Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-11-18
..EE'Y', DR.. ThLhAAGE,
The I'm nen; DIV res Sunday
Discourse.
subject. "A Passion of Souls"

Discourse.
subject: ssA Passion OF Souls"
TEXT 81 could wish that myself were
Accursod from Christ for nv brethren. nv
kinsinsn according to the hesh."-RomanI
GL, &
A tough passage. indeed. for those VII.
AXE Paul literally. When some OF the Old
:neologIans declared that they were willing
to be damned for the glory OF God, they sail
what no one be eieved. Paul did not in the
text mean he was willing to die forever to
slve his relatives. He used byperboie, and
when he declared, 81 could wish that M yself
were accused from Christ, for my brethren.
my kfnsmen according to the fesh," he
meant In the most ~ehement of all possible
ways to declare his anxiety for the salvsi ION
Of his relatives amt friends. It was passion
for souls. Not more than one Christian out
Of thousands OF Christians feels It. All ab-
sorbinR desire for the betterment Of the
physical and mental condition IL very com.
mon. 1t would take more OF q mathsma-
tcfan than ever can BE- to calculate how
many are, up to an anxiety that somstimes
will not let them sleep nights, planning for
the efnciency OF hospitals where the sick
and wounded OF body are treatsd, and for
eve and ear inflrmaries. and for dispensariea
and retreats where the poorest may have
most SKI iful surgery and helpful treatment.
On, It Is beautiful and glorious this wide
spread ana ever fntensifying movement to
alleviate and cure physical misfortunes,
May God encourage and help the thousap Is
OF splendid men and women engaged in that
work! But all that is outside OF my subject to-
day. In behalf Of the Immortality of a man.
the inner eye, the inner sar, the inner ca.
pacity for gladness or distress, how few feel
anything like the overwhelming concentra-
ton expressed in my text. Barer than four
teavsd clovers, rarer than century plans.
rarer than prima donna, have been those Of
when 1t may be said. "rhey have passion
tor souls" You could count On the fingers
and thumb OF your left hand all the names
OF thoss YOU can recall who In the iast-ths
eighteenth-century were so characterized.
AL the names OF those you could recall In
our time as having this passion for souls you
can count on the fingers and thumbs of your
right and left hands. There are many moro
such consecrated souls, but they are scattered
80 widely you do not kno W them. Thoroughly
Christian people by the hundreds Of millions
there are to-day, but how few people do you
know who are utterly oblivious to every
thing In this world except the redemption Of
souls? Paul hal 1t when he wrote my text.
and the time will como when the majority OF
Christians will have 1t, II this world IL ever
to be lifted out OF the slough In which 1t has
been sinking and doundering for near nine
teen centuries, and the betterment had bet.
ter begin with myself and yourself. When q
COMMITTEES Of the Society OF Friends called
upon member to reprimand him for break
Ing some small rule Of the society, the mem
Der replied: 81 had q dream, in which all
the friends had assembled to plan some way
to have our meeting house cleaned, for IL
was very filthy. Many proportions were
made, but no conc usion was reached until
one OF the members rose and said, Friends,
think IL each one would take q broom and
1w0Rn imm0 tiafalv Rr0nnd hfa
meeting house would be cleau.'" So let
the work OF spiritual improvement begin
around DUR own soul. Some ono whispers
up from the right hand side of tho pulpit
and says, 'Will you please name some Of
the Persons In our tunes who have this pas
sion for souIsf' Oh, mol That would be in.
vidious and impru lent, and the mere mem
uoning OF the names Of such persons might
cause in them spiritual pride, and then the
Iord would have no moro use for them.
