Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-12
THE RICH YOUNG RULER"

my mind. is one Of the saddest in tn,
New Testament. Rich in glory and youth
endowed with wealth, leader among hi
fellows. standing face to face with tn,
Son of God deliberately considering, care
fully Weighing the loss and the gain, con
sidering the meaning of the step, ant
calmly turning with a heart like stone
and going away from Jesus It is bad
enough when young man goes dowr
through hot temptations 1t is bad enough
when one goes down through Impulse, OF
through lack of decision punges into sin
1t is bad enough to drift in wrong, but
to calmly consider and then turn one
back upon Jesus Christ is tragedy. to
weigh the meaning Of the word and then
say the price Is too great
UP 10 a certain point this young ruler
was a noble example He was thought
ful, doing his best not to make a ship
wreck living up to all the light he had,
| for he said All these have | kept from
! my youth up He had no bad habits,
there was nothing vicious about his
makeup He was not dlsslpated. not
| sensual or devillsh, had wronged no man,
| had wrOnged no woman, he did not steal,
honorcd his father and his mother. Had
not broken hearts, could look the world
In the face, was not hard-hcaded He
had even been a Bible reading young man,
had been a church gocr for he knew the
teachings Of Moses, went to the syna-
gogue, listened with reverence and re-
spcct; was not n scoffer, not a doubter
had not sat In the scat of the sCornful,
all OF which shows that not only the
notoriously wicked are lost A society
the same as my CoaChman2 Yes. You've
got to he saved the same way. The
banker has to be saved in exactly the
same way as the ianitor who sweeps out
the bank The mine owner has to be
saved in the same way as the miner
"There was nothing in the life of this
young ruler which would tend to separate
him from Christ, He was drawn to him,
he went on the run, gladly, hopefully.
evidently expected to stay; there was
something about the heart of Jesus that
responded. When he reached Jesus he
knelt, was not stifr r-necked, not top-heavy
with pride. IT takes courage to kneel in
public didn't have yarn string for a
backbone. The angels faces must have
frightened as they looked upon that scene
Of the young man lSneelng there before
Jesus 1t is not childish to pray-lt's |
manly. 1t shows man of iron.
This young ruler went to Jesus with |
frankness in his face There was no at |
tempt at concealment he had lived the |
white life, and I can hear him say with
candor. What lack l YETI There was Il
slight feeling of unrest he was not sure,
and no eye less keen than that of Jesus
would have found the flaw. There was
not a lodge in the land, not an official
board of any church that would not have
felt honored to have had him in its mem
bership. But the eye of Jesus saw the
one cancerous spot, the 'one thing
Jesus didn't try to make it easy for
Him. When Jesus save any one some-
hing to do with a blessing he always
made it hard. The blind man made his
way to the pool, the impotent man was
'euuired to pick up his bed and walk
We seem to he afraid nowadays of scar
nG away people by making the way of
hard, That's where we miss it,
Ball bearings on the church doors will
never nj the pews.
"Thc lodges are crowded, where you
'annOt open the door with n crowbar
Where the goat riding is the hardest the
rowd is thiCkest A real man shunS
L path carpeted with velvet. God knows
nen too we'll TO put gold on top of the
arth. If it rained money none would
ven pick up n dollar. We are afraid
4 soaring people away
IF people are SO touchv as that then
he sooner they are scared away the bet
othing that will scare them away. The
elbow who is afraid of the bark of a
og will never kill a lion. No halfway
measures will do. The thing to do is to
trap the old Adam in YOU to the death
hair and turn on all the electricity in
he power house. There is no grow
ng into salvation: you cannot reason |
ourself into it any more than YOU can
eason boil off the back of your neck
ou can Kill a snake quicker by cutting
II an inch of its head than a foot of
S tail.
I'VE next see this young ruler going
way He came running, but now we see
i'm going away slowly, but he keeps
olnE, and worst of all he never came
ack. You may walk to hell, but you'll
each there Just the same, it's simply
matter of time.
He went away to bear his trouble
.ohc' went away to a Christless life a
fe without prayer without hone. moth
y to look to bu. trouble What profit
"a ne gam from all his purple and fine
men and his sumptuous living! III, would
we millions today for water TO moisten
s parched lips,
re had never killed anyone, vet bn
ent away from Jesus. He was nor n
lS"I YET ne went away from Jesus. He
I'd not been impure, but he went away
ON Jesus: he has never commItted
~ N8S NOT a man of lnplpatt
os, not n sabbath breaker, nor a saioaI
eper' not a CRATER not a liar nor a
,Pocrite' he did not hate the Son Oh
'd, did not rent his property for a
ON Jesus. ''''l away
Nhat did his possession amount to II
COST ,s MN ms soul? He held one hand on
nag OF gold and tried to hold Christ
tn. nave
no one can go away as they come, =
came gladly he went away win a
a. some can refuse without /.
ns' II there is joy in Heaven over
g sinner that repents. then, If me
ilt oI heaVen ever pales, il must be
ZEN zen some such scene as that of this |
ing away from Jesus one of tba a.
esung things I'm Hes zen will be to b!
rn what this young ruler gave M p
en is ne went away from Jesus. TIe Te a.
ked one thing-he lacks IT vet, win az
Will We decide our veal and 90, ,tN'' It