The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-02-22
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY StRMON 6I
Or, DONALD SAGE MAcKkY.
Subject: How to Grow a Soul.

New York City.-sunday morning. in
the Collegiate Church, the Rev. DR..
Donald Sage Mackay preached on
'How to Grow Soul" The text was
from II Peter iii:1S: "Grow in grace
and in the knowledge Of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ" Dr.. Mackay
said:
In the course of my reading the other
evening came across this striking ana
suggestive sentence. eve can each
grow soul if We are willing to pay
the price" These words set me think
ing. What tremendous possibility
God has placed in the grasp OF each
one Of US. We have in our power the
opportunity of growing an Immortal
soul. That opportunity is this life-the
question is, Are We willing to pay the
price?
Do we realize what the growth OF
soul within US means? Do we reallze
what life is without soul? We hear
It sometimes said of one that he is a
"soulless man." Usually we under
stand by that description a man de-
void of the ordinary feelings Of our
common humanity. lacking in klndll-
ness and sympathy. and incapable of
generous action. True enough. but
seulless man in the real import Of the
words, means a great deal more than
that. To be soulless is to be dead at
the vital centre Of life. 1t is to be cor
rupt and degenerate at that point in
character from which the divine and
immortal springs into power. Soul
lessness is spiritual degeneracy. 1t
is what Paul calls Dead in trespasses
and sins. without hope and without
God in the world"
Is it worth while. then. paying any
price if we can start within ourselves
this growth Of an immortal soul? 1--WE
can each grow q SOUL" said the writer,
''if we are willing to pay the price.
Assurelly it is worth it. for this is
the one and the only victorious life"
More than that-thiS is the heart or
all true religion. If our religion is not
developing spiritual life within US our
religion is vain. That is the great
thought of Christ's teaching, and In
that He has emphasized the deepest
thought of all the great teachers or
the world. You may remember, Tor IN
stance, the words Of Socrates in his
Defense, addressed to his accuserS,
when in.describing the greatest work
man could do he said, "For do moth
ing but 60 about amongst you, persuad-
ing you all alike, young and old. not TO
take thought of your persons or your
properties, but to care about the great
est improvement of your SOUL" IMAM
that statement Of the great Greek
teacher the Gospel Of Christ can add
no stronger emphasis to the tremen-
aous significance which belongs to the
growth Of a soul.
And yet it is just at this point that.
for most Of us. the real tragedy OF
spiritual experience unveils itself.
What is it that most troubles you in
your religious life, if at any moment
your give yourself to honest self-exam-
ination? What is the real discourage
ment that haunts us even in our Keen
est prayers and most fervent suppilca-
tions?. Is it not just this-our utter
poverty in soul. growth, the dreadful
lack of any real evidence of progress IN
spiritual things? Judged by the or
dinary standards of life our souls do
not grow. At the very best they sim
ply stand still, 80 that spiritually, even
the best Of us, are pretty much as we
were fifteen or twenty years ago, with
the same tendencies dominant. the
same temptations present. With others
Of Us it is worse than that. IN spite
Of eur prayers and aspirations we are
cSnecious. when we are brave enougn
to face the fact, that spiritually we
grow more stunted and dwarfed as the
wears pass on. Our faith becomes less
fervta, the spirit Of prayer dwindles,
the sense of God evaperates IN the
stihlng atmosphere Of selfshness anu
worthless that wraps itself like sea
fog around US. That, repeat, is the
spiritual tragedy that plays itself out
I'm the secret places Of our lives; sp1r-
ituaily we do not grow as we ought;
our souls lack that touch Of life which
reveals itself in ever deepening
strength and power.
Well, now having faced this two-fold
fact-on the one hand that each OF Us
can grow a soul if he is willing to pay
the price, and on the other hand that
this soul-growth is not being realized
within us as it ought-let US see this
morning what are some OF the cond1-
tions in obedience to which sou;-srowth
may become glorious reality for each
one Of US. 80.
l. Let US recognize in the first place
what the soul is, what it represents.
By the soul, we mean something deep
er than "the machine which ticks IN
the brain, that calculates and memor-
ICES, that learns the tricks of trade,
and practices them in the world" That
is not your soul, although 1 dare say
st is the only apology for a soul some
of us have. The soul is that in you
and me- which has kinship with God.
1t is the chamber in which the divine
and immortal within us dwells. The
soul is the holy of holies in mans
life. It is as Paul says. 'The Temple
of the Holy Ghost" When, for IN
stance. you feel at times, as surely at.
times we all do, an almost overpower-
ing yearning after God. to know Him,
to be like Him, it is your soul that is
speaking. It is the immortal within
YOU, crying out for its kinship with
God. The vitality of your soul. there