The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-06-07


! the multitudes of the redeemed of Heaven,
| and we meet Him face to face, and fe ell
| that He was wounded in the head, and
| wounded in the hands, and wounded in
| the feet, and wounded in the side for us,
| methinks we will be overwhelmed. We
| will sit some time gazing in silence, until
| some leader amidst the white-robed choir
| shall lift the baton of light, and give the
| signal that it is time to wake the song of
| jubilee, and all Heaven will then break
forth into: ''Hosanna! hosanna! hosanna!
| Worthy is the Lamb that was slain"
calculate further the value of the soul
| by the price that has been paid for it. In
| st. Petersburg there is diamond that the
government paid two hundred thousand
dollars for. 'Well," you say, sit must
have been very valuable, or the govern
| ment would not have paid two hundred
thousand dollars for it." 1 want to see
| what my soul is worth, and what your soul
is worth, by seeing what has been paid for
it. For that immortal soul, the richest
blood that was ever shed, the deepest
groan that was ever uttered, all the griefs
of earth compressed into one tear. all the
sufferings of earth gathered into one
napier of pain and struck through His
holy heart. Does it not imply tremendous
value?
I argue, also, the value of the soul from
the home that has been fitted up for it in
| the future. One would have thought
street of adamant would have done. No;
it is a street of gold. One would have
thought that wall of granite would have
done. No; it is the flame of sardonyx
mingling with the green Of emerald. One
| would have thought that an occasional
doxology would have done. No; it is a
perpetual song. If the ages of Heaven
marched in a straight line, some day the
last regiment, perhaps, might pass out of
sight; but no, the ages of Heaven do not
march in a straight line, but in a circle
| around about the throne of God; forever,
forever, tramp, tramp! A soul so bought,
so equipped, so provided for, must be
priceless soul, majestic SOUL a tremend-
GUS soul.
Now, you have seen the two properties
the world, the soul. One perishable. the
other immortal. One unsatisfying, the
other capable Of ever-las ting felicity.
Will you trade? Will you trade even?
Remember, it is the only investment you
can make. If man sell bill of goods
| worth S., 900, and he is cheated out of it, he
may get IS, 900 somewhere else; but man
that, he loses all. Saving that he saves
ALL In the light of my text, it seems to
| me as if you were this morning Offering
your soul to the highest bidder; and I
hear you say:
"Whati is bid for it, my deathless spirit?
What is bid for it?"
Satan says:
"I'll bid the world"
You say:
"Begone? That is not equivalent Sell
| my soul for the world? No? Begonew
But there is some one else in the audi
ence not so wise as that. He says:
"What is bid for my immortal soulp
Satan says:
'T'll bid the world"
"The world? Going at that, going OF
that, going! Gone!"
Gone forever!
What is the thing of greatest price,
The whole creation round,
That which was lost in Paradise,
That which in Christ is found.
Then letus gather around the cross,
That knowledge to obtain;
Not by the souls eternal loss,
But everlasting gain.
Well, there are great many people in
the house who say:
81 will not sell my soul for the world.
I find the world is an unsatisfactory por-
ton"
What, then, will you do with your soul?
Some one whispers here:
81 will give my soul to Christ"
Will you? That is the wisest resolution
you ever made. Will you give it to Christ?
When? Tomorrow? No, now. 1 con-
graduate you if you have come to such
decision. Oh, if this morning the eternal
spirit of God would come down upon this
audience and show you the vanity of this
world and the immense Importance of
Christ's religion, and the infinite value of
your own immortal souls, what home
! this would be ! What an hour this would be
What moment this would be! Do you
know that He has paid an infinite price for
it? Do you know that He is worthy of it?
Will you give it to Him now?
Twas reading of a sailor who had just got
ashore, and was telling about his last ex-
perience at sea. He said:
''The last time l crossed the ocean we
had a terrific time. After we had been
out three or four days the machinery got
dlsarranged and the steam began to es-
cape, and the captain, gathering the peo-
pie and the crew on deck, said: unless
some one shall go down and shut off that
steam and arrange that machinery at the
peril of his life we must all be destroyed
He was not willing to go down himself.
No one seemed willing to go. The
passengers gathered at one end of
the steamer waiting for their fate. The
captain said: 81 give you a last warning.
If there is no one here willing to imperil
his life and go down and fix that ma
chinery, we must all be lost A plain
sailor said: 'I'll go, SIR and he wrapped
himself in a course piece Of canvas and
went down, and was gone but few mo-
ments when the escaping steam stopped,
and the machinery was corrected. The
captain cried out to the passengers: All
saved! Let us go down below and see
what has become of the poor fellow They
went down. There he lay dead"
Vicarious suffering! Died for all! Oh,
do you suppose that those people on the
ship ever forgot, ever can forget that poor
fellow? 'sNo," they say, sit was through
his sacrifice that got ashore" The time
came when our whole race must die unless
some one should endure torture and sor-
row and Sbama Who cball oor,a 70 Tho