The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-08-23
4HOW TO FIND GOD"
IS TEXT OF SERMON
The Rev. Clark breaches At
W0odlawn Presbyterian
Church
AND YE SHALL SEEK ME
Man Shall Find God and a Savior Only
After Searching For Him
with All Your
Heart"

How to Find God,,' was the text
of the sermon preached Sunday MORN
! ing at the Woodlawn Presbyterian
church by the Rev. w. c. Clark. Rev
Clark took as his text the following
scripture jeremiah 29:13, "And ye
shall seek me. and find me, when ye
snail search for me with all your
! heart"
He spoke in part as follows:
He May Be Found
God here tells us how He may be
found. That is. how we may come to
know Him as our friend, our Lord and
| redeemer; how we may enter into COW
enant relation with Him so that we
can claim Him as our God; how we
may each be able to say, The Lord is
my God and how we may secure His
presence and favor, and obtain His
help and salvation.
Must Seek God
THE general answer to this inquiry
is that we must seek Him in the way
indicated in His word, in the use of
the means of grace and through the
only Savior He has provided. By
prayer. by the reading and hearing His
word and by the use of the sacraments
We are to come to a knowledge of His
son and of His grace and salvation.
To this Savior and to this way of life
the Old Testament believer was point
ed forward as to the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the
world Back to this same Savior the
New Testament believer is directed as
10 the way, the truth and the life
"Tne special direction given by the
prophet as to how God may be found
is this That He be sought with all
the heart. Ye shall find me when we
search for me with all your heart
Heartfelt searching for God will be
rewarded with success. The blessings
involved In finding God are so pre-
cious that they deserve to be sought
with all the heart. Think of them
Hold them before your mind and heart
Count them over one by one
THE central of all these blessings
is God Himself He stands at the be-
ginning of the Christian life and He
is to be the supreme portion of the
believer throughout all eternity. To find
God is to find father, wise and pow
erful and good.
Find a Savior
ITO find God is to come into the possess
sion of a Savior with divine nature
clothed in human form To find God
Is to become a member OF Gods family,
and so have a right to the privileges of
his children. To find God IS to know
His Son, and to possess life eternal This
is life eternal that they might know
thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent To know God
is to secure an interest in all the bless
ings of salvation. Recall these There
are pardon, peace and joy. There is MEM
bership in the family of God and all the
rights and privileges which such MEM
bership involves. There is cleansing from
sin. begun in xhe new birth and completed
when men awake satisfied in His image.
There are guidance and support and pro
lection along the way of life, the presence
of the Savior in the hour of death, the
welcome into heaven. the resurrection of
the body, the acquittal at the judgment of
Tue great uay ana the mai welcome into
all the privileges, blessings ana joys of
heaven Such blessings ought to be sought
with all the heart Only such seeking
can be expected to win them. The mo It
precious things of this life are to be Sc
cured only through dlligent. earnest,
heartfelt search. Thus men seek wealth,
knowledge, honor, fame. SO should they
expect to be required to seek the more
precious blessings of salvation. If they
are We nth anything, they are worth every
thing. s.nG II they are worth everything
Trey should be sought with all the heart.
The blessings of spiritual wisdom arr
held UP, in the third CHAPTER of Proverbs
as worthy of such seeking. For the mer-
chandise of 1t is better than the mer-
chandise of silver and the gain thereof
than fine gold. She is more precious
than rubies and all the things thou canst
desire are not to be compared unto her.
Hence we need not be surprised that
God lays it down as a condition of find
ing Him and the blessings of His saliva
ton that they be sought with all the
heart. 'Ye shall find Me when We shall
se;'rch for Me with all your heat Only
such seeking will be rewarded by revela-
ton of God and His great savati M