The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-01-23

ne uyslIc key ii tie cn-Spirltual
and Eternal.
LARGE ATTENDANCE BY THE PROFESSION


Tho First Baptist church was filled to
It's utmost yesterday at the morning sor-
vice to listen to a special sermon by the
pastor. Rev l.. d. Lamkin. 10 the physi-
clans of the city. The profession was we'll
represented and the divine received many
congratulations after the delivery for his
we'll appointed and able discourse.
Next Sunday he will in continuation of
the. series of sermons To special classes,
deliver sermon to newspaper men, In
which he promises to reveal some start
ling truths.
He took his text from II Corinthians,
iv:1S: while we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen; for the things which are seen
arc temporal. but the things which are not
seen are eternal.
II Is my purpose today to bring you face
to face with the unseen and eternal. En-
gagged as YOU are as physicians in the con-
temptation of physical SCIENCE you easily
lose sight Of the spiritual and become
fixed in the conviction that all there is Il
material. You say that the inexorable de-
mand OF science requires certainty--a
demonstration Of facts. And this meets
my most hearty approval. But we should
not forget that to the native common sense
of our race the world is Il reality and not
u dream II has always been imminent in
human thought even when not expressed
In human language. But this is not all
Two mighty facts are declared in the In
spired statement which constitutes our
text-the physical and the spiritual. tho
seen and the unseen. Infidel sophistry
magnfies the one and denies the other
But complete philosophy recognizes both
u Paul was q, peer in head, in heart and In
achievements of any philosopher of our
< dey. and he proclaims with "A boldness born
of conviction: I'VE look not mt the thing,
which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen" Earnestly, then, Invite
your sympathetic attention to my theme:
THE mystic key OF the unseen and etcr-
nal,
On this theme | offer for your consid-
Grafton two general propositions. The
reality and the power of the immaterial
and spiritual: forceful and fitting are the
earnest words OF the author of "Founda-
ton Stones THE scientific man goes out
into the world OF nature and gathers up
all the facts he can and seeks TO account
for them. His is the course precisely
which we shall pursue. We shall take
nothing for granted we shall seek no
i favors from any man or book. Here are
the facts of nature and human life. aud
here are Christianity and Christianity's
Christ and Christianity's Bible; now give
us a rational explanation of them This
universe Ia a lock. Find the key that will
open 1t and let us into its secrets Ger
tainly there is nothing In this method that
the most critical could criticise as II Is
purely scientific. Let us then. in its light
seek to discover the reality Of the 'un-
aecn'--the immaterial and the spiritual.
Fow men could be induced to deny that
all the great forces OF magnetism.
gravitation electricity or the laws of
chemical aff1niiy-beIong to the domain OF
the unseen and yet they are as real as
granite mountains or the throbbng ocean
Turn whore we will the invisible IL SUI
preme, The genial sunshine. 10 inmate
rial but potent. We see II HIT the mist
from the sea into storm clouds; we watch
1t paint the bow OF promise on the cheek
OF weeping nature, or we see II KISS the
most delicate beauty on the flower that
blooms at our feet. The music that steals
into the soul with sweet memories of long
ago, or inspires with a hope OF a bright
tomorrow, or soothes and comforts the
weary heart, Is Just as real as the bread
which we cat, though II belongs to the
world of the unseen. That which con-
stitutes the grandeur of human nature is
mind which is invisible. Milton's odes
and Shakespeares plays are living EVIL
dences Of mighty genius-the triumph OF
Invisible thought. The soul with all its
noble attributes, is the man In IL are
III d
happiness and destiny. Here In It's sacred
precincts lie the royal power of our being,
reason. conscience and will. This leads up
TO sublimer thought. eternaly related to
this--the invisible God.
All men have conviction--an intuition
OF God Every language on tue face OF
the earth contains a word that stands for
God. Long ago Cicero. the honest seeker
after truth. said Their is no people so
wild and savage as not to have believed
IN god - hai affa TO ~ ar a..
hrst cause Of all things. scientists. as Hegel
In his PHILOSOPHY OF Religion" declare
that God is the presiding mind of the
Universe" SO be It. I'VE bow down he
fore the immessurable heights, the UNI
fashionable depths and illimitablc possess
sions OF the nncreated mind" Both the
spirituality of God and the spirituality of
man are the unquesticned teaching OF Jesus
in that marvellous declaration. God is a
spirit; and he that would worship Him
must worship Him in sprit aud in truts. I"
But there Is another department OF this
proposition which invites our attention; it |
y the invisible other world distinct
from. yet closely related to this one in
which we sojourn A world filled with be-
inGs Huperhunan, angelic. immortal These
Impressions are derived from two consid- |
efations. One ID that OF natural religion.
All mankind, civilized or barbaric, have
3 common conviction that we are in some
yay reiafed to the spiritual world and I'M
49,, Ne&S suuuSnSc " npiiItIdi tOIceS, IueIo |
q consciousness that man himself is |
spiritual and shall never die. The I'm
mortal words OF Victor Hugo, the flavor
% Frances intellectual genius, viii live
when the procession Of centuries shall
AAFe marched by: II feel in myself the |
future life ] am like q forest which has
been more than once cut down. The new
g1eote are, stronger and liyelier than evor
An rising. know, toward the sky The
e1nebtpe z OYER my head The Garth gives
IN ~ geSeteus sap, but heaven lights mo
W1th The rehectiOu or unknown worlds.
~ ~ the soul Il nothing but the re-
41Jkenf o. bodily powers. Why. thcn. Is
~ roul more luminous when my bodily
yEnfS bsgln 70 fail? Winter Is on my
epd eternal spring Is In my heart.
NJ 9yAatlle at this hour the fragrance
r. il(es The violefs and the rose rs 1t
1o45ot a "a naaryalous vet simple. It 4
= ~ f1ffy }aie, and II II history. For half
4 6oQ<Ary heve ban writing my. thoughts
~ history philosophy.
"a a ~ <gjeo ~: But feel / havo
beo I 30 6ofn 10 the grave I /
Uk2 ~ many n ~ faya 0n- Il