The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-10-01
PLEASURE AND
RICHES ARE Vain
Real Aim of Existence Should
Be to Make the World
Better.
SUNDAY is RALLY DAY
REV. S. A. HAYWORTH BEGINS
SERIES OF SPECIAL SERMONS.

yesterday was rally day at the East
Side Baptist church.. The pastor. Rev.
5. A. Hayworth, preached a rally SER
mon in the morning, and in the even
ing began series of sermons on Some
Great Bible Questions Answered.
Large audiences were present at both
services
The text for the morning sermon was
Matt. 6:33, Seek Ye First the Kingdom
OF God. Subject. First Things First"
Among other things, he said: Life is
SO complex and its activities so varied
that we need frequently to get on some
mount OF vision where we can set a
right perspective and see things in
their proper and relative Importance
Many are suffering under the maligni-
ty of false perspective. Trif1es are
magnified. The great aims and achieve
mentS OF life are Subofainated As an
Ill adjusted camera produces ar alb
normal picture. so a false perspectiVe
of life's values leaCs to the adoption of
false ideals and character is thus
ruined. Ambitions are conferred upon
the accomplishment of ignoble attain
ments. Secondary things are made pri-
mary. Jesus in this text utters a time
~ warning against this tendency.
THE first definite warning which this
message. of Christ brings TO nv soul is.
the danger of making pleasure the first
object in life. This is an old bIunder
which the early Greeks made. AWAY
back in the days of Greek philosophy
there was organized school of thought
which taught that the first considera-
ton In life ought to be pleasure rot
sensual pleasure. but the higher oIaas-
ures of art, literature and fIial and ma
ternal love. But this philosophy of life
soon passed through an evolution al d
naturally went into pessimism They
found that perfect pleasure could not
be realized since there is more of pain
than pleasure. These philosophers.
therefore. came to the conclusion that
1t was better to die than TO live; life
had no value to them-the supreme OBJ
Ject or life being impossible since un-
alleged happiness proved 20 be but a
dream This theory afterward deveI-
oped into epicureanism which vas
atheistical debauchery It's moral fruits
are seen in the Neronian period of his
tory, with which every student of his
tory is familiar. Suicide was an every
day occurrence amongst all classes.
and why not? According to this philos-
ophy life was of no value when pleas
ure ceased, and the shortest and east
est solution for ife'S difficulties was TO
end life This was the theory which
was dominant when Christ uttered
these words Seek We first the kingdom
of Cod He would have men seek
first the establishment of the rule of
righteousness, and he offered that as a
cure for the frivolity, the emptiness
and the vanity of the times.
Love of Luxury.
The second warning which grows
out of this text is the danger of max
ing the accumulation of wealth the first
al lie &c 4
and religious life Of the family When
this is made the first consideration, the
father has little time to give 10 family
lie. He is practically in many cases
a stranger to his own children The
old catechism, What is the chief end
of mann needs to be re-empha sized.
The chief end of man is 10 gIorify God
and enjoy him forever The answer
of many today is The chief end of
man is to make money and spend it
lavishly.' The mans Office is crgan-
lied around the thought Of getting a
fortune. The result is an abnormal life.
Ii is as Ruskin, that great pror net OF
England, said: The back is clothed
with purple and fine linen, while the
poor brain is dying for something TO
hide its nakedness; the body is faring
sumptuously every day, while the heart
is dying for the bread OF life; the
..
Christ's Substitute.
Jesus Christ opposed this neglect
of the soul. He pleaded for the inter-
est of the higher life. The wise man
is he who puts proper valuation upon
all these aims and lower pursuits, and
who adjusts the duties which belong
to each in their right relations. Men
say, L have no time TO devote TO the
roll criN he
life
THAT is to act as If YOU had no soul.
1t is sign of weakness TO plead one
duty as an excuse for neglecting an
other duty. for the highest obligation
is to so adjust your duties that there
will be no clash. If you have a soul
it is your duty to cultivate it. and the
fact that you are completely absorbed
in the performance of the duties of a
material nature. is not a valid excuse
for throwing your soul away.
Mans Paramount Duty.
According to the teaching of Jesus,
1t is our first duty TO seek the kingdom
of God, because by so doing we are
properly relating ourselves to God and
all his purposes for the redemption of
the race. Every man ought to have a
share in making this world a better
WOTlQs Seeking DTSJ the Kingdom
God makes paramount the reign OF
in the individual and in
the world. But seeking the kingdom
also properly relates us TO this world
Goodness is profitable unto all things
The ChriSt-to-centric life is the life
of real riches. Many people seem to
think that to become a Christian means
the subtraction from them OF the good
things of the world, whereas the very
opposite is the truth.
Removal of All Doubt
Membership In the kingdom of God
properly relates us TO the world TO
come. The question, Where will you
spend eternity?' is an important one
Lord Bolingbroke SAID that with him
death was but leap in the dark. No
man has ever said that who was a
Christian. Christianity solves satisfac-
toriIy to the Christian the question of
the hereafter. Therefore. let every man
whose heart is troubled with doubts |
and dismay enter the Christian life l
and true happiness Will attend his |