The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1885-03-04
IMMORTALITY
A Universal Instinct and Desire OF the
Human Raoe-Llfe a Glorious or Ter
rlble Mystery.

rible Mystery.
Phillip Schefr, In Pulpit treasury
Life, death, eternity-how vast, how deep,
how solemn these three words, so familiar
to us all Who can measure, who can
fathom their meaningY In the midst Of
life we are surrounded by death and con-
fronted by eternity with its boundless
prospects Of veal and woe. Life on earth
ends in death, and death Is but the dark
door to another life which has no end
Astronomy can not tell whether this vis-
ible universe has boundaries or not, and
what lies beyond. Theology can not de-
termine the locality Of that invisible uni
verse from which no traveller returns, nor
the direction and length Of that lonely
passage which carries the disembodied
spirit from its present to its future abode.
But this we know-and 1t Is enough for
our comfort-that in our Fathers
house are many mansions, and that our
Saviour has prepared place for all His
disciples. There is an abundance Of room
for all even within the limits Of this uni
verse, and for aught we know the spirit
world may be very near and round about
us. There are exalted moments in our
life when we see the heavens open and the
angels OF God descending and ascending.
Life is a mystery, glorious mystery with
heaven beyond, but terrible mystery
with annihilation or endless punishment in
prospect.
The Immortality Of the soul Is uni
versal instinct and desire Of the human
race. Like the idea of God II is implanted
in our intellectual and moral constitution.
We can not think backward without reach
ing an ultimate cause which has no be-
ginning; and we can not think forward
without arriving at a result which has no
ending. God and eternity precede and
succeed time, and time itself is filed with
both. We can not conceive that wise
Creator should make man In His own i'm
age and endow him with tho highest fac
ulties without ordaining him for endless
existence. He can not intend the head Of
His creatures, the masterpiece Of His hand,
to perish like brute. He can not allow
virtue to suffer and iniquity to flourish
without some future adjustment, which
will give to every one his due and restore
the harmony Of character and condi tion.
1t seems impossible that a rational
being, filed with infinite longings
and capable OF endless progress, should be
suddenly cut off in the beginning of his
career, "like the empty fabric of vision,
leaving no wreck behind" 1t seems i'm
possible that the mind, which proves its
independence of tho body, and natures In
strength while the body declines, should
bs dissolved with its material tent. No
husband can close the eyes Of beloved
wife, no parent can commit q child to the
cold grave, no friend can bid farewell to a
bosom friend, without the ardent wish OF
the recovery Of the loss and meeting
again In better world, where tears OF
parting are unknown. Every considera-
tion Of Gods goodness, love aud justice, OF
mans capacities, desires and hopes, and OF
surrounding nature, with its perennial
renovations Of seasons and Transformation
of death itself into new forms Of life, forces
upon us the belief In the Immortality Of
the human soul.
But, after oil, philosophy and scienc,
can lead us only to the probability of Inn
mortality, and there is a vast step from
probability TO certainty. The starry
heavens above and the moral law within
4 may well have filed the great philosopher
Of the last century with ever growing
reverence and awe; but beyond the starry
heavens and behind the moral law lie the
sublimer regions Of faith, which all u,
with deeper reverence, and which alen'
can give us solid comfort In life and IL
death. IS
WHEN we are most ready 10 perish. thei