Sharp County record., 1888-07-05

Remember, it is the only investment you
can make. If man sell a bill of goods
worth &, 5000. and he is cheated out OF 1t, he
NAV get 8, 900 somewhere else; but man
who invests his soul, invests all. Losing
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 otterlng
your soul to the highest bidder; ana
hear you say:
"Whatis 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
nv soul for the world? No? Begone"
But there is some one else in the audi
ence not so wise as that. He says:
"What is bid for my immortal soulI"
Satan says:
'I'll bid the world"
"The world? Going at that, going at
that, going GOneW
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.
1 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 you2 That is the wisest resolution
you ever made. Will you give it to Christ?
When? Tomorrow? No, now. con-
gratulate you if you have come to such a
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 a moment this would be! Do you
know that He has paid an infinite p.ice for
it? Do you know that He is worthy Of it?
Will you give it to Him now?
Twas reading Of 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 terrific time. After we had been
out three or four days the machinery got
IT, ba or 70
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: Il give you 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: 'Pll 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? "No," they say, 'it 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 shame. Who shall come to the
rescueE Shall it be one of the seraphim?
Not one. Shall it be one of the cherubim?
Not one. Shall it be an inhabitant of
some pure and unfallen world? Not
one. Then Christ said: "Lol
come to do Thy will, o God;"
and He went down through the dark
stairs of our sin and wretchedness,
and misery and woe, and He stopped
the peril, and He died that you and might
be free. Oh, the love! oh, the endurance!
oh, the horrors Of the sacrificed Shall not
our souls this morning go out toward Him,
saying:
"Lord Jesus Chri st, take my soul. Thou
art worthy to have it. Thou hast died to
save IT,"
God help you this morning rightly to
cipher out this sum in Gospel arithmetic
What shall it profit mani he shall gain the
whole worlda. nd lose his own soul!
IT will be found that they are the
weakest minded and the hardest hearted
men that most love change. .-RusF pL