The Van Buren press., 1894-04-21

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thor. AN enemy hath done this" and God per.
mitted 1t to be done. having prepared some bet.
ter thing than even the beautiful picture OF
Paradise How the them The secret Is told In IN
and brought sin: sin when 1t was finished
brought forth Death. Death has no offspring.
SO long, as there Is Lust there will be Sin-the
two will produce Death. The story is not found
elsewhere-the scriptures silenced and silence
brOOds the world The Introduction Of Death
brought with 1t a new order of things accom-
to the history of all time, II indeed the annals
of eternity record a greater. And here we have
picture of horror such as the heart of Raphael
never conceived, neither did Dante ever attempt
its execution in ponderous verse: Lust the
mother-Sin the child-Death the end These
mighty forces which dispute with Omnpotence
for His throne; the Trinity which turned the
world backward toward chaotic night, establish
ing an order of things which was known only
before the Spirit God moved upon the face of
waters"
But shall this Despot reign forcverq Shall
he desolate and devour without safety? Are
his invasions on homes and hearts to have no
end9 Shall this King Of Terrors' sit on the
throne Of Life and rule with despotic sway9 II
SO let the world weep with John. That none is
found TO open the book and to look therein"-and
But some man will say, why did not God pre-.
vent thisg' Mortal ear never heard the secret.
He knows Wait. The answer will come when
we are able to bear It, For the time let us strive
to see the goodness of God under the present
let death be personified 1t is proper to say that
he intended the worlds desolation in the ulti.
throne he meant the subiugation Of all things
unto himself. leaving the king of Heaven"
without loyal loving. subject. Behold the
goodness and manifold wisdom Of Godl Out OF
the heart of death He has dropped the corn OF
wheat" Deeply its roots penetrate: up. up, 1t
lifts Its triumphant head, Thus Death is made
to contribute unwlllingy to his own defeat.
Already, as any can see who will investigate
death Is BEING SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE!"
whoever will examine. plant growth will find
lovliest forms of life, life Is victor and consumes
the most detestible forms of DEATH converting
them into radiant garments such as Solomon.
in all his glory never clothed himself with.
We conclude therefore that Life will triumph in
the end
4.-THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE GERM OR SEED LIFE.
The possibilities and distribution of the germ.
inal or seed-life is wonderful and, as study. is
deeply interesting. To some seeds He has
and he becomes the Involuntary bearer of it 10
congenial soil; birds bear others to distant
climes; while to others wings are given, which
stand yonder above the river on this April
day when life is bursting beneath your feet,
and view the miniature air-ship as 1t is lifted
y Il and
it. You see only mite, a centre orb surround
ed by silken tissue Of not q feathers. weight
Release and pursue it until the gentle winds
plant 1t in q bog to be entombed by an ant
under the clods she digs from her summer home
mark the spot and return in a few years. Be:
hold there. the massive tree lifting its head
heavenward! Generations come and go and the
atom grows into a fOrest-~a city is built of the
wood
Standing in the presence Of these stupendous
facts OF nature, mighty truths admitted by ALL
fathomless in their depth, in height and ex-
panse unmeasurable why should 1t be thought
incredible with you that God should raise the
THAT which thou sowest is not quickened ex-
cept it die, and thou sOwest not that body
that shall be, but bare grain; it may
chance of wheat or some other grain, but God
giveth 1t body as It pleases Him, and to every
seed his own body"
To return to the corn Of wheat" Take it in
your hand, Would 1t make meal for SPAR
it fall into the ground and der Suppose your.
self to be an utter stranger to these things. You
are told that IN the oblong mite slumbers possi-
BILE food for the werld You declare the state, at
these things be-" There is no answer. Only
you are instructed to drop it into the ground. In
SO doing you are initiating in miniature the re.
grain of corn into the ground. Day after day
you repair to the spot and wonder. Bending the
ear close to the earth maught is heard that re-
veals the secret. There comes no whisper from
the secret forces operating there Oh, could we
see and know But all are voiceless-earth sun
rain the dying grain-all. But bye and bye the
blaie appears then the stalk after that the fali
the ship and send bread to every island OF the
sea and bid the world hear the wondrous story.
how the fruit which sprang from single stalk,
the resurrection body of one grain-the body
which died-has fed the hungry millions. I'm
derstand the mystery and some advancement
will have been made in the study of the greater
mystery of the son OF Man being three days
in the heart of the earth:' as also. How tine
the dead are raised up and the body with which
they come"
food for the world. why. may not He VINO was
planted In the tomb of Joseph give llfe to the
spiritual world? If oil life. either animal or
vegetable. comes either directly or indirectly
from the earth, why should not He who said;
Il am the life C'In Him was li.e) by some
process. to mortals unknown, transmit that life
to every grave and to the bleaching bones scat
tered on the mountains of the sea? II only in
earth this vital force is found. this strange ele-
ment OF whose composition no one knows or can
K, ow, why should the declaration Of the Holy
Scriptures be denied, which says: u came that
II Holy writ is not meaningless it teaches this
fundamental truth: In Adam all die The
wOrld-all men in all ages-lOst It's life there.
The seed corn would never germinate again:
God, who was its first author must restore It, II
restored at all. Let not these painless mysteries
than lost Christ rescued the lost lite and en-
throned 1t again. The seed had been planted in
the heart Of death and that heart forced to yield
s o e must s nto the and
Immortality dwelling in light" would He
abide alone" and leave the seed to perish.
Isolated selfshness!
Into the heart of death he dropped and vital
lied every grave. During the entombment the
world rejoiced-shouted over its own eternal
enslavement! lifted up its voice in celebration
of Death IS flu al conquest Hearts broke there.
Hopes star set there. The grain had perished.
as they--his friends-thought A!o that one
,vppn hna aunS,o rRh nd r
hid its face behind the curtain of night The
sun saw and closed his eyes leaving the world In
night. If that one tomb remained closed every
had pershei; the seal Of eternal sleep was upon
the eyes of all who had fallen asleep In him. But
behind the curtain Of darkness that hung over
the world nnits at W1rx solving tS the
walls Of that lone tomb slumbered the corn OF
wheat in which was possible life for all worlds
So quietly did the quickening process begin ad-
mouth of the tomb was not disturbed in his medi-
tations on what lay in the arms of death there;
1t Is morning. Forth from his sleep of
ass aesth .hon Ss hsa come with the
How are the dead raised up and with body do
they come9'' Incredible still?. Wait! Wait
God could not answer II he would.
ing matter. There you will find a seed-one Of
OF last year. See, it has burst its hardened
prison walls by its mighty life forces. into the
ueuIlS OI ulSIuteSrhuhs hullHaL hHu Sck0souiS
bodies 1t has thrust its rOotlets which find amid
that smoking putrid mass food for the plant life
which seems to have just been born-it finds life
In DEATH The chemical transmutation goes on
and the very gases generated by death become
blood and fibre TO new life Autumn has come !:
Behold spreading tree laden with fruit grow
ing out of the heap OF death.
The Scriptures say of Christ: HE Is the first
begotten OF the dead" Such knowledge Is too
wonderful for mortals-they can not attain unto
"He is the first fruits of them that slept" The
Eternal Father planted the seed In the tomb of
Joseph OF Arimathea and the wheat is stocking