The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1867-12-19

fi5 away" The magority do 10
youth, ! minority reAeh meridias
lib, md only hare and there arc
found tho fow thai tottsr down tho
dscliyisy ofago. We nay Be canp-
ing now ID life, next year, psrhaps
morrow, our tabernacle may b
taken down, and We may 60 the way
whence We shall not rcesrn. il
| I. And this body 10 to bc dtssolped
To sissolve, il the aenss 81. the
text, i 70 disaniss the particles Of !
thing, n. vhsn the mA,srials OF a.'lay
tenement havs;decaved. and become
lvinYled undistinRai@hAbly with. the
ground on which ii wa reared. 80
by nature. ipexorable Law, the body
il to BE- dissolved. Change il 10
paas over It, and il iste mingls with
the dust. No cars can prevent it,
No embalmers art ca, avert this Ger
taip result. Tho empty sarcophaquses
Of the mighty kings who built the pyr.
Ianids Of old Egypt. to preserve their
remains from destruction in the com.
ling ages, tell how vain 10 the al
tempt TO escape the law Of mortality.
of / wait,," said Job, ssthe grave il
mine house. 1 have made my bed In
darkness 1 hsvc said to corruption
Thou art ,my father tp the worm,
thou art my mother and my sister
lSuch is-the. character Of the body;
such the certain destiny that awaits
1T. $50
II. But. theitext contemplate tho
hope of thenltimatc restoration ofthe
dsshly tabernacle: Speaking tor his
brethrcn--for all beheyers-hs aays:
"For we know that If our earthly
honse Of this tabernacle. were dis.
solved. wehave building of God. an
house otmade with hands, eternal
in the heavens"
Whena family b. any ca.as,ro-
phs, 10 deprived ora house; when il
has been uprootcd by tho tempest or
DESTROYED by the devouring fire. the
question comes up A. to another
place Of shelter and protection. And
sowe naturally ask, what will be our
state beyond the grave3 If the
word Of God be truo-if the prophc-
cies Of reason and nature be reliable
1.-The soul 10 immortal. What then,
will be its state7 Tho apostle speaks
positively hero. Hs does not say:
For we erpect- we hope: but he
says: 'tFor wo know.' He ssserts it
from revelation; for "life and i,nmor>
tality have been brought TO light'in
1.-The gospel He asssrts it because
Christ, "the resurrection and the
life" "hath risen from the doad, and
become the first fruit, of them that
slept" So fully does he believe
the promise, so entirely docs he con-
tide in the powor Of jesus, and so
universally is the conviction shared
in by the church, that he throws bis
affirmation into the most positive
and comprehensive form. "For We
know. that We have !. build
Ting Of God, an houss not made with
| hands, eternal in the heavens. The
language has been interpreted in two
ways.
II AZ referring TO heaven, the
fglorions dwelling place Of the right
eous: and in this sense it 10 true
"Therc remaineth therefore . rest
for the people Of God:'' There il .
glorious locality called heaven, whore
the redeemed arc to DO oil assembled
Some deny this. They eay Heaven
lis state, but not y place. But is
not locality essential to humanity p
1t is now, and 40 we conceive. must
be forever. The Scriptures uniform
|ly represent heaven az a locality
Jesus says, not 81 60 to prepare a
state, condition, for you r. but II 20
to prepare place : for you" There
lie somewhere a place Of insifable
fglory- . ahouse not made with han ds.
eternal in the heavens;' where the
ansomed family Of God shall DO CAT h.
cred, where is the holy city, the New
Jerusalem, ..thc city Of saints and of
God" It 10 true We cannot locate it
on the grand map Of Gods great u nj.
verse but it is and, If faithful, orr
"eyes shall sec the King Ia his beauty
and the land that is very far off,"
j 2. Bat wc understand the text az
referring directly to the resurrec-
ton body Of the saint. The hcav.
enly house 10. the completion and
perfection Of the earthly house,
This seems 70 be the logical deduc
ton from the text. The Scriptures
teach rs that in, tho resurrection
We shall have bodies adopted to
our changed relations. They teach
that these will not be new bodies;
but thatohr present bodies viii be
lchsnged and. re,ediied. So Paul
teachesrin Eorinthians:i Beloved I
tshcw you g. mystery; we shall not
all sleep. but we shall all be changed
in moment, in the twinkling Of an
eye, at tho last trump: for the trum-
pet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and We shall
Il 4 L HNA.-