SUNDAY BEADING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9184, 13 October 1888, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY BEADING.

GRAVE-CLOTHES. [EY RKV. W. HASLAM, M.A.] As surely as Lazarus came out of his grave with grave-clothes upon him, so all converts come from death into life with some besetment or entanglement about thorn, in which they were held before. Some people are bound up with worldly ways, and cannot live without them. Others are taken up with themselves, and have conscientious scruples which they think must be attended to, as if their eternity depended upon it. And others, again, are immersed in religious exercises which they believe they must observe and do, in order to be saved. They regard the sacraments and ordinances of religion as absolutely necessary for salvation. A lady I have in my mind at the present timewas so absorbed with this idea tnat she was ignorant of any other way of obtaining what she called grace, excepting by the use of means. She was like the woman of Samaria who went to the well to draw water. 1 said to her, " Do you get rest and peace by this means?" " Yes," she answered; "most assuredly I dc." '" How long does it last?" I inquired"Oh, I do not know about that; I have to do it again and again, and keep on supplying myself/' "Exactly so," I replied; "that is what the Lord said to the woman at the well, 'If you drink of this water (which you draw), you will thirst again; but the water which I will give you shall be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (see John iv., 14). :1 The lady made no reply, so I continued, " Are you really satisfied with this doing of yours ':" "Yes," she answered, "I am; there is a satisfaction in doing, which I could not have if I had nothing to do." She was evidently struck with the difference between drawing water for herself and receiving living water as an abiding gift from the Lord Himself. Being an earnest soul, she was prejudiced in favour of her own views and practices; yet underneath there was something else which was stronger than her prejudices. She really desired the Lord's will more than her own, therefore she had no difficulty in asking for this living water. The Lord, knowing her wants better than she did, opened her eyes to see herself a sinner. Hitherto she had considered herself good and religious, and was so regarded amongst her friends. But the Lord made no account of her religious exercises and selfdenials. When Saul of Tarsus was seeking for mercy, God said, " Behold, he prayeth!" (acts ix., 11), as if to imply that alt his past prayers and prolonged exercises were nothing at all. From the sorrows of conviction, this lady was brought to conversion with its consequent joy and thankfulness. She was now conscious of possessing something she never had before—something she had been wanting, though she did not know what it was. Vv ith this new experience, she said to herself, " Now, I know how to walk in liberty ;" but, for all this, she went on depending upon her exercises—not for salvation this time, but for progress in her Christian life. Again I reminded her of the difference between drawing from a well and receiving from a living person. I endeavoured to show her that we are not only justified by faith, but that the just live by faith also. This was the hardest struggle of all. In her perplexity instead of going direct to the Lord, as she had done before, for pardon, she went to a man who called himself " a priest of God." Dear man, he did not mean to mislead or deceive her, anv more than he desired to deceive himself. This gentleman directed my friend, who was now on the threshold of spiritual liberty, to go back to deeper and closer vows of religious bondage ancf legality. He forbade her speaking to anyone about these matters, but bade her simply follow his directions. Thus giving her conscience to be kept by another, she professed to have peace, and went on with her works of devotion. This was accounted the right thing. The question may be asked, How could this lady, if she was really converted, fall back again, to these "beggarly elements?" If she had never known the difference between the way of works and the way of faith, there might have been some excuse for her; but why should she take to crutches, when she might follow the Lord freely ? It is a very important thing to distinguish between spiritual death and religious graveclothes. Because a person is brought out of one, it does not follow that he or she is yet free from the other. Otherwise, the Lord would not have said, " Loose him, and let him go," to the people who saw the living Lazarus standing before them. When converts go back to legality, we suppose that they were never really out of it; like those who go back from apparent conversion, we say they were not really converted, "for, if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us ; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (1 John ii., 19). How was it possible to get at this lady according to the Lord's command to loose her grave-clothes ? She was so well guarded on every side, and so fortified against all comers by her spiritual director, that, humanely speaking, it was hopeless. But God knows now to deliver His own. It pleased Him to lay her upon a bed of sickness, and there she occupied her time in reading the Bible. One morning she closed the Book to meditate upon the words she had been reading, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in [ heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt, xi., 28, SO). Who does this mean, she said to herself, if it is not me! Can Christ give me rest direct) from Himself?

