Morning journal and courier., 1883-08-20
The One Thing Needfu1.

Sermon by the Rev. pr. wayland. of
 Philadelphia, at the First Bapt1st
 Church Yesterday.
 At the First Baptist church yesterday morning the Rev. Dr. Wayland, of Philad el- phia, brother of Professor Wsyland of the Yale Law school, preached an instructive and impressive sermon, taking as his text the words found in Mark 1.21, ''One thing thou lackest." The preacher considered three topics, the inquiry, the answer and the event. As to the first point he said that the inquiry was made by man in the flush of youth, when he felt the ambitions that every young man feels. In youth our dreams are lofty, we are full of high resolves. Youth arouses hope, and it's folIies and weaknesses in spire at the same time our. sympathy and deepest regret. We can more easily for give the sins of the young than the old, but they sadden us perhaps more keenly. The young man of the text was In every respect, as his ne1ghbors ana friends esteemed it, an upright young man. His morality was attested by the fact that he held the position of ruler even in his youth. He was not one of those young men who affect disbelief in God and their own souls and go about trying to persuade others of their wisdom by their arguments for setting aside everything their fathers held in highest reverence. This young man wanted to be regarded as an enquirer. He saw something in Christ that was divine and felt that he would be able to tell him about the eternal life. He felt in his heart an aching void and longing for something which he believed Christ could satisfy. So this high-born, wealthy, influential young man came and knelt at the feet of the lowly, poor journey man carpenter. And who of us has not felt Xfo af supremest desire unsatisfed2 An, there is no rest and no happiness pntil the longing of the heart is satisfied, until the great question is answered.
 Christ's answer was startling to his ques- tioner, it is startling to us. It was doubtless hard thing to ask, yet it was the one thing needful for the young man to do. The lack of one thing may be the lack of one or of all. Suppose you are tracing ancestry, and one link in the line is wanting, one proof, one document missing, it destroys all. One weak link in a chain causes the whole to give way with, it might be, disastrous conse- quences. The lack of one thing may alter the whole course of 8 mans life. The lack of one thing ruined the young man of the text. Our Lord, loving him, told him of his fatal error. How different friend was Christ from our earthly friends, who keep the truth from as when they see it plainly. And Christ intended to give the young man precept
 
 not intend to destroy the right of property by telling his followers to give up all they had, but he put the test upon his young friend, who was very amiable. very kind. very moral, but whose love of riches was a fatal defect, 3 weak ness of character he could not overcome. I once knew a young man who was very fond of chess. He played great deal and conducted the chess column in the local paper. He became anxious about his soul. He read the Bible and prayed earnest ly for salvation and for forgiveness, but his heart was not easy until he had thrown away his chess board and wholly given up his best loved sport. Not that there is anything wrong in chess, but the excessive love of it may stand in the way of one unless he can give it up if it seems necessary. If one says of any pleasure or worldly desire: 'T cannot give it up," God replies: ''Oh, nay child, that is just what you must give up." It is often necessary for us to prove our love for God by very hard sac- rifices.
 The event; the young man went away. He did nothing violent. He didn't swear, he did not say 8 contemptous word. He went away sadly, reluctantly, greatly grieved. But he was coVetous, he loved riches, he was worldly. Covetousness is one of the most dangerous sins because it is concealed from the sinner himself as we'll as from others. If a man is drunkard he may conceal his sin for while from others, but he knows it himself. A man may be pure in life, kind in his family, upright in his business, regular in his attendance at church, an upholder of charitable enterprises, but this one fatal de- feet will drag him down. He may lack one thing, but that may be as though he lacked all. The fate of the young man is unknown to us, but we are justified in believing that he is wandering in sthe recesses of eternity with sad thoughts and bitter regrets for the man he might have been. To each one of us the man I might have been will be our darkest, saddest thought unless the man might have been is the man am. Christ is the only one who perfectly reconciled the two, but many have done it in varying degrees. A young man who had graduated from college and had gone through a preliminary study of medi- cine until he was ready for beginning. his practice said to himself one day sThis matter of religion is an important one It is not rational to let it go without consider ation. So he took day to consider it, but as it revealed more field for study than he thought he considered several days and it ended by his giving up medicine and going into the pulpit. He passed 8 very useful life. He died in the joy of the Lord and in the hope of immortal life. How much bet ter for him than to have let any ambition stand in his way. How much better for us all if we-would renounce everything and fol- low Christ with our whole heart and serve him with singleness of purpose.