The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-07
A PR0FITLESS BARGAIN.
THE FOLLY OF LOSING THE SOUL
TO GAIN THE WORLD.

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BROOKLYN, May 6-At the Tabernacle
to-day Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage
announced as the subject of
his sermon "Loss and GAIN" and his text
was: "What shall it profit a man, if he
shall gain the whole world. and lose his own
soulF'-Mark wii, SO.
l am accustomed, Sabbath by Sabbath,
to stand before an audience of bargain
makers. There may be men in all occupa-
tlons sitting before me, yet the vast ma
| Jorlty OF them, | am very well aware, are
engaged from Monday morning to Satur-
| day night in the store. In many of the fam
| lies of my congregation, across the break
fast table and the tea table are discussed
questions of loss and gain. You are every
day asking yourself "What is the
value of thisG What is the value of that9"
| 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 cost you ten dollars for five dollars
If you had property that was worth fif-
teen thousand dollars, you would not sell it
for four thousand dollars. You are intelli-
J gent in all matters OF bargain-making
| Are you as wise in the things that pertain
to the matters of the soull Christ adapted
| his instructions to the circumstances 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. Aud am l not right when speak
| ing this morning TO an audience made up Of
bargaln-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 soulP'
propose, as far as possible, to estimate
and compare the value of two properties.
First, l have to say that the world is a
very grand property. Its flowers are Gods
| thoughts in bloom. Its rocks arc 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 eighteen hundred and lightweight
| years ago, one Christmas night, God sent
out a 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 treading back through
the heavens. The hills, how beautiful they
| blliow 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 nimble
| the feet of the lamp-lighters that in a few
1
with brackets of firel How bright tho oar
of the saffron cloud that rows across the
| deep sea of heavenl How beautiful the
| spring, with bridal blossoms in her hair! |
| wonder who it is that beats time on a June
morning for the bird orchestra. How
| gently the harebell tolls its fragrance on
the airl There may be grander worlds.
swarthier worlds, larger worlds than this
| but | think that this is most exquisite
world-a mignonette on the bosom of i'm
| menslty! "Oh," you say, take my soul?
| give me that world! l am willing to take
it in exchange. l am ready now for the
bargain 1t is SO beautiful a world, SO
sweet world, so grand a worldw
But let us look more minutely into the
value of this world. You will not buy
properly unless you can get a gooi title TO
it. After you have looked at the property
and found out that it suits you, you send an
attorney to the public office, and he exam
ines the book of deeds, and tho book 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 good title, you will not take it,
Now, am here this morning to say that it
Is impossible to get a good title to this
| world If | settle down upon it. in the very
year | so settle down upon it as a perma-
nent possession, may be driven away from
| it. Aye, i'll five minutes after | give up my
| soul for the world | may have to part with
the world; and what kind of a title do YOU
call that? There is only one way in which
/ can hold an earthly possession, and that
| is through the senses. All beaut full sights
through the eye, but the eye may be blotted
| out; all captivating sounds through the ear,
but my ear may be deafened; all luscious
ness of fruits and viands through my taste
but my taste may be destroyed; all appre-
citation of culture and of art through my
mind, but may lose my mind. What a
frail hold, then, | have upon any earthly
possessionl
In courts of law, if you want to get man
off property, you must serve upon him a
writ of eJectment, giving him certain
time to vacate the premises; but when
death comes to us and serves writ of
ejectment, he does not give us one second of
forewarning. He says "Of OF this place!
You have no right any longer in he posses
SION" We might cry out: 81 gave you q
hundred thousand dollars for that pro-
pcrty;" the plea would be Of no avail We
might say: "We have warrantee deed for
that property" the plea would be Of no
avail. We might say: I'VE have lien
on that house," that would do us no
good. Death is blind, and he can not see a
seal, and can not read an indenture. So
that first and last, want TO tell you Chat
when you propose that | give up my soul
tor the world, you can not give me the first
item of title.
Having examined the title of property,
your next question is about Insurance. You
you'd not be silly enough to buy large
warehouse that could not possibly be IN
sured You would not have anything TO
do with such property. Now, ask you
what assurance can you give me that this
world is not going 10 be burned ups Also
lutely none. Biologists tell us it is already
OH fire; that the heart of the world is ono
great living coal that it is just like a 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 ro-
turn for my soul, world for which, in the
first place, you gave 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 in
flammable elements in the water, hydro
gen and oxygen. Call off the hydrogen and
then the Atlantic and 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 telescopes
through the sky, and have found out that
there have been thirteen worlds, In the last
two centuries, that have disappeared At
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