The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-02-18
PLEASURE.

PLEASURE.
A Sermon Preached by Rev. d. l.. Frier-
son, D. D., Pastor of tho Anderson Pres
byterIan Church.
Text Prov. 81: 17-"Hc that lovcth pleasure
shall be poor man."
This sentence, although proverb of
the Scriptures, is also dictate of reason
and nature, having been found to be true
in the experience of men thousand
times. But it is no detraction from the
divinity of the Scriptures that they con-
tain dictates of reason or bits of hnman
philosophy, since it gives emphasis and
increased Importance to the findings of
reason that they have an endorsement
from above. That endorsement gives
them high authority. 1t is itself a
species of revelation to know that dis
coveries of useful truth, fairly and hon
estly gotten, have the sanction of Him
who is the. source of truth. 1t reveals
another interesting fact that the Bible
and Nature are two revelations from the
same Author, who is pleased to honor the
discoveries of His intelligent creatures
by endorsing them and thus assuring
them chat whatever seeming discrepancies
may at present exist between the discov-
cries of reason and the interpretations of
the Bible, these two revelations are really
compliments and must eventually har-
monize; and must harmonic by making
the second the Key to the first, since it
was only because man had lost the art of
interpreting the first, in what it taught
him of God, that the second was given.
So that being put by Gods articulate
revelation into the right position to know
His mind, he could more certainly and
successfully interpret that mind in the
revelation which is inarticulate. 1t is
upon such considerations as these that it
is no disparagement of the great doctrine
of Inspiration to say that the Book of
Proverbs, which is book of reason and
human experience, is compilation
rather than an original production. For
the evidence is both erternal and Internal.
Solomon is said in the Book of Kings to
have spoken 5000 proverbs. Yet scarce
ly 1000 of them have been thought wor.
thy of place in the Sacred Canon. If
the 5000 had been spoken under inspi-
ration, the whole number must have been
entitled to place there; because the
very object of their inspiration was 10
put them upon permanent record for
generations to come. But the rejection
of 1000 and the adoption of the rest was
an act of compilation in which an author
selects and arranges the productions OF
other authors: and Solomon, who is
styled the author of the Proverbs, is their
author in this sense, that he produced
some of them, gathered others that had
been in use and was probably assisted in
this work by Ethan, Calchol and Darda,
learned men of his time, who were prob.
ably themselves authors of some of them.
There are also internal evidences of va
rious authorship. The first seven chap
tiers bear the. marks of distinct and sepa-
rate composition the 9th and 9th are q
distinct discourse augmentation con-
nected by the logic of thought. The
proverbs proper which follow are indc-
pendent aphorisms strung together like
separate pearls, no one having any more
connexion with its neighbor than mere
place and proximity.
The Proverb -"He that loyeth pleasure
shall be poor man"-has lost none of
its truth, none of its emphasis by time or
for its being dictate of reason and COM
mon sense. 1t has, in fact, more empha-
sis by time, and more dignity and lofti.
ness by its having divine endorsement
than it had before. 1t has indeed &C.
quired the new property of divine au.
thority. 1t is now God-given. 1t peals
upon the ear of the reverent and thought
full man with the solemniLy of a voice
from Heaven. ":He that loveth pleasure
shall be a poor man." 1t is powerfully
emphatic at the present time. Men and
women seek pleasure with both hands
eagerly. We visit for pleasure, travel for
pleasure, read for pleasure. We have
institutions for pleasure, and garnish our
very solemnities with coating of carnal
pleasure. And yet the age is growing
rich instead of growing poor. Still onr
proverb is true: "He that loyeth pleasure
shall be poor man." 1t has an outer
and an inner sense.
1. He that loveth the pleasure of the
wine cua;shall be poor man. 1t will
be sure to fascinate him, and then be
will not observe how his pile Of property
is melting down. Three draughts day
will in the year cost him more than 500.
More than this; these draughts must be
increased in quantity and frequency to
give him the desired stimulation. More
than this; that stimulation while it lasts
seduces moral energy, and he seeks nerve
repose. His conversational powers are
indeed enhanced by fevered brain
energy, but his conversation, even when
he is moderately stimulated, is fippant,
discursive, superficial. He dips into an
argument, but he Immediately comes out
of it again. His reluctant energies can
not bear the tug of manly grapple with a
subject. He is incapable of strong rea-
soning, incapable of much physical ex'
ertion. This is all money lost, in the
shape of lost time His productive pow.
ers are still, and he is rapidly growing
poor. 1t is almost surprise to that man
how, in few years, he has les! money,
lost. strength, lost position. But far
more serious aspect Of the case is that