The Columbus journal., 1910-04-06
THE FATAL
EXCHANGE
D. REV. cHAS DIV. BR0WER
pasaos e Flfty.SseonA Aveaoe Csa
Uoeati00ao Chueh. Ausein, IL

For what shall II prom, man II he
hall gain tie whole world and lose his
| 'wn so;l?
Or what shall a man give In exchange
or his soul?-Mark S: 3G-31.
Few words are more familiar n the
business world than profit and loss,
Men 60 into business for profit: It Is
he object Of their thought. Of their
oil. They deal in the good which they
believe will produce profit. and II any.
hing IS handled at a loss II Is for the
sake OF maintaining market or for
some future advantage Will II pay?
Is the question ever on the lips. or.
What Is there In 1t for me?
Now. one of the striking character.
sites Of Jesus Christ was that he
.ooked back of the things that are
seen. back of the material to the un.
seen and spiritual. He knew absolute
" the right value of things. Money
had value. pleasure had its place.
food must be considered to its de.
gree Of necessity. but these all we're
secondary to the soul The person
using these things was of infinite
value. We deal too much with the
superficial. We are taken up with the
things that perish. We become in
volved with the lesser. even worthless
:hirgs of life: Jesus Christ never.
He was the light of the world and
sorely did the work of his day and of
our day need the illumination which
he brings to the relations of life. We
need to see as he saw II We are to Be
saved from fatal mistakes. So in
this matter of profit and loss Christ
realized perfectly the comparative
value Of the soul and the things to
which men gave their thought and
their lives. and II vas out of his in
finite wisdom that he uttered ths
warning conveyed in the question:
What shall ii profit a man II he gain
the whole world and lose his own
soul?"
Men were making the fatal exchange
every day when the question was
asked. and he who came to be thei.
Saviour saw and felt as no one else
Of earth ever did the tragedies OF such
lives. His question implied that the
soul Of man has greater value than
tie whole world of things.
The soul Is the immortal part OF
r,an. We understand by it here the
spirit. which has body. We are
children of God. with capacities for
him. fellowshipping with him.
growing In grace and knowledge.
serving his cause. rejoicing in heaven
y places. There can be friendship
With Christ here and forever. compan-
onships everlasting with all who love
him. So the spirit of man has "a
Dacity for degradation. suffering. use
essness in separation from the IA
her
And man has free will and can
'hoOse the evil. throw himself away In !
quests of worthless and destroying /,
hings. The loss of the soul is |
heme on which We naturally dread tn !
!well. The awfulness of such .
ragedy IS beyond our powers to ex-
'ress. But Christ. who is infinite wis
'om and love. solemnly warned mec |
Il the danger Of such a loss.
The soul IS lost when il IS awsY .
rom its place with Christ. like tbs /
heep that wandered away from TIA
lock. II Is lost when it Is out II
ervice. useless, doing no good In tao
;Orld, like the coin that rolled away.
The soul is lost when it is indiffer>
mt tn the Father and off in some f.'r
oUntry of evil wasting it's strength
nd goodness in shame. soon with rs.
lOrse TO be seeking for food with tb.1
wine. like the prCdi:al son.
We do not have to look far for 90.
NIPPLES Of the folly of men in exchaLT-
lg their souls for that which brini,
o profit. but only loss. There VIZ
ne rich young ruler. who went awJr
from Jesus when tt>
eacher showed him the way .,
terEai life as the way of love of Of
rs. He loved his money too muo',.
here was Judas, who, for paltI'y
andful of silver, betrayed his LORI.
id it pay? There was Plate. WIZ
power ard reputation an!
pplaUse to pustice. lie saved thess
linSs for few days and has beeN
randed as Infamous ever since L,
le early history of the church Ana
as and Sapphira made the same sac
money. Paul writes OF
lie who had been his companion amt
Id known the truth. "Demas hath
rsaken me. having loved this pres
It world
But Christ came to seek and to
We the lost. He was tempted like
We are. but never yielded. The
vii offered him the whole world.
me. pleasure. Christ sympathiZes,
arms over us. We all have sinned. :
It in him is forgiveness and strength
r the new life.
The fundamental work of Christ's
urch IS to preach and to witness tn
g gospel of his grace: to herald the
nth that by repentance and faith in
NJ the soul once exchanged for the
sts and prides and love of money
n come back to the Father and be
stored to beauty and service. .
A Prayer.