirst."

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Before this, He has become frightened.

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Perhaps He realizes that in His commitment,

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He is paying a fearful price

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and He has called out,

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"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

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Now He is numbed.

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He is just as human as we are.

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Nurses and doctors are accustomed

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to hearing these two cries.

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I am thirsty.

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Give me water.

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Oh my God, I can't stand this pain.

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Do something.

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Our responses to these common cries and to other cries,

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perhaps of future import are never intellectual responses

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of a complex form.

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There exists no element of doubt of experimentation,

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of scientific interpretation, of adjusting with matters

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where you cannot understand.

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These responses are simple,

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hopefully compassionate,

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and formed about the faith and some trifle of knowledge.

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The tragedy of this day,

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about which we now Medicaid this day of long ago,

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is coming to an end.

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What can be done has been done.

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The sponge of vinegar and wine

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has been pressed against dying lips.

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And those people grouped around the cross

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are not aware of the coming

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of the majesty of the resurrection.

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The epistles of the Philippians states

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(indistinct) of simple faith.

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Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,

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who being in the form of God,

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thought it not robbery to be equal with God,

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but made himself of no reputation and took upon Him

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the form of a servant,

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and was made in the likeness of men.

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And being found in fashion as a man,

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He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death,

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even a death of the cross.

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Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him

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and given Him a name, which is above every name.

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That at the name of Jesus,

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every knee should bow, of things in heaven

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and things in the earth, and things under the earth.

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And that every tongue should confess

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that Jesus Christ is Lord,

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to the glory of God, the father.

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Here ends this epistle.

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We stand here now, in this beautiful chapel,

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20 centuries later,

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reenacting this play,

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again, waiting for the resurrection to come

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and we to pray.

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All mighty God, we beseech thee graciously

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to behold this thy family,

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for which our Lord, Jesus Christ was contented

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to be betrayed and given up into the hands of wicked men

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and to suffer death on the cross,

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who now liveth and reigneth with thee,

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and the Holy Ghost ever,

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one God, world without end, amen.

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(acoustic choir music)

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Let us pray.

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Heavenly father, let us feel thy presence.

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We come before thee this hour in silence,

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in reverence, to remember the anguish and pain,

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endured by our savior, Jesus Christ.

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But in a larger sense,

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we too are guilty as were those

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at the time of His crucifixion,

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for we, also have denied thee and persecuted thee

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by our own examples of living.

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Help us then at this moment to pause,

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to forget our personal needs and desires

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and reflect upon this man, our Lord Jesus Christ.

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We are grateful for His life,

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for the strength we receive through Him.

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In our lives, at times both,

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when we are unaware of thy presence and now.

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Help us in the midst of our sufferings and shortcomings

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to not lose heart, hope or faith,

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we offer our prayers for all men in every vocation

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asking that we may better serve thee.

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And now father, take hold of our lives

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and give us courage and strength

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that we may be led together, under Jesus Christ.

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And when we finish each hour, when we finish each day,

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help us to continually look to thee for hope,

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so that at the end,

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we may finish life with the same confidence and hope

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which He had.

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We ask these things, in Christ's name.

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Amen.

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(acoustic choir music)

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(choir singing indistinctly)

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Let us hear the Word,

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as it is written in the gospel

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according to St John 19: 30,

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"When Jesus had received the vinegar,

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"He said, "It is finished"

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"and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."

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So ended the reading.

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The scripture we just read is known

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throughout the Christian world,

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as the sixth word of Christ from the cross.

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Many of you are no doubt, very familiar

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with the entire seven words.

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And I've heard during the earlier meditations today

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of the first five words.

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These sixth words, "It is finished,"

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taken out of context,

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could have many meanings in regards to the crucifixion.

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And it was very necessary for me to, again,

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review the events around the cross

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to reach a full understanding of what was finished.

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And in doing so,

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I believe that my most satisfying experience

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came from a collection of sermons,

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by the late Peter Marshall,

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and edited by his wife, Catherine Marshall,

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into a book titled, "The First Easter."

