The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-07
letter Acquaintance with Jesus.

The mems meeting at the rooms of the
Young Mems Christian association
rooms Sunday afternoon was well at
tended. Chancellor Edw. Mccain OF
Philadelphia, spoke in the interest of
movement to arouse interest in the sys
telnatic study of the life of Christ.
After a few words of introduction Mr.
McClain said:
l shall not attempt to preach ser
mon or to deliver a lecture upon this oc-
casion, but to give a practical talk upon
the one thing needful as suggested by
the forty-seventh verse Of the tenth
chapter Of Luke.
A long time ago in a little village not
far from Jerusalem lived two sisters,
Mary and Martha. At one. time Jesus
was a guest at their home. Martha was
very much pre-occupied with the tenn
poral affairs Of life: SO busy was she,
very much like many people to-day,
that she seemingly had no time to spare
in getting truly acquainted with Jesus.
Her sister, Mary, was very different;
she had time to sit at the feast of her
Lord and feast upon the bread and wa
ter of life, which only was true nourish-
ment for the soul,
Martha coming in and seeing her sis
ter sitting there, said to Jesus: "Doest
thou not care that my sister hath left
me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore,
that she help me-" I can just ina CINE
Jesus looking at Martha with express
sion of sadness when He answered.;
Martha, Martha, Thou art careful
and troubled about many things, but
one thing is needful, and Mary hath
chosen that good part which shall not
be taken away from her"
What a rebuke to Martha and ali who
are like her! What commentator of
Mary and all who are like her! What
an admonition to all in the world, so
busy!
In the first place let us inquire as to
what is the zone thing needful."
Secondly. as to how we may obtain it.
Thirdly, as to how we may lead others
to secure it.
Evidently the one thing needful for
Martha, the thing Mary had chosen and
which should not be taken away from
her, was "Life"-not for the body, but
eternal life for the soul; for that is the
only thing of which | know that shall
not be taken away, and it is the one
thing which everybody needs, pre-emi-
nently, over everything else For
what is a man profited if he shall gain
the whole world and lose his own soul,
or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?"
Those whose souls are spiritually dead
need life eternal and those of us who
have eternal life need it more album
dainty. Then,
Secondly, How shall we obtain it?
In John 1873 it is written: This is
life eternal. that they might know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom Thou hast sent" Here we have
a statement from Jesus that eternal life
is ito know" Not to know the Bible
as book, which is only a means to an
end, but to know a Person, a Divine
Human Person--Jesus For who knows
Jesus knows the only true God
In this connection it is necessary to
note that "to know" when
applied to the relation between two per-
sons denotes an understanding which /!
each has of the personality and charac-
ter of the other-their correspondence to |
each other in the same characteristics of
soul-that affinity called love, the result |
If mutual acquaintance.
Thus to know, in spiritual sense. re-
ative to Jesus implies for more than |
simply an intellectual knowledge, 1t is, |
lowever. through an intellectual knowl- |
edge, as the mind and will become fully |
to Jesus, that the Holy |
Spirit imparts to the soul eternal life
What method, then should be en-