The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-04-02
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
AFTER BREAKFAST EoTEs.-Matt ii;
BY REV h. H. HALVES.
No. 2.

We. LIZ" Wise men, they are called,
who came to seek and worship Jesus. And
sll are /" "wise" who do this. These men had
to make long journey in order to find Him.
But how much greater is our advantage =
''The righteousness of faith spesketh on this
wise, say not in thine heart, who shall as
cend into heaven ? Chat is, to bring Christ
down from above y or, who shall descend
into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ
again from the dead. But what saith it ?
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth
and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith,
which we preach that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
the Scripture saith, WhosOever belieVeth on
him, shall not be ashamed" Do we then
realize bow near Jesus and His salvation are
to usl How near is that which is in our
mouth and in our heart! So near is Jesus.
So near is His great salvation. We can
speak to Him by thought. We can take
hold of Hin by an act of faith. And this
is the way of salvation. tbs Gods thought,
Gods way of love for our lost souls. Let
Us not then try to 6nd Jesus by our thought
and ways which lead Us to q neVer-ending,
weary round of preparations ere we think to
6nd Him. Any sinner, anywhere, can speak
to Jesus and be hesrd,-be saved. There
are many who need to understand this
They think themselves very far of from Je-
sus, and are discouraged at the thought Of
what great things they need to do, before
they can be His accepted worshippers. Such
. long road of sin to retrsce So many
wrong g-doings to transform into right-doings!
Such muldtudss of evil thought and feelings
to cast out Nay, it is not so. The Saviour
is nigh thee-ss nigh thee as thou art to thy
self. Take Him as thou art, and as He is
This is Gods call. Then Jesus will do for
YOU all the hard things which you are trying
to do-but cannOt-fOr yourself. Waiting
for the furthersnce of fitness, is to 20 every
moment further away from Jesus Some
cry out about the inconsistencies of those
who pretend to believe on Jesus. Herod
pretended an anxiety to worship Him. Did
his hypocrisy make Jesus less than ne was !
No more do all the hypOcrisies now seen,
prove anything against Jesus as He is. In
Him. not in those whom we deem hypOcrites,
we are to believe. Let Us make no mistake
here. Il will be fatal forever Another
lesson is also here. The wisdom Of the wise
men" was not only in going at once to Jesus,
but in not bsiRg ashamed to ask guidance of
those Oho ought to hare knos0R Whsrs, and hOw
he vas to be found. They made no delay in
asking to be directed. And being rightly
directed, they found Him. Alas how many
are now wandering in darkness, or wrong
ways by reason of their refusal to- ask the
way to Jssus9 They are thinking about
Him; longing for Him-but they do not
find Him, because they seek no aid of those
who can and will gladly direct them,-glad-
ly tell them that Jesus is not far from every
one of us! The hiding of this '0ish to find
Jesus, has caused many sonl to be lost
The "wise men were not satisfied on
their way to Jesus-but when they actuslly
~were come into the house they saw the
Young child" So let none think to ind
peace until they actually come to Jesus
Many are seeking this peace BY the Wsyside
Thew expect to be Christians before they
come to Christ They delay on the way,
waiting for Jesus to come to them and as
sure them of acceptance. Then they will
be satisfied. Nay, but this cannot be. "Be-
lieye on" not wait for, "the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved" Oh, soul,
He is vaiting for you' Make haste then!
Away with hesitation He is waiting, after
sending the message -" Him that cOmeth
unto me, will in no wise cast out" Peace
is His gift. You will get it by going to
Him, and then too, you will feel as the "Wiss
men" did, that you can fall dOVn and '0Or-
ship HIM. But by waiting, you will never
be other than you are.