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This book gives you a very vivid picture

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of the events of the crucifixion,

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of the final words of Christ on the cross.

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You will remember that the events leading to the cross

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took place in the city of Jerusalem.

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And as we again, look into the drama,

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we see the 12 gathered together

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in what was the beat crisis last night on earth.

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Jesus Himself had made all the arrangements

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for this gathering,

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to be remembered by all, as the last supper.

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A strange silence beat in the hearts of these men,

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as they were apprehensive,

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they remembered that Christ had begun His ministry,

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by telling the apostles,

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that the son of man must suffer many things.

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Christ realized there was no other way.

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That it was His job to be the instrument

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by which the father would for all time,

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make death not a wall, but a door.

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And it was at this meeting that He shocked His followers

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by stating that one of the 12 would betray Him.

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And we see this one Judas, parked in the room

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to keep his treacherous rendezvous.

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The 11 who remained were now very quiet and concerned.

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However Christ recognizing their anxiety,

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left them with pardon words of comfort,

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telling them to abide in Him.

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So as the gathering ends, we see Jesus, a man facing death,

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moving to His rendezvous, not afraid, but confident.

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Already telling the apostles that He would see them again.

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This group then departs,

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and heads to the garden of Gethsemane,

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a favorite spot.

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And it is here that the evil Judas reappears

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with the temple guards and soldiers,

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they seize and bide, Christ,

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after the kiss of Judas had identified Christ as the one.

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Peter stands by draws his sword,

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but is rebuked by Christ.

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And he stands puzzles as he cannot understand,

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the calm submission with which Christ

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allows Himself to be led away.

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To face the group,

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the Sanhedrin and the preliminary investigation.

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Now the task before the Sanhedrin was not an easy one.

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It was headed by Caiaphas, the high priest,

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and they needed to find valid grounds

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for getting rid of Jesus

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because He posed a problem to their way of living,

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but they failed.

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How could you convict one who healed the sick,

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fed the multitudes

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and who was teaching the love of God

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and of one's neighbor.

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Witnesses were hard to find.

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The first charge was made that He threatened the temple.

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Christ made no reply.

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Caiaphas had hoped to develop

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so many Roman feelings from Jesus, but he failed.

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So Caiaphas, removed (indistinct)

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and decided to use his last and most dangerous weapon,

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point blank he demanded to know of Jesus,

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"Do you claim to be the Messiah?"

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"I am," was the reply.

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Now Jesus could have denied this and been released,

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but again, He took the initiative on His road to the cross.

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Caiaphas was overjoyed, and he cried out,

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"That is blasphemy and no further witnesses are needed."

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The prisoner stood condemned, not of His own mouth.

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With this, the death penalty was decreed

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and then some in the crowd began to spit on Him.

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And the guards began to strike Him as he was marched off

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to face of the Roman governor, Pilate.

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Now it was necessary for Caiaphas

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to gain the favor of Pilate, and so secure

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the death of Jesus,

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for only could the Romans order the death penalty.

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Pilate demanded the charge and was told that,

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Jesus was an evil doer.

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But Pilate was not pleased with this charge

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and he decides to examine Jesus in private.

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He ends the interview with a feeling of not guilty

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about this strange man.

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And he tells the crowd that he can find no fault

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with this man.

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But now the priests are angry and the crowd

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hold new acquisitions and Pilate begins to feel uncertain.

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And he tries to shift the case to Herod,

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but Herod declines and tells Pilate

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that he deserves the privilege.

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So Pilate though wanting to release Christ,

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finds again, that he must deal with this man.

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So as was the custom,

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he allowed that he will punish Him and release Him,

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but the priests would not accept this verdict.

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And the angry crowd calls for the release of the Barnabas,

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if any is to be released.

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"But Barnabas is a murderous," says Pilate,

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"and what harm has Jesus done?

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"And what shall I do with Him?"

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But the mob would not listen.

