Sharp County record., 1888-07-05
TALMAGES SERMON.
The Value of Mans Soul Compared
With that of the World.
The Difference to be Measured by the
Inestimable Price Paid for the
Former in the Sacrifice
Upon Calvary.

"Loss and Gain" was the subject chosen
by Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage for recent
sermon in Brooklyn Tabernacle. His text
was:
What shall it profit man, II he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own SOUTHWARK
witt, Sc.
lam accustomed, Sabbath by Sabbath,
TO stand before an audience Of bargain
makers. There may be men in all occu-
pations sitting before me, yet the vast ma
jority Of them. 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
cussed questions Of loss and gain. You
are every day 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 that which costs
YOU ten dollars for FIVE dollars.
If you had property that was
worth fifteen thousand dollars, you would
not sell it for four thousand dollars. You
are intelligent in all matters of bargain
making Are you as wise y the things
that pertain to the matters Of the soul?
Christ adapted his instructions to the cir
cumstances of those to whom he spoke.
When he talked to fishermen, he spoke OF
the Gospel net When he talked to the
farmers he said: "a sower went forth to
SOW" When he talked to the shepherds
he told the parable Of the lost sheep. And
am not right, when, speaking this morn
ing to an audience of bargain makers,
that address them in the words of my
text, asking:
What shall it profit man, II he shall gain
the who world and lose his own soul!
I propose, as far as possible, to estimate
and compare the value of two properties.
First, have to say that the world is a
very grand property. Its flowers are
Gods thoughts in bloom. Its rocks are
Gods thoughts in stone. Its dew drops
are Gods thoughts in pearl. This world
is Gods child-a wayward child, indeed;
It has wandered off through the heavens.
But about 1888 years ago, one Christmas
night, God sent out sister world to call
that wanderer back, and it hing over
Bethlehem only long enough to get the
promise Of the wanderers return; and
now that lost world, with soft feet Of
light, comes treading back through the
heavens. The hills, how beautiful they bill
/ low 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!
"Oh," you say, 'take my soul. give me
/ that world! l am willing to take it in ex-
/ change. am ready now for the bargain.
1t is so beautiful a world, so sweet world,
so grand worldw
But let us look more minutely into the
value of this world. You will not buy
property unless you can get a good title
to it. After you have looked at the prop
/ erty and found out that it suits you, you
/ send an attorney to the public Office and
! he examines the book of deeds, and the
| book of mortgages, and the book of judg-
ments, and the book Of liens, and he de-
cides whether the title is good before you
will have any thing to do with it. There
might be splendid property, and in
every way exactly suited to your want;
but if you can not get a good title, you
will not take it. Now, I am here
this morning to say that it is
impossible to get good title to this
world. If 1 settle down upon it, in the
very year so settle down upon it as
permanent possession, may be driven
away from it. Aye, in five minutes after
give up my soul for the world may have
TO part with the world; and what kind of
q title do you call that? There is only one
way in which l can hold an earthly pos
session. and that is through the senses.
In courts of law, if you want to get a
man off property you must serve upon
him a writ Of ejectment, giving him cer-
tain time to vacate the premises; but
when death comes to us and serves a writ
of ejectment, he does not give US one Sec
ond Of forewarning. He says:
"Off of this place! You have no right
any longer in the possession" We might
cry out:
81 gave you one hundred thousand dol
lars for that property" the plea would be
of no avail. We might say:
eve have a warranty deed for that
property" the plea would be of no avail.
We might say:
1--WE have lien on that store house,"
that would do US no good. Deaths blind,
and he can not see a seal, and can not
read an indenture. SO that first and last,
/ want to tell you that when 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 proper
ty, your next question is about insurance.
You would not be silly enough to buy
large warehouse that could not possibly
be insured. You would not have any
thing to do with such property. Now, l
ask you what assurance can you 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 flames
not bursting out because the matches are
kept down. And yet you propose to palm
off on me, in return for my soul, a world
for which, in the first place, you give no
title, and in the second place, for which
you can give no insurance. "Oh," you
say, ''the water Of the oceans will wash
over all the land and put out the fire."
Oh no. There are infammable elements
in the water, hydrogen and oxygen. Call
off the hydrogen and the Atlantic and the
Pacific oceans would blaze like heaps Of
shavings. You want me to take this
world, for which you can give no possible