SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9325, 30 March 1889, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

THE LOVE OF GOD IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD. [by the rev. mark guy PEARBE.] " God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever helieveth in Him should not perish, but haro everlasting life." John iii., 16. PART 11. We have dwelt already upon these words as setting forth the source of our redemption and the love of God to the world. Let us go on to meditate upon the love of God as manifested in the gift and in the purposes of this unspeakable Gift. God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son. _ You cannot measure love by its gifts— kinduess, pity, even mere whims of caprice may bestow great gifts with a lavish hand. Love is measured not' by its gifts, but by what the gifts cost. Love is measured by its sacrifice. Love gives not its gifts, but through its gifts it gives its very —its innermost heart. The widow's mite was but a mite, and it could only buy a mite's worth. Yet it was more than the much substance of the Pharisees because of'.what it cost her. It was all that she had.

, The Almighty could without any trouble •have given <us ten thousand 1 heavens, and they had'cost Him nothing but a word. If Jesus Christ be a creature only,' no matter how high and exalted,, then\He is not the expression of deepest and truest love. One sigh of pity from the heart of God cost more than'the creation of the world's Redeemer. The gift lacks altogether the "sacrifice which is the test and measure of 'love. But who shall measure for us the'infinite depth of lovo that lies within these words : Gad so loved that He gave His only begotten Son ?

The language is peculiar to St. John. The begottennot made—of the Father's own nature; bound by the closest relationship, dwelling from eternity in the bosom of the Father. Here was love's nearest and dearest .—His Son. Here was love's all— only begotten. ■> There is an incident in the Old Testament which, perhaps, we only read rightly when we take it as setting forth how the Heavenly Father regarded His own gift. It is that in which God calls upon Abraham for the sacrifice of his son Isaac.

Every word of the command is to be noted and weighed. " Take now thy son, thy only son Isaac" child of laughter ! •» Thy son, thy only son, in whom > thoU dost find the compensation of thy sacrifices, and the link to all the promises. . " Whom thou lovest. And offer him up for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell thee of!" Why this probing of Abraham's heart to its depths ? Why this apparent adding to the grief by every word that 'is spoken ? God could have bidden him ..do this thing without rending the heart asunder by • each word He spoke. Was it not .that thus God might teach Abraham of the sacrifice which He Himself should, make ? It was the Heavenly Father .thus revealing how .that He should give His Son, His only Son, whom He loved, and offer Him for us all ! And when Abraham had Abound Isaac on the altar; when with firm hand, but bleeding heart, feeling that he would himself have gladly died a hundred deaths in ' place, of -his son, lie stretched forth his' hand to slay him then came the voice, " Lay not thine hand upon the lad." - It was enough. Now Abraham could see as nothing else could show it to him, the day of Christ and be glad.,' Now, could he become by the manifestation of such love and such oneness the* very friend 1 of God; and now could he speak -that name with a strange, deep, awful meaning Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. ,

' What thought can reach to ; the greatness of this gift? Conscious of its immensity, outstretching on every hand, we can but cry adoringly, " God so loved the world." Another aspect of this love appears as we think of the manner of giving. Again ' and again God raised up men for the guidance ! and teaching of His people, calling them from the midst of their work, and giving them courage for the battle, or inspiring them with the knowledge ; of His will, and sending them forth in many ways fitted for His service. Thus created and called, they lived their lives and passed to i their reward. But let us think of the Son dwelling for ever with the Father, in whom the Fathor was ever well pleased. And think, too, of the giving lasting through all the agesthis is the Limb slain from the foundation of the world. Not given only is He when the time is ready for the gift, but all ages are arranged and ordered in relation to the gift. Each dispensation is based upon this promise of,the Son; each in succession more fully prepares for it and more plainly declares it. With the ages ■ come the prophets to tell of it, and the psalmists to sing of it, and the priests with sacrifices and altars proclaiming it. Think of the purpose of love so prolonged yet never faltering. - In times of blackest revolt against God there' is no swervingthe strain of a world's sins could not break « down ? this infinite'love. _ A love that gave not once for all, but which for ever has kept on giving and gives still such is the love of God. , , And yet another aspect of this love is there. The Beloved Son was not a Messenger, a Prophet, a Teacher only— alone was the gift of God. God's mercy had aforetime sent many messengers, but they were messengers only, and only 03 doing the errands on which they were fient axe . they introduced to us in Bible history. he record of their lives concerns us only as it affects their mission. But the Son of ; God is given to the world— is given to. the world that the world should have Him and-hold Him as its own. y- , About other messengers. there was,a defence. But from the Son of God alone there came the dreadful cry, "My God; My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me See how the contrasts'' rise up on every side. To Lot there came two angels with'a message from God, arid -when the rude mob clamours about them, blindness smites them all, and, cursing the .sudden 1 darkness,'they grope their way through the ; streets. ; , : But;; scarcely has the sacred gift of ! the Son breathed on i earth i before Herod ' in' mad fright. issues a decree * that all the young children throughout the district of Bethlehem be slain. No dumbness smites the lips that speak the cruel command, no blindness seizes those who go forth to execute it; only in a dream Joseph is warned to take the young Child and the mother and go out of the land. The Son is given to the world, and Heaven seeks only to secure Him for the world. So again Moses is led up into the wilderness, but only in those solitudes to meet with God; to near from Jehovah of Israel's couiiog glory, and to bo trained in a higher

