Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1907-10-18

"
able barrier between himself and all
whom he loves. 1t separates him from
home.
So when in his vision he sees the
time to be built in the hearts Of men,
when God shall make his home among
men and dwell with them, and there
shall be no more pain and sorrow, only
gladness and joy--all things made new
he needs must add these words to the
vision:
'And there was no more sea-"
That Is, there was no separation.
One thing Christianity has done. 1t
has broken down distances, 1t has re
moved BARRIERS 1t has brought things
together that belong to each other, 1t
has swept away the vast, impossible
stretches in the world of the spirit.
Thus first of all. when John said
There is no more sea-" he meant there
would be no separation between God
and man. The gods of the old days
were far off-man had to go long jour-
neys to find God. He dweh on noun
tain heights. Christianity has made
Him near God. He is the ever pres
ent spirit, inhabitlng His world. He Is
nearer to man than nearest friend.
There Is no great space for man'to trav>
erse to find Him. Nothing separates
Him from man but mans own sea.
He Is the dear Father Of us all, and
we take His hand as the little child
takes his mothers hand.
This Is the teaching of Jesus 1t Is
the meaning of His life. To those who
walked with Him In Galilee God was
by their side Never again could they
worship far-off God.
This was also the meaning of Cal
vary. In the death Of Christ men saw
God and man meeting in the one great
sacrifice Of love. In Christ the divine
and human meet and evermore are one
This vital sense of the nearness Of
God Is the only thing that can keep re
ligon alive to-day. This is what we
mean by faith. This Is the fulfllment
of the vision John saw-God with US
no separation-no more sea.
Again John saw in his vision the es
arrangement of the people, and he says:
"In that day, when the kingdom comes,
there will be no more sea-" That Is,
there will be no separation OF races and
of nations. All these foolish and I'M
Christian race prejudices and interna-
tlonal hatreds and caste distinctions
will be swept away.
AS matter of fact speaking liter
ally, how true 1t Is that there Is no
more sea between Europe and America.
Our great ships have made the sea as
nothing and the nations mingle AL
ready much of the old separation is
breaking down and we are realizing
that man to man the world over Is
brother.
But some day there shall be no sep
aration whatever, but we shall see that
all men suffer the same defeats and
losses and are striving after the same
common happiness and good. Then the
brotherhood of man will have come and
there will be no more sea-"
Finally, John was thinking of how
the sea separated him from those he
loved, so when he throws the picture
over into that other world, which we
call heaven, he says, There will be
no more sea there" Here life Is full of
losses. Loves golden cord are broken.
Dear ones are taken from us and seem
ingly great ocean of space Is between
us and them. But there the golden
cords shall be again united. Love can
never lose its own. And there shall be
no more partings. There shall be nc
separation there. This Is the immortal
hope of our Christian faith and moth.
ing can take it from us. No partings
yonder, no separations, mo more sea-"