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

Rev. Wilton Merle Smith, of Cazeno-
via, N. Y, preached Sunday in the
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago,
from the text:
"For what shall it profit man If he
gain the whole world and lose his own
SOU. l."-Mark viii: 36.
Below is a condensed report of the
sermon:
Men are becoming suspicious of theo.
ries. Speculation is not done away with,
but before it can be accepted 1t 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.
Tae busy drive of American industry
seeks realities beneath the empty SEM
blance Of things. We are dealers in
facts, not fiction, and the most practical
fact to American thought is the profit
and.loss account.
The text is evidently sermon to bus
mess men. What then of religious truth
when brought. to your counter and your
day-book-when you come; to- count It's
value and gain you can't yard-stlck
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.
It is only a very limited amount OF the
worlds happiness that can fall to any
one man to enjoy. But admit the sup
position. Supposiug he could gam the
world, what is the gain account! Put
down upon your gain account, tor your
first item, wealth. The desire for wealth
is not necessarily wicked or unnatural
desire, Even when it becomes inordi-
nate. it often saves men from vices more
terrible. It banishes idleness, encour-
ages industry, frowns on evil and expen-
siye habits: Let every young man be
ambitious to have wealth and influence.
It 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 10y and happiness of one if he should
noin tho whole .world;l. 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 free from restraint. All this, they
tell U.S., is the human soul. And this
soul is God sent and God-created. 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: Thens
too. this human soul has capabilities of
communion with God. We can not know
now what it. is to have communion with
God, because sin so clouds our vision;
but even now, sometimes, We catch.a
glimpse of Gods glory and loving fellow
ship. But besides the capabilities, the
soul has destiny, and that destiny is
immortality. The soul shall live forever:
All the fundamental longings OF the soul
are eloquent of Immortality. Our loss
account grows larger because the value of
the soul is 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 ::scape from the dread
full consequences of its sin through q
redeemer. From His star. crowned seat
of glory the Son Of God came down to
earth. Why the incarnation in human
flesh Why that life of self-denial,
pain and suffering? Why the garden
tears and the blood: drops of, ,Gethsemane,
the mock.eribunal, the crown of thorns
and, the einsults Why the patient sui,
ering of Him who could have called
twelve legions of angels? Why that
awful death on Calvary? The answer is
written on every page of the Bible. 1t
was to buy back the human soul. Not
by immortality only, but most of all the
value of the soul is measured by the
blood. bought redemption. But it is this
soul that is in your loss account. Notice
then, first, it is lost not only to your
friends but to God. We know not what
the future will be. We can not tear
aside the veil that hides it from our
straining vision:- 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 / do not know, but l do know this:
that the anguish Of such soul is beyond
human conception. Rule out, if you
will, all ideas of FIRE 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
warring and struggling for eternity.
Add to this all the remorse for Sid, 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 anguish? The conflict 313
of passions must last forever; This
death. struggle in the soul shall never
cease. Some object to the doctrine OF
eternal punishment that it is unjust to
inhict infinite punishment for finite SIN.
But this is misstatemcnt of the doctrine.
"Eternal punishment" says Joseph