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Now prompted by the priest,

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they shout, "Crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify."

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Pilate tries to reason,

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but he has already heard of the sounds of the mob

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as they shout all the more, "Crucify Him."

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Pilate motions for Jesus to come forward.

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He obviously has mixed emotions about this man.

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He asked, "Who art though?"

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But Jesus remained silent.

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Pilate says, "Answer me.

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"You must know that I have the power to crucify

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"or to release you."

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So here again, we see Christ as an opportunity

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to escape the cross, but He would not.

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He would only say slowly,

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clearly, "You could have no power at all against me,

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"except if it were given above."

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Even this statement did not irritate Pilate.

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He was now more determined than ever to release this man.

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But by now the mob voices were even louder.

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And again, they took up the cry, crucify, crucify.

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So Pilate recognized the extreme heat of the priests,

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and the passion of the crowd.

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And he decided to wash his hands before the crowd.

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And by this act declasse himself innocent of this man.

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They then lead Jesus away.

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And later between two files of soldiers,

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staggered three condemned man,

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each carrying a cross on which he was to be executed.

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The sun was hot, the cross is heavy,

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the mob still chanting, crucify,

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and also shouting insults to the man in the middle.

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The one with the absurd crown of thorns on His head,

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the Merrill command.

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And as they moved out of the city to the hill of Golgotha,

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Christ was offered a drink which was drugged,

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but He refused it.

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He wanted to meet his death with all His senses intact.

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Then the nails were driven in,

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and as He was raised in the air on the cross,

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the weight of the body pulled open gaping wounds,

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and the people who watched rejoiced in His agony

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and ridiculed Him.

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Jesus opened His eyes and He could see below

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all heads turned up, faces looking up,

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fingers pointing, the shafts of mockery,

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and He could hear on His right and on His left,

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the sighs of the dying thieves.

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Now below Him, the crowd chanted His own words back to Him.

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He saved others, He cannot save Himself.

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He even brought back the dead, now look at Him.

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Perform a miracle now, miracle man,

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come down from the cross and we will believe you.

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If you be Christ, come down.

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This mockery must've been very hard for Jesus to endure.

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And in many ways more better

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than the hatred of the Sanhedrin.

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But because of the noise,

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only a few could hear a demoted,

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"Father, forgive them for they know not that they do."

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Then one of the thieves was overheard saying,

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"Can't you see how we suffer?

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"If you are the son of God, take us down,

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"save yourself and us."

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And Jesus answered,

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"Today thou shall be with me in paradise."

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Yet all the while the soldiers continued in the mockery,

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playing dice and even tossing for the tuning comprise.

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And then suddenly the sky was very dark

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and people looking up became frightened.

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Women and children fled, the shouting died.

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The soldiers put away their dice.

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And again, Jesus opened His eyes and gave a loud cry.

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The gladness in His voice startled all who heard it,

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for it sounded like a victory shout, "It is finished."

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And then after commending His spirit to God, He died.

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A shout a victory, it is finished.

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Nothing was finished.

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The end of the King of the Jews,

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a defeat for the followers of Christ,

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and a victory for Pilate,

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the bitter end of a man doomed to failure.

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No, this was a cry of triumph

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because Christ had completed the task,

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the father had sent Him to do.

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He had completed the whole scheme that was necessary

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for Him to be able to say,

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He came to save that which was lost.

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He had finished the most difficult task of all times.

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He could have saved Himself.

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He could have avoided Jerusalem.

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He could have left the garden.

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He could have compromised with the priest.

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Or He could have called upon God to rescue Him

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and show the great power.

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Many ways of escape were available, but He stayed,

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suffered the punishment, the mockery, the pain,

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and finally death, in order to establish forever

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our salvation and accomplished for us,

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what we could not do ourselves.

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This triumph on the cross will live forever

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as the greatest moment in our history.

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Man have had their moments,

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yet they themselves acknowledge that their deeds for small,

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in comparison to those of Christ.

