Life or Death

This sermon was preached by the Rev. Frederick
E. Taylor, pastor of the Central Baptist Church of
Brooklyn. It has pleased God
to use it in a remarkable way,
and to those who know Mr.
Taylor, this is not at all strange,
for very few men are more
thoroughly consecrated and few
that I have known have more
)f a passion for reaching men
with the Gospel than he.

Mr. Taylor was in such great demand for the holding of evangelistic services in the interest of men, that at last on the advice of his brother ministers he resigned his church, and is now devoting his time to the general evangelistic work, in every city preaching special sermons to men with remarkable success.

“I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” (Deuteronomy 30: 19.) The last words of our friends are always the most effective. The boy who has been disobedient to all 189

REV. FREDERICK E.

authority of mother or father, listens attentively to the words of counsel, advice, or request as they fall from the lips of the dying parent and resolves that now he will obey, no matter what the cost of obedience may be.

These are the last words of one of the greatest men the world has ever known. Moses was a great man. He was great as a statesman and as a lawgiver. So great, indeed, that, after four thousand years, we find the jurisprudence of the world based upon his words. He was not only great as a statesman and lawgiver, but he was a wonderful leader of men. Men like Alexander, Napoleon, and Grant, have marshalled mighty armies, but Moses marshalled and controlled for forty years an army of men, women and children numbering millions, and so completely was he master of the situation that in all those years there was never any need for a change of commanders.

And now he is about to give up the command. He has received word from the Lord that he is to come home to heaven and receive his reward. As the evening shadows gather about his life, he rehearses before the people the story of God’s dealings with them. He tells them the story of their deliverance from Egypt, he sets before them their unbelief and their failure to respond to the will of Jehovah. He reminds them that whenever they have obeyed God He has blessed them; and whenever they have disobeyed He has punished them. “Now,” he says, “I am about to leave you, another is to take my place, and he will guide you into the promised land.” Then mentioning six blessings, he says: “If ye obey God, these will be yours, but if ye disobey, these six curses shall come upon you,” and he mentions these. And then, with great solemnity, he urges upon them the duty of choosing that which will bring the blessing of God. “I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.”

It is a solemn moment in the life of any man when he stands facing the question of life and death. It is a solemn moment for men here today, because whatever else shall be the outcome of this meeting I intend to set before you life and death, the blessing and the cursing; so that if in the days to come we shall face each other at the judgment seat of Christ I shall be able to say that on one occasion at least you came face to face with the claims of God upon your life. I want to be able in that day to say that, in no unmistakable terms, I set before you the reasons why you should choose life instead of death, the blessing instead of the curse. And when I urge you to choose life, let me say that by choosing life I mean that you should choose Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. To choose life is to choose Christ, and to choose Christ is to find life. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life, and until men know Him they do not know the meaning of the world life. “I am come,” said He, “that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” There are hundreds of reasons why a man should choose life, but out of them all I want to suggest just four, any one of which, as it seems to me, ought to be enough to lead a man to God.

I.

Every man ought to choose Christ because all men need Christ.

In every meeting like this there are men, who, stirred by the influence of the service, go out firmly resolving to live a different life. They agree with the speaker, they believe the story of the Gospel, and they have a desire for a better life. And certainly no one should find fault with a man who desires a better life. But suppose some man goes out to-day and, like many others, he decides that hereafter he will live a clean life. Suppose for the moment that this man lives to be fifty years older than he is today, and in all that time he never commits another sin. This is an impossible thing, of course, but for the moment let us suppose such a case. Now would that man be saved? Would he, because of these years of righteousness, be entitled to an entrance into heavenly world? No! But, you say, why not? For fifty years of clean living is not a man entitled to heaven? And, again, I answer. No. In the first place, because no man will ever be saved because of what he has done but for that which Christ has done for him; and in the second place he cannot be saved for the reason that he has not been cleansed from the sins already committed. The sins of all the years up to this time arc still with him. Day after day and year after year he has been piling them ujj until they are mountainous, and nothing that he can do will ever atone for them. The sins of thought and deed, as well as the sin of rebellion to God’s will, have never been purged from his life, and until the blood of Jesus Christ rolls over his soul he will not be entitled to an entrance into the heavenly world. If by act of righteousness, if by any amount of pure living we can be saved, then Calvary is a farce and the Christ was crucified in vain. No, the Scriptures are right, ‘’All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” “Without shedding of blood there is no remission,” and the young man should choose Christ that he may be cleansed from sin. Not only does he need Christ to get rid of the sin already in his life but to keep him from the, possibility of failure after he has been cleansed. Many a man is afraid to stand up and acknowledge Christ as his Savior because he fears that he will sin again within twenty-four hours and bring reproach upon his Lord. But Christ not only saves us but keeps us, and those who put their trust in fiini are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

But there is another reason why you need Jesus Christ, and that is because you can never fulfill the purpose for which you were created imtil you have Him in your life.

