SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9022, 7 April 1888, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

THE MAD HUNT FOR WEALTH. [by rev. mark guy pearse.]

We have a foe to fight to-day mightier than ever was Rome of old. What is the great power of England, the god of this country, enthroned and crowned, and served with an intenser and keener and more exacting service than ever galley-slave or soldier rendered to emperor of old? Gold, the thirst for it—cruel and terrible sometimes as the thirst of hell; the means of making it, often knowing no law but success, that sanctifies everything; the ways of spending it or not spending it—these three are the sources of the ills that curse us. And all this Christianity scarcely touches. How is it? Its voice is scarcely lifted against this haste to be rich, to get on in the world, no matter who is driven to the wall. Has Christianity a message ? has it any remedy for this state of things—this growing poverty of the poor, this growing wealth of the wealthy, and between them a gulf ever deeper ana broader, with its awful squalor and wretchedness on one side and its splendid luxury on the other ? Is the Christianity of Christ, which was able to conquer the Caesars, able to meet these evils? If it cannot, then let the whole thing go—it is dead, burv it. If it can, then, in the name of our God, let it be used, for there is terrible need. Does somebody object that such Christianity is revolutionary; that it is setting the masses against the classes; that it is Socialism? Do let us ask ourselves the plain truth about these dreadful words. Is Christianity a conflict with evil only amongst the poor, the weak, those who have little choice between vice and starvation; but, if evil be rich, and wears a crown, and sits on a throne, is Christianity to bow down before it, and call it law and order ? Let no man pretend that the Christianity of Jesus Christ is that, His Christianity is in conflict with evil everywhere. Within a week of Pentecost the leaders of Christianity were in prison, and refused to give any promise to the authorities that they would recognise any law which was contrary to the commandment of God. Paul and Silas did not scruple to interfere very seriously with some rich men's gains, and got beaten for it, and sent to prison, and they praised God when they got there. Men seem utterly to forget the warnings of God against this feverish rush and haste to be rich. If thought of at all, they are considered to be the wild and somewhat mistaken words of men in an age when they " did not understand business. It is almost impossible for the Gospel voice to make itself heard in this matter, amidst the din and hubbub of life. There are astronomical observations which, I believe, cannot be taken in this country ; there is too much vibration and the skies are too stained with smoke. Alas ! there are heavenly signs and warnings and entreaties which tne Church fails to *hear, ie too busy, perhaps too greedy. There is the Gospel of contentment, the Gospel which Christ preached in His first sermon, and in the whole sermon of His life. Ye cannot serve God and mammon; therefore, let the anxiety for mammon go that ye may serve God. Who of the hurried, anxious, eager ones that fill our streets and market-places really believes that? How utterly lost and dead, trampled under foot on the hard pavements of our cities, are such sweet messages as these which God hath sent us : —"lie ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise for- | sake thee." Never did words more terribly true come from any lips than those which follow a similar message from St. Paul, as if the apostle felt how lightly men, greedy for gain, would brush aside the milder utterance ! "Godliness, with contentment, is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And, having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, iu the very teeth of the manmade gospel of this nineteenth century—the gospel of push, of getting on in the world. Then from this clear sky comes the thunder* bolt, as if there were no choice between this Divine contentment and this peril: They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils, which some reaching after have erred from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. Reader, put it to thine own heart: Is God and His service more than the world? Is the uncertain guin—w liicli I must leave be-

hind me—more than the abiding character— which I must take with me for ever? Iβ Christ, the King, more than Mammon? Is not anything better than the feverish unrest and disquiet and burden of care, if only it gives us opportunity and desire for communion with God and growth in likeness to Him ? Iβ there not a great peril in the multiplying of earthly comforts, in the pride pf growing importance, and in the earthly security and independence which come with wealth? . , -.«„.,;. For this the power of the Holy Ghost as given—to cast out the devil of covetousness and love of money, and to bring into life a gracious contentment. Was there ever more need to seek that power, and to wait upon God until it is given? The promise is yours. What will you do with it ? This gospel of contentment would go very far to remedy the second great evil—the methods of making money. The Christianity of Jesus Christ is a power in the midst of us to cast out of business the keen, hard, advantage-taking spirit that finds its opportunity in other men s difficulties. If I did not. somebody else would." Very well, let somebody do it; but, for Christ s sake, you dare not do what is unbrotherly. What others do is surely no law to a man who calls Jesus Christ his Lord and Master. We have no business to trust Him as our Saviour if we do not follow Him as our Example in every path of our life. The religion of Jesus Christ utterly forbids the underhandedness or misrepresentation that the world calls clever. It forbids the many words of bargaining, the under-colouring and over-colour-ing to suit one's own convenience; it denounces utterly the whole system of bribes and thefts which are not called by those names—"commission" is the word, is it not? Now, it is sheer and utter folly—nay, it is worse, it is a miserable and dreadful hypocrisy—for any who do these things to profess and call themselves Christians. Christ never knew such Christians, and will not own them. I heard of a man, some years ago, who occupied a position of great responsibility and influence as manager of one of the largest companies in England—as sturdy a bit of honesty as ever God made. A merchant called upon him one day, anxious to sell some steel, and quietly set down before him a roll of notes amounting to £500. " What are these ?" asked the manager, taking them up. "Oh !" exclaimed the merchant, in an undertone, " if you will be good enough to accept them with the compliments of th® tirm." Then it flashed upon the good man that it was a bribe. Crumpling the notes together as so much waste paper, he flung them out of the office door, and said, indignantly, " Sir, if you are not gone after them in one minute, I will kick you there !" That is the Christianity for the nineteenth century—that resoluteness in the soul, in the hand —aye, and in the foot, too, if need be! The Christianity of Jesus Christ is a power stronger than the power of money. What is the good of all our churches, our sermons and services, our preachings and prayings, if we cannot find in them all a power that can make honest men ? What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ for if it is not a power to make men keep their hands clean, to make men speak the truth exactly, whether it pays or whether it does not pay ? If we cannot find in Christianity a power that can secure that, then let us have done with it. Turn the churches and chapels into lunatic asylums, or to some other purpose, and send all ministers at least to earn an honest living. The Christianity of Jesus Christ is a power to make men honest, true, upright, and to keep them so, or it is nothing, and worse than nothing. Does somebody suggest that you cannot do business on those principles ? So it has been said. Very well, if that be so, what then? There was a time when men could not be Christians and live; so they were Christians still—and died. If it come to that stern necessity, there is no good reason why we should not go and do likewise. At least be one thing or the other. If the world be what you want supremely, choose it, and make the most of it, but do not call yourself a Christian. If Christ be King, and you profess to be His servant and soldier, then be true to Him. No man can serve two masters. Yβ cannot serve God and Mammon.