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It was once reported that somebody asked a Napoleon

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when he was on the island of (indistinct),

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"Who was the greatest warrior of all times?"

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Without a moment's hesitation,

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the Napoleon replied that Jesus Christ was the greatest.

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"You would not have said that four months ago,"

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said inquirer.

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"I realize that," said the Napoleon,

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"But since I have been on this island,

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"I've had a chance to think,

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"men like Charlemagne, Alexander the Great,

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"Julius Caesar and myself,

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"we fight all battles with tears and blood

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"and with implements of war.

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"But all Christ had was a broken rib

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"and a heart of redeeming love.

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"I call my own guards and they have so me not.

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"Christ calls man,

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"but though they have been hundreds of years

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"since His death, they answer today."

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Let us pray.

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Almighty God.

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As we today, again,

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recall the great victory of Christ on the cross.

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Grant that we might have the wisdom to recognize our task

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and the strength and the courage

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to face flicker form thy will,

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so that when that great day comes,

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we too will be able to finish with a knowledge of triumph.

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Amen.

39:44

(acoustic choir music)

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Let our hearts be united together in prayer.

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Almighty God, our most gracious and merciful heavenly,

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to be delivered up and crucified

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that we might be forgiven our sin and have eternal life.

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We come humbly before the, in the quiet of this hour,

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thanking thee for thy great love,

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which has made manifest in Jesus Christ.

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We thank thee for all the benefits, which thou has given us

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unworthy as we are.

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For all the pains and insults,

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which thou has borne for us in Jesus Christ.

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We thank thee too father that through Him,

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we are able to call thee, our father.

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Grant onto us this day, oh God,

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a true vision of all that He suffered.

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His betrayal, His lonely agony,

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His false trial, His mocking, and scourging,

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even the torture of the cross.

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That remembering His suffering and death,

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which He bore for our redemption,

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we may give ourselves, holy unto thee.

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That with Christ, we may always be able to say,

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into thy hands gracious father, we commit our spirits.

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This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ,

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our Lord and savior.

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Amen.

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(acoustic choir music)

44:16

(choir singing indistinctly)

And it was about the sixth hour,

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and there was a darkness over all the earth,

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until the ninth hour.

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And the sun was darkened,

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and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

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And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said,

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"Father into thy hands, I commend my spirit."

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And having said this, He gave up the ghost.

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Now when the Centurion saw what was done,

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He glorified God saying,

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"Certainly this was a righteous man."

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A layman who undertakes to make a religious talk,

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can only set about the task with utmost humility.

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This is so rather he seeks to interpret the simplest

50:23

biblical phrase, all gravity ventures more boldly,

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into the letters of the great apostles,

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or into the words of Jesus reported in the gospels.

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He knows that one who explores these words

50:40

searches out the infinite, and he is inspired.

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Yet he knows that explorers more skilled than he,

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learned theologians, have returned from their own voyages

50:56

reporting widely different findings.

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So the untrained laymen begins his task of interpretation

51:05

with a great sense of inadequacy,

51:10

unless he is an utter fool.

51:14

How much greater is this sense of inadequacy

51:18

when the topic is one of the crucial words from the cross?

51:21

How overwhelming it is when the text is the last

51:27

recorded Word of the Christ before His death,

51:31

"Father into thy hands, I commend my spirit."

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Bear in mind that Jesus knew

51:43

that these were to be his final words before his death.

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Therefore, we may be certain that He chose them

51:50

with deliberate care.

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We know of course, that all of the words said the first,

51:57

father, on a quotation from a familiar song.

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This fact does not make them the less, Christ's words.

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His appropriation of these words in His last moments of life

52:13

high on a wooden cross gave them a new meaning,

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a deeper meaning than they had ever had before.

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Before the words were a familiar portion of scripture,

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and a familiar bedtime prayer

52:32

for thousands of Jewish children.

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Once they escaped the parched lips of the dying savior,

52:38

as His last words deliberately chosen,

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they became the symbol of the very wonder,

52:46

and mystery of the cross.

