East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-11-16
DR.. FORD TELLS OF '|NADEQUACY Of
SUBSTITUTES FOR PERSONAL SERVICE

The following is synopsis of the
sermon preached in the Methodist
church Sunday morning by DR.. Ford:
In II. Kings, the fourth chapter
and the 29th and 3Oth verses. you
said to Gehazi, grid up thy loins, and
take my staff in thine hand, and go
thy way: and lay my staff
upon the face of the child. And the
mother of the child said, as the Lord
| liveth, and as thy soul liveth, | will
not leave thee, And he arose and fol-
lowed her.
THE inadequacy of substitutes for
personal service" is the subject to
which | direct your attention.
Signs and wonders are only accom-
paniments of revelation. They should
be kept in the background rather
than in the foreground. 1t may be
that the fundamental truths of Chris
t,anity would have remained in the
depths of unfathomable mystery II
]
ders wrought. 1t required more than
the vo,ce of God to convince Moses
OF the diyineness of his call; the
burning bush" and the "transfor-
nation of his rod" were necessary
When John was in prison at Mach
earus he sent messengers to Christ
and they returned with the assurance
/ that the blind receive their sight
the lame walk. the lepers are cleans
| ed, the deaf hear, and the dead are
raised up" and this sufficed to con-
! firm the truth of the imprisoned
| prophet. This is human nature The
| Incredible catches us. The myste-
rious charms us. The miraculous i'm
| presses ana holds us. eWlsten with
| keenest interest TO the recital of sto-
ries of proy.dential escapes. miracu-
| louS deliYeranCes and divine heal
! ngs." In childhood we were more
/ than charmed by the stories of
! "Aladdn's Lamp" and his wonderful
ring" and "The Seven League Boots"
and kindred stories of fiction. Today
We lay aside the weightler matters OF
/ the newspapers. magazines and re-
/ views. as the progress of government,
| the expansion OF commerce. the
/ achievements of science, the discover
/ les Of explorers, the triumphs of art.
| the growth of literature and march
/ Of civilization, in order to read the
account of the appearance Of a hob
goblin to some man with distorted
/ iElminatiOn i'm neighboring village.
We look for wonders. We seek for
signs.
/ 1t is no wonder that men turn TO
The bible in search of the miraculous
as evidence of the divine origin of the
/ book. We incapacitate ourselves for
/ the real merit and value of the bible
by dwelling upon the supernatural
. The bible is worth more to US for its
/ naturaluess than for its supernatur-
ainoss. Its highest divinity is in its
lowest humanity. Its greatest Cod
/ likeness is i'm its greatest human like
! ness That which brings Moses and
I Christ nearest to US is that which s
| common with Us. what we have
Soen. and heard and handled Of the
| Word of life" is what tells most with
us. The bible speaks to US in our own
| language. appealing to our reason
ana taking hold Of Us In the every
day struggle Of life, with plain, prac-
tical and v,talizing truth. It's merit
! lies not 50 much in the miracles it
records as in its ethics and economics.
! and common place truth.
We have burned incense long
enough to supernaturalism, Cnholy
fires are beng kindled upon this al
tar stu, and human passions are be-
| ing inflamed rather than tanned there
by Undue emphasis is still put upon
/ the miraculous. Prodigies of yester-
day, or OF today, Of any sort, are of
Iruch interested in the question as to
" neither Balaam's ass spoke In artc-
ulate sounds as / am in the certainty
Of fetr,bution. I am not SO much
concerned about the providence of the
| fish that God converted into a life
boat for Jonah as | am about the
aWfu!ness Of dlsObedence. | do not
care whether the book Of Revelation
contains an exact diagram OF the holy
city, or not, but I do care to know
the kind Of folks who are there and
how / myself may get there! The
miraculous is too remote from us.
We want that which brings God and
Christ and bible nigh unto us.
The text, therefore, comes to us,