The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-05-14


law of carnaI commandment, but after
the power Of an endless life."-He.
breWs viii, 16.
r r. r.
There is change and decay in the
most enduring structures that men
ouilo. The Cathedral in Cologne was
632 years in building. The great
Cathedral of Milan was 419 years in
building. But we know that these
are not permanent buildings. The
architecture of man, at the touch of
the tooth of time, shall crumble and
fall. Scriptural instruction lifts our
eyes toward celestial architecture
~ house not made with hands, eter-
nal in the heavens" That building
but there. How few of the produc.
tions of men abide. A noble life is
mans only enduring building. This
earthly life is brief and like an inn,
where passing travellers spend but
transient night. The pages of history
tell of the passing of material things.
Forms of government change. Ma.
terri, things and institutions Of men
perish, but principles never die. Cart
hage and ancient Rome lie in the
speechless dust. Archaeology is an.
other voce-a voice from the tomb.
We have uncovered the Buried
Cities" of the past. which, bridging
the centuries, stand as mute monu.
ments of ruin and decay. Fame Is
transient, Many struggled for the
honor of becoming members of the
Roman Senate, but the names of few
found place in history. Fame is only
finger-mark in the sand. Geology
proclaims the ceaseless transforma.
tion of the earth.
Men have always hoped for and be-
lieved in an after life. Immortality
has been the hunger and the hope Of
all the ages. Socrates indulged this
hope, yet he lived centuries before
Jesus and the New Testament gos.
pels. The nations that have never
known the Bible have nevertheless be.
lieved in life beyond the grave. Such
a belief is not created by the teach.
ings of Scripture only, because it is as
universal as humanity itself. Jesus,
in his priestly prayer, exclaimed this
joyous discovery: Father, this is
life eternal that men may know thee,
the only true Goo and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent" The desire OF
every heart is for an endless life, a
perennial springtime.
Death does not "everse character.
Eternity does not change what time
hath made. What we are now, we
shall be then. Jesus forgave the sins
of the penitent thief, but He could do
no more. A mans sins may be for.
given, while his personality is still left
impaired. 1t is a wrong emphasis,
that so long as man is saved it
makes no difference what he has been
nor what he has done. We enter
yonder where we end here. We be.
gin there where we end here. If we
end here upon high plane we begin
there upon a lofty plane. The moro
man has to invest, the larger will be
his income.
This endless life is impossible 70
all except to the Christian. The re-
generation of the Holy Spirit alone Sc
cures this life. Life in the New Testa
ment means salvation. Salvation is
possible only by new birth. Physi
cal life is harmony with environment
The endless life or Salvation is har.
mony with the spiritual laws of God
This life can begin only when Jesus
takes His control of the inner pur.
pose and affections of ones heart.
This endless life begins when a man
becomes a penitent and inquiries,
What must do to be saved?" There
can be no endless life of moral char,
acter where there has been no begin,
ming of spiritual struggle. None but
those who are following Jesus by a
moral and spiritual discipleship can
ever know either here or hereafter
the rapture, the joy and the final tri-
umph of this endless life. Eternal life
becomes present possession at the
moment Of conversation. Jesus says;
He that findeth me, findeth life"
He that believeth in me hath ever.
lasting life" This means that he has
that life here and now. This endless
life begins, therefore, when one be.
comes disciple of Jesus. The aim Of
Jesus as teacher and Saviour was to
restore men into fellowship with the
Father. If you have this fellowship
now you already have eternal life. So,
on this side of the resurrection, in
this present life and in this present
moment, the Christian has fellowship
now you already have eternal life. So
on this side of the resurrection, in
this, present life and in this present
moment, the Christian has fellowship
with his Father.
Spiritual life must grow or die. This
present life must always be a growth
Life beyond the resurrection will be
a growth of personality. There are
different capacities here. Two men
are differently affected by the sight
Of sorrow, trial and hardship in 9th
ers. One is stirred to compassion, the
other is unmoved. Men also differ IN
moral capacity. Heaven will no
equalize them. But growth will pre-
vail there, as here.
We do not obtain that spiritual per
feCtiOn in this life that Ua Started n