THE KING’S BUSINESS
590
Uzziah died I saw also the Lord.” God would have us see Him today. “Look unto me and be ye saved; for I am Jehovah and there is none else.” Again, he says, “Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with your whole heart.” It is an unfortunate trait of human nature; to forget God in times of prosperity. Men and women can see the Lord if they will search for Him, but the great mass of people seem indifferent to God and religion until trouble comes or “sorrows like sea-billows roll” over their hearts and homes. Then they feel their need of God’s presence. They long for the Comforter. They long to hear the music of the voice of Jesus, saying, “Be of good cheer. It is I, be'not afraid.” The race has made a bad record for itself. Turn with me to 2 Kings, th e, 21st chapter. Manassah began to reign when he was twelve years old and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. He followed after the abominations of the heathen, built up the high places -which his godly father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He also prepared altars for Baal and made a grove as did Ahab and he worshipped the stars and built altars for the host of the heaven in the two courts of the temple and made his son pass through the fire and observed certain times and used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He was also a rank idolater. He was also a murderer. He shed innocent blood very much till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other. If you will notice in 2 Chronicles, the 33rd chapter, thé captains of the kings of Assyria were sent by the Lord and they took Manasseh among the thorns and bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon. MAN’S FRAILTY Then follows this remarkable picture of the ifrailty of all humanity. “And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before‘the God of his fathers and prayed unto Him.” God answered his prayer and brought him again to Jerusalem and established him in his kingdom and Manasseh. knew that Jeho
vah was God. He got very pious when he was in trouble. That is the way with the race. Notice the experience of Ezekial recorded in the first verse of his prophecy. He says: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth -month, in the fifth day of the month as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” The sentence, “As I was among the cap tives by the river of Chebar,” tells the whole story. When he was in captivity he began to look up. He felt his need of God. His soul was crying out in distress. When men and women will genuinely seek the Lord, He will be found. I was in a west ern city where I preached to a great audi ence, urging men and women to flee from the wrath to come. A man who sat directly in front of me had just come from the hos pital. He had a bandage around his head and one arm in a sling. When I asked for an expression of interest amongst all who desired God’s mercy, he was one of the first to stand for prayer. He did not immedi ately decide the question, so I stepped down to talk with him. I asked: What has brought to your mind the feeling of your need of Christ?” He replied: “Possibly you read about it some ten days ago. I am a railroad man. I am a brakeman on the Spokane & Northern. I was riding on that freight train which was wrecked about ten days ago and it is a wonder that I escaped death. I was stand ing on top of a box car when suddenly the track spread, because of the soft embank ment, and I was thrown to the side of the embankment which fortunately was as soft as mush on account of the heavy rains. Immediately that box car full of wheat rolled over me and mashed me into the mud, and while it was rolling over me I felt that I ought to have religion.” GOOD THEOLOGY My brethren, the man’s theology was all right. If there is ever a time in a man’s life when he needs religion it is when a box car full of wheat is on top of him, but the
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