Arizona republican., 1899-02-06
GODS HOUSES
THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
Theme of the Evening Sermon at the
 Presbyterian Church.

The regular Sunday services were
 held in the Presbyterian church ant
 were unusually well attended. The
 Rev. MT McAfee preached both morn
 ing and evening and special music was
 furnished by the quartet choir.
 The morning sermon was particu-
 larly upon the advancement made by
 the churches during the last year and
 the evening theme was The Pearl; ''
 Matt 13:45 and 46, being used as a
 text.
 MT. McAfee said in part: In the old
 en time there came a strange man,
 dressed in strange clothing and eating
 strange food, and by this very strange
 ness he attracted the people, but after
 a time the crowds thronged to hear
 what he had to say and the burden Of
 his talk was Repent ye, for the king | dom of heaven is at hand" Following | John the Baptist Christ came teaching
 of the coming of the kingdom Of hea- ven, and when He sent His disciples
 out two by two His command was, GO
 preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven
 is at hand" And the people began to wonder what this kingdom Of heaven
 was that Christ and John and the dis
 ciples talked so much about, and Christ answered their inquiries, using
 parabIes that illustrated it very clearly
 One of the parables used was that Of man sowing wheat in his field and an enemy came and sOwed tares, while he slept Christ likened the kingdom ot heaven to this field and taught the people that there were hyp0crites among his. followers, but in the end the separation would take place and the good would be rewarded and the evil punished. The same truth was also very forcibly illustrated by the net and the draught of fishes.
 He compared the kingdom of heaven to a grain of mustard seed which was very small, but grew to an immense bush, spreading it's grateful shade around and furnishing lodgings for the fowls of the air. The kingdom of heaven began with only one man but influence has spread until it permeates the whole earth, giving blessing and comfort. And one parable after an- other He spake unto them, but the gem of all was the one l have chosen for my text
 Palestine is a great treasure field. h olden times it was a great battle field Without warning the people would see a cloud of dust arising and they knew it betokened the approach Of an army They had TO place of safety for their treasures so they were often busied in the ground. Not infrequently the owner was killed and the buried treas ure was left hidden to be found years after Christ used such a circumstance to illustrate the kingdom of heaven, and when the man discovered it in the field he sold all and bought the treasure. Anothc9 illustration similar to that of the great treasure was the man who went in search of the pearl Of great price and when he had found it he sold all else and bought it.
 The pearl industry is an cid one and many strange theories have been ad- vanced regarding their formation. One theory is that a deWdrop enters the | shell of the mollusk and forms the | valuable stone. Anothe~ one and the | correct one is that a foreign substance enters the shell and irritates the little | mollusk, which forms a secretion around the intruder and thus becomes | the pearl. Buddhist priests, recOgniz- | ing this fact. frequently insert coin, | bearing the image of their god upon it. | into the shell of this little fish and in | two years they have pearl with Bud dha's image imbedded in it. Now | there are four things I wish you to learn from this parable. First, the | kingdom of heaven is a definite posses sion. We are apt to think of it as wavering, far-off thing that has to do only with the sensibilities, but this is 8 mistaken idea. It is not a dream, nor a hope, nor a fancy, but a real pos session, and we may be just as sure of it as the man who obtained the pearl was sure he possessed that.
 Second, it is very valuable. The sold all to obtain this pearl and the kingdom of heaven is worth mere than all else to us, even though it may mean that giving up of some thing to let it enter our hearts.
 Third it must be sought after. The pearl is not often found by accident. but by diligent, earnest seeking, anl SO with the kingdom of God we must seek it.
 And fourth, God may be found not by one man. but by all When the merchant found the pearl of great price he hid it alway securely and no one else could obtain it or know where | was, but all may have the kingdom )f God in their hearts, and pnt it out before the world, where all may know he precious treasure we possess.
 The world has many pearls but there s one that is above all others in price. Have you that pearl tonight? Are 7ou willing to seek diligently and find hat pearl of great price? A company If Japanese students sent to a religious sathering in this country the following ablegram, Make Jesus King" Can't 'Cu hear the voice of God speaking to 7Ou tonight to make Jesus king of eur lives, your thoughts and your ac- ions?
 FolclXinE the regular service an af- connecting wa sheld and many re- naincd. Much interest WAS manifest d and gC0d work is being done.
 INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL.
 At the Baptist church yesterday i morning three new members received 1 he hand of fellowship, as did three thers last month. The music includ-