The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-02-16
MlNIsTERING SPIRITS.

"And the angel said unto them, Fear
not st. Luke, 11:1O.
cannot understand why we should
amplify certain portions OF Scripture
which happen to accord with our pre3u-
dices and minimize other portions
which are equally important. 1t is poor
policy to use the Bible as lawyer uses
the evidence Of witnesses, ignoring
what will work mischief for his client
and exaggerating what Is In his IA
vor. The only way to understand the
Gospels Is to read them without any
preconceived opinions whatever. be-
cause In that way only can we get at
the spirit of the Teacher.
There Is one matter In which the re-
ligious world has been very faulty. IL
believes in God in a vague but impress
sive way; 1t believes in heaven and per-
sonaI Immortality. but 1t thrusts heaV-
en- into the far-off confines Of eternity,
| with all possible communication shut
of When loved ones dies. the cir
cult, so to speak. Is broken and the
wire will not respond our appeals.
Practically the end has come, and the
relation between him and us Is buried
under the sod We have thus made
death a horrible experience, which sep
{ arates dear ones for an indefinite per-
iod. In token of this belief we robe
ourselves in deepest black, the symbol
/ of hopelessness and despair.
This is not the kind of religion which
Christ taught, and His religion is fal
better than our misconception Of 1t
O We have hampered and Handicapped
: Yourselves by refusing to accept certain
facts which lay at the foundation o
His ministry and without which Hi
task would have been much more diff
f1cult.
One of the chief peculiarities Of tn
Christ was the knowledge that the In
Ihabitants of the other world were Hi
constant companions and helpers. Fror
the scene of the temptation, at the be
ginning of those miraculous three year
Of His earthly ministry, to the seen
!. Of the crucifxion, with which His his
toric career ended, the angels were
= part Of the tragedy. He could hav
~ called upon .1egions" of them had b
required their assistance. II He did nc
need their guidance He did need the
consoling and comforting minfstration
The life of Christ was union Of hee
ven, and earth, and both were nece!
sary to the completion of His mission
Was He weary or discouraged, as
Gethsemane or on the many occasion
when He drew apart" from the disc
pies, these beings from another sphe
were at His side, and in commune
with them He found strength.
the Bible contains constant reiter
tices of the fact that there are "clou'
of witnesses" who hold us "in full su
yey, and, seeing, come to our al
There IS a whole coronet OF gems
- this kind scattered throughout the hi
tory of the Jews. The old prophe
drew their inspiration from this sourt
What they predicted was not t
lshrewd guess of the soothsayer,
II they said what they were told to s
, by the unseen messengers Of the Nc
, High.
And Christian annals are heaped
1.-The brim with proofs Of the same ms
tiers. There is not saint In the Cath
lie church whose biography is not stu
!. tded with similar experiences. They
the silver thread on which the o.
thoughts md the highest motives a
1.-THE sweetest consultations OF rel1gl
.iare strua.- as so many pearls OF grt
price.
: When l say, therefore, that we
never alone, either in our joys or
trouble, but that both joy and sorr
iare shared by beings whom our ply
cal eyes cannot behold, am stating
Ma lrudimentary truth Of the religious L