Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-29
The Future Condition.

he NGV. III. Ii. w. lnOIndS, OF
the Peoples Church, of Chicago, ILL.,,
last Sunday morning, April 18th,
preached a sermon on "The Future
Condition" his text being taken from
the first three verses of the third
chapter of First John. He said, in
brief, "'There are three principal sour
ces of information on the subject of
religion. The first is the sacred
books of the world, the second con-
sists of the consciousness, experience,
and observations Of mankind, and
the third is what we call science, or
learning from the study of nature.
They all agree in the dignity and
pre-cminence of man. Geology and
Genesis place man at the head of
creation. The lower animals have
no complaint to make that they are
less favored than man, for God cares
for them as animals. AS animals
their lives are beautiful and perfect.
We are physically and mentally SUI
perior to animals.
The Bible treats of animals pro-
gressively until man is reached, and
then treats of the care of man. This
life IS preparatory to the heavenly
life, and these thoughts lead to the
question, "What shall we be?" When
we study ourselves we find we are
only animals; but at least man is a
wonderful creature. Mathematical
and scientific principles last forever;
music lasts forever, and it does seem
that man in some form is to continue.
Does the plan of the universe mean
no more than reproduction and pro-
gressive education? We seem justi-
fled in the belief that we are to con-
tlnue, but sit doth not yet appear
what we shall be-" What are you to
be? What will your name be? What
will your form be? Will you have
your bodily form? Our body is but
another matrix. We know nothing
of future life, and the child before
birth knows nothing of this earth.
The changes brought by birth and
by death are perhaps equal. Proba-
bly, not one In a thousand knows
when he dies, and none of us knew
when we were born, yet we are con-
scious of being here. The Bible tells
us that we shall be like God, and sa-
cred books tell us of the power Of
God. What is the power of God?
l am disposed to think it is what we
call volition. That it is spirit, not
matter. When we are like God, to
will will be to do, and to wish will be
to have. Another attribute of God
is universal presence. The telephone
and the telegraph annihilate distance
so that we can talk with friends hun
dreds of miles away. If this pro-
gress has been made in a few years,
what are we to be and what can we
do thousands Of years hence? We
often think of friends, and 1t is as
easy to think of friends thousands Of
miles distant as it is to think of those
near by. We are with our friends in
thought. To will is to be there.
When man is like God he will have
power to transport himself We
speak of the mind in wonder, yet we
know nothing of the capacity of the
mind. We now project our angels
and measure the paths of the
distant planets. What are we to do
in the future? We are now gazing
at the stars through our tele-
scopes, but in the future we shall be
there. We are now pressing our
faces against the glass looking out of
the window, but soon we shall be out
side ourselves, and free to traverse
space, instead of being pinned down
to earth beneath this atmosphere.
A noble lord asked a clergyman
once at the bottom of his table why
the goose, if there was one, was al
ways placed next to the parson.
"Really," said he, 81 can give no rea-
son for it; but your question is so
odd that 1 shall never see a goose
again without thinking of your lord
ship"