The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-20

sphere of existence, and, indeed, we
waive the discussion this evening hour.
But we do declare that because Christ.
our elder brother, overcame death and
came forth from the grave; so shall
we, in our own good time, conquer both
and live again
The undIsputed fact that Christ rose
from the dead makes possible the truth
of the second part of my text: "'But
now is Christ risen from the dead and
become the first fruits of them that
slept This means that, though we
must all die to the world, we shall also
come from our temporary abode, the
grave, and take again some form Of
immortal life.
There are many theories concerning
the resurrection and the nature of the
future body. Time will permit me to
merely mention some without passing
discussion on any. First, we have the
Swedenborgian theory, the fundamental
principal of which is that in addition
to our visible, material body we also
possess a thin, airy, spiritual corpo-
reity, which constitutes the home of
the soul. That when we drop this NOR
tai body, the inner habitation, con-
trolled by the spirit, glides out into the
invisible beyond and lives thereafter
independent of earthly things forever.
This transition of body and soul con-
stitutes the resurrection.
Then we have what is known as the
germ, or bone, theory, which belongs
to the ancients, but has a certain fol
lowing today. In substance. it declares
that there is in every human body a
certain portion indestructible; that
when it is planted in the earth, or finds
its way there, like the vegetable life,
it begins the process of reproduction,
which finally brings forth into newness
of life the resurrected house of habita-
ton
And then we have the origenic idea,
which holds that the soul, possessing
certain plastic power, is able, as at
first, to gather about itself, from sur
rounding elements, body suited to its
condition, and that when it leaves the
old home it proceeds to form another
suited to it's future needs.
But we prefer to all of these the
Scriptural declaration, "He that rails
ed up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by His
spirit, that dwelleth in you.'' And
again, But God giveth body as it
pleaseth Him. These statements are
sufficient for us. There are many
things concerning the natural and
which we cannot under
stand, and yet we avail ourselves of
them. So we purpose, this day, to meet
the conditions OF the happy resurrected
life and let science work away, as in
the centuries gone, in the vain attempt |
to solve all the mysteries of nature, of |
God, and of man.
The conditions of the happy resur- !
reeted life are before us now. We must |
believe in Christ Believe all that He |
says concerning Himself and us, in re-
lation to the present and future; and |
placing our coincidence in Him, confess |
Him before the world as our individual |
Savior and friend. Then, as we lay |
our bodies down to rest from the cares |
and tolls of this life, it may be with a |
full consciousness that, as Christ him |
self came again from the grave, thus
becoming the first fruits of them that |
sleep, so shall we follow after and |
reign together viii Him and loved ones
gone before