The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-12-09
4 SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"AFTERWARD."
The Rev. =. n. Lockwood, Formerly olthe
Connecticut Legislature. Declares That
the Whole Enigma of Life is Solved ut
0nco When Won Hold the Eeyword.

The Rev :. n. Lockwood. Formerly ofthe
| Connecticut Legislature, Declares That
the Whole Enigma of Life is Solved ut
Once When You Hold the Eeyword.
BROOKLYN. n. Y.-The Rev. J. H. Lock
wood. pastor of the Naugatuck Conn NJ.
T. Church. preached Sunday morning IN
pastor, the Rev. DR.. John i. Adams. Mr..
Lockwood is we'll and favorably known in
! Brooklyn and on Long Island, where he
has held several pastorates. He was born
and educated in Brooklyn and studied law
before he entered the ministry. He had
the distinction of being last year. the only
clerical member OF the Connecticut Leg
isature. He took ior the subject Of his
sermon, "Afterward" His text was from
Hebrews. xii:2: Now no Christening, but
| the present seemeth to be Joyous, but
prieyous; nevertheless, aftcrward it yield
eth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness,
unto 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
Inon, and you will possess most valuable
solvent for lifes perplexing, and often dis
tressing, problems.
Human life is 4 mysterious emf a that
has successfully baffled the efforts persist.
emily made by the profoundest thinkers OF OF
our race for it's solution. What Is HE:
is the still puzziing question of questions.
As the biologists, and their fellow scientists
| have not succeeded in teuine US just what
that elusive thing we call physical lie Is,
neither have poets, prophets, philosophers,
nor even philanthro' .ts been abe to tell
us adequately what real life'is.
Here is this strange thing we call lille,
with it's many and varied phenomena. and
the more profoundly and comprehenslvely
we study it the more confused it leaves us;
There are experiences positively joyous and
experiences positively painful, and there
are experiences partially Joyous and par
TALLY painful, and we look at this great
mass of life's complex df ia AMI are quite
baffled to know the meaning of it all: Still,
with our hearts, as we'll as with our heads,
we ask again the irrepressible interroga-
tive, What is life?"
Are we, indeed, only lot # animals.
high class animals, to be sul:, but onlv AMI
mails, nevertheless, sprung from the PRIME
val mud and risen to our present intellect
| ual and moral cXaltation and glorv Dy
painful step and slow, on to r. plowed
under shortly in the great eosmis agricul-
ture to serve as soil for some future crop,
a little finer grained than We" From mud
to mud-that is the program OF evolution.
Or, on the other hand, is it some splendid,
sweeping plan which we are IN, working
out for us, the immortal participants. a Tar
more exceeding and eternal weight OF glory
that shall thrill the soul forever: Have
we heen but blind and stupid 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
Gus design, whose pattern we see not clear,
IL and in all its comprehensive details, but
which our Master Workman knoweth we'll!
Let us look at The three proffered exp!!a,
nations of life. First, there is the do'etul
sim simism witch assures US that things are
surely growing worse all the time, the
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 you like 1t,
but is it true? That is the way to p. it;
for, pleasant or repugnaEt, we must accept
what is true. But this view cannot posi-
| it is based is also true, the proposition OF
the fool who said in his heart, There is no
God"
And in the second place we have the an
swer of .philosophic optimism, which as
serts that things are steadily getting bet
ter; that, whereas life to-day is far better
than it was 1000 or 10000 years ago, 1t Will
be far better 1000 or 10000 years hence.
But this prevalent theory is scarcely any
! Improvement on the other, except to the
superficial thinker, for it makes no PROV.
sion for the perpetuation of personality.
Where will you and I be when those far
off improvements of our race arrive? This
materialistic philosophy offers us of the
present no immortality, and hence no op-
portunity for the adjustment of life.s pres
ent garing injustices. l am glad to believe
that the race that shall be resident here
1000 wears from now will be better race.
But would like to be in existence some
! where, too, when the better day dawns.
And even il could rise to the superb I'm
selfishness like unto that which poets some
times sing when, temporarily, they, happen
to be in Just that mood, and could say
was content to hve and die and cease to
exist here or anywhere else If only. as
result of my having lived while, future
generations might be lifted little higher;
! still, one must feel that that pretty and;
scheme does not satisfy the imperative de-
mands of our souls that wrongs shall be
! adequately righted, that innocent sufferers
shall be compensated and that outraged
helplessness shall be avenged. 49,
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 trlumphlnng
I! of the wicked, and, on the other hand, the
suffering and the seeming defeats of Gods
heroes and saints in the fierce, hot contest
| of life; and then it speaks one blessed
word, "Afterwardi" and we can be pa
tient. ;
After we have heard that divine word
we can see the wicked spread himself like
a green hay tree, and still we rest in the
Lord and wait patiently for Him, and we
who prospereth in his ways, because Of the
man who bringeth wicked devices to past"
The whole puzzling enigma OF lie IS
solved at once when YOU hold the keyword,
and that word is the single word OF the
text, "Afterward!"
That is to say, you can get no satisfac-
tory explanation of this strange and some-
what feverish thing we call life, unless you
/, think. of what is to follow. a noted Amer
has told us that we have no lamp with
which to guide our feet in the future ex-
cept tie experience of the past. He con-
tended, and rightly, too, that we cannot
properly estimate the future unless we
base our judgment on the experience OF
the past. Now We may. 60 on and supple
ment Patrick Henry's familiar dctum by
meaning Of the present, except the Light It of Of
the future. "Afterward" is the word that
explains the mysterious dscpHfnings Ta5 mi AMI
GRASP that word with firm, athletic grip, IL
will settle for you all these. difficult prob;
lens that SO frequently confront your soul
and disturb your heart
When you come to some terrific exper-
ienee in fife that all but slatters the very
foundations of faith-when' your soul falls
stricken and wounded on LIES cruel bat