THE GLEANER.

Evening Star, Issue 14414, 9 July 1910, Page 9

THE GLEANER.

[By Duncan Weight, Dunedin.] No. 138. . NO CROSsTnO CROWN. Those holy Colds, Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed " ■ For our advantage on the bitter cross. —Shakespeare. Nearer my Father’s house, Where the many mansions be; Nearer the great white throne, Nearer Die crystal sea. Nearer the bounds of life, Whore we lay our burden down; Nearer leaving the cross, Nearer gaining the crown! SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CROSS. Five or six short but strikingly suggestive sentences I quote from & recent address by a leading English gospeller : 1. As a gibbet. Shame as well as pain wore the Saviour’s portion. 2. Tho cross was an altar. Nothing was plainer than that Jesus gave Himself, .{is life was not taken from Him. He yielded it up. In Gethsemane tho air -eeraed thick with angels’ wings, but Ho could not havo their aid. _ 3. The moss was a pulpit, the standing ground of a herald, a place of proclamation. Love leaps to light, love shouts aloud, love whispers intensely at the cross. 4. It is a window into the heart of God. The love of the Father is revealed. When tho Son suffered on earth, the Father must have suffered -in heaven. 5. The cross k a battlefield. Those hands which had been so busy in beneficence were at last fettered. ’Those feet could no longer move in errands of mercy, but all the forces of His Being were at work in fullest energy. The powers of evil were massed together to resist this •great achievement. The victory was hardly won. 6. The cross was a throne. Jesus reigned from tho cross. CROSS AND CROWN. Many years ago there lived in Paris a most devoted Christian. When quit© young she was loft a widow with several children. She was anxious to serve God in her sorrow, and she removed to Switzerland, whore she became a soul-winner. She loft Paris in a boat, taking her little girl and a nursemaid with her. The girl was a sweet child. On the boat she nit out a great many little crosses and then fastened them all on her mother’s dress. The nursemaid said; “ Will you not give mo a cross, too,” “ No,” said the child. “ They are all for mother.”

The words almost seemed prophetic. From that day the mother was never without trials. She was persecuted wherever she went. Once she was poisoned. Several times she was. put in prison, and all because she loved Jesus Christ. When the child had finished making the crosses she wont to form a crown, and putting that on her mother’s head she said : “ After the cross comes the crown.” Query : Did that child see into the unseen ? The four lines I quote now from the Rev. H. F. Lyte should be sung slowly and after full consideration of what is involved Jesus, I my cross have token. All to leave and follow Thee, Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shalt be. It would be rank hypocrisy for most dwellers in these happy, sunny islands of the sea to imagine that we know persona, or are ourselves, “Destitute, despised, forsaken,” because we follow the Ono who bore the Cross of shame and ignominy. Would it not? A few good men we do know who are not understood, hut they are in no sense ‘‘Destitute, despised, forsaken.” Perhaps the language of Fanny Crosby’s sweet song would suit us better as the craving of a hungry soul:— Near the Cross! 0 Lamb of God! Bring its scenes before me, Help me walk from day to day With, its shadow o’er me. Near the Gross, a trembling soul, Love and mercy found me; There the bright and morning star Shod its beams around me. And in the struggle with self and sin it is well amidst the din of life to sing:— Near the Cross, I’ll watch and unit. Hoping, trusting over, Till I reach the golden strand Just beyond the river. SAVONAROLA (whose name is well known oven amongst persons who do not claim to bo called groat readers) commenced his ministry in Florence with sermons of the formal typo (sec W. J. Dawson’s live book entitled ‘The Evangelistic Note’) that were then popular—polished, learned, and"literary—and ho attracted no attention. His career as a preacher did not begin, till bo freed himself from the trammels of this tradition. (He got, indeed, a now vision of Christ’s Cross.) He discarded artificiality, became natural, allowed all his gifts free play, and the effect was both immediate and immense. His passion for Christ and for the immediate establishment of Christ’s Kingdom broke through all the trammels of the pulpit. As usual, some were scandalised, all were startled ; but the fact remains that these sermons moved Florence to her depths, and even a man like Michael Angelo, artist, poet, and scholar as he was. in his extreme old age could not recall and speak of these sermons without tears, TELL ME, PLEASE. You men and women of our fair laud of the great Pacific Ocean, in these days of rush and scurry, noise and hurry, does the Cross of Christ retain its ancient power to meet the needs and conquer the heart of prince and peasant? Does the Cross still retain its regenerating power over the hearts and lives of men, whether in eastern lands, western nations, and the countless islands of the sea? I almost apologise for putting the case thus. I know your reply. If you really desire a full and conclusive reply to iny query read the thrilling story of what has been accomplished by the Cross among the dwellers of Lapland, of Africa, South Sea Islanders, Hindus, Japanese, Chinese, Lidia;. "Brethren,” said a North American Indian, after his conversion,” I have been a heathen. I know how heathens think. Once a preacher came and began to explain to us that there was a God, but we told him to go away. Another preacher came and told us not to ( lie, nor steal, nor drink; but we did not heed him. “At last another came into my hut ono day, and said; ‘I am come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Ho sends to let you know that Ho will make you happy, and deliver you from misery. For this end He became a man, gave His life a ransom, and shed His blood for sinßers.’ ' “How could I forget his words? I told thfem to the other Indians, and an awakening began among ns. I say, therefore, preach the sufferings of Christ our Saviour, if you wish your words to gain entrance among the heathen.” DR THOMAS GUTHRIE ASKS: “Where is God to be seen as we behold Him on the cross and in the Gospel? I scale bartizan or tower to embrace at ono view the outline of a mighty city; or 1 climb the sides of some loftv hill to survey the land that‘lies in .beauty at its feet. And had I the range of the universe, where should I go to obtain the fullest exhibition of the Godhead? Shall I borrow tho yfings of the morning, and, soaring to the pure heights of heaven, look on its happiness, and listen to angels’ hymns? Or shall I cleave the darkness, and, sailing round the edge of the fiery gulf, listen to the'wail and weep over tho misery of the lost?” Hero is a prayer: O teach me what it meaneth, That Cross uplifted high. With One—tho Man of Sorrows, Condemned to bleed and die! 0 teach mo what it cost Thee To make a sinner whole ; And teach mo. Saviour, teach me | The value of a soul.

