, 1874-03-09
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL,

tAcy WoTO 10 10.
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Sermon by tho Row. n. w. Thomas, Of
the F'irst nleaI1&iist Church.
Yesterday DR.. Thomas proachod the following
sorn1on on tho Immortality Of tho SOUL"
taking as his toxt tho words: 'tGoa is not the
God Of tho dead, but Of tho living:"
To our outward aonsos donth soem8 very mitch
like tho end or destruction OF tho whole being
of man. As d living presence NO know him Iii
u bodily form; we SEQ his face, hear his voice,
grasp his hind, ho COOS in and out boforo us.
hut sickness comes, and the body wastes away :;
tho voice grows wea's, tho eye fails to ace, tho
hand lies still, anu tbs l,sart coasea to beat.
Death closeB tho Hceno. What wo cal1od the
life Inns disappeared, and al that Ia loft is dust
Wo listen for tho voice, but hear it no moro.
We Look for tho oncc-lovod form, but SEQ 1t no
more. All is gono. Wo wait for Its return, but
it comes not, All that IL left Ia what molnory
may recall.
1t ta not strange that those who stand by and
SEQ their friends thus, ~ 1t wero, dissolve and
raus away from thcm forever, hayo tloop quos-
tioninga whether tllore be any life beyond.
Especially do ! think it is not strange that mon
ol sc1once % n1d those wi who aro wholly or largely
essa0 as law with c s3Ss aa and arh sFshnRg i II spss tqs
touches tho losson Of continued lfo upon
ths earth, but then it Is not tho
same life that is continued tho flower or tho
trca dies, life il continued. but tile flower aud
the troe are dead, mud 1t ia other flowers and
other trees that live. And doubt. indeed, il
from the simple study OF naturo through tho
sonses, my ono will over reach the conclusion
that man ivoB beyond death. 1t is true from
existence Of tho clements which compose our
bodies, and oven the life-force contained in
these bodies, Tor nothing may bo destroyed
TINT is, annihilated. You may burn up the
gas, and B1noko, bong tho things into which tho
treo has changed. Theno ure loft, but the tree
III gone forever. Follow mp tllose substances
again, and you eau separate them into their
,lniyorao-thoy dofy a,lnihilation, but The body,
the life, IN Which thoy woro unitod, IL gono. 10
OF force 1t nay DO changed into heat, motion,
light, otc. you cannot annihilato it, but still
the individual lifc after which yon aro looking
| comes not back. That OF which it WAS seeming
ly composed Hlill exists, but whoro III the form
! and life wo loved (?
| But. because to sight, and hearing, and fool
Glide It's nor.-oxiatenoo? Because We fi1ld it not
in tho evidence Of tho aenses and In tho porish-
/ ing forms Of material things about III, snail we
! say it is no moro? Certainty not. "Why sock
80 tho living among tho dond7 Z" Tho ]ifo, tho
soul, Inns gono away from the earthly or bodily
by tic cartlly senses. It must 10 sought for
elsewhere and only by our other aid higher
powers aro wo to co1c!nde it's continued conscious
existence. What, tllen are some Of the reasons
for believing that tho soul Of n,a IL immortal
havo Bald tint to our senses death soems very
much like the destruction Of our being, and 30 it
does; but let us look at thia point Il little moro
closely, and SEQ if oven hero there nay not bo at
least somo li.t1o light. think that our common
consciousness aasnres us that tl'oro IL aome-
thing moro Of or about ourselves thnn Nero
bodily existence. In our thoughts we may easi-
~ distinguish botweon body and mnd though
we cannot in fact divide, or wholly separate, ono
from tue other, for this would ho what VIC Gull
tloath And, iii tlis distinction which VIC make
botweon our minds and onr bollos. We regard
tho body aB tho instrument Of tho mind.
Wo spcak OF tho cyo aB the i1HtrW-
ment, or glass, through Which the mind
looks out upon tho world about U.s..
Tho ego, the porsonRl. conscious Half, s back Of
tho oyc. Aud SO Of hearing and feeling. And
We Bpoak OF owning these bodily powers, as, my
hand, my eye, my body.
What do no mean by such language, if our
roal being or aotf is not something other and
above mud different from them? ain aware Of
tinctions seem real to those who will not try to
500 them, WHO aro not willing to fall back Of tie
senses upon Tho inner lite. Nor do think it
unreasonable to insIst that those who would look
nto those things-would try to find tho life Of
tho soul III tho darkness OF deuth-ehould
mako this effort. It ia truc, horo as III
other things, that the spiritual cannot 10
iBcorncd by tho carnal. Aud We aro not u,l-
reasonable in asking that YOU fall In loyo with
tho spiritual, aud with immortality, not
only DO willing that it bo true, but desire it's
truth aut III tho inspiration of such desiro sock
| for its confirmation. This is not to put your
self III u state 10 be deceived, but to come ander
tic best conditions to discover the truth. No
man objects to being in love with mathematics
or music or ,,atural sc,e..ce, when he would
know their whole moaning an.l beauty and
power over tic soul. And ii any ono will not
try to como Into this s.ato OF mind, aud to fali
back upon hiA conscious thinking self, and from
that standpoint study Immortality, ho need not
comnlniu Of others If thoy cannot mako it pain to
| iim in his bodily souvcs-that H. make o thing
plajn whoro It ID lot to bo found at all,
But. viii, this distinction between body and
spirit nlaiuly il, our own minds. let us observe
closely tlo work Of death mud SEQ it tho spirit
seems to die with tho body. There is certainly
| not a littlo ground Of homo evan here. All tie
powers Of mind and leart-roason, nlomory, af-
fectlou-aro ofton oyon moro clear and strong ~
tie body wastes away. and remaing 10 till tlo
vnrv hit lronth. does iii that wealth Of MUD