Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-11-15

or GOu. NOW, let us study Tor Ittle
while in what sense man was created
in the image of God.
The first godlike quality which over
whelms the students of eschatology Ia
the fact that man Is an immortal be-
ing. Though we may open the Bible
and write up the family records and
say my father was born Jan. 7, 1882,
we have no right to say that he died
April IL, 1902. We may speak Of a
child as having been born into this
world on certain hour of q certain
day; but, once born, that child will
never die. He may die to our sight,
but he Is not really dead. but Is trans
lated to another life. He will never
die. He will live on. as the monarchy
OF European throne lives on. No
sooner did Queen Victoria Of England
breathe her last than the Prince Of
Wales became king. Aye. man shall
live on longer than that. He will live
on through the centuries and the mil
lenniums and the ages. He will live
on until the consultations Of the heav
ems shall be snuffed out He will live
on until the very rocks under our feet
crumble into dust with age and the
mountains above us are incinerated
and scattered to the four corners Of
space. Still man will live on. He will
live forever and ever. He will never
die. When God created man he made
him immortal, as he is immortal.
Wonderful Fact.
This Immortality of man Is the most
wonderful fact to me about man, for
when try to fully grasp what that
one word Immortality" means I feel
as though mighty mountain ranges
were towering one above another into
endless space. When try to conceive
that man. with all his powers Of love
and hate, Joy and suffering, will live
on and on forever, then / say, Now
realize why the salvation Of man was
SO important that Christ came here to
suffer and die to achieve It," Iinmor-
tality. Oh. what a word. As a bird 1t
can fly swifter than the light, yet Its
wings never tire. Those wings will
continue to fly on forever and ever.
1.-The wandering Jew" that Eugene Sue
pictures was condemned on account OF
a past sin to live on until he outlived
all his generation. He lived on. suf-
fering the agonies Of remorse, until he
begged God to let him die. But man
does not live on as did the great char
meter OF the French novelist. If man
sins and is condemned for his sins. he
must suffer an eternal punishment. He
NAV plead with God to let him die, rs
the wounded soldier sometimes pleads
with his comrades to shoot him to
end his agony, but man by his inherent
nature can never die Man Is immortal.
Man will live on and on forever.
To prove TO you that man is immortal
we do not have to turn the leaves or
the Bible alone. We find that this in
finite truth is Unborn in every human
heart. We wander among the tombs
Of the ancient Greeks. and what do we
find? A piece Of coin placed in the
mouths Of the dead to pay their way
over the river Styx, for the ferryman
of the river Of Death was supposed to
be paid, like every other ferryman. we
go among the ancient Arabs. and wha'
do we find? The mourners about this
corpse are not saying. HE is dead but
"IIe is alive" We pass to the inhabit'
ants Of the islands of the seas. and
to the Aztecs Of ancient Mexico. and tc
the old mound builders Of America,
and everywhere we find the universe
belief that the grave does not end all.
Now, Inv friends. do you believe tina,
this universal belief Of the human race
in the Immortality of man Is mere
superstition? Listen to these words OF
Henry Ward Beecher: ! would have
soul II never saw man who did not
believe in the Immortality Of love when
following the body of loved one tt
the grave. have seen men under 9th
err circums stances that did not believe
in it, but | never saw man who, wher
he stood looking upon the form Of one
that he really loved stretched out fol
burial, did not revolt from saying: III
has all come to that. The hours OF
sweet companionship, the wondrous in
terlacing Of congenial souls, the Joys
the hopes, the trusts, the unutterable
yearnings-there they all lie No mar
can stand and look in coffin upon the
body Of fellow creature and remem
Der the flaming intelligence, the bios
soming love- the whole range Of divine
faculties. which so lately animated
that cold clay. and say. These have al
collonsed and gone No person car
witness the last sad ceremonials which
are performed over the remains Of /;
human being, the sealing down Of the
unopenable lid, the following Of tn.
rumbling procession to the place Of
/ burial, the letting OF the dust dowr
into the dust, the falling of the eartl
upon the hollow coffin. with those
sounds which are worse than thunder
and the placing of the green sod Owe
the grave-no person. unless he be {
then turn away and say, i have buried
my wife; l have buried my child
have buried my sister. my brother, In,
love- No No. No man can say that
Deep down in every heart there is ,
divine truth calling which cannot b,
stillcd." At the. brink of the grave
above all places, we know It, Man
like God. ia immortal, Suns may ris,
and set, but man shall live Stars ma,
flicker and go out, but man shall live.
But man is made after the image o
! God in another respect. The grea
} Al.