The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-05-21
FUNERAL SERMON

Theme: 2 IMMoRTALITY.
- IF man die, ahall he live again? All th
days Of my appointed time will wait, till N
change cone"-Job, 14th chap. 18th verse.
The christian fortitude. the sweet submission
the patient waiting manifested in every Gay lii
by oar late sister gives me ample material fo
TIE carrying ont to the grandest climax tn
tAQngh embodied in the last clause OF nv text
- u the days of my appointed time will = wal
till my change Gomez
Taking this last part Of my text first, wi,
for few minutes to speak about the patien
Waiting OF our late sister, your wife, mother an
A better euicgy cannot be paid to her memory
more striking epitaph engraved upon III
menument to mark her last resting place, thai
the words of our text. which were PRACTICAL.
time will wait till my change come EN-
bodied In the words is the RUG OF Cheerful
obedience and patient waiting.
special beauty CLEANS through these word
not pleasant, not conducive to good and ilappi
ness. 1t Is this feature that gives so much o
exceptional beauty, winning and commanding
influence TO the life and character of Job. Jot
or nearly SO, that endured a great portion
OF trials and Affections. At one time every
thing around him was pleasant and pros
porous. His children, ten in number, are well
healthy and good looking; his farm and STOCK
doing frst-rate; better times he could not wish
far. Soon reverses come. His children are al
killed In one day !; his cattle and all mis- stock
de- To go so far, and to do him to given ex-
tent all that he wished is satan permitted
With sore boils from the sole of his feet to his
CROWN heis afflicted. Life itself would seem to
be burden-so much SO that he is advised by
one that should have helped, comforted and en-
couraged him "to curse God and die" Yet in
It al ne calmly, waits, patiently endures, and
more than once his voice is heard breaking the
silence and exclaiming, shall we receive good
at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil All the days of my appointed time will
wait TILL my change come" There is no hurry
about it. TIL He hath done what he wills, what
seemeth Him best; will wait. Though suffer
ing, yet am not over anxious to go before the
appointed time.
The change will come some time. ! know !
Will not always have to suffer. MY Redeemer
liyeth; and after my skin worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall see God :" therefore
can and will patiently :. wait till my change
come" Blessed experience. similar eli
Of the saving power of God was given by our late
sister before her eyes closed in DEATH or the lips
gathered their deathly frmness, or before the
forehead received Its chilly touch from the Icy
messenger death.
During one Of my visits to her bedside, and
while talking about the sweets, pleasures and
comforts that the religion of Jesus Christ brings,
she, though very weak, scarcely able to speak,
yet calling upon every power, stfaining every
possible nerve SO as to be able in vocal sound
or audible tones, to speak, nobly replied to a
question asked her, g am still trusting In
Jesus. Oh, yes Bro. Perry am trusting IN Je-
sus.p Such words can never die in my memory.
The impression received while listening to her
words MAI. TRUST follow me until take my
exit from earth to heaven and there join in
strains hail0wed, heavenly and God-like with
our late sister, /" singing the songs of Moses and
the Lamb. =" Mark that like Job she was suffer-
ing in body, the outward frame was weak !;
strength constantly decreasing; becoming more
helpless as the days one by one rolled away. Yet
Sill there was no murmur, no rep1ning, no hurry
about going home. Gods will she desired to do,
and If He was willing to keep her here suffering,
or take her to Himself, where she would be
Far from world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in,
She could only say, /" Thy will be DONE" Hap
py climax, blessed experience, noble fortitudc,
great patience.
had said to her, Thy sins are all forgiven thee
60 In peace and sin no MORE" and since that
time she had learned TO labor and wait, just as
Jesus required.
And now to q terminus that life which was ex-
emplary, those hands which were ever ready to
help the needy, those feet which have been swift
to run in the way of God 3 commandments that
life which, In short, was the stay of home, a
mover In the church, and blessing to the world
is here ended. And over her remains we Drop
the silent yet hot tear, paying only the same tri
butte to her as she had done to many others who
passed on before to the heavenly land. She
waited for the coming of that dear, loving friend
Jesus, who had shared in her trials and difficult
ties, and who now shares III her joy. She pa
tiently waited, no better proof of being ready
for the great change, for the angel reaper to
come and whisper in her ear the words Harvest
Home," and when spoken she had nothing to do
but simply
Clap her glad wing and tour away,
And mingle with the blaze of day.
