The Globe-republican., 1893-06-23


Have you any more questions to
ask? ANY more difficulties to
suggest? any more mysterious? Bring
them on. Against a whole regiment OF
skepticism l viii march these two
champions: Marvel not at this. for
the hour is coming when all who are in
their graves shall come forth" The
Lord shall descend from Heaven witha
shout. and the voice of the archangel.
and the trump of God. and the dead in
Christ shall rise first" You see l stick
to these two passages Who art thou,
oh. fool. that thou repliest against God?
Hath He promised. and shall He not do
it? Hath He commanded. and shall He
not bring it to pass: Have you not
confidence in His omnipotence? II He
could, in the first place, build my body.
after it is torn down. can He not build il
again?
oh" You say: Il would believe that
if you would explain it. am not dis
posed to be skeptical. but explain how
it can be done" NV brother. YOU be-
lieve a great many things You cannot
explain. You believe your mind acts
on your body. Explain the process.
This seed planted comes up a blue
flower. Another seed planted comes
up yellow flower. Another seed
planted comes up a white flower. Why?
Why that wart on your finger? Tell me
why some cows have horns and other
cows have no horns. Why. when two
obstacles strike each other in the air.
do You hear the percussion? What
is the subtle energy that dis
solves solid in crucible" What
makes the notcheS in an oak leaf differ
ent from any other kind of leaf? What
makes the orange blossom different
from that of the rose? How can the
almightiness which rides on the circle
of the heaven find room to turn its
chariot on a heliotrope? Explain
these. Can you not do it? Then will
not explain the resurrection You en-
plain one-half of the common mysteries
of everyday life. and ! will explain all
the mysteries of the resurrection. You
cannot answer me very plain questions
in regard to ordinary affairs i am not
ashamed to say that cannot explain
God and the judgment. and the resur-
rection. simply accept them rs facts.
tremendous and infinite
Before the resurrection takes place,
everything will be silent. The mauso-
leums and the labyrinths silent. Tho
graveyards silent. the cemetery silent
save from the clashing of hoofs and the
grinding of wheels as the last funeral
procession comes in. No breath of air
disturbing the dust where Persepolis
stood. and Thebes and Babylon. No
winking of the eyelids long closed in
darkness. No stirring of the feet that
once bounded the hillside. No opening
of the hand that once plucked the
flower out of the edge of the wild
wood. No clutching of swords by the
men who went down when
Persia battled and Rome fell.
Silence from ocean beach to
mountain cliff and from river
to river. The sea singing the same old
tune The lakes hushed to sleep in the
bosom OF the same great hills. No
hand disturbing the gate of the long
barred sepulcher. All the nations of
the dead motiOnless in their winding
sheets. Up the side of the hills. down
through the trough of the valleys, far
out in the caverns, across the fields.
deep down into the coral palaces of the
ocean depths where leviathan sports
with his fellows-evcrywh layer
above layer. height above height,
depth below depth--dead. dead. dead.
But in the twinkling of an eye, as quick
as that. as the archangels trumpet
comes pealing. rolling. reverberating,
crashing across continents and seas
the earth will give one fearful shudder
and the door of the family vault. with
out being unlocked. will burst open;
and all the graves of the dead will be
gin to throb and heave like the waves
of the sea: and the mausoleum of
princes will fall into the dust. and Os-
tend. and SebastopOl, and Austerlitz,
and gettysburg. stalk forth in the
lurid air: and the ship-wrecked rise
from the deep. their wet locks looming
above the billOws: and all the land and
all the sea become one moving mass OF
life-all generations. all ages with up
turned countenanceS-SOme klndled
with rapture and others blanched with
despair. but gazing in one direction,
resurrection.
While present these thoughts this
morning does il not seem that Heaven
comes very near to US. as though our
friends, whom we thought great way
off. are not in the distance. but close
BY? You have sometimes come down
to river at nightfall, and you have
been surprised how easily you could
hear voices across that river. You
shouted over to the other side of the
river. and they shouted back II Is
said that when George Whitetield
preached in Third street, Philadelphia.
one evening time, his voice was heard
clear across to the New Jersey shore.
When | was a little while chap
lain in the army. / remember
how at eventide we could easily
hear the voices of the pickets
across the Potomac just when they
were using ordinary tones And we
come to-day and stand by the river of
Jordan that divides US from our friends
who are gone il seems to me we stand
i IL 49, y. ~