The Penn's Grove record., 1908-06-19

VIII Wouiu urSL say SOOuDy W ING
friends and bury the father. Back OF
every life to-day that is not Christian.
that is not living for Righteousness,
there is a reason, perhaps an excuses
certainly that stands In the way OF
following Jesus, which cross-examina-
ton would reveal. 1t may be indif-
ference. Indifference to the moral
and spiritual claims Of Jesus Christ
upon the life Is not commendable. 1t
may .be some pet sin hidden away
from the knowledge of the world
within the secret places of heart and
life. To offer the love of a pet sin
as the reason for not following the
Master is a sad confession Of weak
ness. We recall the words. "If thy
right hand offend thee cut 1t off and
cast 1t from thee"
The excuse may be that men think
themselves not good enough. But the
purpose Of Christianity is to make
men good: not to take them after
they are good. 1t may be cowardiy
fear of criticism stands in the way.
But the true man does not fear criti-
cism when doing the right.
GO thou and publish abroad the
Kingdom Of God" was the message to
the young man who excused himself.
1t tells the nature of the service.
That service is essentially and pri-
marily personal. The first require
ment is, Follow Me-" That mean
to believe in Jesus as a personal Saw
Jour from sin. It means to live the
principles Of the Christ life In our
daily life.
Whatever binders the tangible ex-
preston of that Gospel we profess
must be cast out. Is there "a secret
sin? 1t must go. Is there a trick in
business that does not square with
honesty? 1t must go. Is there a pet
Jealousy or envy that does not weigh
well in the scales of love? It must
go. Is there even a desire in the
heart that is not pure and true? 1t
must go. The outward appearance
judges not the man, but the motives
and desires Of the heart, they are the
Judge. Time was when a man was
deemed good if he committed no
overt act of wrong. 1t mattered little
what he thought, or what the lusts of
the heart might be, so long as he did
no wrong. But the searching truth of
Jesus reversed these values. Not an
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth, but render thou good for evil.
IF thy right eye offend thee, pluck 1t
out and cast it from thee; for it is
profitable for thee that one of ting
members should perish. and not that
thy whole body should be cast into
hell" Nor is this strenuous ideal
enough. 1t is not sufficient that the
actions of the life conform to the laws
of morality and righteousness. Listen
to the words of Jesus in which He
states the great ideal: "Ye have
heard how 1t was said by them of old,
thou shalt not kill; but I say unto
you that whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment. Ye have
heard that it was said by them of old,
thou shalt not commit adultery. But
/ say that whosoever desireth thus to
sin hath already done the sin in his
heart" 1t is the noblest ideal that
has ever been given to man. 1t de-
mands the publication of the motives
and desires of the heart as we'll as the
actions of the life; for from the heart
proceedeth all sin. It strikes at the
very centre of wrongdoing. Thus is
service to Christ made first of all a
matter to the heart. The heart must
be right. Then, it becomes a matter
of the life. The life will be righteous
if the heart is right. Follow Me, said
Jesus. Get the heart and life in har-.
mony with noble ideals. Then, 60
thou and preach the Kingdom of
God"
Thus JESUS transfers the nature OF
service from the narrow limits of the
personal into the great worldwide
field of the social. The ultimate OBJ
ject becomes not ones own individual
salvation, but the Kingdom of God,
which is also the brotherhood of man,
Jesus did not say to the young man,
Let the dead bury their dead, but go
thou and save thine cwn soul. But
He did say, Go thou and save others
into life, publish the message of love.
In that work for others in the name
of God, he would save himself. There
is no other way. He who seeketh to
save his life shall lose it; but he who
sacrifices his life for My sake, the
same shall ave it. The which is to
say a man cannot save his own soul
without seeking to save the life of a
brother at the same time; a man can.
not be a Christian and care nothing
for the redemption of the world into
the Christ-like life of light and love.