Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1891-08-21
REV. Or. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SIN
DAY SERMON.
SUBJECT: GA POoR INVESTMENT.
PREACHED At TorExA, KANl

TEXT: aye hare sold yourselves for
ndtght; and We shall be redeemed toithout
money. Isaiah iii, 3.
The Lords people had gone headlong into
sin, and as punis shment they had been car
ried captive to Babylon. They found that
iniquity did not paw. Cyrus seized Babylon
and felt SO sorry for these poor captives that,
without dollar Of compensation, he let
them go home. SO that, literally, my text
was fulfilled. "Ne have sold yourselves for
naught; and ye shall be redeemed without
money"
There is enough Gospel in this text for
fifty sermons. There are persons here who
have, like the people Of the text, sold out.
You do not seem TO belong either to your
selves or TO God. The title deeds have been
passed over TO ''the world the fesh, and the
devil" but the purchaser never paid up,
"Ye have sold yourselves for naught."
When man passes himself over TO the
world he expects TO get some adequate CON-
pensation He has heard the great tn hngs
that the world does for man, and he be-
lieves it. He wants two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. That will be horses AMI
houses, and a summer resort and Jolly COM
panionship. To get it he parts with his
physical health by overwork. He parts
with his conscience. He parts with much
domestic enjoyment. He parts with oppor
tunities for literary culture. He parts with
his soul. And so he makes over his entire
nature to the world
He does 1t in four installments. He paws
down the first installment and one fourth OF
his nature is gone. He pays down the second
installnlent and one-half Of his nature is
gone. he pays down tho third iustalment,
and three-quarters of his nature are gone,
and after many years have gone by he pays
down the fourth installment and 10 his en-
tire nature is gone. Then he comes up to the
world and says: Good morning l have
delivered to YOU the goods. | have passed
over to you my body, my mind and my soul,
and have come now to collect the two hun
dred and fifty thous nd dollars Two
hundred and fifty thousand dollarsy' says
the world. What do you melny' Well
you say, Il come to collect the money you
owe me, and | expect you to fulfli your part
Of the contract" But says the world, II
have failed. am bankrupt cannot pos
sbly pay that debt | have not for a long
time expected to pay it." We'll" you then
say give me back the goods" yOh, no."
says the world, they are all gone. cannot
give them back to you" And there you
stand ON the confines of eternity, your spirit
ual character gone staggering under the
for naught.n
tell you the world is liar 1t does not
keep its promises. 1t is cheat and it
heeces everything it can put its hands on.
1t Is a bogus world. 1t is a six-thousand-
year-old swindle. Even IL it pays the two
hundred and Atty thousand dollars for
which you contracted, it pays them in bonds
that will not be worth anything in a little
while Just as a man may pay down ten
thousand dollars in hard cash and get for it
worthless scrip-so the world passes over to
you the two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars in that shape which will not bs worth
afarthing to you thousandth part Of sec
ond after you are dead. oh" you say, lit
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.
Post mortem emoluments are OF no use to
you. The treasures Of this world will not
pass current in the future world, and IL all
the wealth OF the Bank OF England were put
in the pocket Of your shroud and you in the
midst Of the Jordan Of death were asked to
pay three cents for your ferriage, you could
not do il. There comes a moment in your
existence hey ond which all earthly values
fail and many a man has wakened up in
such time TO find that he has sold out for
eternity and has nothing 10 show for it. l
should as soon think Of going to Chatham
street to buy silk pocket haudkerchiefs with
no cotton in them, as TO 60 TO this world ex-
pecting TO find any permanent happiness. 1t
has deceived and deluded every man who
has every put his trust in it.
History tells us OF one who resolved that
he would have all his senses gratifie1 at one
and the same time, and he expended thou
sands OF dollars on each sense. He entered a
fhaFa HFst n
the land pleasing his ear, and there were fine
pictures fascinating his eye, and there were
costly aromatics regalng his nostrils and
there were the richest meats and wines and
fruits and confections pleasing the appetite,
and there was a soft couch OF sinful indul
gence on which he reclnej and the man de
clared afterward that he would give ter
times what he had given If he could have on
week of such enjoyment, even though he los
his soul by it! All that was the rub II
did lose his soul by it, Cyrus the conquerol
thought for little while that he was max
ing a fine thing out of this world, and ye
before no came to his grave he wrote ou
this pitful epitaph for his monument: q
am Cyrus. / occupied the Persian empire
/ was king over Asia. Begrudge me no
this monument But the world in afte
years plowed up his sepulcher.
The world clapped its hands and stampe
its feet in honor OF Charles Lamb; hut wha
does he sayf II walk up and down, think
ing am happy, but feeling am not" Ca
the roll, and be quick aboutit Samu,
johnson, the learnedl aappy' mo. lar
afraid | shall some day get crazy. vii
lam Hazlitt, the great essayistl Happy
NO. have been for two hours and a hal
going up and down Paternoster row with
volcano in my breast" Smollet, tho witt
authorl Happy? mo. | am sick of prlls
and blame, and | wish to God that / ha
such circumstances around mo that | coul
throw my pen into oblivion" Buchanan
the world renowned writer, exilei from hi
own country, appealing to Henry VIII 10
protectionl Happy? mo Over mour
tains covered with snow, and through va
leys flooded with rain, | come a fugitive
Moliere the popular dramatic authorl Har
py? mo That wretch OF an actor Jus
now recited four Of my lines without tn
proper accent aud gesture. To have tn
children OF my brain so hung, drawn an
quartered tortureS me Ike a condemne
spirit"
| went to see a worllling die. As wen
into the hall | saw its ao0r was tessellate
and its wall was picture gallery. foun
his death chamber adorned with tapestr
until it seemed as il the clouds Of the settn
sun had settled in tho room. The man ha
biNcu lbl bN 1CuiS W ~ WDTll-0lS VIII, n
time, his genius, his talent, his soul. Did th
world come in 70 stand by his deathbsd an
| clearing Off the vials OF bitter medicine, pu
| down any compensation? Oh. no The worl
| does not like sica AMI dying people an
| leaves them IN the lurch. 1t ruined th
man and then left him He had maynit
cent funeral. All the ministers wore scarf.
anG tnere were forty-three carriages in
row; but the departed man appreciated nc
tho obseq lies,
/ want TO persuade my audiencs that tn
world is a poor investment that it does nj
pay ninety per cent. OF satisfaction, nc
eighty per cent, nor twenty per cent, nj
two per cent. nor one; that it gives no solaC
when dead babe lies on your lap; that
gives no peace when conscience rings i
alarm; that it gives no explanation in Il
day OF dire trouble; and at the time OF you
decease it takes hold fthe pillow case an
shakes out the feathers, and then jolts dow
in the place thereof sighs and groans ar
execrations, and then makes you put yol
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