The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-12-03
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
an ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"A!TeRWARD."

Che Rev. j. III. Lockwood. Formerly ofthe
Connecticut Legislature, Declares tha'
tho Whole Enigma of Life is Solved at
Once When You Hold the Keyword.
BROOKLYN, u. Y.-The Rev. j. II. Lock
wood, pastor of the Naugatuck Conn Al.
Grace M. E. Church in the absence of the
pastor, the Rev. DR.. John E. Adams. M.
Lockwood is we'll and favorably known III
BROOKLYN and on Long Island, where ne
has held several pastorates. He was born
and educated in Brooklyn and studied law
before he entered the ministry. He RAD
the distinction of being last year the only
clerical member of the Connecticut Leg
isiature. He took for the subject OF HIS
sermon, "Afterward." His text was from
Hebrews, xii:2: "Now no Christening, but
the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous; nevertheless, afterward 1t yield
eth the peaceable fruit Of Righteousness
anto them which are exercised thereby.
Mr.. Lockwood said:
Let us consider the single word "After,,
ward as our text. If you grasp that word
and its rich content of comfort you Will
have caught the whole message OF the ser
mon, and you will possess most vaiua3ie
solvent for life's perplexing, and often dls-
tressing, problems.
Human life is a mysterious enir a that
has successfully baffled the. efforts persist.
emily made by the profoundest thinkers O., OF
our race for its solution. What Is life"
Is the still puzz,ing question. of questions.
As the biologists and their fellow SCIENTISTS
have not succeeded in telling US just what
that elusive thing we call physical me Is
neither have poets. prophets, philosophers;
nor even philanthro' It's been abe to tell
Il 70 yc
Here is this strange thing we call life,
) with its many and varied phenomena. and
the more profoundly and eomprehenslveiy
we study it the more confused 1t leaves US;
There are experiences positively Joyous ana
experiences, positively painful. and there
are experiences partially Joyous and par
italy, painful, and We look at this great
mass Of life's complex data and are 9uiTe
bafied to know the meaning OF 1t all: STU,
with our hearts. as we'll as with our heads
we ask again the irrepresslble 7nterrosa-
tive, "What is life?" -,
Are we, indeed, only lot Of animals.
high class animals, to be SURE. but onlv ami
mails, nevertheless, sprung from the prime
val mud and risen to our present lnteliece-
ual and moral exaltation and giorv oF
painful step and slow, on'-- to hc plowed
under shortly in the great cosmls agr!cui-
tune to serve as soil for some future crop;
little finer grained than we? From mud
ta mud-that is the program OF evolution.
or. on the other hand, is it some splendid,
sweeping plan which we are IN, working
ont for us, the immortal participants: a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory
that shall thrill the soul forever. Have
we been but blind and stuoid workers at
the loom of time. weaving an imaginary
fabric that really had no existence. even as
zone that beateth the air" or are we act
ually engaged in some real work of marvel
eus design, whose pattern we see not clear,
iy and in all its comprehensive details. but
which our Master Workman knoweth well!
Let us look at the three profered exp!a,
nations of life. First, there is the doieful
and distressing answer Of phi,osophic pes
simism which assures us that things are
!. 2sutels growing worse all the time, she
world is rolling down hill and there are no
brakes that can be applied. The world
now is better than it will ever be hereafter.
If you like that view, accept it. No. we
must not say it so. Not, do vou like 1t.
bat is it true? That is the way to p: II:
for. pleasant or repugnant, we must accept
what is true. But this view cannot posi-
BIZ be true unless the proposition on which
it is based is also true, the propositlon OF
tfe fool who said in his heart, There ls no
God"
And in the second place we have the an
swer of philosophic optimism, which as
sets that things are steadily getting bet
tse: that, whereas life to-day is far better
tRnn it was 1000 or l0,o0o years ago, It will
Be far better 1000 or 10000 years hence.
But this prevalent theory is scarcely any
superficial thinker, for it makes no provi.
!, son for the perpetuation of personality.
Z Where viii you and be when those far
of improvements OF our race arrive? This
materialistic philosophy offers us Of the
present no immortality, and hence No op-
portunity for the adjustment of lifes pres
ent glaring injustices. ] am glad to believe
that the race that shall be resident here
1000 years from now will be better race.
But I would like to be in existence some
where, too. when the better day dawns'
And even If I could rise TO the superb un'
seS6shness like unto that which poets some
times sing when, temporarily, they happen
t6 be in Just that mood, and could say
was content to live. and die and cease to
exist here or anywhere else if only. as a
result of nv having lived while, future
generations might be lifted little higher:
st;Il, one must feel that that pretty and
after all, rather morbidly sentimental
scheme does not satisfy the Imperative de-
mands Of our souls that wrongs shall oe
adequately righted, that innocent sufferers
shall be COMPENSATED and that outraged
helpiessness shall be avenged.
Now comes Christianity, with its ample
answer. 1t admits all the facts, the ap'
parent injustices of the present. the pros
perity of the unrighteous, the triumphine
Of the wicked, and, on the other hand. the
Suffering aud the seeming defeats of Gods
heroes and saints in the fierce, hot contest
Of life; and then it. speaks one blessed
word, "Afterward!" and we can be pa
tent.
After We have heard that divine woro
we can see the wicked spread himself like
q green bay tree, and still we "rest in the
Lord and wait<patiently for Him, and we
refuse to fret ourselves because of hin
VINO prospere.h in his ways, because of the
man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
The whole puzzling enigma of life is
solved at once when you hold the keyword
and that word is the single word oE tho
text, "Afterward!"
That is to say, you can get no satisfac
tory explanation Of this strange and some
What feve1ish thing we call life, unless you
think of what is to follow. A noted Amer
ican orator, in famous sentence of bis
has told US that we have no lamp with
which to guide our feet in the future ex
cSpt the experience of the past. He con
tended, and rightly, too, that we canno'