Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1901-11-11

one Sunday morning while we were
soldering IN Virginia, the announcement
vas circulated In our camp that there
would be preaching that morning in the
grove near our camp by Rev. DR.. Stiles,
4 venerable Presbyterian divine.
A considerable congregation assembled.
from ours and some OF the neighboring
camps. and were seated more or less
comfortably on the ground.
1t the appointed hour the preacher
arose and. after the usual preliminaries,
proceeded with the sermon He was tan
and erect with a long full beard which
vas. as was also his hair OF snowy
wilderness.
MS text was from Psalms F9-S. For the
redemption OF their soul Is precious"
He unfolded the subject to US in a clear
and forcible manner that admitted OF no
abatement Of interest from beginning 10
end. / have seldom ever listened 10 a
discourse that has been so deeply impress
ed upon my mind OF 50 lastingly retained
in my memory. for. although IL has been
nearly forty years ago. the imprint OF Il
upon my memory is still distinct. Al
though remembering the thoughts or
ideas. I have lost the words in which
they were so beautifully and appropriate
II clothed. end any attempt TO reproduce
them IN words OF my own choosing would
indeed II did not destroy them altogether.
I could not hope. at this late day, TO give
more than a mere outline OF the sermon
and 1 fear that even the outline viii be
badly misshapen and distorted
The term precious" he explained,
implies the highest possible degree OF
value and since the urredeemed soul Is
lost. 4 e.. incapable. IN its future state,
OF any happiness whatever and eonse-
cuentiy altogether worthless. the precious
ness OF its redemption Is equal to the
rreciousness Of the soul ITSELF therefore,
IN order 20 properly estimate the precious
ness OF value OF its redemption IL Is nee
essary TO inquire into the value Of the
soul.
ANY attempt to measure the value Of
tie soul BIZ the ordinary standards Of
value. gold and silver. disclOses such an
excess OF value in the commodity 10 be
measured over that OF the standard, that
no comparison is possible. And the same
diniculty Is encountered 10 a very great
extent. IN the use OF any human standard.
Tire NEST precious OF all our earthly pos
sessions. and consequently our highest
possible standard OF value Is human life,
and We can probably make our nearest
approach 20 a just conception OF the value
OF the soul BY comparing the spiritual
life OF the one. with the carnal life Of the
other. The value Of an article depends up
on its capacity for giving happiness to
its possessor and its durability. ANY two
commodities affording the same amount OF
happiness and equally durable. are equal
IN value. but IL equally durable and the
one yields more happiness than the 9TH
er, that one Is correspondingly more val
liable and vice versa. Tried by this
standard some human lives are more
valuable than others. because more happy
or more durable The happiness OF the
redeemed soul in heaven being perfect,
cannot OF course be equaled. or even APP
preached by that Of any human life on
earth: therefore the heavenly life OF the
one NAV be compared with the earthly
life OF the other. in regard 70 durability,
for the purpose Of attaining TO some faint
conception OF the souls rating.
II the eternal life Of the soul may be
divided into definite periods OF time. then
enc OF these periods equal IN duration to
that OF human life, is more valuable by
reason OF its more perfect happiness, than
that OF the human life, but such a period
as this is a very small part OF the eter-
nal life Of the soul.
Consequently our standard falls very
far short Of measuring the real worth OF
the soul, and in order TO extend IL we will
multiply the average length of a human
life BY 100 and find the aggregate num-
Der OF years OF 100 human lives. The
life OF the soul for a period equal in du-
ration TO ali this. IS worth more than the
leo human lives. and yet such a period
IN the eternal life is still iniinitesimally
small.
Our standard OF value, therefore. viii
have TO be very greatly increased again.
and for that purpose we win take the
entire number OF people in this state, in