Our thoughts would fain stimulate us to make
the attempt Oftrying to penetrate into the % Be-
yOnd, the world to come" But this we cannot do.
Clouds and mists as yet encircle us. We can
only " see through glass darby" Yet only
wait a little while longer, friends; dry your
weeping eyes, mourn not, and we will "see face
to face not only Jesus, but your mother and
friend. Copying her example, let us patiently
9 Forever with the Lord" If man die shall
he live again Coming to this part of our text,
/. We assume that this spirit aUill NEVER die.
Doubtless with us all and in all our pursuits
themselves upon u.s. Am / to live on after
death? Or is this to be the last of me These
questions are OF vital Importance. They are
among the highest of questions pertaining to
the fabric Of our holy religion. A right, true
The soul, or spirit, though united to the body,
1t and directing its operations, is as
distinct from 1t as God HIMSELF distinct from
the universe which he fills with his presence.
The body was formed of the dust of the ground
that Is, of common earthly materials. But the
soul was not formed of the dust of the ground,
nor of air, nor of light nor of electricity, nor of
any other material substance. however ethereal
and refined; and If not formed Of matter, 1t must
be distinct from it. And as it is admitted that
there are but two substances, matter and spirit
1t follows that the soul of man must be an I'M.
material substance. Again, the attributes OF
mind are essentially different from those of mat
ter. 1T is q fundamental axiom that whatever
things are identical in essence are identical al
so in their primary qualities. Examine the
body and you will find it has the primary quail
ties of extension, figure solidity and divisibility
Examine the intellectual and moral nature,
and you will find the attributes of conscious
ness. understanding, judgment, memory, reason
volition, and moral emotion, and these intellect.
usI and moral faculties pertain to the man al
parts of his constitution as much as those that
are material. Here, then, are two distinct class
es of properties, and each class not only distinct
but so diverse from the other that they can not
belong to the same essence. No two things can
be more distinct and different. For the one is
material and the other undeniably immaterial
We know that these properties of spirit belong
to man in this life. They were visible in oul
departed sister. Even amid the prostration Of
wasting sickness, and in the very agonies Of
death, the undecaying energies of the soul were
displayed by her. Faith, hope, love, joy, and al
the elements of holiness rose to an attitude and
beamed with brilliancy far surprising theil
the functions of physical nature had ceased an6
when the rest were in the last stage of debility
One writer has well observed, Oft when the
action OF the heart is scarcely percepuble, and
the lanquid circulation has ceased to communal
cate vital warmth to the extremities-when the
brain itself partakes of the general languor o.
the bodily functions. and death has actually
commenced his work upon all which he can de
etroy-at the moment when, according to tht
Geological doctrine, the man touches the very
point Of humiliation, even then the spirit, un
dismayed and unenfeebled, exhibits all it
moral faculties entire, an shows their tota
independence of the bodily structure in &
manner that makes the Ekeptic half believt
and tremble." If these faculties were visible
and we affirm that they were, In our lat,
sister, what has become of them? If death ha
not destroyed them, then they may live forever
We cannot prove that death does anything NOR
than destroy the body. 1t can not touch tn
soul, the heaven born and God like principle II
man,-for, being immaterial, 1t is exempt from
all Known causes of dissolution and decay
Death is only change. Our spirits have sur
vived many changes, the death Of children, par
ents and friends; and why not the same spiri
survive death We have powers and capacitie
for enjoyment and suffering here. Inference II
yea, logical deduction Is, when all things ar
| justly weighed and considered, that they vii
continue. Every night at . certain time tn
snn quietly retires to rest behind the western
hills, yet If we are up early enough in the morn
| ing We may see 1t proudly lifting or raising il
majestic head, and soon we forget that it retire
out of sight last evening. The trees bloom, gree
leaves and rich golden fruit they bring us; br