The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1915-01-26

please, and 1t shall prosper IN Lne
thing whereto / sent il" isaiah 55:11.)
Gods Word was sent forth to invite a
very special class of humanity-a class
loving righteousness and hating iniqui-
ty, wear and heavy-laden with sin,
ignorance and superstition, and desir-
Gus Of coming back into harmony with
God and being blessed Of Him.
For nearly nineteen centuries the
Message has been going hither and
thither, quietly, unostentatiously. The
world and the nominal churches would
say that it had accomplished nothing
that everything great had been accom-
plished by them. But we prefer to
stand by TIE Bible and to recognize
that Gods consecrated mes have in
deed lifted up a light which the world
has hated-a light on account of which
they have frequently been put to death,
or have had their names cast out as
eyil,' or have been b~oycotted, socially
or otherwise.
If their hopes were merely in the
present life. these would be making a
miserable failure of their opportuni-
ties. But not so; they are waiting for
their reward in the future-at the Sec
ond Coming of Jesus-by a share in the
First Resurrection. And " now
their joy. peace and fellowship with
God more than offset all their trials,
difficulties and ostracism. Besides.
ITO them it is given to know the mys-
teries Of the Kingdom of God" which
to all others are parallels and dark
sayings. hard to be understood.
Shepherds Voice, "come Unto Me-"
The trials and difficulties of life
pressing many today are giving them
a hearing ear for the Great Shepherds
words, Come unto Me. all We that la
Dor and are heavy-Iaden, and l will
give you rest" He does not say, "Go
to the Lutheran Church; go to the Pres
byterian Church; go to the Methodist
Church; go to the Roman Catholic
Church; or 60 to any other Church;
He says, Come unto Me-"
1t is the privilege of whoever hears
this Message to go Immediately to the
Lord, direct. True, he cannot go to the
Heavenly Father direct; for as we read,
"God heareth not sinners" But he can
go to Jesus. because Him hath God
set forth to be our Savior, u Re
deemer. Thus Jesus said. mo nan
cometh unto the Father but by Me-
John 14:6). He did not say. mo man
can come unto Me except through =
preacher. o. a priest, or a bishop, or a
pope'-He made the way simple for
whatsoever desires to come.
But when we desire to come to TIE
Father, and learn that we must come
through Jesus. what shall we say to
Him? We have only one alternative;
namely, to ask Him upon what terms
He will introduce us to the Heavenly
Father, and thus bring us back from
the condition of condemnation into the
family of God. When we suggest that
Jesus would raise conditions, the prop
osition seems astounding to some.
They have somehow gotten the i'm
preston that the Heavenly Father and
Jesus are in great distress because so
few people desire to become members
Of the Church; and that they would
be ready to receive anything and
anybody on any terms, simply to
have another name added. How
absurd this is, when we come to think
of it,
We call to mind the teaching of the
Master. He did not say. $50 many OF
you as wish to hit the sawdust trail can
go to Heaven He did not say, Seek
to excite the people and get them to do
something that they would not after
ward fully understand and appreciate
He did the reverse; He said. "Sit down
first and count the cost before com
plying with the terms of d~iscipleship.
And SO He still says to all who come
to Him, "Sit down and count the cost
Do nothing rashly.
Some of US can count more rapidly
than others. Many of the poor ones
who are weary and heavy-laden
through sin are ready to say. 81 know
the cost Of sin in my personal expert
ences. The cost of being disciples of
Jesus cannot be greater than the cost
Of being rebels against the Divine
Law" Such are frequently ready to
decide quickly and take their stand
firmly on the Lords side. Others are
like the rich young man who came to
Jesus, saying, what good thing can
do that | may inherit eternal life? |
have kept the Law from my youth up.
What lack | yet?"-Matthew $4,000.
There are few today like that young
man, of whom we read. Jesus, behold
ing him, loved him." And we may be
SURE that Jesus still loves those who
are striving hard TO live right, right
eou lives. But this class has the hard
er struggle. They think they have
done everything that they ought to do,
or at least everything that the Lord
would have them do. But Jesus says,
No. To that Young man He said. go
sell what you have, and give to the
poor; and come, take up your cross and
follow Me- Again He said, IF any
man will be My disciple. let him deny
himself, and TAKE up his cross and fol
low Me, and where / am. there shall
My disciple be-"
To be a disciple of Christ is to be a
follower. a pupil-one who walks as
He walked. The proposition is self-de-
NAL, self-effacement. 1t means giving
ones self wholly to God, as in our text,
Present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, your reason
able service No one need go far to
make this conservation. Each, at his
own bedside. can give his little all to
God, through Christ.
How to Become a Christian.
1t should not require long to count
how much more we shall receive than
we give. We give a condemned and
dying existence; we give mental, NOR
al and physical imperfections-we have
no more except as our Savior, by i'm
putting His merit, makes our sacrifice
Of value in Gods sight. But in ex-
change we receive riches of grace in
the present life-peace, joy. blessing
of heart. which the world can neither
give nor taAe away-and in the life to
come, "glorg. honor, and Immortality
joint-heirsL.p with our Savior in the
Heavenly Kingdom which shall domi-
nate the world for the thousand years,
for its blessing and uplift.
Really. after counting the cost, there
is a danger that We would feel so
ashamed of the littleneSs of our offer
ing that we would fear to come to the
Lord with it. We gain courage to pre-
sent our bodies only by a knowledge
of the Lorus Word, and a realization
of the mercy and favor which has
DrOmpfpd His Kind invftatiou for m