The herald., 1894-06-25

results pass on beyond the years, be-
! yond the ages, beyond the sweep through
space Of dead world-on and on.
! through the unending in6nitude OF an
endless eternity-a battle not fought
with savage shout and club and spear,
not fought in the shock OF contending
armies, not fought in the roar OF the
volcano nor in the jar and crash OF the
earthquake, not fought even where the
eyes OF man are upon it, but alone, in
the hidden chambers OF the heart OF
man, DO eye beholding save the all-see'
ing eve of God. 1t Is the battle for q
human soul. There are tesrs In this
battle, and mothers prayers, and the
voice Of children pleading for their pa
rents. .
the human soul in such plight that bat
tie must or can be made over it? Why
did not He who made that soul, so make
it that its salvation should be secure,
and no possibility OF battling over its
salvation or its loss be necessary? do
not know. For ages men have asked
this question. and 10, the dim centuries
20 by, and the young earth grows old
and hoary. and yet the heavens give
back no answer to mans importunate
asking. God keeps his own counsels.
Yet this by the eye Of faith we see,
that back of 1t all, back of the tears, the
mothers praye the pleadings OF child
hood, is, not chaos or chance, OF cold,
heartless law but plan that has in it
somehow an infinite wisdom and o
fathomless love that back of, and be-
cause of, the battling and the possibility
| Of soul loss 10 also the possi biiity of soul
| cain nd hn hottItnU haao tIn IN
within that soul are possibilities of both
evil and good, and power to choose be.
tween; because we fad in the human
heart knowledge of right and wrong,
and free agency to choose the one or
the other, and because the good and the
evil cannot abide together. .
Was it ever different? The Scriptures
speak of time when it was different
when man was good, not evil when sin
had no power to battle within the hu-
man heart. And not the Scriptures
alone. but many, probably all, religions
of the world-the Brahman, the Parsee,
the savage OF the tar sess-all have
somewhere within their creeds this
thought. We may call it fable, idle
talk. superstition; we may sneer at it.
yet it 10 the heart OF man going back
with an instinct which ia wiser than our
wisdom, to q state somewhere, some.
time, long ago, when the heart OF man
was pure and sin did not wage battle
with good for its possession. But it is
not so now. .
What are the powers thus battling
for possession OF the human soul?
Men, religions, creeds. may dispute
over names, they agree upon other
things-on the one hand good, ON the
other evil. Back of the good the heart
OF mEn recognizes Him (Brahm, Or
MAID, Jehovah, Theos, Deus, Gott), who
Ia the essence Of good, the pure and just
God. Back OF the evil, come mslign
power which we call the evil one. And
each striving for the possession OF the
human soul.
And between them that soul, free
agent, with power to choose. All heaven
not strong enough to save it if it will
not; all hell too feeble to drag it down if
And what do they bid? Evil bids Of
the things OF this world, yet ever shAp-
ing the bid to the nature and the espe-
cial weakness of the one tempted; to
ambition, fame; to avarice. wealth; 20
hatred, revenge; to mans appetite, l9st
| anything to win that soul and drag it
down from the image of Gods purity.
Yet back OF the bid ia the fatal element
OF time; only for few years at most the
fame, the wealth, the revenge, the lusts,
and then the hour when all must be
gwen up, and the hush of the voiceless
tomb and eternity.
And good? 1t offers the joy of a clean
name, the peace OF q conscience void of
offense toward God and man. q dying
hour with no shadow Of dread hanging
like black pail over it, and an eternity
filed with that peace which psaseth an
derstanding. 80. i.
Young men, as you GO out from these
halls this lie the conflict before you. The
temptation will come. Whatever path
way OF life you may choose it will find
you.
You may choose the law. There will
come the hour when money and fame
are yours If you will advocate the cause
Of wrong. When that hour comes, re-
member, it is the price of your soul.
You may choose medicine. You may
say, "Surely the man who stands at the
bedside of the dying and watches the
gray shadows of death creep over the
face, surely he must be free from tempt
alton" Yet the hour will come when
money, which to you may mean COM
fort and success, will be offered to you
for the skill to do that which you know
to be wrong. 1t is blood money. Re-
member, it is the price of your soul.
You may choose business life, and
as you go upon Change you will have
men pointed out to you whose bank &C
counts foot up into the millions, and the
voice of the tempter will say, 1t is easy
to make money do not be too scrupu-
lous. You need not go beyond the line
which the world calls legitimate. Yet
in your heart you know it ia wrong.
Remember, it is the price OF your soul
You may occupy pulpit and preach
the gospel to Others. Surely, you will
cay, am safe here, No temptation can
come to me. Yet one, q man OF God,
wroe ages ago in fear and trembling,
Lest that by any means when | have
preached to others, myself should be q
castaway."
Prosperity and society and wealth
come to tempt one from the strictness OF
the divine message with which ne is
cemmissioned-to become an unfaithful
messenger OF God. And to him ia the
double dsmnstion, for he has led other
soHls astray. There is a pathway from
tine pulpit for a lost soul.
Upon whatever pathway OF life you
may enter the hour of temptation will
come, and you have power to choose
which course you will follow, for God
has made you a free agent, and your
SOULS your own.