Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-24
ONLY ONE ANSWER
To the Question of the Importance Of
the Body and Soul
1T MATTERS LITTLE ABOUT ONE,
But Yet Most People Live for 1t to the
Neglect Of the Other.
REV. MR. HODGES WEEKLY SERMON
rwRIrTKN FOR THE DISPATCH


anlmal-we have a body. The Lords oues-
tion, which is better, which shall we ac-
count more valuable, the soul or the body?
would seem to be the easiest question in tie
world. There is only one answer to it It
answers itself.
1t is true that in the lives of men anoth er
answer seems often to be given. Some peo-
pie appear to be of the opinion that between
the body and the soul we should put the
body first; that he makes the most
OF life who is able to live like
well-fed and well-sheltered animal.
And We find people who seem to live like
norses, eating, working, sleeping, respecta-
Oily stabbed, content with their wages, and,
30 far as anybody can see, desirous of moth
Ing higher. And we find people who ap-
pear to live like squirrels, who, having a
nome OF their own and big pile of golden
beechnuts hidden away in hole they call a
Dank, are apparently Herewith content.
They seem to desire nothing more than a
merely animal comfort. But this is only
| an emphatic contrast between the real and
the ideal. Every human animal has some
where in his heart the answer to the Lords s
question.
| CANNOT HAVE PEACE.
/
looking down and not up, following the
baser aims of life, forgetting his divine
sonship and the heavenly possibilities that
are in him. paying no heed to that side OF
| his nature which differences him from the
animals, taking no thought for the eternal
| morrow, taking no care of his soul-no such
man is satisfied with himself In his heart
he Is uneasy, discontented, dissatisfied with
himself. And when we come to such a one
and say, in words hallowed by devout as
socIations and as true as truth: "Brother.
there Is light within thee; resist it and
| thou art misers BILE, follow it and thop art
happy" we speak straight to the heart of
that man. He knows that that is so. And
that irresistible response of every mans
heart is a testimony to the preciousness of
| the soul.
The most precious thing anybody has is
his soul. The body dies. This body is not
that body which shall be, except, poten-
TALLY, as seed is a flower. God will give
each of us another body, as it shall please
Him. We shall all be changed in body.
You may wear out your eyes with late
work or hard reading, but you will see
with perfect clearness, when you come to
look upon the face of Christ. You NAV not
hear very we'll in this body, but that will all
be changed-not note will be lost from the
orchestral harmonies of heaven. You NAV
60 out of this mortal life halt or manned,
but you will enter sound and whole into the
life immortal. The body will be changed.
THE SOUL DOESN'T CHANGE.
But that is not true of the soul. Death il
no physician for the soul. Out of this life
into the next, passes the soul-unchanged.
How it sobers one to think OF thatl On goes
the undying and unchanging soul-the blind
soul, blind still; the deaf soul, deaf still;
he that is unjust. unjust still; he that is
filthy, filthy still; he that is righteous. right
eous still. Draw a clear line, my brother,
among the good things of life, between the
temporary and the permanent. That |
which lasts is alone worth ANYTHING. That
which is temporary is like the pleasure of |
the prodigal. 1t is delightful for time.
but the end is safety and disgust and re.
gret and remorse. You can have success
and pleasure, plenty of it, il you put the
body first. You can enjoy yourself like
human animal. But you will be conscious
increasingly that that sort of thing cannot
90 on forever.
You will find yourself in moments of de- !
preston, in seasons OF reflection, thinking |
about the future. The crucial question |
which tests all that is temporary in human |
life is in two words-"and then?" You
will be rich, yes-and then? You will have |
good time, and surround yourself with |
pleasure-well, and then? You will retire |
from work and live in comfort-aud then? |
Out Of the dim background of the heart |
comes forward, step by step, into the light as
the years pass, this irresistible interrogation
with warning and questioning finger, ask
ing at hrst iaintly, and then louder and /
louder, always this inevitabIe-and then?
and then? Well, then what? You will
die. After all is told, what then? 1 must
die. And then what? You and must be
brought low some day and die. And then,
who has made the most Of lie? Then
which is of more value, soul or body. Then.
what has man profted, though he has
gained the whole world, il he has to lose
his own soul?
THE CREATORS LAW.
For here comes in another thought. This
soul of yours, this infinitely most precious
OF all the possessions that you have-you
may love it. You may love your soul. On
unchanged. Alone of all that you
have and are to-day, that will remain.
That Is why the next life depends so abso-
luteiy on tnis-because the soul passes on
unchanged. ALI the possibilities of future
misery grow straight out OF that truth. For
the punishments ofGod are not penalties,
but consequences. Punishment will follow
sin, not as in our world of human Justice,
but as In Gods world of nature. Punishment
will follow sin, as result follows cause. The
hre does not burn you, because God is angry.
When you fall, you do not break your arm
because God is angry. And God does not
make tnat persistent question-and then?-
fearful and unanswerable by you, because
God is angry. No; you may lose your soul,
put IL Will be absolutely your own act. |
Gods wise and loving law governing all
things in heaven and earth, simply declares
III you do this, that will follow.
lake 1t in the natural world. You NAV
lose your sight How? By not seeing, by
shutting your eyes, by keeping away rom
The light. You may lose the use of your ]
arm. Let 1t hang by your side six months
your mind-by not using it. You may lose
FOUR body-by not feeding it, or by giving
t wrong food, or by otherwise not using or |
nIsusing it. 1t is one of the great universal. :
Inevitable laws of God that we must fuse
md improve or lose"
THE SIN OF OMISSION.
So you may lose your soul. Do not think
you must do some act of deadly sin or live
in open and fragrant wicked
less in order to lose your soul. Is thers no
way OF committing suicide except by cut
ing ones throat or shooting oneself in the
read? Can't man starve himself to death?
That takes longer time, it is true; but
sn't man just as effectually dead at the
md OF 1t as If he had blown himself up with
dynamite?
Neglect your soul. Refuse to listen to its
7oice till it grows dumb. Turn away,
whenever, as In sermon, the voice of God
r. a. i = -