The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-08
SALVATION IS NOT CHEAP
j. CUMMING SMITH SAYS CHRIST
WILL NOT BARTER 1T FOR A SONG.
Sacrifices Must Be Made and Duty Full
filled, but the Reward VIII BE
Thousand Fold.

The Rev. j. Cumming Smith spoke last
| night before large audience at the Taber-
nacle Presbyterian Church at the corner
of Eleventh and Meridian streets. The SUBJ
ject of his sermon was PROFIT and Loss
Account" the text taken from the tenth
chapter of Mark:
1.-THE picture is familiar to all. A
young man warm and magnetic asked our
Lord the way to eternal life. Something in
his personality drew our Lord to him. Still
the message must not be softened by any
sudden partiality. Sell all that thou hast
and give TO the poor II was a shower
bath on his rising ardor. 1t was a sudden
sword thrust. To assume the role of a
pauper TO wander about barefoot and
thin clad, to hand over his large estate or
brilliant mansion dear as an herloom-all
this the cost. No wonder his faith was in
sufficient for such conditions. When we
let our imagination at work IL conjures up
frightful possibilities.
He turned away and therefore missed
the other half of the message. He saw
alone the side of sacrifice, the side of stiff
self-abnegation, the side Of pinching pow
erty and rigorous monasticism. Seeing this
side alone il is little wonder that he drew
back from the offer. Nor he alone. The
easiest thing in all the world is to see one
side of truth, an arc rather than circle.
Christ is complete, spheral, architectural.
The gospel is a sum total. The church
has again and again divided Christ into
fractions and often vulgar fractions and no
wonder the world is SO slow to enter His
kingdom. A mirror when complete and I'M
cracked reflects every image, every per-
son in proportion. Let ii be broken into
few pieces and what a crazy representa-
ton il gives of a furnished room or a sym
metrical human figure.
LIFE AT EVERY POINT.
ITO draw the world with its increasing
intelligence Christ offers His divine COM
pleteness Of personality. He must, as He
represents His Father. He must, in the
very nature of things, touch life at every
point. He must, because holy love al
lows nothing TO dwarf II. II is a crime.
therefore. to narrow down the resplend-
ence and full sweep OF the cross so as TO
make IT appear that only those OF gro
| tesque fancy or wheeling emotion can
espouse il.
Most assuredly the doctrine OF the sac
| rifice of Jesus involves as its compile
mentary part the necessary sacrifices OF
His followers, but in both cases the aspect
| Of what We must give up has been con-
| spicuous and the corresponding aspect of
what we gain has been lost sight Of. Art
and literature have alike tended TO dwell
on the gloomy side, IL all young men
who enlist with Christ must enter a funer-
! cal, self-emptying and self-crucifying ca
| reer and forever bid adieu TO natural de-
| lights as enemies to the spiritual culture.
/ The heart OF youth vetoes such a theory
i of life. Selfishness is not inherently sin.
! Each one owes IL 10 himself TO look after
| his own affairs. There Is a woncrous san
| ity in youth Older people echo past ages:
| older people fall into worn habits OF
| speech, as IL they expressed final and
| interchangeable truth: old people U mean
| people over forty who have left elasticity
| behind) are the victims of a thousand con-
/ ventionalisms and led captive by a thou
| sand pious errors. The young people rise
| up with the. freshness of early morning
| and with the heart unwarped by maxims
| They distrust their forefathers and must
1 examine for themselves. They desire Q