She came from "can Christ" to "Christ can," "Christ will," "Christ has done it." Her eyes were opened, so was the door of her cane, and she flew out as a bird into liberty. Now, she said to herself, as if she had never heard it before, " the just shall live by faith," not works. She was right; works are on the other sidn of faith, the result and token that faith ig living. A tree does not live by bearing fruit; but bears fruit because it lives. This lady was amazed at the simplicity of faith when once she had entered into it. She found out that the Lord's yoke was easy because he enabled her to bear it; and that his burden was light, for she loved to carry it. Of course it followed that she was denounced as a fanatic, heretic, and so on ; but this did not take away her peace or interrupt her joy Without loss of time she was sent adrift from the position which she occupied, lest she should contaminate other birds in that caj:e. It was naturally a great struggle for her to tell me what she had passed through. How. ever, she did this, and I could not he!i> r e . joicing at the marvellous manner in which the Lord himself had delivered Hi.? child from bondage, and brought her to walk with Him in the liberty of God's children.

EARLY AND LAST DAYS OF A GREAT ENGLISH STATESMAN. The biography of the late Hon. W. E. For» ster, which has just been published, brings out impressively the religious side of that great statesman's character. Mr. Forster was of Quaker ancestry, and both his father and mother were eager Christian workers. It is related that when travelling by coach in charge of a nurse, a benevolent old gentleman began to converse with young Forster. '" Where is your papa, my dear?" said his fellow passenger. " Papa is preaching in America," was the reply. "And where is your mamma," continued the stranger. " Mamma is preaching in Ireland," was the answer which the astonished gentleman received. Here is a letter from the lad's grandmother, which sheds a ray of quaint yet pleasant light on the home life in which the future statesman was nourished :— " Weymouth, third day. My Very Dear Willie. — The very pretty books called 'Frauk' I have sent upon conditions as follows: —lst. Thou art to try to read this letter before the books are untied. 2nd. Whenever thouart so far forgetful of thy duty as to let thy dear mother call thee or order thee more than once to do anything, thou art to tie up the books for one week for each offence, and beg Maria to write such offence or offences on the outside of the cover of the books, and the day of the month when they are tied up and when they are untied. 3rd. Whenever thou art so far forgetful of thy duty as to let Maria call thee or order thee more than once to do anything, thou art to tie up the books for three days for each offence, and beg Maria to write thy offence or offences on the outside cover of the hooks, and the day of the month when they are tied up and wnen they are untied. 4th. If I receive the covers of the books after thy having them three months without any writing on the outside, I intend to allow thee tt> choose another book.—l remain thy vory affectionate grandmother, A. Hknxixg. b'rom a youth thus nurtured, a pure and noble manhood arose naturally. No English statesman of modern times—or of any timehas carried into public life a loftier sense of duty, a truer fear of God, and a calmer courage than Mr. Forster displayed. ' Ana such a life was fitly crowned by a, peaceful and happy death. Ihis is how Mrs. Forster describes the last scenes of li«r husband's life : —" I went into his room aft five a.m. this morning, and found him awake; he had had a wakeful night. I asked if I should repeat some hymns to soothe him to sleep. He sard he was going to as r . me. After I had repeated several, he asked me to kneel down. I knelt close beside him, and he began to pray in a trembling, solemn voice, like oue speaking his real thought-, to One unseen. The whole burden and heart of it was, ' Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.' I can only nut down fragments, . . . Towards the end "lie prayed,' Y\ hether Thou art pleased to raise me up, and enable me to serve my country again, or whether my work iu Parliament is to be closed, help me to try and serve my country, or help me to bear it.' ... All through there was the same solemn, trembling earnestness of the tones, the grave, simple language perfectly free from excitement, or from being hurried by emotion into a single unreal word—the strong reason and the hunibie spirit both laid open before the God to whom ne spoke, and the burden still was 'Lead me, and give me light.' He had an all but sleepless night. I went in several times helping to arrange his pillows, etc., as he was very uneasy, and could not be made comfortable by any means. Soon after eight he asked me to ' read one of those grand hymns about the glories of God and His works.' I proposed the 104 th Psalm, but he took the Bible, and turned over the Psalms to the 147 th and 14Sth, which we read." Happy is the land whose statesmen live and die as William Edward Forster did. —Southern Cross.