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Who, layman or theologian,

52:53

would dare approve the deepest meanings of Christ

52:57

as he says, "Father into thy hands, I commend my spirit."

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The very first word, father, provides role material

53:06

for unending scholarly debate

53:11

on the concept of the Holy Trinity.

53:13

That certainly is to powerfully dose for the lay speaker.

53:17

Take the phrase, I commend, what deep meanings is there.

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I commend connotes a voluntary act.

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And if we put this in the context of some things Christ said

53:35

and did before, we began to see that this death

53:39

is no catastrophe or accident,

53:43

no ordinary taking of life by man,

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but is rather the climax, the consummation,

53:53

the fulfillment of a divine plan.

53:57

Long before that hour, Jesus had said,

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"I lay down my life that I might take it again."

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Christ had also reminded Pilate,

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that he could have no power over Him,

54:15

except that it was given from above.

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This Pilate, who thought his power over Christ

54:22

came from Rome.

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Jesus' last words from the cross,

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sound a strong note of immortality.

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Now Jesus was not the first to speak of life after death,

54:39

but we Christians believe that He spoke

54:44

as one who knew, travelers know the way.

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And He who came from that state of glory knew the way back.

54:55

Beyond the grave was no mystery to Jesus,

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but blessed reunion with the father.

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So the scholar who studies the seventh word from Calvary,

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catches and echo of the infinite,

55:15

to quote from a well-known Jurist,

55:18

"He sees perhaps the key to greater understanding

55:21

"of the Holy Trinity or the concept of immortality

55:25

"or of the cross itself.

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"But what of the layman?

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"Is this something in this last word,#

55:38

"that he can take hold of, that he can understand.

55:41

"There is indeed, one profound truth

55:47

"that is yet within our own poor understanding

55:51

"emerges instantly when we read Jesus dying words.

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"That profound yet simple truth is that,

55:59

"Jesus died precisely as he had lived,

56:02

"in complete commitment to the heavenly father.

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"Jesus did not redirect his path in this moment.

56:11

"He continued along a well won and familiar path.

56:15

"The path of His father's will and His father's work."

56:19

Think with me, if you will of the very pattern

56:25

of Jesus' life.

56:28

Recall, for example,

56:31

the question that a precocious lad of 12

56:33

had asked of his anxious parents,

56:36

when after frantic seeking, they found Him in the temple,

56:39

sitting in the midst of the doctors,

56:43

both hearing them and asking them questions.

56:45

His mother had said,

56:48

"Son, why has though dealt with us?

56:49

"Behold, thy father and I have sought thee solemnly."

56:54

The answer came, "How is it that you sought me?

56:59

"Wish we not that I must be about my father's business?"

57:03

Total commitment to the father,

57:08

came early in the life of Christ.

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Think of a later episode in the life of Jesus.

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The temptation by the devil,

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"Turn this bread to stone," said Satan,

57:22

to a hungry young man.

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Again, "Bow down and worship me," said Satan,

57:28

"And I will give you all the kingdoms of the world."

57:33

And yet a third temptation Satan said,

57:37

"Cast thyself down from the pinnacle of the temple,

57:40

"for you will not be harmed

57:45

"and your reputation will spread far and wide."

57:47

But the young man, Jesus,

57:51

was just as absorbed in the mission of the father,

57:54

as he had been the young boy, Jesus, a few years before.

57:59

Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan."

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And he went down into Nazareth into the synagogue

58:06

and read from the scriptures.

58:10

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me

58:12

"because He has anointed me

58:14

"to preach the gospel to the poor.

58:15

"He has sent me to heal the broken hearted,

58:19

"to preach deliverance to the captives

58:22

"and recovering of sight to the blind,

58:24

"to set at liberty them that are bruised,

58:27

"to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

58:31

Yes, Christ commitment dated back long before Calvary.

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And then one of the most beautiful stories

58:42

in all the gospels, because it shows us the humanity of God.

