Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-14
CHEATED BY THE WORLD
TALMAGE breaches A POWER.
Full SERMON AT TOPEKA.

eye Have Sold Yourselves for Naught
and Ye Shall Be Redeemed Withou
Money"-A Bad Bargain which Christ
Blood Alone Will Right.
DR.. Talmage preached at Topeka
Kan. The subject of the sermon fo
this week is, IA Poor Investment" ant
the text, Isaiah Iii, 8, Eye have sole
yourselves for naught; and We shall b
redeemed without money!"
The Lords people had gone headlone
into sin, and as a punishment they hat
been carried captive to Babylon The.
found that iniquity did not pay. Cyrus
seized Babylon, and felt so sorry fol
these poor captives that, without dol
lar of compensation, he let them &C
home. So that, literally, my text was
fulfilled. eye have sold yourselves fol
naught; and we shall be redeemed with
out money"
There is enough Gospel in this text fol
fifty sermons. There are persons here
who have, like the people of the text
sold oat. You do not seem to belong
either to yourselves or to God. The title
deeds have been passed over to ''the
world. the flesh, and the DEVIL" but the
purchaser never paid up. eye have sold
yourself for naught"
When a man passes himself over to the
world he expects to get some adequate
compensation. He has heard the great
things that the world does for man, and
he believes it. He wants $3.50, 900. That
will be horses and houses, and q summer
resort, and jolly companionship. To get
it he parts with his physical health by
overwork. He parts with his conscience.
He parts with much domestic enjoyment.
BE parts with opportunities for literary
culture. He parts with his SOUL And
so he makes over his entire nature to the
world.
He does it in four installments. He
pays down the first installment, and one
fourth of his nature is gone. He pays
down the second 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 have gone by he pays down
the fourth installment, and 10! his entire
nature is gone. Then he comes up to
the world and says: "Good morning. l
have delivered to you the goods. l have
passed over to you my body, my mind,
and my soul, and 1 have come now to
collect the $25O,OOO." 1.-Two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars?" says the world.
"What do you mean?" 'Well," you
say, 81 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. l am bankrupt
I cannot possibly pay that debt. l have
not for long while expected to pay it. -
'sWell," you then say, ''give me back
the goods" ''Oh, no. says the world,
''they are all gone. l cannot give them
back you." And there you stand on
the confines of eternity, your spiritual
character gone, staggering under the
consideration that s'you have sold your
self for naught."
tell you the world is liar; it does
not keep its promises. 1t is cheat, and
It 1eeces everything It can put it's
hands on. 1t is bogus world. 1t is q
Observation-Disclosures. Even If
it pays the $4,000 for which you con-
tracted, it pays them in bonds that will
not be worth anything in little while.
just as a man may put down $4,000 in
hard cash and get for it worthless scrip
so the world passes over to you the
$250,00O in that shape which will not be
worth farthing to you thousandth
part of second after you are dead.
'Oh," you say, cit 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 if all the wealth of the Bank
OF England were put Gin the pocket of
va g, nd Nd -, I1A Is 4.
Jordan of death were asked to pay 3
cents for your ferriage, you could not
do it. There comes a moment in your
existence beyond which all earthly
values fail; and many man has
wakened up in such time to find that
he has sold out for eternity and has
nothing to show for it. 1 should as
soon think of going to Chatham street to
buy silk pocket handkerchiefs with no
cotton in them as to go to this world ex-
pecting to find any permanent happi-
ness. 1t has deceived and deluded every
man who has ever put his trust in it,
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 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
trils, 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 declared after
ward 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 Con-
queror thought for little while that he
was making fine thing out OF this
world, and yet before he came to his
grave he wrote out this pitiful epitaph
for his monument: II am Cyrus. oc-
cupied the Persian empire / was king
over Asia. Begrudge me not this monu-
ment." But the world in after years
plowed up his sepulcher
The world clapped its hands and
stamped its feet in honor of Charles
Lamb, but what does he say? 81 walk
up and down, thinking l am happy, but
feeling l am not" Call the roll, and be
quick about it, Samuel johnson, the
learned! Happy? "No. l am afraid 1
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