The Forrest City times., 1888-05-12

V N gaining the world. Who ever owned a hems- pherei Who ever gained a continenti Who ever owned Asia Who ever gained a cityl Who ever owned Brooklynl Talk about gaining the world No man ever gained it or the hundred thousandth part of lt You are demanding that sell my soul, not for this world, but for . fragment Of it. Here is man who has had a large estate for forty or fifty years He lies down to dic. You say: "lhat man Is worth millions and millions of dollars" Is hei lou call up a surveyor, with his compass and chains, and you say There is q property extending three miles in another drcctIon." Is that the way to measure that mans propertyl Nol You do not want any surveyor. with his compass and chains. That Is not the way you want to measure that mans property now. lt Is an undertaken that you need, who will come and put his finger in hls vest-pockct, and take out tapc-line, and he will measure five feet nine inches one way, and two feet and half the other way. That is the mans prop ertY. Oh. no, forgot; not so much as that, for he does not own even the place in which he lies in the cemetery. The deed to that belongs to the executors and the heirs. Oh. what rroperty you propose to give me for my soul! If you sell bill Of goods, you go Into the counting room, and say to your partner:
 Do you think that man Is good for this bllt Can he give proper securltyi VIII he meet this paymentip Now when you are offered this world as a possession. I want you to test the matter. 1 do not want you to go into this bargain biindly. l want you to ask about the title about tho insurance. about whether men have ever had any trouble with it, about whether you can keep i.. about whether you can get Aii, or the ten thou- sandth, or one-huudrcd thousandth part of it.
 There is the world now. shall say no more about it Take up your mind for your self, as l shall, be fore God, have 10 make up my mind for myself, about the value Of this world. l can not afford to make a mistake for your soul.
 Now. let us look at the other property the soul. We can not make a bargain without seeing the cofn- parative value. The soul How shall l estimate the value Of iti We'll by ils ex- quisite organization. IL is the most wonder ful piece of mechanism ever put together Machinery is of value in proportion as it is mighty and silent at the same time You look at the engine and the machinery in the Philadelphia Mint, and, as you see it perform ing it's wonderful work, you will be surprised to find how silently it goes Machinery that roars and tears soon destroys itself; but silent machinery is often most effective. Now, SO 1t is with the soul Of man, with all it's tremendous faculties--it moves in silence. Judgment without any racket, lifting it's scales; memory, without any noise, bringing down all its treasures; conscience taking it's iudgment-seat without any excitement; the understanding and the will all doing their work. Velocity majesty might; but silence silence. You listen at the door of your heart You can hear no sound. The soul Is all quiet. It's so delicate au instrument that no human hand can touch it. You break bone, and with spliniers and bandages the surgeon sets it; the eve becomes infiamed. the apothecary's wash ecols 1t; but a soul of the track, unbalanced, no human power can read just it. With one sweep of its wing it circles the universe, and overvauts the throne of God. Why. in the hour of death the soul is so mighty, it throws aside the body as though 1t were toy. It drives back medical skill as impoteut. 1t breaks through the circle of loved ones who stand around the dying couch With one leap it springs beyond star and moon and sun, and chasms of intensity. Oh. it Is a soul superior to all material things No fire can consume it no floods can drown 1t: no rocks can crush it; no walls can impede 1t; no time can exhaust it It wants no bridge on which to cross a ehasm. It wants no plummet with which to sound depth. A soul so ghty, so swift, so silent, must be priceless soul.
 l calculate the value of the soul, also by its capacity for happiness. How much joy 1t can get in this world out Of friendships, out of the sea. out of flowers, out of ten thous- aud things; and yet all the joy 1t has here does not test its capacity. You are in a concert before the curtain hoists, and you hear the instruments prcparing-the sharp snap of the broken string the scraping of the bow across the vol There is no music in that" you say. It is only getting ready fjr the music. And all the enjoyment of the soul in this world, the enjoyment we think is real enjoyment, is only prcparatve; it is only an- ticipatve; it Is only the first stages of the thing; 1t is only the entrance. the beginning of that which shall be the orchestral harmo- nies and splendors of the redeemed
 You can not test the full power of the soul for happiness in this world. How much power the soul haslhere to find enjoyments in friend ships but oh, the grander friendships for the soul in the skies How sweet the flowers herel but how much swceter they will be there do not think that when flowers die on earth, they will die forever l think that the fragrance of the flowers is the spirit be. ing waited away into glory. God says there are palm trees in heaven and fruits in beaveu. If so, why not the spirits of the dead flowerst In the sunny valleys of heaven. shall not the marigold creepi On the hills of heaven will not the amaranth blooml On the amethys- tine walls of heaven, will not the jasmine cllmbl My loved Is come down in lis garden to gather lilies" No flowers in heaveni Where, then, do they get their garlands for the brows of the righteousi
 Christ is glorious to our souls now. but how much grander our appreciation after a while A conqueror comes back after the battle He has been fighting for us. He comes upon the platform. He has one arm fin sling, and the other arm holds a crutch. As he mounts
 
 audiencel They say; That man fought for us. and imperIlcd his life for us;n and how wild the huzza that followed huzzal When the Lord Jesus Christ shall nt lnst stand out before the multtudcs of the redeemed of heaven, and we meet him face Co face. and feel that he was wounded in the head, and wounded in the hands, and wounded in the feet, and wounded In the side for us, mcthinks we will be overwhelmed We will sit some time gazing in silence, until ftct tyl qha1 oh shall lift the baton of light, and give the sig nal that it is time 10 wake the song of jubiee and all heaven will then break forth Into: "Hosanna hosannal hosannal Worthy is the Lamb that was slain."
 calculate further the value of the soul by the price that has been paid for it. In St. Petersburg there is diamond that the Gov ernment paid two hundred thousand dollars for. "Well,n you say, 'it must have been very valuable or the Government would not have paid two hundred thousand dollars for it." l want to see what my soul Is worth, and what your soul is worth, by seeing what has been paid for 1t For that immortal soul, the richest blood that WAS ever shed, the deepest groan that was ever uttered, all the griefs of earth compressed into one tear, all the sufferings of earth gathered into one rapier of pain and struck through His holy heart Does it not imply tremendous value.
 l argue also, tue value of the soul from the home that has been fitted up for 1t In the fu 
 adsmant would have done No; it is Q street of gold. One would have thought a wal of granite would have done. No; It is the flame Of sardonyx mlngling with the green of emer- ald. One would have thought that an occa- sional doxology would have done. No; il is perpetual song. If the ages Of heaven march, ed in a straight line, some day Inc last rcgi- ment, perhaps might pass out Of sight; but no the ages of heaven do not march in a straight line, but in circle around about the throne of God; forever, forever. tramp trampl A soul so bought, so equipped, so provided for, must be priceless soul, a majestic soul a tremendous soul
 Now, you have seen the two properies-the world, the soul. One perishable, the other immortal. One unsaiisfying, the other capa- ble of ever increasing felicity. Win you tradel Win you trade event Remember it Is the only Investment you can make If a man sell a bill of goods worth five thousand dollars, and he IS cheated out of 1t, he may get five thousand dollars somewhere else; but a man who invests his soul, invests all. Losing that, he hoses all. Saving that. he saves all. In the light Of my text, it seems to me as if you were this morning offering your soul to the highest bidder; and hear YOU say: What s. lf fax ff .ax t.