The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-09-08
"A Recent Sermon
by Rev. R. L. King
(Condensed)


The more l read the Great Book
the more / am impressed and even
amazed at those tender and daring
passages of Scripture which teach
that God is out in search for man
Thomas Arnold was well within the
facts when he said "The great differ
ence between Christianity and all
other religions consists largely in this
that in other religions men are found
seeking after God, while in Christian
ity God is seen seeking after man.
We, after years of Christian teaching,
commonly think of God hiding Him
self within closed doors and our
selves trying to get in to Him. We
speak of getting religion and finding
Christ as if man did all the searching
and God was hidden God. But there
is too much teaching in the Bible
which will not let US think thus.
There is the parable of the lost
sheep, where the good shepherd is
represented as going into the noun
tains to find the one lost, even if nine.
ty-nine are safe. Then, we remem-
Der that moving picture from the
book of Revelation where Christ is
represented as standing and knocking
at the door of the human heart, seek
ing admission. "Behold stand at the
door and knock, if any man will hear
my voice and open the door, / will
come in and sup with him and he with
me-" The text quoted above teaches
the same wonderful truth-that God,
in Christ, is out searching for man.
When we put all these passages to-
gether we have Jesus picture of God
not only going out to meet the lost but
going into the mountains of the far
country and actually seeking him with
anxious heart and aching arms. Jesus
means to teach us that God is like
that. Then, we have no right to
speak as if the search was on our
side. The philosopher Halves says
that call history is really the record
of mans quest for God" He seems
to think we pursue one who eludes our
cropping. We can hear the sweep of
His garments but when we go for
ward He is not there. We do and
must search after God, if happily we
might find Him. But that is not the
main thought of the Bible. The Di-
vine quest for man is the constant
theme of the great Book. 1t tells the
pathetic story of Gods insistent pur-
suit of the human SOUL
! am greatly impressed by two
other words in this text. There is
that word "lost." l sometimes think
that word "lost" is the most desolate
word in human speech. 1t is even
gloomier than the word death. For
it is one thing if your child is dead,
it is quite another if it be lost. When
are we lost? What does it mean to
be lost? Let DR.. Jowett answer:
There are some who are lost in for
getfulness in the noisome grave of
lust There are others who are lost
in forgetfulness in the garish blaze Of
carnal delight. There are others who
are buried in forgetfulness in the
magnetic and material greed. There
are others who are lost in forgetful-
ness in the shimmering mist of pride
and vanity, or in the deceptive fogs
Of jealousy and ill-will. And still
there are others who are buried in
forgetfulness amid masses of smoth-
ering anxieties and cares, or under
the waves and pillows of grief. And
just in these conditions, where people
are lost in forgetfulness, the Lord
comes "to seek and to save". And,
blessed be God, he has sought and
found them! He has found them in
the graves of lust, and He has lifted
them clean out of their corruption.
He has found them in the blaze and
whirl of carnal pleasure, and He has
endowed them with the strength and
sanity of His own peace. He has
found them up to the mouth and ears
in the mud of avarice, and He has
lifted them out of their miry clay. He
has found them wandering in the mists
of vanity, and lost in the fogs of jeal-
ousy, and He has recovered them to
sweet reasonableness and heavenly
love. He has found them overwhelm-
ed with anxieties and cares, and He
has graciously led them into His rest.
He came to do it. He has done it.
He is doing it still. He is seeking and
finding "them that are lost" them
that have forgotten that they are the
children of God"
And l am struck with that word
"saye". | doubt if there is a sweeter
and more beautiful word in human
speech. And what does it mean to be
saved? One is saved when it is given
them to see the fairest vision ever
granted to human soul in the moral
beauty and self-sacrifice of Jesus, and
who kneels in penitence before Him
and calls Him Savior and Lord. Only
one Of two reasons could have brought
Christ into the world. Either He
came to destroy or to save. The BIZ
BILE teaches that the Son of Man is
come, not to destroy, but to save mems
lives. When I speak of the savior Of
the Union Bank you think of Lincoln.
When / speak Of the savior of Italy
you think Of Cavout. When speak of
the savior of Sweden you think Of
Gustavus Adolphus the White king.
But when | speak of the Savior of the
world you think of Christ.
The pearl-diver gropes in darkness
and dangers unimaginable to bring
the precious jewel up from ocean
depths. The genius of a Washington
converts host of undiscinlined troo1s