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I refer to the agony of Gethsemane.

58:52

Here is the very human Christ, tempted to bypass Calvary.

58:55

And his sweat was as it were a great drops of blood

59:02

falling down to the ground.

59:05

And he said, "Father, if thou be willing,

59:08

"remove this cup from me.

59:12

"Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done."

59:16

So Christ died as He had lived, totally committed to God.

59:22

After He had made the commitment of Himself to His father,

59:29

a fixed habit of His life,

59:33

it was only natural for him to fall asleep

59:36

with this prayer upon His lips,

59:39

"Father into the hands, I commend my spirit."

59:41

Don't we all die pretty much as we live?

59:48

Charles Lamb once wrote up a grand quote,

59:52

"Who parted this life as he had lived without much trouble."

59:56

End of quote.

1:00:02

And then the story is told of a death of a man

1:00:04

who had made himself famous in the restaurant business.

1:00:07

He had established restaurants all the way

1:00:12

across this continent.

1:00:15

When at last he reached the end of his earthly journey,

1:00:19

those nearest to him gathered about his bed

1:00:22

to hear his final words.

1:00:24

When they bent over to catch his last whisper,

1:00:27

what do you think he said?

1:00:32

"Slice the ham thin."

1:00:35

Now there is nothing necessarily wicked

1:00:39

about such a final word,

1:00:42

but doesn't the story illustrate how strong in depth,

1:00:45

are the habits of a lifetime?

1:00:49

I know we are taught that we are saved if we but believe,

1:00:54

and that true repentance, even at the 11th hour,

1:00:58

enables Christ, who has stood patiently at the door

1:01:03

and knocked, to enter at last.

1:01:06

But deathbed religion, or a foxhole religion,

1:01:11

has never seemed particularly reliable to me.

1:01:15

In the first place, many of us will not know

1:01:21

which breathe is to be our last,

1:01:23

and may never get around to commending our spirits

1:01:25

to the heavenly father if we keep putting it off.

1:01:29

And the second place,

1:01:34

turning to God in contemplation of death,

1:01:36

after ignoring Him throughout life,

1:01:39

is somehow not very convincing, even to me.

1:01:43

And I wonder how it must appear to an all-knowing God.

1:01:48

Any man who can speak at all just before death

1:01:53

can say the words,

1:01:55

"Father into my hands, I commend my spirit."

1:01:57

But this does not mean that any man can die as Jesus died.

1:02:02

If one is to die, as He died,

1:02:08

the words must come naturally to his lips,

1:02:11

from a lifetime of commitment.

1:02:15

Dr. Clovis Chappell tells a story from his own experience,

1:02:19

which illustrates what I am trying to say

1:02:23

about deathbed, religion.

1:02:25

He says that he was called once to see a man

1:02:28

who was desperately ill.

1:02:30

Although he had largely wasted himself in riotous living,

1:02:33

when he realized that he was coming close to the end,

1:02:37

he called the lay minister, Dr. Chappell went.

1:02:40

And in the words of John Wesley, offered him Christ.

1:02:45

Dr. Chappell believes that the offer was accepted

1:02:51

in sincerity, despite the lateness of the hour,

1:02:56

the man seemed to receive the message with joy

1:03:00

and his loved ones rejoiced with him.

1:03:03

But then the man became unconscious,

1:03:08

and when he slipped away,

1:03:11

his last word alas, was not a prayer, but a curse.

1:03:13

Of course he did not know what he was saying,

1:03:21

but so long had he schooled his tongue

1:03:25

in the language of blasphemy

1:03:27

that he swore spontaneously.

1:03:29

Indeed how strong in depth, are the habits of a lifetime.

1:03:33

Do we live our lives as Christ lived His,

1:03:41

in commitment to the will and work of God?

1:03:46

Are we with the 12 year old Jesus...

1:03:51

Preacher Unknown - Good Friday Service Part 3 (April 20, 1962)

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