THE SENSE OF SIN. [by dr. piersox.] I remember preaching one evening from the text "The wages of sin is death." Next morning early a young man was at my door, a fine young fellow about twenty-five, and lie was crying as if his heart would break. "I am in great need," sobbed he, " can I come in? Oh, my sins!" "Certainly; come in," said I; " why, I have been looking for you these ten years—for a man deeply conscious of Ins sin and of his need of Christ the Saviour." Unusual this condition—yes, that may be; but it covers the whole philosophy of man's moral guilt. It is unusual, for it is a part of the awfulness of sin that it makes impossible the recognition of guilt. If the eye is destroyed there is no sight; if the ear is dulled no sound can be heard. Now man has lost perception of sin. When man was made God breathed into him His own spirit. When he lost his purity that spirit departed from him. It is only when Christ comes to us as a Saviour that He breathes upon us and we individually receive the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that man is, as it were, built in three storeys : first, the body, with all its wonderful powers and capacity; second, the mind, with the heart, conscience, will; and, third, the spirit, by which man was intended to look upon the face of God, to obtain views of the divine character, and to enjoy the blessing of communion with Him. Man sinned, and the third stcrey became the chamber of death. The abode of the Spirit of God was shattered, and perceptions of sin and holiness became impossible. In this condition there can be no true recognition of sinfulness. How can a man feel if the nerves of his hand have been seared with a red-hot iron '! No, if a man is dead he cannot have any right perception of sin. "Oh, yes,"a man may say, "lam a sinner." He has the idea of some shortcoming before God, as it might be some transgression against human law ; but sin, he knows nothing of it. In the .Bible there run two scarlet, two blood-red threads. The first is God's accusation against the sinner; the second the promise of redemption through the blood of Christ. You may not understand the one if you cannot grasp the other. If you do not see the bloodred stain in man's nature, then the efficacy of the other scarlet thread will remain unknown to you. You know the Westminster Confession and the Catechism which say, ''Sin is any want of conformity"—mark that it is not what a man does, it is what he has not done. See the closing verses of 1 Corinthians. Paul has been dictating to his secretary. He bids him stay his work and hand over the manuscript to him and tho pen. He ha 3 a solemn message which his own hand must trace. Have you marked its tenor? Listen. " The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus let him be anathema maranatha." He does not say if any man hate or persecute—or blaspheme—no, it is it he "love not." If yon cannot say, "I love the Lord Jesus," you are under thisi curse. It is not enough to say that you do not hate, do not disobey, do not blaspheme; if you do not positively love Him you are accumulating upon your head the curse of God spoken here by His servant. Have you noticed that the 25th chapter of Matthew is devoted to the setting forth of three different kinds of sins— and they are all sins of neglect. The virgins "did not" take the oil; the servant " iliil not" use the money; the condemned occupy their place because "ye did it not." The Apostle John, speaking of one making God a. liar, shows that it did not come by denying His Son, but that he" believeth not."

DIVINE ORDER. "Tis first the true and then the beautiful, Not first the beautiful and then the true ; First the wild moor, with rock and reed, and poo), Then the gay garden, rich in scent and hue. 'Tis first the frond and then the beautiful. Not first the beautiful and then the good ; First the rough seed, sown in the rougher soil, Then the Mower blossom, ortho branching wooi!. Not first the glad and then the sorrowful, But first the sorrowful and then the glad ; Tears for a day ; for earth of tears is full, Then we forget that we were ever sad. Not first the bright, and after that the dark, But first the dark, and after that the hriplit: First the thick cloud, and then the rainbow's arc, First the dark grave, then resurrection lij;ht. 'Tis first the night, stern night of Ktorm and war, Long night of heavy clouds and veiled skies ; Then the far sparkle of the morning star, That bids the saints awake ami dawn aiise. U. HoV.UJ.