Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-27

The sermon preached at the funeral
service of Congressman l. 5. Pepper
today by DR.. r. Ames Montgomery IS
published in full as follows:
Victory Through Christ.
I. Corinthians 1857: Thanks be TO
God who giveth us the victory through
our Lord, Jesus Christ
This is the indestructable optimism
of the gospel 1t stands and shouts
victory in the face of the last great
enemy. 1t Is not a mere defamation
that the apostle makes. He faces the
solemnities of death. He faces the
perplexities of philosophy. He faces the
difficulties imposed upon us by the Inn
itations of human experience. ne
faces those who mourn the absence OF
companions who inspired and sustain
ed and comforted them, to whom they
were bound by the ties OF kinsh1p ana
who look to him now for WORD OF
consolation. And, think, moreover,
he faces those who are in the clutch
of the grim reaper, faces those VINO
| feel their struggle failing rs they
make their fight in the great battle OF
life. All these, the apostle faces. and
to all he gives this word OF tri-
umph: Thanks be 10 God who givoth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ"
This is solid ground because it is the
ground of demonstrated truth. Jesus
Christ has so dealt with all the ele-
ments in death, this great catastrophe
of human life his victory Is complete.
The sting of death Is sin. Christs
first great service to those who Will
accept him is to draw the sting, XIII
the poison, wash out the stain, break
the power which sin has over the soul;
50 that a man can stand UP in the face
of the world and have no fear OF his
past, in the face of the future and fear
nothing that may come. Yea, posi-
, bly, Christ may so enable him. that he
risy despoil that sinful past and take
from i. it's strength and enlist 1t In the
service of right and noble living II
Jesus Christ had done nothing more
than that-made possible the recovery
of a man at his Worst-he would have
put a great Joy in the heart OF the
world. He has done this. Thanks be
I to God who giveth us such a victory
through our Lord, Jesus Christ" We
can 70 forth and challenge the men
who have failed through sin to recover
the past by newness of life in the pres
ent and in the day to come. How
ever, the accent Of this triumph for us
today is in the fact of victory over the
grave.
We are not deceived about our situa-
ton here today. At least l hope you
are not. I am not. We are not here
%Lo Nr{v,fr,
past. We do that gladly. 1t brings a
sweet satisfaction in times like this to
be sure of victory in the virtues or the
past. AS Mr. s. E. White has said in
one of his stories, always remember
all your life, no matter what happens
to you; a man is never defeated until
the last shot is fired. And remember
this, too: that even If he is defeated he
is not beaten, provided he has done
the best he could and has never lost
heart" We have victory like That.
But the victory we rejoice IN today IS
that in Jesus Christ light has broken
en- death and the grave. We are not
defeated. The dominant fact in this
presence today, If we can but receive
it is not death but life. The sig
nificance of this service today is that
we sorrow not as those that have no
none. We sorrow as those in whose
heart there is living, vital hope.
We are not defeated, even by death.
We know that death has been defeat
cd that we stand in the presence Of
An innumerable company, from whom,
for the present, our eyes are holden,
but. nevertheless, who, through Jesus
Christ, are alive and remain. Like the
burst of morning after a long winter
night, when the sun, radiant, resplend-
ent, life giving pushes back the cur
'tains of darkness and brings the light
of day. SO has Christ broken on us and
dispelled our gloom.
But some man will say, how are the
dead raised up and with what body do
thew come? Paul knew men were ask
ing this then, that they would continue
to ask it in the years to come, that
some Of you would be asking it now.
He Anticipated the perplexity of the
ages by a reference to the limitations
Of our vital human experience. Many
facts in life are accepted, must be
accepted, shrouded in mystery and big
with vitality THAT which thou SOW.
est thou sowest not that body that
shall be but bare grain, 1t may chance
q wheat or of some other grain, but
God giveth it body as it hath pleased
him. and to every seed its own body
All flesh is not the same flesh, but
there is one flesh of men, and another
flesh of beasts, and another Of birds
and another of fish. There are also
celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial;
but the glory of the celestial is on