The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-02
DR.. JOHNS DISCOURSE
DE PAWS Tx. PRESIDENT AT CEN
TRALxAvENUE VI. E. CHURCH.
Special Music by the Quartet and So
Ioists-"spiritua1 deviation"
the Topic.

DR.. J. P. D. John, formerly president of
De Pauw University, conducted the services
at Central-avenue NJ. L. Church yesterday
morning. A special programme OF music
had been arranged which included a So
prano solo by Miss Fisher and bass solo
by Mr.. j. Russell Powell. DR.. Johns sub
ject was Spiritual deviation" His text
was from Malachi w. 2: Unto you that
fear My name shall the sun of Righteous
ness arise with healing on his wings" DIR.
John said in part:
What the sun is to the world Christ is TO
men, The sun is the source of all life and
motion on the earth. A flow of energy is
continually streaming forth from the sun In
every direction. The earth intercepts less
than one-two- billionth of this radiation, and
yet this intercepted energy IS the life of
the world The most striking effect of this
energy is IT'S opposition 10 graV1tatlon on
the eaftn. mis- leVitatIVe influence or the
sun as opposed TO gravitation is its
most remarkable characteristic. Whenever
weights are lifted on the earth's surface,
either by human strength or the ordinary
natural forces the leVitattVe power of the
sun IS the ultimate agent. The sunshine
quietly falling on a granite boWlder four
feet thick would. under perfect conditions,
lift it 225 feet in one hour. If the entire
surface of the globe were covered with
solid blocks of iron 240 feet thick the sun
shine falling ON the earth in one year would
be sufficient to lift this enormous load one
mile in air. This tentative power of the
the sunbeams have lifted all the oceans
from their beds into the cloudy heights.
me sun htts the air Itself ABOVE the EARN
and everything 1t contains 1t 1ttS the
glacier to the mountain brow, for every
snowflake that falls first went upward
as Vapor on the solar beams. 1t lifts the
blade of wheat from the ground and carries
the golden grains to its crown. 1t lifts the
rose from the dark earth TO its throne OF
beauty. The sun is the OmnipreSent burden
bearer of mankind overcoming gravitation
and preventing stagnauon, partly BY its
present ceaseless energy and partly hy It's
work OF the past stored up Within the
bosom of the earth for the use of men.
Cut off all the tentative energy of the sun,
and silence, darkness, staSnatlon and death
would reign from pole to pole.
Every good thing in civilization, modern
or ancient, has come directly or indirectly
fom the tentative influence of Jesus Christ.
All the great religious teachers of the world
have received their inspiration from either
the historic or the prehistoric Christ: The
now shedding His tentative beams upon
mankind The prehistoric Christ IS the
Lord Jehovah who hid His spiritual truth in
the human race during the past ages, as
the ancient solar luminary hid its tentative
energy in the earth during former period
of terrestrial history. The great rellSlouS
teachers of mankind before Christs incar-
nation discovered and revealed fragments
of spiritual truth hidden away IN t6e SOU
of humanity by the prehistoric sun Oh
Righteousness, and the religious teachers
since Christs incarnation have either con-
tinued the old work of unfolding the partial
spiritual truth written by the finger OF God
in the human constitution from the earliest
history, or have entered on the new work
of utilizing the direct leVitative spiritual
influence now flowing from the historic
Christ himself How foolish men would be
to dig in the mines for coal from Wh nc 10 70
extract the heat of former centuries hidden
away in the black atoms by the sun of an
cient times if they could directly and I'M
medately utilize the levitatiVe beams OF
the sun now pouring with ceaseleSs energy
upon the world And what infinite pity
that men should yet be found sitting at the
600 x~ft rIn opt second
hand from Christ when the great Ieacnef
himself is in the world! What q pity that
they should so digging among the mines OF
partial truth hidden away IN the soul OF
mankind by the prehistoric Sun OF Algnt-
eousness when the Ievitative bea2As OF the
historic sun of righteousness are now ll dIl-
ing upon mankind and literally bombardlng
the race with spiritual energy!
How foolish the man, digging out his
coal from the earth and Transforming 1t
into the electric light, if he should say,
'Io, am Independent of the SUM-, when he
is only utilizing what the sun Gid for MIN
long before he was born! And how stupid
it is that modern teachers should say, Lo,
here is spiritual truth not taught by jesus
Christ when the very truth they nave d1s-
covered is as old as the constitution OF the
human soul and written therein by the
greatest of all teachers. If there was no
prehistoric Christ there is no historic
Christ If He first entered the world IN the
manger of Bethlehem He family left 1T from
the hill of Calvary. If He commenced at
the beginning when He opened his eyes 10
the light of the world He reached the END
when He closed them in the presence of
mocking multitude. But if there is a his
t0ric Christ there was prehistoric Christ.
If He has lived in the world since his cru
cifxion He lived in the world before His
incarnation. If He is now the blazing sun
of Righteousness, shining with His levi
tative power upon men, He was then the
same sun Of righteousness hidden poteh-
TALLY in the heart of mankind. IL IS tne
same natural sun shining now upon the
world that has shone potentially Tor ages
in the coal mines OF the earth, ana II was
~, sun Of Righteousness
hidden within the breast of humanity pc
fore the Christian era that now bla2eS with
the world, visible or invisible, is the light
of the sun and all the spiritual truth OF
mankind, actual or latent, is the truth or
What. then, is the truth dimly seen by
the sages of antiquity but a premonltlon
of the fuller truth taught later on by Chrlst
"a premonition springing from the latent
and potential truth dwelling in the human
breast and hidden therein by the Ancient
of Days long before He became the lhIaht
of the manger? I insist then, on the
statement that every good thing In ctvili-
cation is the outcome OF the uplftlng pow
er of Jesus Christ. | do not forget that
blessings of modern civilization nave come
in spite of the gospel rather than as IT'S
natural results. and that it would be equal
ly reasonable to assign any other accom-
paniment Of civilization as its cause;
have not the effrontery TO say that Chrls-
tianity is the fountain OF all good IN MOD
ern civilization simply because one exists
in conjunction with the other but 1 do
not hesitate to say that it is directly or
indirectly the source Of all this good be
cause it was founded for this very purpose,
and because it's principles as taught and
eXempiified by its divine founder lead
straight towards all this good. and straight
towards the better things OF the coming
era. ,.4,
force towards the destruction of the in
dividual and the paralysis and extinction
of the race. Men need help. against the
gravitation of sin. They need an upward
pull against the downward pull or sin.
Thev need spiritual deviation to offset sin
ward gravitation. The upward pull against
sin is as old as the downward pull towards
Christ. A look from men towards Christ
and the deviation will be stronger than the
gravitation. For l. if be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me.