The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-24
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. J. M. HUB6ERT
Theme: Life Here and Hereafter.

DR.. ]. M. Hubert, of Philadelphia
preached in the Central Presbyterian
Church. His subject was Life Here
and Hereafter" The text was from
Philippians 1:22-24: What I shall
choose I wot not. For I am in a
strait betwixt two. having a desire to
depart, and to be with Christ, which
is far better; nevertheless, to abide
in the flesh is more needful for you
DR.. Hubert said:
The words of the text remind us of
good Isaac Watts, who said: Thank
God, I car lie down at night with no
concern whether I wake in this world
or the next" Some people are world
ly, chiefly concerned for things here
below. Some are other-worldly, hav-
Ing thoughts and affections set on
things above: and such a man was
Paul. This thinking about the future
Is by some called "impracticable star
gazing" But DR.. Samuel Johnson
correctly remarked, that "those who
think most about the next life are the
people who best perform the duties
of this life"
First of all, the text speaks of our
m oality. In saying he has a desire to
depart" Paul is not thinking of 60
Ing from one place to another on the
earth, but Of going back to mother
earth-"earth to earth, dust to dust,
ashes to ashes" This is the way we
must all go very soon. King Philip
Of Macedon had a servant whose duty
1t was to wake the King each morning
by saying, Phillip, remember thou
are mortal" Surely, we need no. such
reminder. We have enough all
around us to impress us that "all
flesh Is as grass" Passing through a
street of a veny healthful mountain
tosyn, and seeing a man with a hose
washing mud from the wheels of a
hearse, I said, do -ou use such
things up here?" ooh, yes" said he,
eve carried out three yesterday"
And that is just what Is going on
everywhere. The cemeteries are fast
receiving the teeming populations Of
cities, towns, villages and country
places. Well may it be said:
Death floats upon every passing
And turks in every flower;
Each season has its own disease,
Its peril every hour"
Again, the text speaks of our i'm
mortality. Paul has a desire, to, de-,
part, land to be-" He has no thought
Of ceasing to be, when death comes.
Death does not end all. When the
earthly tent is taken down, its oc-
cupant will still exist as a conscious,
thinking, alert being. The body is
corruptible, 1t perishes, 1t dissolves;
but there is that within the body
which is i~ncorruptible, fmperishable
and indissoIuble; that which no
foods can drown, no waters can
luench, no fires consume; which is
destined to outlive mountains, irma-
ments, suns and stars. A prominent
city social club has for it's motto:
while W. live, we live in clover;
When we die, We die all over"
Oh, no, we shall none Of us die "all
over" We die in part only. And
even though the body only is to die,
even 1t is to be raised again, and by
and by SOU and body shall be re-
Joined, and then man in his complete
personality shall live on and forever,
Have you heard, have you heard of
..l that sun-bright cline,
3ndimmed by sorrow, unhurt by time,
Where age hath no power Ger the
fadeless frame,
Where the eye is fire and the heart
is flame?
Have you heard, have you heard of
that sun-bright clime?"
Further. the text speaks Of our
chief felicity hereafter. PauI's desire
Is to depart, and to be with Christ"
The Bible gives different conceptions
If Heaven, such as a place of rest
from toll, release from prosecutions,
freedom from sin and reunion with
friends. But Paul's favorite idea of
1t Is as a. place Of companionship with
Jesus. True, Christ is with His disci.
oles here and now, by His Spirit, but
In the hereafter they are to see Him
In His gloriied humanity, just as He
was seen after His resurrection and
when He went up from the slopes of
Mount Oliyet. We say mo homo
without a mother" and what a
mother is to a home, and Infinitely
more, is Christ to His redeemed ctes
in Heaven.
when death these mortal eyes shall
seal,
And still this throbbing heart,
The rending veil shall Thee reveal,
All-glorious, as Thou art"
Next, the text speaks CT the i'm
Indebtedness of this heavenly felicity,
after death. Paul's expectation is to
Depart, and then at once to be with
Christ. The language will admit Of
no other Interpretation. He gives
no intimation of a midway station, a
halfway house, between the deathbed
and Heaven. Some people carry very
vague notions Of what is called the
intermediate state.jp AS there is an
intermediate time, between the body's
death and its resurrection, so there is
an intermediate degree of blessedness
for Christ's saints who are not to
receive their full and final recompense
of reward until after the general
Judgment; but there is no gloomy
abode for the righteous, after this
death, where they wait to see Christ.
To-day thou shalt be with Me in
paradise" were Jesus words to the
dying thief, and such is the glorious
privilege awaiting every saint that
passes down into the valley of the
shadow Of death.
Once more, the text speaks of {
certain hating at the very threshold
of Heaven. Paul is in a quandary,
saying he knows not which to choose.
DR.. Muhlenburg, VINO wrote the
hymn, Il Would Not Live Away"
said long afterward that the hymn
did not properly represent the best
feelings Of the human neart, and that
he would he GLAD "a, liro On In nndan