Christ is the King. He must reign. Will you bow before Him now, reader ? Will you, in His strength, gird yourself afresh for His service ? kneel at His feet, and pledge yourself to be true and faithful to Him, His brave soldier, at all times, and in all placed, and in all companies, and amidst all perils, carrying uninjured this awful trust—the glory of the Lord? THE TRUE EVOLUTION. [by professor drummond.] What about evolution? * * * * That upsets more men than perhaps anything elae at the present hour. How would, you deal with it ? I would say to a man that Christianity is the farther evolution. I don't know any better definition than that. It is the farther evolution—the higher evolution. I don't start with him to defend it. I destroy by fulfilling it. I take him at his own terms. He says evolution is that which pushes the man on from the simple to the complex, from the lower to the higher. Very well; that is what Christianity does. It pushes the man farther on. It takes him where Nature has left him, and carries him on to heights which, on the plane of Nature s he could never reach. That is evolution. " Lead me Rock that ia higher than I." That is evolution. A STRIKING INCIDENT IN MOODY'S MEETING. During the last convention Mr. Moody was speaking upon " Prayer," and an incident occurred illustrating his subject, which made a profound impression, and came home to everyone. He said true prayer consisted of ten elements—adoration, confession, restitution, thanksgiving, unity, or brotherly love, the spirit of forgiveness, faith, ask (with a beggar's importunitv, a servant's docility, and a friend's confidence), perseverance, and, last, submission. When he came to the third element, restitution, a man rose in the audience, and cried out: — " Mr. Moody, let me cut in here. I went to Texas five years ago, having cheated my creditors of 15,000 dollars. My wife and I thought we were real smart. We settled in one of the cities, bought a nice house, and furnished it tip-top —grand piano, Brussels carpets, and my wife thought no end of the lace curtains. But we had hardly got settled down when Mr. Moody came along, and, like others, we followed the crowd of 1 professors' and Church members. He preached the same sermon we have so far heard to-night. The Spirit of God convicted me and my wife both of sin, on this head of restitution, and we went home perfectly miserable. I said,' Loo, what are we to do ?' 'Do !' says she; ' you know what to do without asking me; repay everybody to the last cent. . No sooner said than done; the house was sold, and an auction called right away ; and, oh, the joy I had in handing up the silverware and the china! The piano and all went, but my wife was so happy at parting with the lace curtains it was really curious. Then we took two little rooms, a bedroom anrl a kitchen; and the only table we had was the one we had used in the kitchen for chopping meat on; but the Lord filled us with Himself, and we had peace and joy, because we had pardon and a clean conscience. The dear Lord has blessed me far above my desert, and beyond what the devil lead me to steal; and we have come to Northfield to praise the Lord and carry back with us to Texas a fresh baptism of the blessed power which set us free five years ago." * There was hardly a dry eye in the great audience, and to watch Mr. Moody was a study—he did not say a word, but looked over his glasses, now on one side, now on the other, all over the house; then, after the pause had had its effect, he quietly went on with the next head of his discourse.

SIN AND HELL.

We are bound to emphasise punishment; the doctrine is in nature and conscience, as well as in revelation; only we must make hell point to sin, and not sin point to hell. The worst thing in the universe is not hell, but sin; hell is ein'e shadow, and our whole life and theology must be vitalised by the thought that the sting of death is sin, and not that the sting of sin is death; that ein is what makes hell bad, not hell what makes sin bad. I beg you will excuse all this tedious reiteration, and all this heaping together of illustration; but there is moral vigour in getting one of God's everlasting truths thoroughly into the mind and well into the system.—C. H. Parkhurst.

THE WILL OP GOD. Thou sweet, beloved will of God, My anchor ground, my fortress hill. My spirit's silent, fair abode, , In Thee I hide me and an) still. 0 will, that wiliest good alone, am« T iT, *? % » ay, Thou Rudest beat; A little child, I follow on. And, trusting, lean upon Thy breast. Thy beautiful, sweet will, my God, Holds fast in its sublime embrace My captive will, a gladsome bird, Prisoned in such a realm of grace. Within place of certain good ■ ■ Love evermore expands her v ings, Or. nestling in Thy perfect choice, Abides content with what It brings. Oh, lightest burden, sweetest yoke! v - It lifts, it bears my happy soul ; • . It eiveth wings to this poor heart; My freedom is Thy grand control.' Upon God's 'will I lay me down, As child upon its mother's breast; No silken couch, nor softest bed. Could ever give me such derp rest. Thy wonderful grand will, my God, With triumph now I make it mine; And faith shall cry a joyous " Yes" To every dear command of Thine. ,