The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1912-02-02

,:DI.DEN TENT -'took unto me and
w. y snN.d an ~, "nhs 81 ,,oe ~. nar,n,
I~a. 4 ~;
So quietly had Jesus made His APP
rcarance into the world that His ar
rival was unknown jim 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 II. but II had
been UNDECIDED or rldiculed. SO as the
morning star still rises without noise,
and as the seed shoots up and the
| flower opens in silence, so was u
with the coming Of Christ the Rose OF
sharon, and the Bright and Morning
star. No thunder awokc the hills OF
Palestine: no trumpet peal went
through It's city: no herald went be
fore Him. no royal salute greeted
Him. His mother and The chosen
few uf th. inner circle who had wit
messed the wondcrous birth. made no
Proclamation of it.--they received all
[ IN silent. happy faith. and pondcred
thoso things n their hearts.
B Even 80 does Christ today make
His advent into many heart. So
silently docs Ne o''imes come that
: one scarcely Is able to tell the dav
or the hour when Christ was born
IN his life. The Kingdom Of God
| does not always come with observa.
, ton
The inouiry ~ the Wise Men sug.
! rosts decp interest In Christ. Herod
! made no such inquiry save In ieal-
ousy: Jerusalem was not particularly
I interested In the subject: but a very
! few in Israel cared anything about II.
How like conditions today.
The Wise Men confessed their ig-
, norance. The truly wise man II never
above asking questions. Pride keeps
many people from Christ Because.
falsely. We say. "wc see" our blind.
ness remains with us. !! We would
Hnd the Saviour. II We would know
the forgiveness Of sin. let us admit
our ignorance and our need Of a
guide: lei rs cry to God to help MS.
| II IL better to ask God to lead us
thnn 10 trust In our own reason. We
seldom wander when on our knees.
The Wise Men had q motive for
their search-they came TO worship
Him. And that IL Just the reason
why they found Him. Herod could
not hnd Him. nor could the chief
priests and scribes-for the simple
reason that they did not want to
worship Him. No seeker viii 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 .
seeking Saviour will not be long be-
fore they meet. and the meeting will
DO . blessed one. Have you. found
Christ? II not. Why not'
Tho 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 II al
ways be with those who are really
seeking Christ. There 10 . light that
others perchance may not see. . hand
that others may not perceive. . voice
that others may not hear-all Of these
arc Visible and audible TO those who
BY faith are seeking Christ. Tho
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 Il
enough that they had seen the star.
They continued their journey until
they saw the Christ. II there not
danger Of our seeing the Church. the
bible. the sacraments. and yet miss
ing Him! Il would have been too
bad for them to have come rs far as
Jerusalem and then to have given up
without seeing Him. Just as II would
be too bad for us 10 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 IL 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 OF every creature
should turn In longing anticipation:
that which everything In heaven and
in earth 10 intended to reveal: that for
the beholding Of which our eyes were
made, and for the appreciation Of
which our minds werc formsd-Jesus
Christ, the Son Of God. and the Saw
iour Of the world. To see anything
less in the Christ child 10 to miss the
heart OF the vision.
They worshipped Him. They could
not help II; nor can any man when
once he has seen the glory Of God
In the face Of Jesus Christ II was
said OF Gladstone that when one was
ushered into his presence, he WAS con-
strained to bow bis head or raise his
hat So those who behold Christ must
worship Him. Who can behold thu