Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-04-21

ut is very evident that these two men
found more in Christ than did good manv
others Of their time. And do you know
that there are good many in New York
the same way. 1t is recorded In the gos-
pels that many OF those who followed the
Saviour left Him. and there are many who
follow Him to-day who say they
are disappointed. Whyp think
can tell you. When the crowds
followed Christ in the Holy Land they did
wanted to see Him perform miracles. They
wanted to see the devils cast out and the
iepers cured, and so they were always say.
ing to Him, "Master, show us a sign."
otners thought He was going to found an
ea1Lniy kingdom, and wanted to get into
once when He founded 1t. Others thought
that they might entangle Him into saying
something against the Mosaic or Roman
laws which would lead to His condemns
tlon and death. Others followed Just from
morolu curiosity to see the crowd and
hear something new. Others He Himself
accused OF being after the fishes aud the
loaves. They did not care about His mes
sage.
"All these people soon got tired OF fol.
lowing Christ; but I can vouch for one
thing-that no man for eighteen hundred
years who has followed Jesus Christ for
what He is has ever been disappointed.
He is all that you make Him to be. Some
make little Saviour, because they think
little of Him.
"What seek ye, you that are here tonight?
| Come, tell me. could go through the
crowd and find just the same motives
actuating you as those who followed the
| Lord in Palestine. There are some mon
| back there who came to see the crowd
| Another has come because his wife has
| been nagging at him for the last three
weeks, and he promised to come. An
other man is here because he has nowhere
| else to go. He says that IL he had good
comfortable home you would not find him
here. Another one comes to hear the
singing. I'm glad he wanted to hear
something, anyway. Although some Of
you have come with low motives, thank
God you have come at all, and you may
change your mind before you're through.
I'm glad to have chance at you, what.
ever your motives for being here may be.
"Here is another text want to read:
Seek ye first the Kingdom OF God and His
added unto you.' So many people think
that they will attend to temporal things
first, and after they have made comforta-
BILE fortune and settled down they will at
tend to eternal things. God says. NO.
You must first seek the Kingdom o! God.'
l think II this were really done you would
never come to want.
81 have been besought on all sides to
preach sermons on capital and lakor and
similar subjects. My friends, believe as
long as you start right and follow that text
you will turn out right in the end. 1 be-
lieve so many don't get on becaLse the
Kingdom of God comes last, not first, with
them. You can't tell what may happen be-
fore the morning. Christ would net even
allow man who followed Him to bury his
dead father before he had obtained the
Kingdom of God. Ibelieve there ars thou
sands and tens of thousands of young peo-
pie who have written on the dyltoVes OF
their Bibles by some loving father or
mother the text have quoted, frous Mat
thew vi, SO.
'If Moses should suddenly appeal, here
what do you suppose would be the first
words he would say to you? If you asked
him to come to the platform and takn my
place he would say: The choice Ii be-
tween life and death, Choose life.' IL
Hezekiah were to come here what would he
say? 1 think he would ask you. How
long halt we between two opinions?' II
Solomon should appear he would say.
Whatever thy hand tindeth to dc, do IL
with thy might Suppose that little tent.
maker, Paul of Tarsus, were here. He would
shout. Now is the accepted time, now ia
the day of salvation And il Jesus Christ
were to appear among us He would say.
Seek We first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto you.'"