SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6817, 22 September 1883, Page 3 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

LIBER 4 TED FROM SLAVERY/, ; / " Oar Savionr Jesas Christ . . . gavo Himself Inr as, that He might jes'eem us from all iniquity."— , Titus ii, 13, 14. . | A slave belonged to his master, who could demand obedience u&der penalty of heavy ; punishment, place him in irons, and at hie will sell him to another. But, even under circumstances of cruellest dcspo'ism, the master could not enslave the mind, tho. heart, the soul of his victim. These.were beyond liis reach. Oα these no nninde? could be placed. ISO lash conM compel the obedience of these tojiis impenous will A new master, paying down the inon--y, and l>ecorriing possessed of the slive, ' would find himstlf juat as powerl'o3 hi rein as w.s bis predecessor. Ho could not com ' pel Li a to think according to Ins will, or to love, or to hate; and all attempts to exercise ownership over his soul would utterly ' fail. J A worse slavery, tben, than rven the worst thus known among men, is that which holds the tinner iu captivity Jlc is, indeed, j "'sold uudur sin," and is pos oss"d by sin— spirit, soul, and body; n-mid, heart, v<ill; | the v.'Jiole being is in &übjettion to its master, who rules it with do ohice supremacy. How conscit-us the "li'e is of thp . power cf his masttr. He f els Irs (loin I nation ovar his inner iir.agmmqa, as, will aa I hh outward actions. He ciunot get free I Tue fetters are upen faeu'tv , and ' self-emancipation is, be fi Jils, impos lble j Me cannot deliver himself fiom the yoke of the bondage in which he n In Id cannot cease from bin. Wh.it a deploia'olc, a hat a hopeU'Sß condition ! I We have read, or heard, oE fines being liber.ted. Sometime- , , so deep his 1 een the compas-ion in the heart cf another, tint, possessing the means, he hib j,a d the pur-chase-money require:!, and li is Slid to the save. " You are free !"■ Oh, t'ie joy of the oi the emancipated one! Yqu cmi scireely imagine him refusing the offered ySt of | liberty-—enn you ? Instance? of ri fusil hive occurred, no doubt; but, genu illy, hheity has been accepted with eigerness and grateful joy. "I'm free!" would thrll the soul of the emancipated ooe with ecstasy "Free? -, .yes, utterly and wholly free! Froe—as though slavery did not euat' Free — completely aud absolutely free ' Murk how the rejoicing one would regaid the eud'.avour to place even the \ery tiniest fetter or even a little finger upon him. or the threatening attitude oi up uted lash to enforce obedience to another's will > "I'm free !" would daro so much as che merest touch of fetter Or lash ; and the tyrant manter would be compelled to desist from attempting the execution of Ins will \cs , the right of the freed one is lueontestible Ho is free, from the sole of hit, foot to the crown of his head. Slavery has lost its power over him completely. The price has bren paid down, and accepted, w'uch makes him "free incli-ed." It 'matters not how intensely subject he was, in {.net tnrc3, to fetters and whips, cruelties and sufferings , he ii now free from conditions and incidents of suffering—gloriously, absolutely free— free from them all! "If tho Son shall make jou free-," siid our Lord, when on earth, "ye sha'l be fr e indurd." And has He not done it.' Has He not redeemed us? Did He not gi\o Hims If for us? la it not true that Ho " redeemed us to God b> His blool,"aud that tlie Father accepted the puce pan), and assented to the emancipation of tvery Uave of sin on believing hi Jesus ' Sui<ly, these are fact* which cannot be g'un'-aved And, such being the case, everj sli\e, longing for deliverance, and believing in the Liberator and Uis redeeming work, my it once shout with ecstasy, "I'm free ! I'm fiee '" Free! Oh, what untokl privilege and blessiup is implied in this qlonous woul ' Mark, it is not merely freedom from condemnation and curse, from the dominion of Satan hero and the patngs of relie)le=s despur in the eternity boyoiid : it 13 freedom " froin all iniquity." The redeeming work of Christ has set tlie believir free from his old master; so that ho has lost the right e\ en to touch him. Of course, je» of course, he may refuse or neglect to avail himself of his full deliverance. He may remnn in caytivity—at all events, to some extent , Uβ may go on with experiences of fetters '■ and lash, as of old. But shouid he ou so, would you not Cxolaiin, involuntarily, " What a fool !" \Vb.->t miy he do inst ad' Oh, i.uicly he may utter the ringing cry of conscious deliverance; nnd about, with irr-opressible joy, "I'm free' Free from all iniquity! Free from all tho pov cr of the enemy —utterly, absolutely, and for ever free! Allelulia ! A thousand times Allelulia !" ■ , Yes, free ! Not a thread rf tho old bonds should remain on the child of God; not to any extent should the will of his former master influence him ; not even by so muih as a toue-h should the former subjoctiou ba renewed. The right of the believer'to his freedom from "all iniquity" is incontestiblc. It is b.'ised on the perfect ind a cepted work of Christ. God is satisfied, and willing. We miy be—are— free—from tho sole of the foot to the crown of the head spirit, soul, body : mind, heart, will —completely and entirely free—aow and for ever ' St. Paul exhorted the liberated ones at Rome to regard thcmsclv es as the servants of God. Ho said, "As ye hive yielded 1 your members servants to uncleanness and ' t." iniquity, unto iuiquity; c\en so now yield yuur members servants to righteousness, unto holiness." The good old Bonk of Common Prayer reminds us that "His s rvice 13 perfect freedom ;" and so it is 1 ' A beautiful story is told of a slave who, years ago. watchud, with fhshiugcve, ivhilo an Englishman purchased him from hia master. i're'sently his licry indignition vented itself in vehement r..proieh and invective, which he poured upou the English man, whose nation profrssi'd ruch intense abhorrence of slavery. The Englishman heeded him not until the purchase was completed ; when, turning to the alive, ho said, | with much kindly tenderness, "I hive purchased you to set jou fiee ' The poor fellow burt into and east hinrHf at the Englishman's feet, exel uming, " Tueu I am your slave for ever !" St. Paul loved to designate himself "The slave of Jesus Christ." He said, "He loved rne, and g*ve Himself for me." What are we? "Kedeemodfrom ;ill iniquity," burely we are lovingly, gratefully, uureservedly, willingly—in fullest, lowlie t, happiest selfdevotion—the rejoicing bond Bervante of Jesus Christ ! Allelulia !—J. T. W,, in Life of Faith.