The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-05-15
1 PERTINENT QUESTION.
An Interesting Sermon by Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage.
As We Can Not Live Our Lives Owe
Again, Let Us Atone for the Past
by RedOubled Holiness
and Industry.

Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage on the sub
ject: "Would You Like to Live Your
Life Over Again" His text was;
All that man hath will he give for is
iife.-Job H., 4.
That is untrue. The Lord did not say
it, but Satan said 1t to the Lord, when
dicted. The record is: $50 went Satan
forth from the presence of the Lord and
smote Job with sore boils." And Satan
has been the author of all eruptive dis
eases since then, and he hopes by pois-
oning the blood to poison the soul. But
the result of the diabolical experiment
which left Job victor proved the falsity
of the satanic remark:
ALI that man hath will he give for his life.
Many a captain has stood on the
bridge of the steamer till his passen-
gers got off and he drowned; many an
engineer has kept his hand on the throt-
tie valve or his foot on the brake until
the most of the train was saved, while
he went down to death through the open
draw-bridge; many a fireman has
plunged into a blazing house to get a
sleeping child out, sacrificing his own
life in the attempt, and thousands of
martyrs have submitted to fiery stake
and knife of massacre and headsman's
axe and guillotine rather than surren-
der principle, proving that in many a
case my text was not true, when it says:
All that a man hath will he give for his life
But Satan's falsehood was built on a
a. 70 10 nd
would not give up all there are many
things we would surrender rather than
surrender it. We see how precious life
is from the fact that we do every thing
to prolong it. Hence all sanitary regu-
lations, all study of hygiene, all fear of
drafts, all water-proofs, all doctors, all
medicines, all struggle in crisis of acci-
dent. An Admiral of the British navy
was court-martialed for turning his ship
around in time of danger and so damag g.
ing the ship. 1t was proved against
him. But when his time came to be
heard he said:
Gentlemen, I did turn the ship around
and admit that it was damaged, but do
you want to know why / turned it?
There was man overheard, and 1
wanted to save him, and l did save him,
and consider the life of one sailor
worth all the vessels of the British
navy"
No wonder he was vindicated. Life
is indeed very precious. Yes, there are
those who deem life so precious they
would like to try it again. They would
like to go back from seventy to sixty,
from sixty to fifty, from fifty to forty,
from forty to thirty, from thirty to TWEEN
ty. I purpose for very practical and
useful purposes, as will appear before
get through, to discuss the question
we have all asked of others, and others
have again and again asked of US, would
you like to live your life over again?
The fact is that no intelligent and
right-fearing man is satisfied with his
past life. We have all made so many mis-
takes, stumbled into so many blunders,
said so many things that ought not to
have been said, and done so many things
that ought not to have been done, that
we can suggest at least ninety-ive per
cent. of improvement. Now, would it
not be grand if the good Lord would say
to you:
You can go back and try it over
again. will by word turn your hair
to brown or black or golden, and smooth
all the wrinkles out of your temple and
cheek, and take the bend out of your
shoulders, and extirpate the stiffness
from the joint and the rheumatic twinge
from the foot, and you shall be twenty
one years of age and just what you were
when you reached that point before. -
It the proposition were made think
many thousands would accept it. That
feeling caused the ancient search for
what was called the Fountain of Youth.
the waters of which taken would turn
the hair of the octogenarian into the
curly locks of boy, and however old a
person who drank at that fountain he
would be young again. The island was
said to belong to the group of the
Bahamas, but lay far cat in the ocean.
The great Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce
de Leon, fellow voyager with Columbus,
have no doubt felt that if he could
discover that Fountain of Youth he
would do as much as his friend had done
Al AASSONNAAuS 90 ne DuG out
in 1912 from Porto Rico and cruised
about among tho Bahamas in search of
this fountain. / am glad he did not find
it.
There is no such fountain, butif there
were and its waters were bottled up and
sent abroad at one thousand dollars a
bottle, the demand would be greater
than the supply, and many man who
has come through life Of uselessness,
and perhaps sin, to old age would be
shaking up the potent liquid, and if he
were directed to to take only a tea
spoonful after each meal would be so
anxious to make sure work he would
take tablespoonful, and if directed TO
take tablespoonful would take a glass
full. But some of you would have to 90
back further than to twenty-one wears
OF age to make fair start, for there are
many who manage to get all wrong be-
fore that period. Yes, in order to get a
fair start some would have to go back
to the father and mother and get them
corrected; yea, to the grandfather and
grandmother and have their life cor
rected, for some of you are suffering
sfrfra bod hoa<s1 4,.,,r - $780,