The weekly Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1911-1922, 1911-04-13
JERUSALEM was bull

Of King Hiram's workmen. lying upon
the solid rock. Upon that rock foun->
dalton restad. therefore, the golden
temple and The later temples of Ezra
and of Herod
The modern, like the ancient, Tenn
pie of God rests upon the foundations
of the universe. Religious thought and
scientific research work together to
bring them to view. 1t comes with in
MIGRATING freshness to one who dis
covers 1t in experience, that the words
of Christ are based upon old, but new
ly discovered, foundations of the uni
verse, and are therefore in harmony
with the newly discovered truth of
each generation. !.
These thoughts are suggested by
what our Lord said few days before
His death: verify, verify, l say unto
you, excent a corn Of wheat fall into
the ground and die 1t abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit" He took truth of nature and
showed that it applied both to himself
and to us. true equally of the seed, the
Savior and the sinI er.
4 The seed preserved misses its des-
tiny and abides alone. Sown in the
earth. and dying. it brings forth fruit.
Consider the illimitable scope of this
law. The surface Of the world had to
perish age after age. to produce a soil
In which plant life could live; plants
had to perish. as they do now, that ant
mails might live: uncounted billions of
creatures, huge and inflnitesimal. had
TO perish that man might appear:
whole races have to pass away. that
higher races may be developed: old
customs and ideas must die to give
place tc fuller truth.
The word Easter illustrates this
perfectly. Ostara, the goddess of
spring to our heather ancestors. he
Ishtara of the Phoenicians, the Istar
of Babylonia, has persisted from the
minds of men, only her name remain
ing as the designation of the worlds
new springtime hope of immortality
in Ii e resurrection of Jesus Christ
Sunday itself is such a testimonial;
the dap Of the god Of the Sun. wor-
shipped no longer, has named the
great resurrection day OF the con
aueror of al heather gods. Every
thing has to perish to lead to some
thing better. Money boarded is money
wasted; scattered about in manufac-
lures and commerce, 1t is. the seed Of
prosperity.
Our Lord says that what is true Of
the seed is true OF the Savior. The
Son of Man, because he was q SON of
man, could not be glorified except
through death. No son of man can be-
Until he died, Christ was alone; the
only begotten son In his birth, lonely
in bis life. lonely in Gethsemasle, alone
before the Sanhedrim, Heiod and
PLATE; he trod the wine-press alone
and was laid In lonely grave. He was
a seed of Immortality. His resurrec-
ton was as natural as the coming up
Of green things In springtime. He
could not be holden of death Over
such a spirit as his, death hath no
power. Is his resurrection wonderful?
Far more wonderful, quite beyond be
lief, would be the passing OF such a
spirit into eternal silence and moth
ingness.
the seed and Of the Savior Is true
also of the sinner. Whoever saves
life will lose 1t, and only he who loses
his life for the highest things can save
it. Save your body from wear ano
tear Of labor, and you destroy 1t. Save
your brain from thinking, and you
become a mental weakling. Only as
we constantly destroy our bodies and
brains by proper exercise can they
have higher life.
Life is for each of US a handful of
seeds. We can eat them, or we can
save them, or we can SOW them. We
must eat something to preserve life;
but II for pleasure we dev too
much Of our time. talents. labor, Y
money or religion. not sowing it .
seed to DO good. we destroy ourselves
In Russian and Indian famines, people
sometimes eat the seed intended for
sowing Some souls devour for present
satisfaction that which they should
sew In the troubled, or Borrowing. or
lespairing hearts OF others, and can
have no harvest
But for those of Us who try. even If
we fail more or less, what comfort
Easter hasi Our bright dreams and
hopes Of youth have darkened into
sober. commonplace life; the best q.
forts Of our young manhood or wo-
manhood have resulted only In com
.parative failure. Well, We have sowed
some SEED. under the kind leading of
the Great Sewer, instead Of eating II
ell now. Our lost seeds, not lost but
.sowed, viii have resurrection In great
lsr Glory. Our eyes viii view with won
der and delight the flowers and fruits
Ivs shall GnthAr tom thu thinn -
;xsspt over a. lost All that are in the
crave shall arise. That seed Of good
Gown In humble duty and self-denin
and with tears. shall have its Easter
harvest joy.-aev. q. G. Ray. d. D.
.ho,lt th;rtv v>.rs 49, <h.<