Arizona republican., 1906-10-15


 of Jesus and his love.
 Whatever be the reason of the | omission of words in this text, it was | an evidence that Peter was swept by | an uncomfortable emotion when he was ] writing his letter. He could not col ! feet himself to finish his sentence. You | make a great mistake when you think | the word of God is like a lawyers let { ter. Everything about q lawyers letter ! is precise. It sends a shiver over you ! to receive one. If there are any omis- l sions or corrections. they will be writ 1 ten in the margin. That is law. But ! if you have letter that is growing ! all yellow with age perhaps the hand | that wrote it is long since mouldering | in the dust. you take that letter out i and read it. oh! howe your heart throbs; how you long for the touch ] of that vanished hand, and the sound | of the voice that is still. IL is quite ! possible to find in that letter spaces, | and gaps. Why? Because the heart ! speaks and there IS no time to pay de- i tailed attention The heart travels ! more quickly than the head, and the | love-pen is driven by the heart in- i sead of the head; the words cannot be i written fast enough.
 Peter was writing Unto therefore | which believe and the thought of Jesus flashed upon him. and no doubt said, Glory unto Him! We need not bring back Peter to finish his sentence ! or fill up the gap. I need not ask you to fill up with italics. Please remove | them Unto you therefore which be- 1 Iieve- Oh the preciousness of Him, i Peter does not mention Jesus. just be- | cause He is so near. and he is filled ! and overcome with the thoughts of Him. Yes it is emotion-it is uncon- l trollable emotion and we seem to hear him say. Jesus. I can't write about you, I cant finish this sentence about you. Aye the time has been in our coun- try when services could not be com pleted for great gaps of emotion. for the breaking down of feeling. We can now begin here and end there without a gap But oh, there have l been days when men broke down when they talked of Jesus, and l tell you ! those were most eloquent utterances when the sob overcame the voice. 1 "There was an eloquent professor of 1 Hebrew in college whom the boys call i ed Rabbi He knew Hebrew so well that he was called Rabbi" A student | reading one day the ffty-third chapter i of Isaih. and stumbling along through l the Hebrew he read. He is despiced and rejected of men. etc. The Rabbi came on with his eloquent comment | And what has come over the profes sOr? He is evidently struggling with ! strong emotion; and he places his head ! on his Hebrew Bible and he sobs with l emotion The student looks at him 1 again: he spake with trembling voice Gentlemen do you know what this is? ] Do you know what Jesus is doing here2 It is damnation. and the damnatiOn taken in love And he sobbed again. .a1E oer1f ever given on that chapter. So it was with Peter. Oh, what Christ is to him. when he cannot write about Him! He is unspeakably precious to the ! writer of this epistle. What is He to l us? When you begin Co talk of Him does your heart glow?
 John Wesley said, While hearing one reads Luthers preface to the Epis- tie to the Romans. I found my heart strangely warmed. President Edwards l said I was writing in my study one day of the Christ I stopped and found myself chanting and singing, but I stopped in the middle of my hymn.
 Why? Because he found his heart too big for his mouth
 If diamonds were as common as coal. we would pave the streets with
 them. but they are precious because they are rare. That is the idea with Jesus. He is so indiscribably precious because so infinitely rare. There is only one Son Of God, only one Saviour. It is a wonder you treat Him so light
 Iy. When yos see Him say, Lord. do
 not go away. They constrained Him to come in. Have you constrained Him to come to abide with you? I say you have not yet. Mark that day with a
 red letter when you met the Son of
 God. He is so precious-He is the
 only one. That is the Gospel-God so loved the world that he gave His only
 begotUen Son.
 "Oh. soul if you are ever saved, it is
 by Jesus. Have you been to Him yet? I know now why Peter can hardly
 write of Him. he Is filled with the
 thought. He is the only one. Heaven
 was silent when God offered His Son
 God gave you His only Son. What do you say to it. do you call it cheap? If you miss Him, there is never another
 Saviour. If you reject Him, there is no other You see why Peter can not write of Him. He is so unspeakably
 precious.
 "There is another reason why this
 fisherman could not write of Him. In
 Stonehaven. Scotland. There is a boat
 "A 39." The skipper of that boat com
 mands the best prices. He always
 
 was far out on the high sea- A bright
 lad of the skipper worker on the boat when she suddenly Iurched. the tackle
 swung around. and he was swept to
 the sea. The boat shot ahead. and be- i fore help came the sea calmed as
 though nothing had happehed That father looked agonizingly at the spot where the lad went down. but the sea never divided again. and hey went
 home. Boat A 39 rode. deep with her
 cargo: the blinds of that little cottage
 were already drawn; someone had car
 reid teh news before them If I dared
 to ask him the price of fish today. he
 would answer, My God the price of
 my fish is the life Of my hoy. An!
 the fish from A 39 were dear today.
 An Peter. your Jesus is unspeakably
 precious: He gave His life for you. He
 died for sinners. that is what makes
 Him so precious. It is because there