The Penn's Grove record., 1909-02-26
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her.
The next thought shall be one of
encouragement. One thing
that Andrew did ~outweighed a thou
sand times all the other good accom-
plished by his whole life-his hand
caught Simon, and brought about that
change of name at which all the an
gels in heaven are still rejoicing.
Jesus looked upon him and said:
art Simon, the listener, the
the useless. Thou shalt be
Cephas, Peter, the rock, and
upon this rock 1 will build Ny church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against 1t. Jesus read the charac-
ter of Peter by divine wisdom, per-
ceiving all his strength and his in
trinity. To Peter there must have
been, in the simple words, something
ike lightning and the thunderbolt,
for he recognized one who had put
the finger on the weak spot of his
nature, and had pointed him to the
method of securing the n quality he
needed-irmness like the rock, gran
lite consistency.
OF the Twelve, Peter stands fore
most. However different bodies of
Christians may be-opposed in their
ideas of Peters dignity, nothing less
can be said of him than that on the
foundation of his faith and courage
the fabric of Christendom rests, while
every believer on earth to-day is in q
sense his child. But the great fact
Is that Christ did not directly draw
Peter, but that Andrew found him
and brought him to Jesus. What a
joy had Andrew all his life, and what
a joy has he to-day, and what a Joy
will he have to all eternity, Christ
could have secured Peter in a thou
sand other ways, but Andrew was
allowed the honor, in part, no doubt,
to encourage all the weak and the
poorly qualified to labor with an
hope
Often Andrew is a woman. You
remember Monica's prayers and tears
at last drew her mighty son, whom
the church of all later ages reveres
as st. Augustin, to the Christ she had
herself already found. And there
was another woman, keeping a coun-
try tavern in England, believing that
her son possessed the power to be
useful for Christ, and cramping her
self to send him to a classical school
and then to Pembroke College, Ok
ford, and at last giving the world the
renowned evangelist, George White
field.
Andrew had only to touch one who
sat next him at the family board.
Your hand may have to stretch very
far to find the man who is waiting
for you. At a great missionary meet
ing 1 met those whom love for Christ
had sent to the heart of Africa, to the
great cities of China, "to midas coral
strand" Sometimes the arm gathers
strength as it stretches and makes
wider and wider sweeps. There was
DR.. Grenfell, the medical student in
London, who became convinced that
his religious life had been a humbug.
AS he reached out he found. some
ragged, lawless boys in the slums.
Them he brought to the Master. The
arm reached farther and embraced
the deep sea fishermen around the
English coast. Then the arm
stretched all the way across the At
lantic and took in belsaal1eRan and
their families in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Let me add two general eounseis.
In leading others to Christ, begin
with those dearest to you. When
Jesus commanded His disciples to go
to all nations, He added, beginning
at Jerusalem" Return to thine own
house and show how great things God
hath done unto thee"
So many who would work for God
covet some distant, romantic field.
Go to work right where you are.
Very likely you say, That is the hard
est thing to do. 1 would rather get
up and speak at the church, or go
into the slums, or to Brownsville or
Gowanus, than to say a word to my
brother John, or to the clerk at the
same desk. But why? Surely you
do not love those who are far away
more than those who are nearI You
are not Influenced by the idea that
you will get more credit by outside
work; you are not, 1 hope, afraid that
those who know you well will pay no
attention to your words. On what
ever consideration your opinion rests,
it is a mistake. Undo the error. Let
your zeal in religion start just where
charity should. Suppose your friend
is not a Christian; can you say that
you have never spoken to him on such
d SuDJOCC. f4dL uOSS oil your OluGE
speaking avail in Gods sight if you
neglect that which Jesus said was the
one thing needful? Let me boldly
utter the opinion that much of our
weakness in the Christian Church
to-day, and, consequently much of the
w~iekedness in the world, lies right in
this-that Christian people are neg
lecting to make their Christian in
f1uence felt in their own households.
Foreign missions are all very we'll.
but each one has home mission that
is miles nearer to him than even the
limAts of this city.
There is one argument you can al
ways use with immense power. Say
to the careless, to the men and the
women who reject the Gospel without
really knowing anything about it, say
to them, "Give Christ a fair trial.
To Andrew and John following Him,
Jesus said, What seek ye?" And
when they replied, Rabbi, where
dwellest Thou?" He answered, Come
and see." In that same spirit of con-
idence, He meets an inquiring world
to-day.
He welcomes all who will come.
The honest inquirer who would know
His claims and on what rests the sal
Walton He bestows, is cordially in
vited. The Nazarene does not now
travel along dusty roads; He treads
the sapphire pavements, yet still is
He tender and sympathetic toward
the darkened and inquiring spirits as
when He walked on the beach at
Galilee. His cry still is, "If any man
thirst, let him come unto Me-"
The Gospel has nothing to conceal;
it courts investigation; it asks for the
most rigid scrutiny. Come and see."
So the believer to-day says, "One
thing l know, that whereas / was
blind, now I see;" one thing 1 know,
"her ways are ways of pleasantness. "
Jesus Christ has given attraction to
life, elevation to my aims, sweetness
to my experience, peace to my soul.
Come see if He will not be as much
for you. Give the Gospel, man of ex-
periments, fair trial, and see what it
will accomplish.
One Thing Needful.