DR. SCHAEFPER'S SERMON
ON Sunday morning, Oct. 29, at the regular Chapel service, the
students and friends of the College had the pleasure of listen-
ing to an excellent sermon by the Rev. Dr. Nathan C. Schaef
fer, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Dr. Schaeffer's
subject was the " Human Heart," or the " Inner Life of Man,"
and his discourse was based upon the text found in the fourth chap
ter of Proverbs : ". Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for out of
it are the issues of life." The sermon was a thoughtful and
earnest plea for the integrity and the.purity of the inner life.
Dr. Schaeffer first commented upon the various meaning in
which it is customary to use the word heart, and upon the fre
quent occurrence of this•word in the Holy Scriptures. It is uni
formly and consistently used in practically the same sense
throughout the Bible. " When God demands of us a
change of heart," said the preacher, " his demand means
something more than a change in the realm of sensibilities, in the
domain of human feeling. In its Biblical sense, the heart means
the deepest core, the inmost centre of man's life. In this sense,
the heart becomes the very treasure-house of human life."
Can we be sure that we generally know our own hearts ? As a
matter of fact, do we consciously concern ourselves much about
the activities of the soul ? Do we give enough thought to the
moral significance of our actions ? Do we strive to " keep our
hearts with all diligence ? " A number of instances from the
Bible were cited to enforce and illustrate the preacher's thought.
When King Hezekiah, for example, was passing through his
period of sudden penitence and speedy return to sin, did he recog
nize the moral quality of the change that was going on in his in
most heart ? His death-bed repentance was sincere ; but when
he escaped death and recovered, he again admitted the wicked
emissaries into the very treasure-house of his soul ; he again
riveted the affections of his heart upon the things of this world.
Again, when Christ told the rich young man that he must sell
his goods and give to the poor,. did the youth realize how such an