A GREAT SIGHT. Not many days ago I witnessed a very impressive ceremony in one of Dunedin’s beautiful temples, erected at great cost to the glory of God. Some 860 men and women gathered round tho table of ,tho Lord, in obedience to His'own command “This do in remembrance of Me,” and the great audience was hushed and reverent. A learned professor preached from the words “Woe is unto me if I preach not tho Gospel,” and his clear, ringing utterances thrilled the hearers. One or two sentences will give an idea of the message delivered:—“ And oh, how wonderful is the feeblest, living, warm glimpse of Christ! If there comes to any man, even for one hour of all his life, a glance, from tho eyes of the Son of Man, one touch of His hand, or even the hem of His garment, one thrill from the pathos of His pain, it becomes straightway the most memorable event in all his existence, the sweetest of all his memories, the polo star of his pilgrimage, and the light of all his seeing. The heart can neVer again become quite dry, nor the mind empty of contents, nor the spirit within him de void of hope.” No one but the Almighty could recall the changes of fifty years ago, when a little company of believers celebrated their first communion. But no change ever comes to their Lord and Saviour. Nor can we forget the thrill of jubilation and subdued emotion when the congregation sang, full and strong, the memorable words: By Christ redeemed, in Christ restored, We keep the memory .adored, And show the death of our dear Lord Until He come! Until He come! Tho Cross of Christ moves, melts, and stirs the soul to its deepest depths, unless the soul be dead and shrivelled. Tho memories of June 19, 1910, at Knox Church, Dunedin, will stand out clear and vivid for long, long years to come, and our children will speak of it when many of us sleep in the dust! We pass on, God remains. CROSS AND CROWN. ’Tis weary watching wave on wave, And yet the tide heaves onward; We build, like corals, grave on grave, But pave a pathway sunward. We’re beaten back in many a fray, Yet never strength we borrow; And where the vanguard rests to-day The rear shall camp to-morrow. Though hearts brood o’er the bitter past, Our eyes with smiles shall glisten; For lo! our day bursts up the skies— Lean out your souls and listen. The world is rolling heaven’s way, And ripening in her sorrow; Take heart —who bears the Cross to-day Shall wear the prown to-morrow!