Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-02-07

his endeavor to get the moneyed mel
Of the congregation to consecrate thei
property to Christian uses, Philip came
up to that first Sunday with a new
phase Of the same great subject whicl
pressed so hard for utterance that h'
could not keep II back.
AS be faced the church this morning
he faced an audience composed Of yer!
conflicting elements. Representative!
of labor were conspicuous In the gal
leries. People whom be had assisted
at one time and another were scattered
through the house. mostly In the bacl
seats under the choir gallery. His owl
membership was represented by mel
who. while opposed to his idea Of tht
Christian life and his Interpretation ol
Christ. nevertheless continued to e
and hear him preach. The incident oI
the sexton's application for member
ship and his rejection by vote had alst
told somewhat In favor Of the minister
Many preachers would have resigned
after such q scene. He had said hi!
say about 1t and then refused to speal
or be interviewed by the papers OIL thu
subject. What 1t cost him In suffering
was his own secret. But this morning
as he rose to give his message In tht
person of Christ. the thought Of the
continued suffering and shame anC
degradation In the tenement district
the thought Of the great wealth in the
possession Of the church which NIGH
be used almost to transform the lives
Of thousands Of people If the men o1
riches In Calvary church would only
see the kingdom Of God in its demands
on them--this voiced his cry to the
people and gave his sermon the signif-
canoe and solemnity Of prophets in
spiration.
"Seew he exclaimed as he went on
after drawing q vivid picture of the
miserable condition of life in the
buildings which could not be called
homes, "see what a change could be
wrought by the use Of few thousand
dollars down there. And here this
morning in this house men are sitting
who own very many Of those tene-
ments, who are getting the rent from
them every month, who could, without
suffering one single sorrow, without
depriving themselves of one necessity
or even luxury Of life, so change the
surroundings Of these people that they
would enjoy the physical life God
gave them and be able to see his love
in the lives of his disciples. on, my
brethren, Is not this your opportunity!
What Is money compared with human
ity? What is the meaning Of our dis
cipleship unless we are using what
God has given US to build up his king
dom? The money represented by this
church could rebuild the entire tene-
ment district. The men who own these
buildings"- He paused as If he had
suddenly become aware that he might
be saying an Hnwise thing. Then,
after q brief hesitation, as II he had
satisfied his own doubt. he repeated:
.The men who own these tenements-
and members of other churches be-
sides Calvary are among the owners
are guilty in the sight Of God for al
lowing human beings made In his i'm
age to grow up in such horrible sur
roundings when it Is In the power OF
money to stop it. Therefore they shall
receive greater condemnation at the
last, when Christ sits on the throne OF
the universe to judge the world. For
will be not say. as he said long years
ago, i was an hungered and ye gave
me no meat. naked and ye clothed me
not, sick and in miserable dwellings
reeking with filth and disease and ye
drew the hire Of these places and Vis-
tied me notT For are these men and
women and children not our brethren!
Verify God will require it at our
hands, oh, men of Milton, If. having the
power to use Gods property so as to
make the world happier and better,
we refuse to do so and go our ways
careless of our responsibility and SELL
ish in our use of Gods money"
Philip closed his sermon with an ac-
count of facts concerning the condition
of some of the people he himself had
visited. When the service closed, more
than one property owner went away
secretly enraged at the minister's bold
and. as most Of them said and thought,
"impertinent meddling in their busi-
ness" Was he wise? And yet be had
been to more than one Of these men
In private with the same message. Did
he not have the right to speak in pub
lie? Did not Christ do SO? Would he
not do so If he were here on earth
again? And Philip. seeing the great
need, seeing the mighty power OF mon
ey, seeing the Indifference of these men
to the whole matter, seeing their de-
termination to conduct their business
for the gain Of it without regard to the
condition of life, with his heart sore
and his soul indignant at the suffering
he n1u WlIIlcSScu Cdllle iutO lhS III
and flung his sword Of wrath out OF Its
scabbard, shifting at the very thing
dearest of all things to thousands or
church members today-the money, the
property, the gain of acquisition-and
he smote perhaps with somewhat un-
wise energy Of denunciation. yet with
his heart crying out for wisdom with
every blow he struck. Would Christ
say it? Would he say it" And his
sensitive. kccnly suffering spirit heard
the answer, Eyes. believe he would"
Back of that answer he did not go IN
those days so rapidly drawing to their
tremendous close. He bowed the soul
Of him to his Master and said, "Thy
will be done"
The week following this Sunday was
one Of the busiest Philip had known.
With the approach Of warmer weather,