The age-herald., 1902-05-11
Dr. Talmage's Sermon.
BY REV. FRANK DEWITT TALMAeE, D. D.

| drive, all the steam yacnlS WiiiSh NOoiN ride at anchor in front of ones summer home Indeed, 1t looks as though to have 1 life interest in the world is not to be de- l spised even though we must surrender all at the brink of the grave
 .3ut Satan's offer is not so liberal ger one begins to rightly estimate the results. l The other day l was talking to repre- sentative of a great life insurance com pany. I said to him; 'I have horror of old age, weak and helpless. I do not want to be a worn-out minister, who has to preach to earn his daily bread When | I grow so old that the people would pre- Ter younger man to take my pulpit, l | would like to be able to resign my pas torate" After hearing me patiently this 1 life insurance agent answered: There would be no danger of that fl you only l had nttle money. When you become i sixty or seventy years of age, you could go to life insurance company and pur- chase an annuity. For a very moderate sum you could at that age secure an an nual income that would be sufficient to keep you from all want" But l answer ed: Suppose I could not pass medical examination? What then? " An re- piled the life insurance agent, you do not have to pass a medical examination. The older you are and the poorer your health the more anxious the company would be to get you to invest. As soon as you die the company will possess your principal"
 Satan in a similar way comes to man who In all probability will not live over five or ten or perhaps twenty years. and he says: My friend, you give me a mort gage on your eternal soul, to be fore , closed at your death and I will give you life interest in the world. I will give l you more food than you can eat. more clothing than you can wear, more houses 1 than you can live in, more money than | you can spend, and at your earthly de- mise I will not care for your money or your stocks but l will only demand and l take your immortal soul. Come now, l let us reason together. Are you an inn mortal man, with a soul which shall live on through the coming ages. with a soul | that shall stand by the cradle of unborn l millenniums, with a soul that shall yet witness this earth gasp and die of old l age, to enter into such contract? Read 1 the simple statement of the proposed agreement Ask yourself this momentous l question: What shall it profit man If he gain the whole world and lose his own l soul?'' and exercise the common sense God has given you.
 Possibilities For Happiness.
 Great. worldly possessions do not ne- cessarily imply life interest in happi- ness. Indeed, we believe those in the l ordinary walks of life have better possi- l bilities for happiness than those in the l higher walks The more influential one becomes the greater his responsibilities and anxieties.
 What was the happiest time of your life? You are now a great merchant or lawyer or physician or governor or sena- tor Is this your supremely happy mo- ment? No" you answer, "the happiest time of my life is not found in the pres ent, but in the past Now have riches, city mansion and a country home. These results of financial success do not bring me peace of mind and cont eminent The --appiest time of my life was when poor young man 1 lived on a small sal ary. Though my wages were not large I yet had enough to marry on. l won true, good, noble wife. We started out in two sman rooms The babies came one by one. The small salary was somehow able to stretch enough to furnish food and clothing for all. : We always had enough to eat. Our garments could defy any cold. Never were a pair of birds l happier matching out their eggs in l dovecot than my wife and l in our little nest. But now, instead of working as a mechanic ten ours per day, I am plan ming most of the time l am afraid the men will strike and the whole plant will
 
 overwork, will not let me sleep at night. l am worried because l fear that if I should die my children could not straight en out the estate. They might lose every thing" Indeed there Is but little pleas- ure in being rich and owning more houses than you can live in.
 That the advantages of wealth are ire quently overestimated Is peculiarly well illustrated in one of Dr. bio Lewis lec- fttr the capitalist get out of his millions than the man of hundreds gets out of his hun dreds? The millionaire cannot wear as he walks the streets a hundred coats, hundred vests, a hundred hats or a hum dred pairs of shoes. When he sits down at the table he cannot eat a whole roast OK, two or three barrels of pota toes couple of bushels of turnips-in fact he very rarely eats as much as his brother in poorer circumstances. When he dies, he requires no ten acre lot to bury him. The hole that his body will fill will be no larger than that required by the pauper who died in the poorhouSe. His eyes can penetrate no farther than mine, his ears can hear no better, his feet can run no faster, his life enjoyment Is no keener. Alexander T. Stewart, the mutimillion- aire merchant, said in response to the suggestion that, being a successful and wealthy man. he must be a very happy man, "All I get out of the world is my lodging, clothing and board, and, in view of the state of my health, the board is very poor" Cornelius Vanderbilt was out one day on a tour of inspection of his great railroad accompanied by Chauncey M. Depew. At about noontime the train was sidetracked to give a through train the right of way. MT. Van derbilt happened to look out oI the win dow of ..ls drawing-room car and saw one of his own track laborers sitting on the ground and keenly relishing a gener- ous ham sandwich, washing it down with copious drafts of coffee. MT. Vanderbilt turned to MT. Depew and said, "Chaun- cey, l would give all my millions if I could enjoy my meals as that man does his." At that particular time Mir. Van derbilt's diet was raw chopped beef and rice. Stephen Girard, the Philadelphia millionaire, once said: 'I do not value money for the mere pleasure of possess ing it. The only purpose I have since I made financial success is to work so hard during the day that when night comes I may be able to forget my existence in sleep" In the light of these testimonials ask you my hearers, does 1t pay to gain
 financial prosperity at the expense of l your immortal soul?