lore than ; that tho v —y lea r:.ff ,God's people as th« curies all the land of Israel°vv hea famine .cared for; and to him there must b*» r?K nC '!u j- T* lee ward bv^u 4 the comGherith and l have commanded of t: to;f ? ed thee." 'Thus was scnaerc but the. Gift is led i£ «*£ wilderness to be tempted of the de£l° He .-\yas an hungered. "The" holes, and the birds of the' «S? Xea ; ha, A ' •said H 6 V -but the Son of^ aa \ where to lay His head." He Baved iit- 0 * A at, His bidding their troubles Sftdiseases were healed: theory thteij driven from them, :. ilp Mve A u 8 Himself He could' not save,' Hn.J Vt 8 ' of God to the world - Uo ' u tlle Gift ; Again, Elijah sits on the motmfaiu "1" answer .to, the cry of the ; oS^r l >> -■ fifty, he answered, "Ifl be a > ( ' hig let fire.- fall from heaven and ' S-° Gcl^ and thy fifty " BvSuMiSS * with crown of thorns upon his brow & reed for • sceptre, and the tatted ' flung over Him to complete them^i? 111 "^ 8 .His Kingship, He is spat upotf!n^^7 No fire falls fropi Heaven K , the Son of God-'no death asserts Hif m ness. Like a sheep before her rItI great " dumb, so He opened not His mouth rers La or the dying, Stephen the 'h p , opened and a glory shone down tSSfcW® ascending spirit of the martvr iFf tfle the dark clouds that shut HeaVen /L a ?' d of God cries, "It is finished,"am?'- h °* .the ghost. As none other »■,. gl7es "P Son of God is the great Gift of n th >° love to the world. °* tho father's - Recall it yet again, this wondrous rvr. r* God so given. Go over the pain 2^ °* and anguish of it all. Look cirtfnli i } m our shallow thought and dull miss the love of it. Only he that '}? knoweth God. There is a coarse this truth which despoils it utterly think of the great God sitting im Pa £ upon His tin-one, and in His Soverel£ weighing out the curse the world's and transferring that awful burden from u, U world to His Son. No, indeed That M? ' that cannot ,be our God. Go forth search for the keenest sorrow tho h;« 5 fief. f Gather all the ilia thresh heir, to—all > the. mental anguish all I? ' bodily agony all the spirftuafXoiS Let ;these Jail upon the sufferer amidst d? 1 cumstances that shall most of allaggra Va them and give them their intenseet force? There is a deeper depth than all that ! have seen suffering m the little child that has had to undergo some operation • but th* sorest grief and crushing pain was not the-. That was in the mother who stood beside he? child—the eyes blinded with tears - her li™ bitjen to choke back the cry; the harJk pressed tightly on _ the bursting heart must suffer with the loved; love mustS the sorrow of the loved one. and find its very bitterest grief. And if to love know God, this we know—though our shi) " low love cannot measure it, and our cow™ words cannot tell of it—how that the infinite love of the Father to the Well-beloved took up the sufferings, of Christ and made them infinitely His own. There is the fulness of the amazing love. Dwell upon it, wonder, ing, adoring, overwhelmed. Herein is love. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. look at tho purposes of this love. God so loved the -world that He gave Hig onlybegotten Son that ■ whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever, lasting life. All this for us; since God so loved tho world, it is all ours. ' And since it is meant for the world's salvation here is all that any can ever need. .When He who knoweth the Father saith world and whosoever, we may be quite suro that He means exactly thatworld and whosoever. \ Glorious comprehension—the world, none outside of it! Blessed separateness and —whosoever— each known and loved and : met with a distinct and individual 5 love. If one were un« redeemed, the whole, world were unredeemed, for each should think himself that cine ; and most of all the humblest and most penitent. Thank God, He loves us all too much to leave out any. If His love could not have reached us all, I know not how it could have reached any. We are surely too much alike to > pick here one and there an- | other. Opening" wide His arms, the' Father would have all ' His children come home to Himself. _ That whosoever,"whosoever, ring it out with an assurance. that shall drive away all doubts for evermore. Have we not heard of the old man who sat with his New Testament opened at this chapter, sighing that he was } no scholar? This long word puzzled him—W-H-O-S—it seemed to spell nothing. Presently a schoolboy came running by him. "Here, my lad," said the old man, " can you "read?" "I should think I ooiild!" said the boy, pulling himself up very high. ,'' What's that . then ? and tho i old man pointed to. the !word. "Whoso- ' ever," cried - the lad: " What, does thai! mean?" "Mean! why, it means you and me and everybody,: >ou know," and ho bounded away. That is it, thank God; it means you and me and everybody. . ' And, designed by the all-wise God for a lost world, it must be exactly adapted to the men and women for whom it is meant. A gift; then it is only to be accepted. 1 Such love, it is only to be trusted— is all. ' Do not get . into a mystery about believing, Ib is but taking God at His word. It is not my understanding, God's plan of salvation, nor is it accepting any man's theory of explaining it. Faith is trusting in the love of God to us 'in Christ, and accepting this gift aa His own way of salvation. If our own obedience, if • any forms and ceremonies, could save us, then, indeed, in that dreadful shame and : agony- an outrage and a wrong. H God must give His Son to accomplish this great work, let us have done with our poor excuses for the past and our good resolutions and fair promises for the future. The caso is desperate that needs. so costly a remedy. The salvation is verily secured when the soul hath such a Saviour. , '

