SUNDAY COLUMN.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXVIII, Issue 1514, 2 May 1902, Page 2

SUNDAY COLUMN.

[At the request of clergymen in the dist; : ct, this oolumn is placed at their dL t jal for articles appropriate for Sunday ruadj lug.] OBEYING JESUS CHRIST. (By Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler.) Jesus Christ owns every Christian in the universe. In that wonderful prayer which he breathed on the eve of His crucifixion He exclaimed, iney are mine, and Thou gavest them unto Me." Paul delighted in aling .himself the servant of Jesus uirl ' T and Sloried in saying, Whose I am, and whom I serve " lo a genuine, whole-souled Christian Jesus is the kindest, wiset most patient, and loving of Masters! Life is a school ; and as I sit on my bench learning the lessons which He appoints for me, my loving teacher comes to me and kindly explains many a " hard saying,"' and helps me with spiritual light. My soul often glows within me when He ojens out His precious promises and makes new revelations of His love ■Sometimes He employs the rod of discipline ; but never unless it be for my good. " Whom I love, I chasten and I correct every child I receive unto Myself." The disciple is not above his Master, neither is the servant above his Lord. There is a very intimate connection between these two words disciple and discipline if iam the one 1 must expect to have the other. What ate we in Christ's school for except to lie instructed, and chastised, and purified, and strengthened, and sweetened and prepared to graduate at last into the joys and glories of Heaven "> Jesus governs His school by a law of love ; but His authority is sovereign there- "If ye love Me, keep my commandments." That is the real test of piety. Our Master who redeemed us with His blood, has a right to appoint our studies, to set our copies, prescribe our duties chastise yur waywardness, and enforce His nules. The highest attainment any pupil of Christ can reach is unquestioning obedience. Let me emphasise this great word obedience. It is becoming a test ol honest citizanship at a time when the abominable doctrine is broached that the laws are made to be evaded, and not to be enforced, It is the foremost word for every home. The besetting sin of American households is lax authority and filial disobedience. Reverence ior parents is, in too many families, giving place to pert self-assertion, and determination of children to have their own way. If parents are not the master and the mistress of their own home they may soon find themselves the sorrowful slaves of ungrateful ty- [ rants and tormentors. That was a shrewd man who, wishing the services of a lad in his office, inserted the advertisement, " Wanted,—a boy who always obeys his mother." It is no exaggeration to say that obedience is the crowning grace of a follower of Jesus Christ. It is the essence, the very core of, personal holiness. To learn the will of our divine Master is the chief mirpose of Bible study and of true prayer. To do the will of that Master is the loftiest attainment to which any child of redeeming grace can aspire this side of Heaven. " Follow Me " are the two words that condense the sum o[ Christian duty ; and up in the realms of glory they follow the Lamb whithersoever He leadeth. The essential qualities of holy obedience are—a willingness to let our Master rule us ; a compliance with His commandments without murmuring ; a readiness to be nothing, that He may be all in all and as faithful and conscientious a service of an unseen Lord as if He were visibly standing by our side. To deny sinful self for His sake is no easy thing ; but to deny " righteous self " and to claim no merit for the best thing we can do is a glorious attainment. I have no liking for monkery ; yet some good examples and suggestions have issued from the monasteries. There is an old legend that, a wilful monk of the order of Franciscans stubbornly refused to obey the commands of his superior. A severe punishment was prepared for him. His associates dug a deep upright pit and placed him in it, After a lew shovelfuls of erth had been thrown in, St. Francis said to the monk, " Is your self-will dead yet ? Do you yield ?" The iron will made no response. The burying process went on until the earth reached the loins, and then the shouldeiK, »nd then the chin. A few more moments and the lips would have been silenced ; but the iron will broke, and the submissive friar meekly answered, "I am dead." 0 ! how true it is that our wise and loving Master sometimes puts us into a deep pit of trial, to subdue our pride, or to tame our unruly passions, or to break our stubborn self-will. Blessed is he or she who can look up into the countenance of Jesus and sincerely say, " Master my rebellious self is deail, that Thou mayest live in me, and that I may live for Thee only and for thy service and glory !"lt is not slavery to a hard taskmaster, but a loyal, joyful, hearty obedience to a redeeming Lord and Saviour which goes singing on its upward path, " Jesus, Master, I am thine Keep me faithful, keep me neat Let Thy presence in me shine, All my homeward way to cheer. Jesus, at Thy feet I fall.