Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-06-02
OUR WEEKLY SERMON.
Sunday Evening Services at the
Christian Church at Salem.


good audience Sunday evening from
IA verse, IA chapter, job, "Ifa maj
die shall he live again" 1t wa
certain we did not create ourselves
We had nothing TO do with whethe
or where we should be born. Som,
men said this world was goor
enough for them. Sure, dwellers il
the Willamette valley might vel
say this. The world was grand anC
good enough for anyone. The trou
ble was we could not get enough oI
it. Even as much as Jay Gould has
he has not enough. What s this
lovely world ? II is one great Col.
gotha. Like the Egyptians at their
feasts, at the banquet of this life the
skeleton, death, was always present.
II is not worth living unless we
have the hope Of immortality within
US. No mans life is so certain that
he can know that he will return
home alive from the voting place to-
morrow. At every swing of the
pendulum soul passes away.
Wherever goes this mighty army?
Man wept to think that all ht
knows and loves to-day must short
Iy pass away. The hour will come
for all to die. The wi5est of all ages
have propounded the anxious IN
quiry Of job. The question of i'm
mortality was never understood by
the Jews and was only correctly
taught them by Christ.
But even human reason teaches
US that there is n future. If We ad-
init there is God in the universe
we cannot deny the existence of a
future in which alone we can con-
template the complete works Of the
initiate. The creators of the works
of the Moundbuilders We're real
beings. No one ever pretended that
those strange mounds of earth in
the shape Of animals and birds We're
the result Of chance. The ancient
Greeks engraved the butterfly on
their tombs to teach the lessons of
immortality. If the loathesome
worm can become butterfly, why
shall not man live again? If God
can preserve the germ of the plant
life, he can preserve tho immortal
soul.
Man cannot eat and sleep like the
OK. His soul yearns and struggles
for higher things In every land.
He Is restless, discontented and
for better things. His soul
is not satisfied with earthly con-
ditions and imperfections. 1t was
the instinct of the soul, to seek n
future life, just as it was the in
stinct Of the young birds that had |
never seen winter and had never
been in the south, TO wing their
way in early autumn to the sunny !
lands of the tropics.
Life is a wonderful thing. First
nothing, then light, then life's bat
tie, the death, the churchyard, then
eternity. The grave is not our end
and final resting place. If there is
no future life there ought to be, and
he universe Is II failure. If there il |
40 future life, If there Is no place to |
punish the heroes and reward the
good, then is all our talk of God IA
lothing. We are freed from specu-
ating as to immortality by the fpct
hat God raised his own son from
he dead. There Is not n learned
nd intelligent man in the world to-
lay who denies that there had been
!. Christ, that he died and was laid
II Joseph's tomb, and after three
lays rose again. HIS tomb was
guarded by Roman soldiers. We
annOt form just idea of the discI-
'line of the Roman army. No
British sea captain had disobeyed
riders since an hundred years ago
ne was shot dead for dsobedlence.
he honor of Roman soldier was
carer to him than life. That Christ
Ose from the dead is attested by his
isciples, and then by over one hun
red and then by over five hundred.
heir verdict Is unanswemble As to
he resurrection of Jesus. Let us
fl up our hearts and rejoice Mt this
loriOus immortality.