Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-08-14
"a POOR INVESTMENT"
THE SUBJECT OF TALMACE'S
TOPEKA SERMON.
From tho Texts Eve Have Sold
Yourselves for Naught and We
Shall re Redeemed without
Moneys Isaiah 80 "a Large
Gathering Listens 10 tho Great DE-
vine.

TOPEKA, Kan, Aug. Or. Talmage
reached this city yesterday in the
course of his Western trip. He was
warmly welcomed by the citizens who
came in large numbers to hear the
famous Brooklyn divine. The subject
of the sermon for this week is: "a
Poor Investment" and the text Isaiah
52:3: "Ye have sold yourselves for
naught; and ye shall be redeemed
without money"
The Lords people had gone headlong
into sin, and as punishment they had
been carried captive to Babylon. They
found that iniquity did not pay Cyrus
seized Babylon, and felt SO sorry for
these poor captiyes that, without n
dollar of compensation. he let, them GO
home. So that, literally, my text was
fulfilled: aye have sold yourselves for
nought; and we shall be redeemed
without oney."
When a man passes himself over to
the wo.ld he expects to ge5 some ade-
quate compensation. He has heard
the great things that the world does
for man, and he believes 1t. lie
wants two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. That will be horses and
houses, and summer resort and
jolly companionship. TO get IL he
parts with his physical health by
overworls. lie parts with his conscience.
lie parts with much domestic en- JOY
ment. He parts with opportunities for
literary culture. lie parts with his
soul. And so he makes over his entire
nature 10 the world. He does 1T in
four installments. lie pays down the
first installment, and one-fourth of his
nature is gone. He pays down the
sc ,ond installment, and one-half of his
nature is gone. He pays down the
| third installment, and three-quarters
of his nature are gone; and after many
years are gone by he pays down the
fourth installment, ald 10! his entire
nature is gone. Then he comes
up to the world and says ::
"Good- have delivered to
you the goods. l have passed over to
you my body, my mind, and my soul
and L have come now to collect the
S25O, 900" 1.-TWO hundred and fifty
thousand dollars?' says the world,
"What do you mean?' well" you
say, ~ come to collect the money you
owe me, and expect you to fulfill your
part of the contract" "But," says
the world, 81 have failed. 1 am
bankrupt. cannot possibly pay that
debt. have not for a long while ex-
pected to pay it," "NNell," you then
say, give me back the goods" "oh,
no." SAYS the world, "they are all
gone. / cannot give them back to
you" And there you stand on the
confines of eternity, your spiritual
character gone, staggering under the
consideration THAT you have soldyour
self for nought."
tell you the world Is liar; it does
not keep its promises. 1t is a cheat,
and it fleeces everything it can put its
hands on. 1t is bogus world. 1t Is
six-thousand-year-old swindle. Even If
it pays the $4,000 for which yea con-
tracted, it pays them In bonds that will
not be worth anything in little while.
Just as man may pay down $4,000 in
hard cash and get for it worthless
script-so the world passes over to you
the $25O,000 in that shape which will
not be worth farthing to you thou
sandth part of n second after you are
dead. ''Oh," you say, 1T will help to
bury me anyhow" Oh, my brother!
you need not worry about that. The
world will bury you soon enough from
sanitary considerations.
History tells us of one who resolved
that he would have all his senses graft
fed at one and the same time, and he
expended thousands of dollars on each
sense. He entered a room, and there
were the first musicians of the land
pleasing his ear, and there were fine
pictures fascinating his eye, and there
were costly aromatics RECALLING his nos
tril, and there were the richest meats
and wines, and fruits, and CONNECTIONS,
pleasing the appetite, and there was a
soft couch of sinful indulgence on
which he reclined; and the man de-
clared afterward that he would give
ten times what he had given if he could
have one week of such enjoyment,
even though he lost his soul by it! All!
that was the rub! He did lose his soul
by it! Cyrus the Conqueror thought
for little while that he was making
dne thing out Of this world,
and vet before he came to his
grave he wrote out this pitiful cpl
taph for his monument: II am Cyrus,
/ occupied the Persian Empire. i was
king over Asia. Begrudge me not this
monument" But the world in after
years plowed up his sepulchre.
The world clapped its hands and
stamped it's feet in honor of Charles
Lamb; but what does he say? 81 walk
up and down, thinking l am happy, but
feeling / am not" Cali the roll, and be
quick about it. Sauuel johnson, the
learnedl Happy? mo. i am afraid /
shall some day get crazy" William
Hazlitt, the great essayist! Happy?
"No. have been for two hours and a
half going up and down Paternoster
Row with a volcano in my breast. 4"
Smollet, the witty author Happy?
"No. am sick of praise and blame,
and 1 wish to God that had such cir
cumstances around me that / could
throw my pen into oblivion"
Buchanan, the world-renowned
writer, exiled from his own country,
appealing to Henry VIII for protec-
tionl Happy? "No. Over mountains
covered with snow, and through valleys
flooded with rain, come a fugitive"
Moliere, the popular dramatic author!
Happy "No. That wretch of an ac-
tor Just now recited four of my lines
without the proper accent and gesture.
To have the children of my brain 50
4 q