The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-06-05
CHRlsTIANlTY,s BALANCE SHEET.
A Sermon to BusiueBa Men Which Young
and Old May Read With Profit.

/
and Old May Read With Profit.
Rev. Wilton Merle Smith, of Cazeno.
vic, n. Y, preached Sunday in the
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago,
from the text:
For what shall it profit 3 man IL he
gain the whole world and lose his own
soul."--Jfark viii: SO.
Below is condensed report of the
| sermon:
Men are becoming suspicious of theo.
ries. Speculation is not done away with
but before it can be accepted it must be
proven by facts. Facts, not theories,
are the factors of success, The every.
| day thought Of the business world cares
little for speculation or moral hypothesis.
The busy drive OF American industry
seeks realities beneath the empty sem.
blance of things. We are dealers in
| tncts, not fiction, and the most practical
fact to American thought is the profit.
and.loss account.
The text is evidently sermon to bus.
iness men. What then of religious truth
when brought to your counter aud your
day -book-when you come TO count its
value and gain you can't yard-stick
your religion nor weigh your morals in
scale, and yet this viewpoint of re-.
ligious truth is not impossible.
What is the view presented by the
text? No man can gain the whole world.
1t is only very limited amount of the
worlds happiness that can fall to any
one man to enjoy. But admit the sup.
position. Supposing he could gain the
world, what is the gain account? Put
down upon your gain account, Enr your
first item, wealth. The desire for wealth
is not necessarily a wicked or unnatural
desire. Even when it becomes inordi.
nate, it often saves men from vices moro
terrible. 1t banishes idleness, encour.
ages industry, frowns on evil and expen.
sive habits. Let every young man be
ambitious to have wealth and influence
1t is not. perhaps, the highest purpose in
life, but nevertheless, it gives impulse to
work, energy to life, directness to effort.
But the world can give more than wealth.
Add to wealth fame and high position.
Ambition will never content itself with
mere wealth. 1t must have power. re.
spect, fame. Put down, then, for your
second item on the gain account Of your
balance-sheet, fame, honor and influence
and power. But if we gain the whole
world, We have more than wealth and
fame. We have culture, refinement, in.
tellect. All this is possible in the world.
What else can you need? How complete
the joy and happiness of one if he should
gain the whole worldl But the loss |
We must turn to the other page of the
ledger and count up. With great Joy
we see the page is almost blank. There
is but single item. We have lost only
our soul. Take your pen in hand and
extend into your column the value of the
soul. How shall we rate the soul :?
There is something within us, we know
not what, that lifts us above the brute.
There is reason, and something, too, that
speaks of an eternal distinction between
right and wrong. There is the human
will freq from restraint. ALI this, they
tell us, is the human soul. And this
soul is God sent and Godcreated. God
created man in His own image, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, and man becamea living soul, with
Gods image and Gods likeness. Then,
tno, thie human soml hae capabilities Of
communion with God. We can not know
now what it is 10 have communion with
God, because sin SO clouds our vision !;
but even now, sometimes, = We catch .
gun Hsa ~ Ssue Eiots sns koFt.S iS:'SfTe
ship. But besides the capabilities, the
Immortality. The soul shall live forever.
are eloquent of immortality. Our loss
account grows larger because the value Of
the sohI ia measured by Immortality.
But, better than this, the value Of the
soul is seen in the price paid for redemp-
ton. The soul by sin had become unfit.
ted for fellowship with God. There was
opened way of escape from the dread
full consequences of its sin through o
redeemer. From His star. crowned seat
of glory the Son of God came down to
earth. Why the incarnation in human
flesh7 Why that life of self:denial,
pain and suffering2 Why the garden
tears and the blood. drops Of Gethsemane
the mock, tribunal, the crown Of tborns
and, tho insults2 Why the patient suff.
ering of Him who could have called
sgclYe .sS!oEs es angels? Wsy that
awful death on Calvary2 The answer is
was to buy back the ?human soii. Not
by imuortaiitysonly, but most OF allHthe
value of the soul Is measured by the
blood bought redemption. But 1t is this
scui thar is In your loss account. Mott se
then, first, it is lost not only to your
friends but to God. We know moi Suhat
the future will be. We can not tear
aside the veil that :hidessit from our
straining visionI| God has not been
pleased to reveal what glories shall be
given to those that shall finally triumph.
Only glimpse of the future Is given us.
All that our better natures long for here
awaits US there. But ''eye hath not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man the things which God
hath prepared for them that love Him."
But you have no share in these things.
You've lost your soul. can not tell you
what awaits those whose souls are lost
whether there shall be burning lake of
fire dc lot know, but do know this
that the anguish of such q soul is beyond
human conception. Rule out, if you
| will, all ideas of Ere and physical pain
Let the soul go into the other world un.
regenerated and in Sin. Let every evil
passion become thousand. fold stronger,
and the conflict in the soul be one long
warning and struggling for eternity
Add to this all the remorse for sin, the
sorrow over lost opportunities, and the
dread consciousness of being lost. And
do we need the lake of fire to add TO the
intensity of the apguish7 The conflict
of passions must last forever. This
death. struggle in the soul shall neyei
cease. Some object to the doctrine ol
eternal punishment that it is unjust to
inflict infinite punishment for finite sin
| Bpt thie is misstatement of the doctrine
Eternal punishment" says Joseph