Devotional Column

Manawatu Times, Volume LII, Issue 6485, 17 December 1927, Page 14

Devotional Column

“THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. - ’

'Tis sweet to know —when wo are tired and pain Lies on our hearts, and when wo look in vain' For human comfort —that the heart divino Still understands these cares of yours and mine. Not only understands, but day by day Lives with us while we tread the earthly way— Bears with us all our weariness, and feels The shadow of the faintest cloud that steals

Across our sunshine —oven learns again The depth and bitterness of human pain. There is no sorrow that He will not share — No cross, no burden for our hearts to bear Without His help—no care of ours too ; small To cast on Jesus; let us tell Him ail — Lay at his feet the story of our woes, And in His sympathy lind sweet repose.

He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive yc the Holy Ghost.— John 20:22.

To be like Christ we must be filled with the Spirit. Th e root or source, is not the Christian, but the Holy Ghost. The Christian Is to fulfill the function of a branch which is to bear fruit. It is the Holy Ghost that produces it. To imitate Christ in His actions wc must be like Christ in our inner spiritual condition. Before wc begin with the deeds of His life, let us imitate Him in His renunciation of self —in His consecration to God. We arc to learn not only what we have to be in character and conduct, but how wc' may become like Christ. .—Rev. Evan H. Hopkins.-

« A VERY POOR SERMON.”

"What did you think of my sermon?” said a young preacher to a venerable minister, in whose presence he had been delivering a discourse. "A very poor sermon, indeed,” was the reply.

“A poor sermon? lam sorry,” said the young man; "for it took mo a long time to prepare.” "Aye, no doubt it did!” "Why do you think it poor? Bid you not think my explanation of the text a good one?”

"Oh, yes,” said the old preacher, “very good indeed.” "Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn’t you think the metaphors were appropriate, and the arguments conclusive?” "Yes, they were very good, as far as that goes; but still it was a very poor sermon.” “Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?” "Because there was no Christ in it.” “Well Christ was not in the text; surely you do not think wo should preach Christ when he is not in the text?”

"Don’t you know., young man," answered the old minister, "that from every town, every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may bo, there is a road to London?” "Yes.”

‘Ah! and so from every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scripture, that is Christ. My dear brother, your business and mine is, when wo get a text to show which is the road to Christ? And, if I have found a text which has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch, but X would got at my Master; for the sermon could not do any good

unless it shows the way to the great Metropolis—Christ.”

"Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”—2 Kings ii. 14.

Elisha acted out his faith that day by the bank of Jordan. He had nothing but a bare promise to stand on. “If thou sec Me when I am taken from thee, a double portion of My Spirit shall rest upon thee.” He had fulfilled the condition —the double portion was his. He believed it, he knew it was true; but what he lacked was something tangible to prove it, some definite experience of God’s power, working through him. There was only one way to prove that, and he took it. He acted out his faith. Ho put God to the test. "He smote the waters and said, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’” An,d God worked! There was no lack of proof, no lack of experience then. Faith had given substance to things hoped for, and proved things not seen (Hob. xi.'l), God had come so near that h e could never doubt Him, and God’s power working through him had become such a reality that he was ready for anything. The way of faith, how blessed it is, and how simple. Exceedingly great and precious promises sealed with blood, and every one of them Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus arc made to the believer; but we can never know the fulfilment of them and the power of them in our life and service unless wo step out on them as Elijah did, act out our faith, and prove the faithfulness of God.

WHY DO WE NOT PRAY MOKE?

IS IT CONVERSATION?

It is an old complaint, as old as Job, of whom Eliphaz says that he, restrained (lit. curtailed) prayer because he would not indulge in unprofitable talk, and his own mouth condemned him.

Is it to be conversation, that most pleasant intercourse with our fellowmen, or is it to bo a converse with God, which means being alone with Him? It is to be that “talk of the lip that tendeth to want,” or that secret prayer that makes the soul full? Shall I leave good company for bettor, the drawing room for the prayercloset, the eager faces of kind friends for the Face expectant? Is talk the robber? Or is it Solomon's difficulty? Twice does "the wise man” utter this warning. Inordinate Sleep will surely rob the soul like an armed robber, and leave it in pitiable want. It was in the hour when men went home to sleep that "Jesus went as He was wont to a mountain.” Weary, we often see Him, but Ho must pray, and prayer can only prosper in an atmosphere of self-denial, when the reality of eternal things overpowers present feelings. "Too tired to pray” spells failure. It is one of the dangers of our Conventions that pleasant meetings with many friends, and the crowded conditions of living together, imperil that, very quiet with God upon which depends the abiding profit of such gatherings. If we pray less before, during, and after the Convention, we surely have been nothing bettered, but have rathe,- grown worse. The third reason we would not mention for want of power to pray in secret is: Neglect of Meditation on the Word. Prayer feeds Scripture, Scrip i ro assimilated, made our own. A neglected Bible leads to a forsaken prayer-closet. God give us more delight in His Word, and wo shall pray more!