The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-02-02

MEMORY VERSES
GOLDEN TEXT-'Iook unto me ant
Be ye saved. all the ends of the earth:
for I am God. and there is none else
lisa. 1922.
So quietly had Jesus made His ap.
pearance into the world that His ar.
rival was unknown In Jerusalem until
the Wise Men came from the East.
Perhaps the shepherds had not told
their tale of the heavenly vision, or
perhaps they had told 1t, but 1t had
been UNDECIDED or ridiculed. So as the
morning star still rises without noise,
and as the seed shoots up and the
flower opens in silence, so was it
with the coming of Christ, the Rose of
Sharon, and the Bright and Morning
Star. No thunder awoke the hills of
Palestine; no trumpet peal went
through its city; no herald went be-
fore Him; no royal salute greeted
Him. His mother and the chosen
few of the inner circle who had wit.
messed the wondeTous birth. made no
proclamation of it,--they received all
In silent, happy faith, and pondered
these things in their hearts.
Even so does Christ to-day make
His advent into many a heart. So
silently does He oftlmes come that
one scarcely Is able to tell the day
or the hour when Christ was born
in his life. The Kingdom of God
does not always come with observa.
ton.
The inquiry Of the Wise Mon sug.
gests o deep interest in Christ. Herod
made no such inquiry save in jeal.
Ousy; Jerusalem was not particularly
interested In the subject; but a very
few in Israel cared anything about It.
How like conditions to-day. What lit
tie interest men manifest in Christ.
There Is interest In politics, business.
personal welfare, philanthropic work,
and even in church work, but how
little real interest in Christ. These
three heather men showed much more
interest in Christ than His W coun,
trymen did. So Is It true to-day
The heather are deeply interesting
themselves in the very story which
scarcely moves our hearts.
The Wise Men confessed their ig'
torrance The truly wise man is never
above asking questions. Pride keeps
many people from Christ. Because,
falsely, we say, I'VE see" our blind
ness remains with us. II we would
find the Saviour, If we would know
the forgiveness of sin, let as admit
our ignorance and Il need of a
guide; let us cry to God to help us.
1t is better to ask God to lead us
than to trust in our own reason. We
seldom wander when on BUR knees.
The Wise Men had a mUtive for
their search-they came to worship
Him. And that is just the reason
why they found Him. Herod could
not find Him, nor could the chief
priests and scribes-for the simple
reason that they did not want to
worship Him. No seeker will find
Christ unless the motive of his seek
ing be that he may be saved by Him,
and from henceforth live for and
serve Him. A seeking sinner and a
seeking Saviour will not be long be-
fore they meet. and the meeting will
be a blessed one. Have you found
Christ? II not, why not?
The Wise Men received encourage
ment In their search for Christ. They
saw His star, which led them through
the long desert until they found their
place by Christ's side. So will It al
ways be with those who are really
seeking Christ. There is a light that
others perchance may not see, a hand
that others may not perceive, a voice
that others may not hear-all OF these
are visible and audible to those who
by faith are seeking Christ. The
Church, the Bible, the Preaching Of
the Gospel, exemplary Christian lives,
inward impulses-these may be stars
that light the way to Him.
The Wise Men did not consider It
enough that they had seen the star.
They continued their journey until
they saw the Christ. Is there not
danger Of our seeing the Church, the
Bible. the ~sacraments, and yet miss
ing Him! 1t would have been too
bad for them to have come as far as
Jerusalem and then to have given up
without seeing Him, Just as it would
be too bad for us to have used all
these spiritual aids, and yet not have
found the Saviour.
AS soon as these earnest seekers
found Christ. they %worshipped Him.
What a glorious vision they had as
they looked upon the Christ Child!
They saw that which alone is worth
seeing; that which fills and gladdens
the soul when seen and known; that
which righteous men Of old desired to
see, but saw only in glimpses and
at intervals: that for the seeing Of
which Moses prayed so earnestly; that
to which the eye or every creature
should turn in longing anticipation:
that which everything in heaven and
in earth is intended to reveal: that for
the beholding of which our eyes we're
made, and for the appreciation OF
whsch our minds were formed-Jesus
Christ, the Son Of God. and the Saw
Jour Of the world. To see anything
less than this In the Christ Child. is
10 miss the very heart of the Wis.
ion.
They worshipped Him. They could
not help 1t; nor can any man when
once he has seen the glory Of God
in the face Of Jesus Christ. It was
said of Gladstone that when one was
ushered into his presence. he was con-
strained to bow his head or raise his