The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-06-21
tremble; "Haili ransomed spirit, tc
the city of the blessedp'


are great many people who do not ac-
cept this because they cannot under
stand it; but, my friends, there are two
stout passages-I could bring hun
dred, but two swarthy passages are
enough-and one David will strike.
down the largest Goliath. Marvel
not at this, for the hour is coming when
all who are in their graves shall come
forth" The other swarthy passage is
this: "The Lord shall descend from
Heaven with shout, and the voice OF
the archangel, and the trump Of God,
and the dead in Christ shall rise first. :"
o, there will be such a thing as a res
direction.
You ask me d great many questions |
cannot answer about this resurrection.
You say for instances: "If a mans
body is constantly changing, and every
seventh year he has an entirely new
body, and he lives on to seventy years
of age, and SO has had ten different
bodies, and at the hour of his death
there is not particle Of flesh on him
that was there in the days of his child
hood-in the resurrection, which OF
the ten bodies will come up, or will
they all rise?" You say: Suppose a
man dies and his body is scattered in
the dust, and out of that dust veReta-
bles grow, and men eat tle vegetables,
and cannibals slay these men and eat
them, and cannibals fight with canni-
balls until at last there shall be hupI
dred men who shall have within thet1
some particles that started from the
dead body first named, coming up
through the vegetable, through the
first men who ate It, and through
the cannibals who afterward ate him,
and there be more than a hundred
men, who have rights in the particles
of that body-in the resurrection how
can they be assorted when thsse part
icles belong to them all? You say:
"There is missionary buried in Green
wood and when he was in China he
had his arm amputated-in the resur-
rection will that fragment of the body
fly 10000 miles to join the rest Of the
body?" You say: "Will it not be a
very difficult thing for spirit coming
back in that day to find the myriad
particles of its own body, when they
may have been scattered by the winds
or overlaid by whole generations Of the
dead-looking for the myriad particles
of its own body, while there are thou
sand million other spirits doing the
same thing, and all the assortment to
be made within one day?" You will
say: "If hundred and fifty men go
into place of evening entertainment
and leave their hats and overcoats in
the hall, when they come back it is
almost impossible for them to get
the right ones, or to get them without
great deal of perplexity. And yet
you tell me that myriads of spirits in
the last day will come and find myri-
ads of bodies" Have you any more
questions to ask? Any more difficult
ties to suggest? Any more mysteries?
Bring them on! Against whole regi-
ment of skepticism will 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
with a shout, and the voice of the arch
angel, and the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first" You
see stick TO these two passages. Who
art thou, oh, fool, that thou repliest
against God? Hath He promised, and
shall He not do it2 Hath He com
manded, and shall He not bring IL to
pass? Have you not confidence in His
omnipotence? II He could in the first
place, build my body, after 1t is torn
down, can He not build it again?
"o," you say, would believe that
II you would explain it. am not dis
posed to be skeptical, but cannotexplain
how It can be done. My brother, you
believe 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 n yellow flower. Another
seed planted comes up white flower.
WhyP Why that wart on your fngerP
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 a crucible? What
makes the notches on an oak-leaf diff
ferent from any othar kind Of leaf?
What makes the orange blossom diff
ferent from that of the rose? How can
the Almightyness which rides on the
circle Of the heaven find room to turn
its chariot on q heliorope? Explain
these. Can you not do it2 Then will
not explain the resurrection. You ex-
plain one-half of the common mysteries
Of everyday life, and I will explain all
the mysteries Of the resurrection. You
cannot answer me very plain questions
in regard TO ordinary affairs. | am
not ashamed to say that cannot ex-
plain God, and the judgment and the
resurrection. simply accept them as
facts, tremendous and infinite.
Before the resurrection takes place,
everything will be silent The mauso-
leums and the labyrinths silent The
graveyards silent, the cemetery silent,
save from the slashing Of hoofs and
the grinding Of wheels as the last flu
neral procession comes in. No breath
Of air disturbing the dust where Per-
sepolis stood, and Thebes, and Babylon.
No winlsing OF the eyelids long closed
in darkness. No stirring of the feet
that once bounded the hillside. Nc