Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1888-05-17
LOSS AND GAIN.
DR.. Talmage Discourses On the Bar
gains Of This Life.
The Values of This Life and the Value of
the SOui-NO Good Titles I'm This
World-We Take Nothing
With Us.

DIR. Tamage recently preached in the
Brooklyn Tabernacle upon the subject of
t.Loss and CAIN from the text: What
shall 1t profit man, if he shall gain the
whole world and lose his own soulf'
Mark viii. 80 He said:
l am accustomed, Sabbath by Sabbath,
to stand before an aud ence OF bargain
makers. There may be men in all occupa-
lions sitting before me, yet the vast ma
iority Of them, l am very well aware, are
engaged from Monday morning to Satur-
day night in the store. In many OF the
families of my congregation. across the
breakfast table and the tea table are dis
cusscd questions Of loss and gain. You
are every Gay asking yourself: What is
the value Of this! What is the value of
that?" You would not think OF giving
something Of greater value for that which
is of lesser value You would not think Of
selling Lat which costs you ten dollars for
five dollars. If you had a property that
was worth SIS, 600 you would not sell 1t for
s4,GO0. You are intelligent il all matters
of bargain making. Are yoa as wise IN
the things that pertain to the matters OF
the soul! Christ adapted his instructions
to the circumstances of those to whom He
spoke. when He talked to fishermen He
20 the farmers He said: "A sower went
forth to sow.n When He talked to the
shepherds He told the parable of the lost
sheep. And am l not right when speaking
this morning to an audience made up of
bargain makers, that address them in the
words Of my text, asking: ''What shall it
profit man if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own Z" / propose,
rs far as possible, to estimate and compare
the value Of two properties.
FIRST have to say that the world is
very grand property. It's flowers are
Gods thoughts 10 bloom. Its rocks are
Gods thoughts in stone It's dew drops are
Gods thoughts in pearl This world is
Gods child-a Maynard child indeed; it
has wandered off through the Heavens.
But about eighteen hundred and eighty
eight years ago, one Christmas night, God
sent out sister world to call that wanderer
back, and it hung over Bethlehem only
long enough to get the promise Of the
wanderers return. and now that lost
world, with soft feet of light, comes tread
ing back through the Heavens. The hills,
how beautiful they bnlow up, the edge of
the wave white with the foam OF crocuses!
How beautiful the rainbow, the arched
bridge on which Heaven and earth come
and talk to each other In tears, after the
storm is over! How nmble the feet Of the
!ampiighters that in few minutes set all
the dome of the night ablaze with brackets
OF fire! How bright the oar Of the saffron
cloud that rows across the deep sea of
Heaven! How beautiful the spring, with
bridal blossoms IN her hair! wonder who
it is that beats time on June morning for
the bird orchestra. How gently the hare
bell tolls its fragrance on the air! There
may be grander worlds, swarthier worlds,
larger worlds than this; but think that
this is a most exquisite world-a mignonette
OF the bosom Of immensely! co." you say,
''take my soul, give me that world! l am
willing TO take it IN exchange. am ready
now for the bargain. It is so beautiful
world, so sweet world, so grand world!'
But let US look more infinitely into the
value of this world. You will not buy
property unless you can get good title to
it. After you have looked at the property
and found out that it suits GU, you send
an attorney TO the public office and he ex-
amines the book of deeds, and the b ok Of
mortgages, and the book Of judgments, and
the book of liens, and he decides whether
the title is good before you will have any
thing to do with it. There might be a
splendid property, and in every way ex-
actly suited to your want; but if you can
not get a good title you will not take it.
Now, am here this morning to say that it
is impossible to get q good title to thus
world. II settle down upon it, in the
very year l so settle down upon it as a per-
manent possession may be driven away
from 1t. Aye. IN five minutes after give
up my soul for the world l may have to
part with the world; and what kind OF a
title do you call thai! There is only one
way III which l can hold an earthly pos
session and that is through the senses. All
beautiful sights through the eve, but the
eye may be blotted out. All captivating
sounds through the ear, but my ear may
be deafened. All lusciousness of fruits and
viands through my taste, but my taste may
be destroyed. All appreciation of culture
and art through my mind, but / may lose
my mind. What a frail hold then have
upon my earthly possession. In courts of
law, If you want to get man off prop
erty you must serve upon him writ of
cjectment, giving him certain time to
Vacate the premises, but when Death
comes to US and serves writ OF ejectment
he does not give as one second Of fore
warning. He says: ''Off of this place.
You have no right any longer in the pos
session"
We might cry out: 81 gave you hun
dred thousand dollars for that property"
the plea would be of no avail. We might
say: I'VE have warranty deed for that
properly" the plea would be of no avail.
We might say: I'VE have lien on that
store-house;" that would do US no good
Death is blind, and he can not see seal,
9nd can not read an indenture. SO that
.: 1.,, I
you propose that give up my soul for the
world, you can not give me the first item
Of title.
Having examined the title of a property,
your next question is about insurance
You would not be silly enough to buy a
large warehouse that could not possibly
be insured. You would not have any thing
10 do with such a property. Now, ask
you what assurance you can give me that
this world is not going to be burned up!
Absolutely none. Biologists tell US that it
is already on fire; that the heart OF the
world is one great living coal; that it is
just like ship on fire at sea, the flame not
burning out because the patches are kept
down. And yet you propose to palm of on
me. in return for my SOUL a world for
which, IN the first place, you can give no
title, and in the second place for which you
can give no insurance. 90" you say, '.the
water of the oceans will wash over all the
land and put out the fire." o, no. There
are inhammable elements in the water,
hydrogen and oxygen. Call off the hydro
gen and then the Atlantic aud Pacific
oceans would blaze like heaps OF shavings.
You want me to take this world for which
you can give no possible insurance.
Astronomers have swept their tele-
scopes through the sky, and have found
cut that there have been thirteen worlds,
ia the last two centuries, that have disap-
peared At first they looked just like