The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-09-19
SAYS GOD CAN BE FOUND
IF DILIGENTLY SOUGHT.
Reverend Doctor J. Z. Mcdonald
Tells Why Many Fail In Their
Search for Truth.

Mans Search for Cod was the theme
Of the sermon preached yesterday morn
ing by the Reverend J. E. Mcdonald at
the Lafayette Park NJ FL Church, South
His text was jeremiah XIX Ii: And ye
shall seek for mo and find me when ye
shall search for me with all your heart"
He eaid in part:
Man may be unsuccessful in his quest
for God. There Is a time when God may
not be found This is not because God has
not made a revelation Of himself. The
world Of nature Is q revelation Of God.
sufficient to impress any candid man with
the majesty and glory of God. and make
known the necessity and the reasonable
ness OF worship and service David saw
God In the stars. and so may everyone
who wants to see God in this the most
ancient and everpresent revelation OF him
self. In the types. shadows and symbols
of the old tispensation. there was such a
revelation as was suited to the capacities
of those for whom they were intended.
When the fullness OF the times came
Christ. who was the contamination Of the
hopes pc b Of being the
image Of his person. appeared as the
clearest and final revelation of God. He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father"
The only begctfen Son which IS in the
bosom OF the Father. he hath declared
him.
The law was the revelation Of Gods
wrath. and the teachings, OF Jesus the
manifestation of his special love and mer-
cy- The history OF Christianity is a rev.
cation OF God to men. From the days
OF the Acts Of the Apostles on down
through the current of mighty deeds and
self-sacrificing devotion, the student OF
God in human history will clearly see the
wisdom and Intervention of God IN human
affairs Not alone the apostles of the
faith. who go across continents and oceans
to tell the world of his love. but in many
4 community can be found some of his
jewels, from which daily radiate the glory
and the beauty Of the uiyine.
Not in the dimn.ss OF the revelation
can the reason OF mans failure to find
upon the human side. The word that
Jesus used to describe the moral status of
man. WAS the word lost Out OF this
wilderness of separation and helplessness
u.en have emerged and found the path to
the Fathers house From the hour of
the prodigars reception the flame Of a
living hope has never died upon the
fearthstone of the human, heart The
achievements Of man In history and NOR
ais. is ever a beacon light. and a source
of living inspiration to the sons Of men.
many have never found God is that they
have never searched for him. Others have
sought from the wrong motive And still
others have had an earnest desire TO sic
coed. and haze failed in the method. The
heather religions of the world are hut
an expression of the craving of the hui
man neaIt ZOE tod. ana also demonstrate
the futility of mans efforts when left to
himself. to climb TO the altitude of vision.
The philosopher and the evoiutionist have
Demonstrated the futility of search In
those directions.
1T Is possible for man to be governed
more largely by motives that are selfish
In his search for God Seeking TO know
and to serve, lest there be the woes of
destruction When man puts his heart :n-
to his search his effort will be successful
With the heart man believeth unto right
eousness.' Faith and obedience are the
two maths which blend IN one hy which
man can travel into the presence and walk
in the ligh. OF God. Faith is the motive
and the inspiration for obedience. The lat
ter is the product Of the former. All obeti-
ence that brings blessedness to the soul IL
based upon faith. God reveals himself, as
man moves forward in the path of oteti-
ence. II any man willeth to do his will he
shall know Of the doctrine. Abraham saw
the crest of Calvary from the mount of
obedience The cruise OF oil did not fail,
the barrel Of meal wasted not a. the