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

to be misunderstood here. do not be-
lieve our modern civilization Is an alb
surdity. l do not believe Christ II he
were here today would demand Of us
foolish things. But this do believe
he would reQuire-Ourselves. We must
give ourselves In some way that will
mean real, genuine, downright and de-
cided self sacrifice. II Christ were
here he would say to some of you, as
he said to the young man, Sell all you
have and give to the poor. and come,
follow me- And If you were unwill-
Ing to do it he would say you could not
be his disciples. The test Of disciple
ship Is the same now as then: the price
Is no less on account Of the lapse Of
1000 years. Eternal life is something
which has only one price, and that Is
the same always. Members Of Calvary
church. I solemnly believe the time
has come when it Is our duty to go into
the tenement district and redeem it by
the power of personal sacrifice and
personal presence. Nothing less will
answer. To accomplish this great task.
to bring back to God this great part Of
his kingdom, l believe we ought to
spend our time, our money, ourselves.
1t Is a sin for us to live at our pleasant
ease, in enjoyment of all good things,
while men and women and children by
the thousand are dyil z, body and soul,
before our very eyes in need of the
blessings Of Christian civilization in
our power to share with them. We
cannot say 1t is not our business. We
cannot excuse ourselves on the plea
of our own business. This is our first
business, to love God and man with all
our might.
This problem before us calls for all
our Christian discipleship. Every heart
in this church should cry out this day,
Lord, what wilt thou have me to dog
And each soul must follow the com
mands that he honestly hears. Out Of
the depths of the black abyss of hui
man want and sin and despair and an
guish and rebellion in this place and
over the world rings in my ear cry
for help that by the grace Of God |
truly believe cannot be answered by
the church of Christ on earth until the
members of that church are willing in
great numbers to give all their money,
and all their time. and all their homes,
and all their luXurics. and all their ac-
complishTents. and all their artistic
tastes, and all themselves to satisfy
the needs of the generation as it looks
for the heart of the bleeding Christ in
the members Of the church of Christ.
Yea, truly, except a man Is willing 10
renounce all that he hath, he cannot
be his disciple. Does Christ ask any
member of Calvary church to renounce
all and go down into the tenement dis
trict to live Christ there? Yes. all.
"My beloved, if Christ speaks so to
you today listen and obey. Service!
he asks for all. when all is needed,
what then? Can we sing that hymn
with any Christian honesty of heart
unless we interpret it literally?
"Were the whole realm OF nature mine,
That were offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine.
Demands my soul, my life, my all!''
1t would partly describe the effect Of
this sermon on Calvary church to say,
what was fact, that when Philip end
of the desk to pray the silence was
painful. and the intense feeling pro-
yoked by his remarkable statements
was felt in the appearance Of the audi
ence as 1t remained seated after the
bcncdiction. But the final result was
yet to show itself; that result was not
visible in the Sunday audience.
The next day Philip was unexpected
iy summoned out of Milton to the par
ish Of his old college chum. His old
friend was thought to be dying. He
had sent for Philip. Philip. whose af-
fection for him was second only to that
which he gave his wife. went at once.
His friend was almost gone. He raj
two weeks his life swung back and
forth between this world and the next.
Philip staid on. and so was gone one
Sunday from his pulpit in Milton. Then
the week following. as Alfred gradual
ly came back from the shore of that
other world, Philip, assured that he
would live, returned home.
During that ten days absence seri-
Gus events had taken place in Calvary
church. Philip reached home on
Wednesday He at once went to the
house and greeted his wife and the
Brother Man and William. who was
now sitting up in the large room.
He had not been home more than an
hour when the greatest dizziness came
over him. He sat up so much with his
chum that he was entirely worn out.
He went up stairs to lie down on his
couch in his small study. He instantly
fell asleep and dreamed that he was
standing on the platform Of Calvary
church preaching. 1t was the first
Sunday of month. He thought he
said something the people did not like.
Suddenly man in the audience raised