The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-06-15
SUNDAY SERMON.

am the resurrection. and the life
ST. John XII: 25.
The relation of this life to the next
iS<a mystery very difficult to under
Stand Why it should be necessary for
us to pass a certain length of time in
this preliminary stage of existence be-
fore we are transferred to larger and
wider sphere is a very puzzling ques-
ton.
Some good and thoughtful people are
of the opinion that there are various
planes of work and experience, and
that this earthly life is only one in the
long series which ends in the third
heaYen.'' of which St. Paul speaks of
nc heaven of heavens to which the
>Old Testament refers. OF this. how
ever. l say nothing. because l know
nothing Whatever else there may in
store for US besides this immediate life
and the life which is close at hand, is
to me q matter of verr little conse-
quence Speculation may be profitable
TO some but so far as l am concerned,
l am quite Indifferent The two lives,
today's and tomorrow's. entirely salts
fy my craving. and l am too busy with
present preparation for an indefinite fu-
ture to be disturbed by the various
theAxies of various scholars. / am sat
isfied that l am getting ready for some
thing which God will give me by and
by. am so my mind and heart are
quite at rest
There must he a special meaning in
the words of the text. and if we can
discover il we shall bear the ills to
which soul and flesh are heirs, with all
lkhe more fortitude and resignation
Christ is the source of spiritual resur-
rection Without some close relation
TO His revelation of law we cannot
reach the contamination of our highest
thoughts and aspirations. All that hap
pens here both tears and joys. life and
the loss of life in death. if Christ and
we walk side by side. and if His out
look becomes ours so enriches and de-
, veIops the soul that Immortality will
not be strange to US when we cross its
threshold. Christ in US is the element
of growth. the energy of an evolution,
which in time win broaden and deep
en- the higher nature and bring us into
hau6ony with Gods great universe
let me illustrate. I place kernel
II corn in the ground That kernel con-
Tains possibilities which are beyond
computations We wonder why it is
important to thus bury it. and wonder
more when told that by doing so we
are really giving it a new and better
life We have learned. however, that
if it is not planted it viii remain a
simple and single kernel forever, while
iif we do bury it it will in the autumn
present us with a stalk bearing full
ears of corn.
The moment we bury that kernel Of
corn il begins to absorb something. 1t
throbs with ambitious hopes. and feels
within itself the power of indefinite
growth. It puts forth its energy. sends
down its roots, sends up its shoots.
drinks in what the soil so freely gives,
uses the energizing mystery of sun
shine and dew. and by dying TO its ex-
fstence as a kernel enters into another
existence larger and better.
! The sun could look down on that
buried kernel and say: Il am your
resurrection and your life. Without me
lyou would be nothing and could do
nothing" Every word Of that statement
would be literally true. There is moth
ling fgurative about it. 1t contains no