Should not perish. What is thai;? Thank God, we need never know. It is that from which to save us God has provided so great a salvation.fit is there, and there alone, that I can judge of it—by the cross of Christ. There is God's thought of what it is to perish. " , But have "everlasting , life. What is thai"! Thank " God, we may ■ all know what it is. But I can see it 'here as nothing else can show it to me on this .side of the gates of -pearl. What blessedness is that which shall compensate our, God? for such a sacrifice and for such agony! And if to a world hating Him and defying^Him God gives such 'a manifestation of His love, what when this love 'shall sway , all perfectly, and Ho without let or hindrance shall be able to bestow all the fulness of His favour and all the wealth of ' His blessing! Then, and then only, shall His great purpose of this leva begin to be fulfilled, and* be for ever but be« ginning. : Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift ; • ' ' '

•. LET, THY SONG CHEER. ; - 41 In the night Thy song shall be with me.'' When gloomy night its shadow round me flings, Let Thy song cheer; ' When no eye sees, stretch forth Thy shading wirgS Ami banish fear. Night has no gloom if Thou abidest, Lord, And all is calm when Thou dost speak the word. When sorrow's night bedews my friendless head, ' Let Thy song cheer ; ' 3 And when I weep beside some dear one dead, • »'■ > Let Thy song cheer. , , Though bowed -with grief, the soul can yet rejoice, That 'hears, in every storm, Thy, soothing voice. i When faith is weak and doubt's dark shadows comc\ I Let Thy song cheer; When worldly cares from Thee would maKO JBe roam, Let Thy song cheer.. O let Thy light shine on my homeward way» And guide me to Thy home in cloudless day. When failing strength lays chorished hopes asid^ " • Lot Thy song cheer; In weary hours let Tby sweet song abide, - To soothe and cheer. O leave me not when pain distorts this frame, But through the night let angels chant Thy mmtft And when at last I "near death's dismal night, r -u* Let Thy song cheer; ' 0 take me where, in regions ever bright, > Thy song sh:'ll cheer; • There, in Thy presence, let me learn that song Whose distant echoes I have heard so long. ~--y 1 ■ • • KEY. J.Burros*