Norwich bulletin., 1916-10-16

prophet indicates that swift and sum mary punishment is on it's way. And will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haushti- ness of the terrible" Then comes the outline of the punishment: T will make man more rare than fine gold. even a man than the pure gold of cerned about gold than men: you shall have your wish. Gold indeed shall ye have, but while reaching for gold your men shall perish by the de vastation of war until it will be diff cult to find man.
 King Midas lusted after gold and desired that everything he touched might turn into gold. His passion was satisfied in the fulilment of his one great wish. but inadvertently he touched his beloved daughter and she too turned to gold. He had not reck- oned on this, and great indeed was his sorrow. So with Babylon. She wanted gold and gold she obtained, but mean while, that which is ever more pre- cious than gold slipped through her fingeTS-her men upon whom she de- pended for her defense.
 Of what use is gold when there are no people? All material things are simply a means to an end and not an Snd 1n InSH1SelNpS. NO one SdH SNSI visit New York city without being i'm pressed with it's gigantic .naterialism. There it stands an enormous thing, far beyond the comprehension of even those who have lived there all their lives. Suppose that tomorrow you should reach that greatest of all cities and find no people in the streets or in the stores or anywhere to be seen. Can you at this moment imagine anything more startlingly weird and solemn and mysterious and ghostlike than that magnificent metropolis tenantless
 And yet this was just the kind of logic upon which Babylon had en- tered. Material power minus men. So the words which I am using s a text ars words of warning: But there is another sense in which they may be used, as a prophecy of coming good rather than a forecast of approaching doom. I will make a man more pre- cious than gold. In other words, in the high cost of living or the cost of high living there is an element to be properly consider, and that is the price of a soul
 Jesus raised the question as to what a man could give in exchange for his soul. Almost everything else has an exchange value-a price that stands soul.
 There has never been a time in the history of the world when human life was held so cheaply as at present.
 It is an age of machinery. A con trivance of wheels and levers takes the place of a dozen men. Here and there you will find a man with his hand on a lever. But for the most part in this new order of things man is a mere incident, a tiny cog in the mechanism of things. There are thou sands of suicides committed on this very assumption. that human life is of small account; that one less would not be noticed.
 But if this is true, it Is ,,lso a fact that it is not universally true. but that there probably has never been time when human life counted for more than at the present
 There are danger signals everywhere and organized efforts to protect hu- man life. A little girl at the mouth of the mines picked up two small pails but in reality filled with that terrible explosive-nitro glycerine. Trippingly she went along with her burden, thinking she was conferring favor in taking water to the thirsty men who had called for drink. One of the men. her own father, induced her to put the pails down very carefully and so what might have been a. terri ble explosion was averted. But the men were so unnerved that they were ordered to quit work TOT the Qay. All because they were concerned for the safety of a single human life, and that of little girl who had taken only humble place in the life of the com munity. It would not be difficult to multiply instances. All our modern life is filled with them. What is that which ties up the traffic of a street and finally blocks the currents of city's life? A human being hurt.
 And how has this spirit of consider ation for mankind's value come about? I answer, through Him who has taught the world how precious to the heart of God Is man.
 But mans preciousness Is, due not to his physical and material life so much as to his moral and spiritual na- ture. High living. in other words, is not simply a matter of rich food and expensive clothing and fine automo- piles and all the other things that money may secure, but the high liv- ing that I wish to emphasize tonight Is the living by which we arc permit ted to serve God and help our fellow men.
 That has It's price-fts cost as all worthy things have. The price is the personal acceptance of and devotion to Jesus Christ as mans best friend and Saviour.
 Phoebe Carey was once very highly oonplimsnted on her exaited Chris. tfan oharacesr ~oh. IF onfv had