Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-09-26

We the LORD, said;
Text: Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found. call ye upon him while
he is near. Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts. ard let him return unto the
Lord. and he will have mercy upon him;
and to our God. for he will abundsntly
pardon Isaiah 1851.
To seek God is mans highest duty
and his greatest privilege. That is an
address to the noreiist as we'll as TO
the drunkard. 1t lie an address TO the
society woman as well as the woman
, selling her virtue in the red-light dis
trict.
The first thing to remember about be-
ing saved is that salvation Is a personal
matter. Seek ye the Lord"-that means
every one must seek for himself. 1t
won't do for the parent 10 seek for the
children; II won't do for the children to
seek for the parent. II you were sick all
tho medicine 1 might take wouldn't do
you any good. Salvation is a personal
matter that no one else can do for you;
you must attend to It yourself.
II won't do you any good II your wife
Ia a Christian. You have got to be some
thing more than brother-in-lRw 10 the
church. You may say, Il can't under
stand all the Bible teaches" Neither can
| /, but I can understand some Of H. and
usually the man who says he can't un-
/ derstand the Bible isn't living up 20
what he can understand. God won't hold
you responsible for doing what you
/ haven't got space enough TO do. II
can understand more than you. God
holds me responsible TO do more than
you. II you understand more than l.
then God holds you responsible TO do
more than ]. II you seek first the king
dom Of God your understanding VIII
grow.
You say. Well 1 can't understand how
jesus dying on the cross and shedding
his blood can save me-" You don't need
10 understand it-obey Il. ! don't know
/ how Il Is that putting seed In the
ground will make the seed grow-l don't
need to understand II. We don't have
TO understand how the food we eat builds
muscle, brain and tissues-just shovel the
grub down and forget It.
God IL a Revelation.
God IA a revelation--not an explanation.
You can't explain how a seed will grow;
but put II In the ground and 1t will re-
veal TO you that II does, although you
can't explain why.
But never mind what we don't know.
You can go and pick up the dewdrops
from the doorsteps, and may find In them
rainbow on which an angel viii stand
and weep over a dying world You
say, There are hypocrites In the church.
1 know IT,; and there are many in the
church that are not. too Heaven doesn't
look right when you look at II through
beveled glass, or when you 10y TO look
at Il with the devils goggles on. Just
give your heart to God and you will see
thousands Of hypocrites outside the
church where you see one In there now.
Find God and other folks will look
good deal better 60 you when you look at
them through salvation. You VIII find
your neighbours house will look a good
deal better II you only wash your own
windows, old man. Tho fellow who looks
through cobwebs secs spiders all the
time. You say. II mover did any harm.
That has nothing to do with the case;
conduct Il not an Issue. There are plenty
OF snakes In the grass that have never
bitten anybody yet But you wouldn't
let your children play with snake be
cause Il had never done any harm. No
body would vote TO turn a mad dog loose
on the street because 81 has not bitten
anybody yet There IL no difference be-
tween being wrong and doing wrong;
and the reason you do wrong is because
you are wrong; and the reason you are
wrong Is because you won't yield to
GOD. A man gets into the lodge on the
password--not because he is president OF
a bank. You win get into heaven be-
cause you are a Christian-not because
YOU are richer than your neighbor and
can wear better clothes. You can't get
into heaven unless you arc born again.
You can't walk into heaven and cay
Lord. was director OF the bank In
Omaha" or 1T was the president Of the
United States" or IT was the king OF
England" II Is faith in Jesus that
opens the door and lets you In. or shuts
II IN your face Faith In Christ is the
oountersign that passes all through the
door OF heaven.
Need the Church.
You say. "Bin' can do right and
not belong to church." You say, II can
do right and be Christian and not be a
member OF any church" Maybe you
can; l can't. I have never in my life
seen successful. useful or helpful Chris
tian that stayed out Of the church, You
want all the help you can get. When
any man Is truly converted the first thing
he will do viii be 20 look for some
church. So. you say. We'll don't have
20 be member OF the church TO be "a
Christian" have known men that could
live with a woman they were not married
TO. but that Is not my way Church mem
bership IL not mentioned. Let the
wicked forsake his way" II you forsRke
your way, you win hunt up church
just as quickly AS you can find one.
Church membership win take care of IT
self. Seek ye the Lord"-don't think
about II. DO It now. Don't conclude that
you win think about Il tomorrow, Do Il
with all your might until you find It. II
will be easier for the heavens TO dissolve
and the planets TO stop than that the
Lords word should fail. I believe thu
blacklist lie the devil ever persuaded man
TO believe Is that God Is hard TO find.
God Is nearer to you tonight than ths
friend by your side; and he Is easily
found when you seek Him with willing
heart. And God can only be found i'm
mediately when you seek Him with the
same earnestness that men looking for
wealth seek gold; and whenever a man
has failed TO find God Il was because he
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