No man is ever a man until he is a Christian man. When God made man He made him foursquare. He gave him a physical side to his nature and an intel-M 193 lectual and social side of his nature; but He did not stop there, for He crowned the whole man with spiritual life and this was meant to dominate the whole man. There are many three-sided men in the world to-day. They look all right in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of the Lord they are sadly deficient. A man may develop his body until he has the strength of a Sandow, he may cultivate the social side of his life until he becomes a veritable Beau Brummel; and he may educate his mind until he becomes a genuis; but if he has only these, he is a failure and of all men most miserable. Not until he has been touched by the Spirit of God and has flowing through his life the life of Christ does he become a complete man.

Some years ago, in a little town in the West, a crowd of men were gathered about a store window. A large American eagle was in the window. Fastened to one of its feet was a chain, and this was secured to ring in the floor of the window. The bird was absolutely indififerent to its condition. It was a splendid picture of fallen greatness. While the men were looking at the bird, a tall young mountaineer elbowed his way through the crowd, and, after looking for a moment, walked into the store and asked the proprietor how much he wanted for the bird. The man said two dollars. The young man took some money out of his pocket and paid for the bird and the storekeeper unfastened the chain and handed the eagle to him. He carried the great bird down the street, followed by the crowd. Coming to a large billboard fence with a ladder against it, he climbed the ladder and placed the eagle upon the top of the fence. Unfastening the chain he came down. The bird remained motionless for a moment, then noting that he seemed to have more freedom than usual, he opened his eyes and glanced around. Then, as if to be sure of his power, he stretched out one great wing and then another, and then with a hoarse scream he soared up toward the sun, while the crowd sent up a cheer. “I used to see that bird away up on the mountain where I tended sheep,” said the young man, “and when I saw him chained down in that store window I could not stand it. He belongs up above and was never meant to be in such a place.”

And, friends, God intended that men should live in fellowship with Him, and when He saw us down here chained by sin, unable to realize the purpose for which we were created. He sent Jesus Christ to free us and the cross of Calvary is the price of our freedom. And if we will but accept Him we may live above the clouds of this world in fellowship with God.

The second reason why you should choose
Christ is:

n.

Because it is a manly thing to do.

I have said that a man is never a man until he is a Christian man, and I want to emphasize this. There was a day when, if a young man became a Christian, he was thought to be a milk and water sort of a fellow who had none of the elements of manhood. But that day has gone forever. Men are beginning to realize that it takes all there is of a man to be a Christian. The manliest men this country has produced have been Christian men, and the man who thinks that a man loses any of his manliness by surrendering his life to Jesus Christ has a great deal to learn about real manhood. There came a time in the life of James A. Garfield when, at the top of Mt. Holyoke, with some fellow students, they decided to camp there all night. When the hour for retiring came, young Garfield took a New Testament out of his pocket and said: “Fellows, I always read a chapter out of this book and ofifer prayer before I go to bed, and with your permission I will read aloud and offer prayer.” Was he any the less of a man for that action? When Abraham Lincoln went to Henry Ward Beecher one night during the civil war and spent the night on his knees with Mr. Beecher, asking God to save the country, did he lose any of his manhood? When Wm. E. Gladstone sat down by the side of a sick crossing sweeper in one of the lowest hovels in London and read the Scriptures and prayed with him, was he any the less of a man? I do not need to press the question, every man here knows that these men were manly men and their relation to God only puts them upon a higher plane in our estimation. The fact of the matter is that the more manhood a man possesses the more likely he is to be a Christian man. I have had many excuses offered me by young men for not becoming followers of Christ, but I have never had but one man give what I should call a reason.

I was conducting a series of meetings in a well known university some years ago, and when the last night of the meetings came the hall was filled to overflowing. A number of the students had come out for Christ during the meetings, but there was still a number who were holding back. One of the men who attended the last meeting was a prominent football man, and in fact one of the leading men in the college. At the close of the service, his chum, who sat beside him, stood up and publicly accepted Christ, together with a number of others. After the meeting was over, I met this football man and some others in a class room. All of the men in the room came out for Christ but this one. When I came to him I saw that he was as white as marble. He was trembling from head to foot, and 1 knew that he was having a great struggle. Taking him by the hand I said to him: “Will you take Jesus Christ as your Savior and follow him?” He hesitated a moment, and then he said: “I’m not man enough.” And he told the truth. It takes all there is of a man to be a Christian, and if some of those who are here this afternoon should tell the real truth they would have to say: “The only reason why I am not a Christian is because I am not man enough.”

Another reason why every man should choose Christ is found in the fact that

III.

The service of Christ affords an opportunity for real heroism.

