The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1900-08-02

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Of society, the display Of its ease, Its
soft enjoyment Of pretty things, its
careless Indifference to humanity's
pain in the lower town. The group of
newcomers went in. n strain of music
and the echo OF dancing laugh float
ed out into the street, and then the
door closed.
"Mr. Strong, il you preach to the
people to leave such pleasure as that
we have just glanced at to view or
suffer such things as are found in the
tenemcnts, you must expect opposition.
/ doubt If they will understand your
meaning. know they will not do any
such thing. 1t Is asking too much.'
"And yet the Lord Jesus Christ, al
though he was rich, for our sakes be-
came poor. that we, through his pow
erty, might be rich Mr. Winter, what
this town needs is that kind of Chris
tianity, the kind that will give up the
physical pleasures of life to show the
love of Christ 10 periShing men. / be-
lleve 1t is just as true now as when
Christ lived. that unless they are will
Ing to renouncc all that they have they
cannot he his disciples"
"Do you mean literally. Mr. Strong"
asked the rich man after little.
eyes. literally. sometimes. be-
licvc the awful condition of things and
souls we have witnessed tonight will
not be- any better until many, many Of
the processing Christians in this town
and in Calvary church are willing TO
leave, actually 10 leave their beautiful
homes and spend the money they now
spend in luXurcs for the good of the
weak and poor and sinful
"Do you think Christ would preach
that If he We're in MiltOnT'
81 do. 1t has been burned into me
that he would. believe he would say
to the members of Calvary church: IF
any man love houses and money and
society and power and position more
than me, he cannot .be my disciple. If
any man renounceth not ell that he
hath. he cannot be my disciple And
IIlpIl Nv Nbllltl lfSl liit 'llNllV Nilul vi
by it's willingness to rcnouncc all these
physical things And If he found the
members willing. II he found that they
loved him more than the money or the
power. he might not demand Il literal
giving up. But he would say to them.
Take my money and my power, for it
Is all mine. and use them for the build
ing up Of my kingdom He would not
then perhaps command them to leave
literally their beautiful surroundings.
But. then. in some cases | believe he
would. oh, yes. Sacrifice, sacrifice.
What does the church in America in
this age of the world know about it!
How much do church members give Of
themselves nowadays to the Master?
That is what we nccd-sclf. the souls
Of men and women. the living sacri-
fees for these lost children down yon-
der. o God to think of what Christ
gave up! And then to think of how
little his church is doing to obey his
last command to go and disciple the
nations."
Philip went back through the NV
enue on which the churches stood.
When he reached Calvary church. he
went up on the steps, and, obeying an
instant impulse. he kneeed down on
the upper step and prayed. Great
sobs shook him. They were sohs with
out tcars-sobs that were articulatc
here and there with groans of anguish
and desire He prayed for his loved
church, for the wrctchcd beings IN the
nell Of torment. without God and with
out hope in the world, for the spirit of
Christ To come again into the heart Of
the church and teach it the meaning
and extent Of sacrifice.
When the evcntful Sunday came he
faced the usual immense cOncOursc.
He did not come out of the little room
until the last moment. When he final
ly appeared. his face bore marks Of
tears. At last they had flowed as a re-
lief to his burden, and he gave the peo-
pie his message with n courage and a
peace and II love born of direct corl-
munion with the Spirit Of Truth.
As he went on people began to listen
in amaZement. He had begun by Civ
ing them a statement of facts concern
ing the sinful, needy, desperate con-
dition Of life in the place. He then
rapidly sketched the contrast between
the surroundings of the Christian and
n-Christian people, between the
workingmen and the church members.
Disciples Of Jesus" he exclaimed,
"the time has come when our Master
demands of us some token of our dis
cipleship greater than the giving Of
little money or the giving of little
work and time to the solution Of the
great problem Of modern society and
Of our own city. The time has come
when we must give ourselves. The
time has come when we must re-
nounce, II It is best, II Christ asks 1t,
the things we have so long counted
dear-the money, the luxury, the
houses and go down into the tene-
ment district. to live there and work
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