The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-17

| than that which Jesus referred to-
 when he said
 But whosoever. drinketh of the wa
 ter that l shall give him shall be in
 him a we'll of water springing up into everlasting life,'
 I am convinced that many have
 climbed up the second, third, fourth
 and fifth steps, but are we this morn ing standing triumphantly on the sixth
 rest of the stair -case-a golden duty
 rest? Are we giving to the extent of
 our ability? If we are, we will easily
 ascend to the seventh step, rest of
 love and peace.
 It's only as our hearts have been | mellowed through service and sacrifice that we may fully understand our
 money obligations, and so l pray that
 by the outcome of this discipline and preparation, we are resting upon the
 seventh step of the stair-case-a rest of
 love, love for God-love for humanity.
 If so, it would seem we would decide
 to enlist as members of the Twentieth
 Century Wesleyan league.
 May l remark in this connections:
 First-That the bishops of our church
 have requested us to make a twenty
 million thank offering. These officers
 of the Methodist Episcopal church
 were elected by the votes of its minis
 ters and laymen. Hence their author
 ity must be respected. Our duty is to | comply with tn request. We are not | to question the reason why they sug- | gest so large an amount.
 | Second-Your pastor and my pastor l and the pastors of the other Methodist | churches have requested that we come
 in touch with the Twentieth Century l league. Is not the pastor of the church | our spiritual leader and guide? For
 my part, I want to go where the minis
 ter leads Ought not his exhortation and advice to be needed?
 l Third-The church is in danger. The
 note of alarm has been sounded. Would
 not fireman be cupable who ignored l a summons to duty? Will we not, if /, we refuse to respond?
 Fourth--We have come to our best l through the direct help of the church. | Our indebtedness to the Methodist | Episcopal church is very great. Will we dare to say-the church Is failure -Methodsm a mistake? Let Epworth be sold and Summerfield too? Let our | membership decline? No-rather let us put our shoulder to the wheel and in Gods name this morning exclaim, We will do our best. We are conscious of the fact that many of us in our cradles were sung to sleep by the songs of our devout mothers-even the words of Charles Wesley.
 Our godly parents led us to the house of God. There we heard a gospel mes sage from a Methodist minister bap tized of the Holy Ghost and thereby equipped to preach in church found ed by John Wesley.
 Do we propose to-day in our matur- ity to forget our inheritance-to efface from memory mothers loving lullaby or fathers pious eXhortation and eX- ample. Will not the Christ the Wesleys preached and lived, inspire us to ser vice and sacrifice?
 F'ifth-Some of us were not cradled in Methodism, but we were taught in our childhood our duty towards God and towards our neighbor. By the memory of these early implanted great truths taught me in another church I do not propose to allow my brothers and neighbors in the suffering Method ist Episcopal churches to-day loved by me-to appeal in vain for assistance
 Sixth-By the compulsion of the golden rule-we ought to help these burdened churches.
 Seventh-If as denomination we enjoy prosperity we shall the easier meet our own church expense. For this reason, let us help, rather than hinder the cause of Methodism in this city.
 Eighth and lastly-The Twentieth Century Wesleyan league has, during it's brief existence demonstrated this fact: That it's an organization which makes for God. Put ourselves in line with 1t and our prayer service will be more forceful and helpful It will touch, and deeply, too, the spiritual life of the church.
 My heart aches when I look into the face of man whose life is going out by his own permission when his large usefulness ought to commence. But that heart-ache Is not comparable to the distress occasioned by the thought of 2 great aggressive spiritual agency losing it's grip on the unsaved masses.
 Brothers, under the benign influence oA tue MclIlOulSt E1plSCppdl CflulC0, eX- erted through it's many means of grace, I've learned something about my own needs I must plead for a church which has helped me. I must recognize my obligations to it.
 l love every branch of the church, every vine in the vineyard but that one planted in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by John Wesley, loved by Bishop Asbury and Jesse Lee, by Bishop Simp- son and host of others, and by six millions to-day in America. is just a little dearer to me than the others Keep the soil about it well cared for by your own hands and God will send the needful rain and sunshine Do not uproot two of these vines in our own city, but enrich the soil about them; remove the brush and they will grow and by and by we will rejoice, because we labored that Epworth and Sumner field were not destroyed and through them many, very many were led to the cross. You may inquire, why are you so deeply interested in the debt mat ter? May I reply-an opportunity al the beginning of the Twentieth cen tury, or before it commences, will ex- ist to do most effective work for God. I want to see the church thoroughly