The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-06-25
LOOKING UNTO JEs Us.


there is none else.-Is. XIV, p.
Salvation is not q luxury but ne
cessity. 1t is the greatest blessing be-
cause it lasts the longest Temporal
things are transient, but this is eternal.
Sometimes you say, when a man has
done foolish thing, He will only
rue II once" You mean he will rue
it always. So God only saves us once,
but his one salvation lasts forever.
But you say, Perhaps it is not for
me. l may not be one of those whom
God intends to bless Look again.
To meet your difficulty there Is an
other thought. This blessing is for the
largest possible number.
This verse has a good, round sweep.
It's scope surely embraces you. See,
the earth is exhorted to look, and you,
surely, are included in that. God so
loved the world. Yea, his love is vast
as creation, it is not an island, nor
a country, nor a nation. that is to look.
Not only Jews but Gentiles. For 1t
is written, I'm thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed"
None have wandered too far, or have
sinned too foully for the glorious in
vitation Of the text.
This blessing comes TO us with the
best possible security. For l am God,
and there is none else" God! "Why
if he be God" you say, Il dare not
4 ,tc-t> - = i, Cnd 90 inc
whom l have sinned. Let me fly else
where for refuge. Elswhere for ref
ugev
And whittier will you fee? There
is none other who can save you. Let
us rather be like Augustine, who said,
II fly to God, and hide in God from
God" We must hide in Gods mercy
from his judgment.
Look only to Jesus, not to Satan and
his temptation. You need not know
all about the adversary and his wick
ed ways in order to be saved from
them, and indeed, the less you know
the better.
Look only to Jesus, not to sin and
lIS COllSclueDCeS. Dul you say,
must repent Of my sim" True; but
repenting of sin Is not looking at it,
but turning away from it, and looking
only to Jesus.
Look only to Jesus, not to the OBJ
stacles and hindrances in your path.
If you look at them they will be
stumbling stones, but If you look from
them to Jesus they will become step
ping tones. A stone will do for either.
Look only to Jesus, not to yourself
not to your intentions. your prayers.
your repentances. your faith. Your
faith Is your looking. Do not look at
your looking, but look only to Jesus.
You know how it Is walking with
a friend in the early night, when he
sees the first star Of the evening and
points it out to you. You do not see
it. He points again. "Why" he says,
at is just there, right opposite you.
You are looking at it." Still you do
not see it. Presently you catch a
glimpse Of it, and now you are sur
prised you did not see it before. and
are so taken up with it that you can
scarcely see anything else. So 1t is
when we point men to Jesus. We are
surprised that they do not see him, and
when they do see him they will be
surprised, too, and they will scarcely
see any one else besides.
Jesus. Do you think we could make
that name better? You think not. l
think we could. How? By adding
four more letters to it-Jesus only.
Only look to Jesus. That is all.
A simple thing. 1t is not to strive,
to philosophize. to argue-only to look
But you say, II am charitable; will
my charity avail me nothing?" Moth
ing. But l belong to a good family:
will that avail me nothing" Moth
ing. The man who is not charitable
who does not belong to good family
who has not been piously trained, can
look just as well as you. You and
he stand on the same level. The en-
trance Is low down. Only look to
Jesus.
Only look to Jesus. That is an in
Simultaneous thing, and therefore the
salvation is immediate. Find how long
it takes to look. and you discover how
long it takesto be saved. You may per-
haps not know the moment; but one
thing you will know, that whereas you
were blind. now you see. Even If you
feel powerless. yet look to him for pow
er to look. Behold the Lamb OF God,
that takest away the sin of the world"
He takes the sin-you only look to
Jesus.
You are not to look for Jesus. He
is not lost. A friend Of mine at a