Some one whispers up from the left hand
side OF the pulpit, "Will you not, then, men,
ticn among the p iople OF the past some who
had this passion for souls5" Oh, yes! Samuel
Rutherford, the Sco Gilman Of 800 years ago
-hts Imprisonment at Aberdeen for bis re-
liyious zeal, and the public burning Of his
book, Lex Rex" in Edinburgh, and his un-
Just arraignment for high treason and other
prosecutions, purifying and sanotifying him
70 that his works, entitled "Trial and
Triumph OF Faith" and "Christ Dying and
Drawing Sinners to Himself" and, above
ell, his 215 unparalleled letters showed that
he bad the passion for souls; Richard Baxter,
whose s'Parsphrass OF the New Testament"
caused him to be dragged before Lord JET.
freys, who howled at him as - rascal" and
"sniveling Presbyterian" and imprisoned
him for two ysars-Baxter, writing les re-
liRious books, h "Call to the Uneonvertel"
hsnging uncountsd thousands into the par
don OF the gospel, and bis ''Slints' Ever1ast-
Ing Rest" opening heaven to host tnnun-
srsbls; Richard Cecil; Thomas Q Kempis,
writing his Limitation Of Christ" for all ages;
Harlan Pags, Robert MoOheyne, Nettlston,
Einney and more whom might mention,
the characteristic of whose lives was an ovef.
towering passion for souls. A. B. Earl, tho
Baptist evangelist, had 1t. I. 8. Inskip, the
Methodist evangelist, had It. Jacob Knapp
had II. DR.. Bachus, President Of Hamilton
half an hour TO live said: els that SOC Then
take me out Of my bed and place me upon
ny knees and let me spend that time In CALI
ing On God for the salvation Of the world"
And 30 he died upon his knees. Then there
have been others whose names have beeo
hood. and here and there you think Of one
What unction they had in prayerI What
power they had in exhortstfoni II they
walked into . home, every member Of 1t felt
holy thrill. and II they walked into .
prayer meeting the dnllnsss and stolidity
wake up whole church. Ono Of them would
sometimes electrify . whole city.
But the most wonderful one of that char
acterisation the world ever saw OF heard or
felt waG peasant in the Far East, wearing
Q plain blouse like an inverted wheat sack,
with three oponings-one for the neck and
the other two for the arma. His iHthsf .
wheslwright and house builder and given to
various carpentry. His mother at first under
suspicion because OF the circumstances Of His
nativity. and He chased by Herodic mania
out Of His native land to live awhile under
0i4eh, afterward confouuding the LII. DIS
Of Jerusalem, tnen stopping the paroxysms
Of tempest and of madman. His path strewn
with slain dropsies and catalspsies and oph-
thafmias, TRANSPORTED on one mountain,
preaching on another mountain, dying on
another mountain and ascending from an.
other mountain--the greatest, the loveliest,
the mightiest. the kindest, the most self-sao.
rincing, most beautiful being whose feet Svse
touched the earth Tell US, ye deserts who
heard our sayiours PRAYER; tell Us, ys seas
that drenched Him with your surf; tell n,
70 multitudes who heard Him preach on
deck, ON beach, on hillside; tell us, COL
Rotha, who heard the stroke Of the hammac
on tho spikeheadS and the dying groan In
that midnight that dropped on midnoon,
did anyone like Jesus have this passion Tor
souls?
But breaking right in upon me is the
question, How can we get something Of this
Pauline and Christly longing for saved in
mortalities? I answer, by better appreciate
ing the proIonsation Of the souls s.istencs
compared with everything physical and ma.
teriaL How hope that surgeon will Suo.
cessfully remove the cataract from that
mans eye! 1t is such . sad thing to b
blind. Let Us pray while the doctor II busy
with the delicate operation. But for how
long a time will he be able to give his pstfsns
eyesight2 Well, II the patient bs forty years
OF age, he will add to his happiness perhaps
fifty years OF eyesight, and that Will bring
able that hs will live longer than that, OF
that he will live so long. But what Is good
eyesight for fifty years mere as compared
with clear vision for the soul billion Of
centuries? hope the effort to drive baek
the typhoid fever from yondef home vjQ b
successful God hep the doctors! We will
wait In great anxiety until the fres Of that
fever are extinguished, and when the man