The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-09-05
A BRIEF sERrON.
God and Ny Soul.

And when He drew near, seeing the city
He wept over it--Luke 10. a.
There Is no more pathetic sight than
Christ. the Master, shedding tears OF
sorrow over the ili-fatec city of Jerusa-
lem. As He came in from Bethany that
bright Sunday morning aud descended
the slope of Mount Oiivet He saw the
beautiful city, with its temple and mar
BILE palaces glittering in the morning
sdn. s,s.s
With His divine mind He, remem-
bered all that He had done through q
Thousand years and more for His
chosen people, how He had segregated
them apart from the rest Of the world,
How He had followed after them 10
their wanderings, had called them
back within paths Of rectitude and had
watched over them with the fondest
care. so that He could say, 'sWhat
more is there that could have done?''
and stili, after all. they were about 70
reject Him and condemn Him to an
lignominious death. The thought OF II
all overpowered His human feelings,
and He sat down by the roadside and .
flood OF tears filed His eyes aud chok-
ing sob constrained His voice and an
Oppressive sorrow filed His heart
| The city of Jerusalem Is a type Of the
human soul. Beautiful beyond CON-
pare is the soul. .sThou art all fair and
I viii tx mine eyes on thee" 1t has
been the object OF solicitous care in the
divine mind from all eternity. The
wealth Of divine grace has been Law
ished on it. The providence Of God
has watched over It In all its wander
ings, in the paths OF iniquity as we'll as
in virtue, and no desire Is deeper in the
divine thought than that it shall enjoy
teternal beatitude-
In pagan times there was no account
taken OF human souls Most men vert
but animals, with few, II any, rights
land were treated as such. Ancien,
history Is very largely catalogue oI
Icrnelties. Amenman. the librarian o.
Rameses, asks, "what is the life Of 9
lpessant?" and he compares him TO the
locust, which may be killed by the
thousands. The Assyrian monarch
wrote on the stones OF Nineveh: al tool
as prisoners men, young and old. o
7some cut of the hands and feet; other,
I mutilated. Ofyoung mems ears made
la heap and of old mems skulls tower
lchildren I burned in the fiamee." Pa
iganism set no value on human life, be
cause it did not recognize the worth o
the human soul. and IL was not unit
the Christian religion proclaimed th,
Idivine creation and the supernatura
redemption of man that the tremendou
value of human life was recognized ant
the marvellous worth OF the indisidua
soul as such was affirmed.
The cent al teaching of Christianft,
is that the human soul Is of infinit'
value. II makes no difference whethe
II be the soul of the magnificent Leo o.
that of the most despised slave, it Is o
Infinite value, and its ruin and eterns
loss draw tears Of sorrow from the Go,
who came from heaven to redeem 1t.
The human soul, that which each o
US possesses and which makes rs wha
we are. is, first OF all, the handiwork o
iGod. IL Is created by an architect o
infinite wisdom, whose artistic re
Limitations placed to His ability Il
forming so beautiful thing, and H
utilized the wealth of His power L
Il To- 10 ia L. HI rla
to form It by, but He made It unto Hi
Iown image and LIKENESS little les
than the angels, crovning it with homo
and glory. The sacred word speaks @
its creation as the breathing ont Of tn
being OF God. The body of man wa
formed from the slime of the earth, bp
tGod breathed into It's face the breath {
flife, and man became 3 living being
> The first time God breathed,. the wor
THAT he spoke was the Son of God, eaus
with the Father in all things. 90
breathes again, and this time IL IL
Human soul that is formed. Finall.
not only Is mans soul created by .
iomnipotent God and watched over by
: solicitous providence, but IL is destine
TO live forever. As soon as we attac
the note OF immortality to the meanei
thing 1t becomes of wondrous worth. .
lfiower, though It Is an exquisitel
beautiful thing, still, because it fade
1 tomorrow, We think little of it; b,
give It an everlasting life, and 1t b
comes of infinite value. The soul wi
Hive forever, though the things abo,
ms come and CO. They have the
periods Of birth, perfection and deca,
enne. Still, my soul will meyer die.
Little wonder that God came fro
the skies TO redeem it. Little wond,
that the consuming thought OF His Ii
was that the wandering sheep of the 70
OF Israel might be brought back. Lift
wonder that He stood by the we'll ar
talked with the Samaritan woman az
!, told her 'sall that she had done" T" tn
} He received the penitent Magdalen ar
) forgave her all her sins because "sl
2 had had loved much, or that He wres
! led with the spirit Of pride and obsti
I acy in the Scribes and Pharisees 4
! three long years that He might W
Z them back. Finally, little wonder tn
( His last cry amid the agonies OF Il
I lcross was, 'T thirst" II was q thir
\ for souls that consumed Him. II W
a burning desire to bring the wor
y back TO God that parched His thros
! II was an all consuming passion !
: mans salvation that finally broke Z
heart.
: God and my soul After all. when !
get all the things OF this life In the
\ proper perspective there are but u
Z big things In this world. They q
God and my soul. Everything else m
( slip from my grasp aud be iestroye
( My good name may be injured by sls
Z der, my wealth may be consumed
Z Ere, my health may be ruined by sic
{ ness, and after death has stripped l
( OF everything there remain but I