We admire the courage of the man who, when the call comes for volunteers, leaves his home and goes forth to face the bullets of the enemy of his country. And we should admire this courage. But let us not forget that moral courage is far superior to physical courage. Many a man who can face bullets without flinching will fall before a glass of beer. Men who will risk their lives for the sake of others sometimes have no courage at all in moral matters.

Here is a young man and he has just left his home. He is sad faced and heavy hearted. The doctor has just told him that unless the young wife whom he adores can have a change of climate and some of the luxuries which he has mentioned, she cannot get well. He loves her with all his soul and would be willing at any moment to lay down life itself for her sake. But here is a condition which he cannot help. His salary will not permit of following the doctor’s orders. He enters the office and opens the safe and takes out the money for the day’s business. He is all alone in the office. While he is counting the money there comes across his mind a suggestion which causes the hot blood to rush to his temples. Why not take some of this money? It will never be missed. You have nothing to risk, for you can put it back at your leisure. And then all the forces of the infernal world begin their awful work. On the one side is the wife whom he loves and the possibility of health and strength. On the other is the fact that years ago he promised to follow Jesus Christ. The battle rages for a few moments, when, with a cry of agony, he flings himself upon his knees. “O God, help me now!” And a moment after he stands up and the victory is won. That man is a hero! Napoleon in all of his marvelous conquests never won a victory as great as that. Yes, men, the man who lives an out and out life for Christ will have battles, and many of them, and this alone ought to appeal to young men, for what are we here for if not to fight battles? And what sort of a man is that who wants an easy time of it in this world? Oh, for men, real, dead in earnest men. Men who will consecrate their lives to the service of Jesus Christ and then, to use the words of Mr. Speer, “Live with a vengeance and die with a snap.” And now, last of all, and perhaps most important of all, I urge you to choose Christ because

IV.

In so doing you obtain eternal life.

“There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” You ought to choose Christ because you need Him to cleanse you from past sin, to keep you from present and future sin, to enable you to fulfill the object of your creation, because you are doing the manly thing when you do this and you find an opportunity to develop a heroic character; but if none of these reasons move you, then let me urge you to choose Christ for the sake of your eternal destiny. You may not think you need Christ now, but the day will come when you will need Him more than you have ever needed anything in this world.

While traveling upon the Sound Steamers I used to notice that each boat carried two splendid looking anchors. They were very nice to look at, but I could not see the reason for having them on board. We used to tie up at the wharf in Fall River, and when we came to New York I noticed that they did the same thing here. And this led me to think that these anchors were carried merely for ornament. But one morning I was awakened by the blowing of whistles and ringing of bells, and I went on deck and found that we were in the midst of a dense fog. So thick was it that we could hardly see from one end of the vessel to the other. Just as I arrived on deck I saw the sailors lowering one of the anchors. It went down into the water with a splash, and the vessel swung around and we were fast. After a while the fog lifted and then I learned the value of an anchor, for right ahead of us was one of the other Sound Steamers and had we gone on our way we must have crashed into her with dreadful results. The anchor on that steamer saved our lives. And, my friends, when the fogs begin to gather and the things of this world fade from your view, the one thing that will prove valuable will be your hope in Jesus Christ. And if you do not possess this, nothing but disaster and ruin await you.

I am acquainted with a man who is an engineer on one of the railroads running out of New York City. Some years ago this man, who is an earnest Christian, was addressing a meeting of men, a large number of whom were employees of the railroad. As he closed his address, he said: “I cannot begin to tell you what Jesus Christ is to me. He has given me a hope that is very precious. Some years ago,” he said, “every night as I neared the end of my run, I would look up to the top of a hill where stood a little cottage; and as we rushed down through the cut I would pull open the whistle and let out a blast, and then an old lady would come to the door of the cottage and wave her hand to me. And as we shot into the tunnel she would go into the house and say to her husband: ‘Thank God, father, Bennie is safe home to-night.’ But the day came when we carried mother out and laid her to rest. Then, night after night, when I pulled the whistle, an old man would come to the door and wave his hand to me and I could almost hear him say, as he entered the house: ‘Thank God, Bennie is safe home to-night.’ But now,” said the engineer, “they are both gone, and although I look up many times, I do not see either of the dear ones to welcome me home. But some day when I have pulled the whistle for the last time and the work of this world is over I shall come to the pearly gates, and I am sure that as I draw near I shall see an old lady waiting at the entrance with an old gentleman; and, as I enter I shall see my dear old mother turn to father and say: ‘Thank God, father, Bennie is safe home at last.’” Oh, men, if for no other reason than for this, that it will mean the reunion of loved ones, the answer to the prayers of those whom we have loved long since and lost awhile, I urge you to choose Christ.

May God help you now to give free play to the noblest impulses of your life. Choose, choose now, and choose Christ.

“I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.”