The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-08-12

SlOLdl 0OClSlISo Il III PofOi
stricken. The missionary force in
the great cities. on the frontiers and
in heather lands could all be doubled
in twelve months if we had sufficient
means. This is true of all Christian
denominations. May God prosper the
people and then make them willing to
lay their gold at His feet!
Business men, I eXhort you in the
name of the King to be diligent and
self-denying and frugal that success
may crown your efforts; for no n
can estimate the good that your
wealth can do to yourself, to your
family, to society, and to the kingdom
of God in the world.
Let us now consider the perils Of
business success.
I have exhorted you to fidelity,
persistency, energy in your business
life. I have told you of the glory
which comes with wealth, but I would
be false to your highest interests if
I did not hold up before you some Of
the awful perils which confront the
man who makes q great success in
business.
What shall it profit a man If he
gain the whole world and lose his own
soul?" No man can gain the whole
world, or a millionth part Of the
world, but If he gained the whole Of
calamitous bargain. The text means
simply that in the effort to gain
wealth many forfeit their own souls.
The temptation Is to neglect the high
er for the lower, to give up the spir-
itual for the temporal, to give up the
unseen for the seen. How pitiful the
thought that men spend a lifetime in
the vain effort to corral the world and
find themselves at last without a soul.
What does it mean by losing ones
soul? The expression is not equiva-
lent to being condemned, though Of
course it leads to perdition. The soul
here spoken of by Jesus means the
faculty in man which ~apprehends God
and goodness. Jesus says that the
man who pays too much attention to
money getting Is apt to lose the fac
ulty by which he ~apprehends God and
spiritual things. He loses the faculty
because he refuses to use it. His a
is clouded so that he cannot see the
beauty Of God, and by and by through
a process of deterioration death comes
and the faculty is lost. Oh, men, do
not lose your souls! Keep your a
open to the voice of God. Keep your
heart attuned to the will Of God; but
alas, alas! some before me have al
most lost their souls. In seeking a
good thing they are giving up the
best thing.
Jesus said: ut is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom Of God" and, "How
hardly shall a rich man enter the
kingdom of heaven" There are many
perils about the gaining Of wealth
and the using Of it. We have all
seer the influence of wealth upon
character. Too often it makes the
humble man proud, the generous man
stingy, the charitable mar suspicious,
and the honest man dishonest. Some
times the man who makes the money
escapes the perils, but succeeding gen.
erations are almost inevitably cursed
by the wealth which they inherited.
The Master knew human nature per-
factly, and so He said, How hardly
shall q rich man enter into the king
dom of heaven" There is one way
to escape from these perils, and I
commend it to the rich, to those who
would be rich, and to all Christian
business men alike. Write the words
Of my text in the front Of your ledgers
and on the tablets Of your hearts:
Thou shalt remember the Lord thy
Cod, for it is He that giveth thee
cover to get wealth."