Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-01-30
THE PULPIT.
Rev. A. Il. Medium breaches on
Mans Estate.
An Able and Thoughtful Discourse
Rev. w. II. Appiegate. the New
Christian Chapel Pastor. G,ves some
pain Truths.

|
preached in the Central church from til
text, Psalm 1915;
"verly every man at his best estate is a
together vanity"
1T would be an Improbable waste c
time to discuss here" said the preacher
what is mans best estate, enough thai
be it what it may, whether wealth q
power or pleasure or genius, it is her
affirmed Of man in relation to it that he
altogether vanity" 1t is. however, o
mans view simply 10 relation to the pres
ent life and its affairs, that the Psalms
makes this affirmation, of man in relation
to God-of man AZ immortal aud enttle,
through grace TO spend that Immortality
in the presence of God and amid the hal
lowed enjoyments Of an entirely smiles
estate, he would have said that man i
altogether" or at all vanity" Thu
word vanity" aud its cognate, vain,
are used in Two senses in scripture, frs
as equivalent to fiction" or Fictitious,
indicating something unreal something
merely pretended second, as equivalen
to what is useless, profitless, empty
| Apart from his immortality, apart from
his relation to God AMI the spiritual
| world, man is mere "tiCtion," an "un-
| substantial apparation"-and at the same
time useless. profitl,ss thing, of which
it is hard to tell the meaning or the pur-
pose. Viewing man merely as an intelli-
gent animal occupying peculiar place
| on the earth's surface or performing Ger
tain functions appropriate to his animal,
rational and social condition he seems to
Lave been made in vain: he answers no
fitting end; he fultills no adequate pur-
pose. His superior organization, his
higher intelligence, his capacity for re-
fined and elevated thought. his aspira>
tons after spiritual conceptions and en-
joyments-what is 1t all, but grand
mistaken He is but a machine eXquisitely
framed and set agoing, but which per
forms nothing worthy of its construction
Look at any of those objects, which,
apart from his immortality and those pur-
suits and habits which fiji him for blessed.
ness throughout eternity-man gives
himself to, and ask whether,
surprising this was all man was
made for he was really worth the mak~
iug-whether any OF these be ends worthy
of such being as man. First take the
man of sensual pleasure, the man who
lives to eat, drink and be merry. Con-
template such a one, and can YOU refrain
from asking the question, "lf this were
all man was made for, was it worth while
to endow him with intellect, with powers
of thought and marvellous capacity Of
reasoning and Judging, with moral sense
and moral faculty." Was it worth while
to make man the being that he is, with
all these wondrous endowments, merely
that he might be able to discover more
exquisite modes of gratifying sense? Or
take the man who lives only to make
money. There is nothing intrinsically
wrong in making money, but if this were
all man was made for, would he not, so
far as his nobler powers are concerned, be
made in vainH What wisdom would be
manifested in endowing a man with all
those intellectual and moral powers and
faculties which raise him so high above
the brutes, and make him so much like a
god, if the highest object to which he is
to dedicate his life, is the scraping to.
gether of so much perishable subsistence of
which he can use only small portion for
any purpose. and which he must soon
leave behind him to God only knows
whom? What would he the utility of his
Godlike power If this were alp Add to |
these instance the man of literature and |
genius, and that we may test our position |
by the severest criterion take the noblest |
specimens. Take such men as Homer, |
and Milton. and Shakespeare. and Michael |
Angelo, and Newton, men by universal |
first In their various depart ments
No one would be guilty of depreciating
the claims of these men to the homage
which their attainments and productions
nave drawn to them from successive gen
,rations. But we ask in all reverence,
was il worthy of God to make such tow
,rng minds only that Others might adj
nire their achievements and say over
heir tombs, Here lie the ashes of gen.
us% Who does not admire paradise
4Ost" Who does not feel proud to be.
oDg to a race with him who dictated that
ublime poem? Who does not consider
hat it eleYates and ennQbles the mind
hat reads it2 But did that great mind
ultill the great purpose of its being when
produced that glorious bookf What
wisdom is manifested in elevating and
ef1ning minds that are doomed themselves
o pershH
Pursue such inquiries in whatever de-
'artment of human activity we will, the
anne result is apparent. Suppose man
made only for this life; abstract from his
and his relations to God and
ternity, and what is he but a splendid
mistake, a magnificent piece of machinery
Without an object to accomplish that is
t all worthy of him. This opens to us
therein it is that mans true glory lies.
t is in the sphere of his moral nature /,
n his relations to the invisible state, in /
is capacities for blessed immortality i
hat mans true dignity is to be found!
Ian is throned in immortality. Viewed :
, this aspect man is no longer a vanity, {
Dr. he has high object to accomplish. {
lis life on earth is the germ of immortal {