Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1900-01-04

whose presence we shall stand at lsst,
am not right In my view Of this mat
ter? Would not Christ say to you just
what am now sayingT
Mr.. Bentley shrugged his shoulders
and said something about not trying TO
mix up business and religion. Philip
sat looking at the man, reading him
through and through, his heart almost
bursting In him at the thought Of what
q man would do for the sake Of money.
At last he saw that he would gain
nothing by prolonging the argument
He rose, and with the same sweet
frankness which characterized his
opening Of the subject he said: Broth
er. | wish to tell you that it Is my In.
tention to speak Of this matter next
Sunday In the first Of my talks on
Christ and Modern Society," be-
lieve 1t is something he would talk
about in public, andNI win speak Of Il
as think he would"
"You must do your duty, of course,
Mr.. Strong" replied Mr.. Bentley, some
what coldly. and Philip went out. feel
ing as II he had grappled with his FIRST
dragon In Milton and found him to be
a very ugly one and hard to kill What
hurt him as much as the lack Of spir-
ftual fineness Of apprehension OF evil
In his church member was the knowl-
edge that. as Mr.. Bentley SO coarsely
put 1t, his salary was largely paid out
Of the rentals Of those vile abodes. He
grew sick at heart as he dwelt upon
the disagreeable fact, and as he came
back to the parsonage and went up to
his cozy study he groaned to think
that II was possible through the price
that men paid for souls.
"And this because society is as 1t is!''
be exclaimed, as he buried his face In
his hands and leaned his elbows on his
desk, while his cheeks flushed and his
heart quivered at the thought Of the
filth and vileness the money had seen
and heard which paid for the very
| desk at which he wrote his sermons.
But Philip Strong was not one to
give way at the first feeling Of seem
| ing defeat He did not too harshly
condemn his members. He wondered
at their lack of spiritual life; but. to
condemn. Only, as Sunday approach
| ed, he grew more clear In his own mind
as to his duty in the matter. Expe-
diency whispered to him: Better wait.
You have only just come here. The
| people like you now. 1t will only
cause unpleasant feelings and do no
| good for you to launch out into 4.
sade against this thing right now
There are so many of your members
involved that 1t will certainly alienate
their support and possibly lead to your
being compelled to lose your place a.
pastor II it do not drive away the most
| influential members"
To all this plea Of expediency Philip
Freplied. "Get thee behind me, satany'
He said with himself. he might as
| well let the people know what he was
at the very first 1t was not neces-
sary that he should be their pastor if
they would none Of him. 1t was nec-
essary that he preach the truth boldly.
The one question he asked himself
was. would Jesus Christ, II he were
pastor Of Calvary church In Milton to-
| day. speak Of the matter next Sunday
and speak regardless OF all conse-
guences| Philip asked the question
honestly, and after long prayer and
much communion with the Divine he
said. s'Yes. believe he would" It ID
possible that he might have gained by
waiting or by working with bis mem
bers In private. Another man might
have pursued that method and still
have been courageous, true minister.
But this Is the story of Philip Strong.
not Of another man. and this is what
he did:
When Sunday morning came, he
went into his pulpit with the one
thought In mind that he would simply
and frankly, In his presentation Of the
subject, use the language and the spir-
1t Of his Master. He had seen other
property owners during the week, and
his interviews were nearly all similar
70 the one with Mr.. Bentley. He had
not been able to see Mr.. william VIM
had not returned home until very late
Saturday night. Philip saw him come
into the church that morning, just as
the choir rose to sing the anthem. He
was large, fine looking man. Philip
admired his physical appearance as he
marched down the aisle to his pew,
which was the third from the lront. d.
rectly before the pnlpit.
When the hymn had been sung, the
offering taken. the prayer made, Philip
stepped out at one side OF the pulpit
and reminded the congregation that.
according to his announcement OF a
week before. he would give the first OF
HIS series Of monthly talks on Christ
and Modern Society,"" His subject this
morning, he said, was .sThe Right and
Wrong Uses Of Property"
He started out with the statement,
which he claimed was verified every
where In ahe word Of God, that all
property that men acquire is really
only In the nature Of trust funds,
which the property holder Is in duty
bound to use as a steward. The gold
is Gods. The silver is Gods The cat
tie On n fhouaa nd hjlja al yapd md