Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-04-17

pelnS carried forward by the current.
Now this radical rabbi, not content
TO let well enough alone, must in
sist on supreme and peculiar claims.
lie wants only those who viii prefer
Him above all else; He will not be
called Master at alr unless He can
be Master in all. And that is still
lord of any life that will not let Him
be lord of all life. No divided al
legiance will content Him. This
calm assumption of absolute and
singular authority was one of the
most constant expressions of His con-
sciousness of His Messiahship. He
would not accept the capitulation of
any life, except on terms OF uncon-
ditional surrender.
Scant comfort in this for the but
terfiy religionists who want to fit
from flower to fiower-to-day, ortho-
doX Christianity, tomorrow. Theo-
sophy, next day Christian Science,
the next day Ethical Culture, New
Thought, Babism, or some other
pseudo-oriental cult. One cannot be
an eclectic disciple and a follower of
Jesus too. There is divine egotism
about Christ. His claims are un-
ar -shedly absolute. His place in life
lis first-before the place of father
l
sisters. Even life itself is not to be
considered alongside of loyalty to
Jesus.
The Sign of the Cross
Any student of history must be
thrilled at the vision of the eminent
place which the emblem of death and
degradation and sacrifice, the cross
of Christ, has held in human affairs
for nearly two thousand years. Hun
dreds of millions of people scat
tered all over the earth, offer it su-
preme allegiance. 1t holds higher
place and authority than any national
emblem. OF old the Japanese Roman
Catholic converts died rather than
, trample on the cross. Within our
own memory native converts in Korea
and China have accepted imprison-
ment and death in preference to dis
! loyalty to the cross. The Turkish En-
pire is red with the blood of modern
martyrs. The passion for the cross,
which has been the comfort of lonely
! and obscure Christians, and the in
spiration of great armies, is a theme
for song and story.
! As laid down by Jesus. though, in
the present lesson. the cross was a
| symbol of subjection, sacrifice and
service. 1t meant Willingness to un-
/ dergo suffering for the sake of the
\ Name. 1t meant the acceptance OF
/ shame. 1t meant burden of ignom-
iny to be borne. As the convict car
J ries his own cross to the place of
execution, even as Jesus later did
Himself, so His disciples were to bear
before all men the odium of being
Christ's friends. For long years after
these words We're spoken, it was
I a cause of reproach to be a Chris
tian.
Count well this cost" said Christ.
One Of the most praiseworthy aspects
of the Billy" Sunday evangelistic
campaigns is his insistence that con-
verts shall pay the price in restitu-
ton for past evil and in holy living
for the future. lie does not sweep
men and women into the church on a
flood of emotion and hysteria. Jesus
cited the illustrations of q man build
ing a tower, or of a king going forth
to battle, but first sitting down to
estimate the cost. Look we'll to the
meaning OF discipleship: IL costs a
life. There is cross for every con-
vert.
! The Clear Break
! Moody used to say that 1t was only
the halfway Christians who are mis-
cradle. There Is no joy in trying to
serve both God and the world. After
iall. according TO the clear words OF
Jesus. that is no loyalty TO Him AT
( all. He demands complete sur
render of all: if He chooses TO remit
to us more than ever we had from
the world, that is of Ills royal bounty