Arizona republican., 1910-02-07
CHRIsT's COMMAND
 FOLLOW THOU NE"
Subject of Sermon at Presbyterian
 Church Yesterday Morning.

l LOOK as ms text yesterday morning a part of the twentysecond verse of the
 twenty-secon chapter of John, Fol low thou me" The following quota | tions give an outline of the discourse:
 Follow thou me- oh, that all men
 in the world would follow that com
 mand! It would mean the destruction
 of the evil and would mean the com ing of the Kingdom of God and the
 exaltation of things that are good.
 read this past week the story of man | who was called upon to decide wheth
 CT or not he was to give his life to | Christ. After a struggle he decided l the question rightly. Then another
 call came to him and he gave h;s life
 to the work of spreading tEe gospel in | Uganda. After few years of service | another call came and this time it was to come to the Glory Land, and
 he laid down his life, but not until
 he had begun a work tha- would grow
 and continue to grow throughout eter ! nity Was he righ- or was he wrong? In the light of the fact that we believe l in God and heaven and eternity. thers IS only one answer that we can pos l SlDiN give to tfidt QutStloH DtQ II HsN that man to follow? We answer. | Yes
 This command of the Master came
 to Peter when he had asked. And
 what shall this man do?' as he saw
 John following. How easy it is for us to pay too much attention to the
 other fellow, Christ says to us as we
 look around at others in the kingdom
 and wonder what this one or that one
 is to do. Follow thou me- That is the
 lesson for us. and for all, whether a | long time in the service. or just en- tering it. or not yet there. In this command we have a lesson for every one
 | We shall take as our theme. then, | A Significant Command and speak | first of its significance, next of the conditions upon which it will be pos | sible for us to fulfil the command and l then will it pay to obey the command? How significant thing it is to | hear the Lord Jesus Christ command | ing. Here is an Individual of obscure percentage. humble. unknown. going | about laying his hand upon the shoul- ders of men and saying to them. Fol low thou Me That was what he did | when he called Peter and Andrew. | when he summoned James and John, | when he took Matthew from the re-
 ceipt of custom. What was the se- cret of it? The answer is in two
 thoughts The first part of the an | swer is found in the fact as to who he was. They could not look into his face without being convinced that, while he was a man. he was God. It
 was in his face. his gestures. his com
 mand. The second part of the req son for his being able to command men thus wasiwhat he did He went about doing the things that indicated that he was here to buy back the sin ful race and bring them back to AL mighty God He said to his disciples
 that he was going to leave them, go- ing by the way of the cross to the grave. but that he would rise again.
 proving the power of God to be in him. He did it all And if you want
 to know that he is all in all, the be-
 ginning and the ending, the first and
 the last. the Christ of God. in all his
 holiness. power. justice, goodness and
 truth. then know him, study to un-
 derstand what he did and you will
 never doubt his right to command the
 world
 The significance of the command
 We can better understand the signifi- canoe of this command when we think
 of the man to whom he spake these
 words. He was talking to Peter, the man who had just denied him with oaths and curses. Now he says. Fol do spairs of any one who will turn back to him. He is full of forgiveness, he is the essence of kindness and love. l do not say that in order that you may feel that you can go on and on in sin without thinking to stop. but say that you may know that, having done your best. you can never reach | the time when God will not turn and help you. Perhaps I am speaking to some this morning who have tried and | have failed, have failed continuously. | and are feeling that you are ready to | let go. Remember the words of the | Master, Follow thou Me- spoken to | the sinner who had denied Him l Am l speaking to some one who says: It isn't possible for | me to stand against the temp | tations that are connected with | my environment? Look again at these | circumstances and hear again the | voice, Follow thou Me He can help | you, He will help you. He will help to the uttermost. Sometimes we say | that it is impossible for us to make | very much out of a certain man. It | isn't for God. Why should it seem a | thing incredible? Wonder is Luther | Burbank, making what has been worthless for years of use, changing | the cactus to something of use and | profit. Is Gods power shortened? | The clay becomes the sapphire. the | soot diamond, the impure water | comes back as the beautiful white | snow. God can make over men. Let | us believe it. We must trust Him to | do it. You can not have Christ help | you if you are trying to do it all your self. The burden from the, back of Bunyan's Pilgrim was only loosened and lost sight of when he came up to the cross and the open sepulcher had received the load of sin. Christs se- butcher is large enough to hold all our trials and discouragements. our losses, | crosses. weaknesses, and sins and it is the place where, having been cast. they will forever be gone.
 Let us look at some of the condi- i