The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-07-22

strings have been torn off by reckless
hands; that still there is an imprisoned
soul that appeals to Him whose heart Is
that of good shepherd.
2. Think now of the search.
That lost sheep lies in the shepherd
heart and he must at once set out TO
look for 1t. How all-absorbing is the
searchi The ninety and nine all lett IN
safety Would you dissuade him?
shepherd. the way is very rocky lie
cares not for this, his heart is with his
lost sheen. shepherd, 1t Is a heavy
climb up yonder mountain" He does not
note its toll, his excitement lends him
strength shepherd, 1t Is terrible path
by which you must descend into yonuer
gloomy vale!" 1t is not terrible TO MN,
his only terror is lest his sheep should
perish He leaps into danger and escapes
il by the one strong impulse which bears
him on How persevering Is the search!
Does not stop till he finds 1t.
1t is grand to think of the Lord Jesus
Christ with His heart set immovably
upon the rescue of a soul lost to Him. He
does not say to one of His hirenngs'
Hasten after the sheep and bring IL
home" He follows it Himself. He is
personally tracking sinners, who though
they fly from Him with desperateness
of folly, yet are pursued by Him-by the
Eternal Lover of Men.
This search includes all who have run
away from Him and plunged into sin, like
sheep mired in a black bog-it Includes
the scoundrels and the profigates the
seomers and the outcasts blighted and
blasted lives. Every straying. lost son
and daughter of Adam Is the object OF
Christ's search.
4 Jesus Christ is couched in visible form
the great mystery of Divine love. Here
is the answer by anticipation to the sar-
casm that is often levelled at evangelism
Christianity, saying: You must thlnh
a good deal of human nature, and must
have a very arrogant notion of the in
i habitants of this little speck that floats
in the great sea of the heavens, II you
suppose that with all these millions OF
orbs the Divine Nature came down upon
this little tiny molehill and took your
nature and died" Yes, says Christ, not
because man was so great not because
man was so valuable in comparison with
the rest Of creation-he was but one
amongst ninety and nine unfallen and I'M
sinful-but because he was so Wretched,
so small and had gone so far away from
God therefore the seeking love came
after him, and would draw him to itself.
Jesus came to EARTH tabernacled among
us trod unfalteringly with eager haste
and solemn resolve the rough and painful
road Love bore Him over every him
drance that barred His path Many wa
tiers could not quench 1t, deep and great
/ beyond all thought or thankfulness. IL
/ S1lenCGS
pense To believe is life. To feel 1t is
heaven. 1.-THE teaching of the cross as
central in Christianity expresses Gods
eternal and fathomless pain for man
sin and His readiness to do everything
morally possible to reclaim him from 1t.
Anv marked increase in evengelistic pow
err which shall bring that widespread re-
yiyal for which many long, can only come
with the emergence of the ministry from
enveloping mists respecting the cross OF
Christ.
II must be interpreted with more dis
elimination, clearness and passion. There
can be no heavenly passion in the pulpit
where the divine meanings of Christs
cross indefinitely conceived superb
cally felt or vaguely stated.
The tragedy of the crucifxion and the
cross of the atonement represent oppo-
sites in principle. The tragedy represents
man at his worst, sin at Its worst me
cross of the atonement was the sublim-
est act In the moral history of God. 1t
was God at his best; 1t represents what
was being enacted on the divine side of
the central event in earth's history. 1t
represents a sacrifice on COOS part
which. while 1t was historical, was also
eternal in principle; 1t cost the Father as
much as 1t cost the Son. 1t compassed tn :
sin-pro blem of the universe; adapted to
cure sin and to recover believing man
kind from its curse ard power.
To seek and save the lost Is the Chris
have reversed the order We arc waiting
for the lost to seek us. One of our chronic
church problems. from time immemorial.
is how to reach the masses. A more
pertinent question would be: How are
the masses to reach us with our present
Inadequate methods? The fact is there
are no masses to reach. Men are not
reached In masses or in classes; they arc
reached as men, man by man. Men are
not saved en- masse or lost en- masse, they
rod nr a G in6iV6nAlA-
II Christian men and women went in
search of lost men as the shepherd went
after his wandering sheep, as Jesus went
seeking the publcans and sinners Of His
day as the men of our time seek wealth,
honor and office, the problem OF the
worlds salvation would be In large meas
ure solved.
A great need of the kingdom of God Is
the consecrated button-holer, the Keen
eyed quick witted, spiritual sharpshooter,
who can single out and pick off the sol
dery of darkness.
The revival Of today must include the
revival of MY Cross" The path of
Jesus Christ down the centuries is light
ed by the flames of burning martyrs.
Christ lived in the blessed loveliness of
self-sacrifice so must J. He lived for
men; so must I. He died to save the
world; so must l. Christ trod the weary
pathway of the cross; so must l.
Today we are numerous rich. with So
cial position with learning and with
power, but we are marking time. Come
and suffer" cried Mazzn and that cry
thrilled the youth of Italy and wrote one
of the most glorious chapters in human
history The way to victory Is the way
to the cross.
g. The Saving Acts.
Having found the lost sheep "he layeth
1t on his shoulders rejoicing
lie raises the fallen one from the earth,
| whereon II has strayed. He took the
sheep just as It was. without a word of
rebulke. without delay or hesitancy. and
lifted 1t out of the slough and briers into
a place of safety. DO you remember the