SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8842, 2 April 1892, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

GOD'S CURE FOR WORRYING.

[BY REV. THEODORE 1,. CUYLER, D.D.] Ox every side we meet overloaded people, and each one thinks his burden is the biggest. One is worried about his health, and another about his diminished income, and another about her sick child, find another about her children yet unconverted; and so each man or woman that has a worry of some sort goes staggering along under it. In the meantime a loving and omnipotent Father says to every one of them, "Cast thy burdon upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee." As if this one offer were not enough, the Holy Spirit repeats it again in the New Testament: "Casting all your anxieties upon Him, for He eareth for you." This is the more accurate rendering of the Revised Version ; because the word " care " does not signify here wise forethought for the future, but that soul-harassing thing called " worry." The reason given for rolling our worries over upon God is very tender and touching. HE CARETII FOR YOU means that He takes an interest in youHe has you on His heart! Beautiful and wonderful thought! It is the same idea which the Psalmist had in his mind when he declares that the Lord telleth the number of stars, and yet He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. He is the one who says, " My child, don't carry that burden." The infinite Ruler of the universe, who is wise in counsel and wonderful in working ; the God who guarded the infant Moses in his basket of rushes ; who sent His messenger birds to Elijah by the brook Cherith; who quieted Daniel among the ravenous beasts and calmcd Paul in the raging tempest—He it is who says to us, " Roll your anxieties over on Me, for I have you on My heart." Yet how many of us there are who hug our troubles and say to God, " No, we won't let anybody carry these trouble but ourselves." What fools we are ! Just imagine a weary, foot-sore traveller tugging along with his pack on a hot summer day. A waggon comes up, and the kindhearted owner calls out, Friend, you look tired. Toss that pack into my waggon." But the wayfarer, eyeing him suspiciously, mutters to himself; " Perhaps he wants to steal it;" or else sullenly replies, "I am obliged to you, sir, but I can carry my own luggage." The folly of such conduct is equal to that of the man who should check his trunk through to Chicago and then run into the baggage car every hour to see if his trunk is safe. We do not hesitate to trust our own valuable property to railway officials and expressmen, and laugh at the folly of those who refuse to do it; and yet we repeat a worse folly towards our all-wise and losing God. Oh, fools, and slow of heart to believe. From beginning to end a Christian life is a life of faith The word " TJtUST" is the keyword of Old Testament theology, and the word " believe" is the keyword in the New. They both mean the same thing. Jesus Christ never agrees to bear the sinner's sins until the sinner is penitent and has willingly accepted Him as substitute and burden- When our heavenly Father says to us, " Give Me your load, trust Me; what you cannot do I will do for you," He expects us to take Him at His word. He never consents to carry our burdens unless we trust them to Him. Worry is blind; but God sees into the future, and often sees the coming relief just ahead. Worry is impatient; but the patient God bids us wait and see. Worry complains of the weight of the loads; but God's offer is to lighten them by putting Himself, as it were, into our souls and under the loads. He then becomes our strength—a strength equal to the day. This is a supernatural work. This is what is meant by "My grace is sufficient for you." This is the result of having Jesus Christ dwelling in our souls as a light to cheer and a power to sustain. " Follow Me" implies that Christ leads us at every step, and He never means to lead us over a precipice or leave us in the lurch. Such an actual and constant trust is the only real antidote to worry. The more entirely and simply and implicitly we trust, the quieter we become. As the baby drops over upon mother's bosom into sweet repose, so God giveth His beloved sleep. Not sleep from work, but sleep from worry. I have always found that legitimate work is strengthening to body, brain, and heart, but worry frets and fevers us. It chafes our spirit and kills our devotions. Nearly the whole magnificent Thirty-seventh Psalm is aimed against THE SIM OF FRETTING. Paul, the giant worker who laid the foundations of Christ's kingdom from Jerusalem to Rome, and who had the oversight "of all the Churches," never seems to have chafed himself with a moment's worry. He warned sinners " with tears," but they were such tender tears as Jesus shed over a guilty city. " Be anxious for nothing, brethren !" was his calm counsel to his comrades, for he knew whom he believed. And now, if our blessed Master has our work under His charge, our parishes, our mission enterprises, our Sabbath classes, upon His divine heart, why should we worry? The most fervent desire to save souls must be tempered with trust in Him who alone can save a soul. Don't begin this year's work with loading a ton of anxieties on your back. If God permits you and me to labour for Him in vain, it is His loss more than ours. It Jesus Christ is on board of our little boats, why should we be running about in distress lest the vessel sink ? Duty belongs to us;; results belong to Him. Many a one who reads these lines lias plenty of loads to bear. Don't be surprised ; they belong to human life; some of them are put oil you to make your sinews strong. It is the weak and wicked worry over the future that cuts your sinews. Remember that God never promises anything more than grace sufficient for the hour and strength equal to the day. God's love will outlast all your to-morrows; roll your anxieties over 011 that love; it will cure all your worrying. IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? YES. NO. -A CONTRAST. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon*.— following, is an extract from his last letter to his Tatternacle congregation "On looking back upon the Valley of the Shadow of Death through which I passed so short a time ago, I feel my mind grasping with firmer grip than ever that everlasting Gospel which tor so many years I have preached to you. We have not been deceived. Jesus does give rest to those who come to Him, He does save those who trust Him, He does photograph His image on those who learn of Him. I hate the Christianised infidelity ot the modern school more than ever, as I see how it rends away from sinful man his last and only hope. Cling to the Gospel of forgiveness through the substitutionary sacrifice; and spread it with all your might, each one of you, for it is the only cure for bleeding hearts. Peace be unto you as a whole, and peace be to each one!" GOD'S LOVE A FACT. When God, through His Word, reveals to us a fact, it is not for us to pray that it may be true. It is not for us to plead it as if it were a promise. A fact is true before we believe it. It is because it is true that He commands us to believe it. One of these great facts of revelation is God's rich free sovereign love to sinners. The world He loved, and for which He gave His Son, is a world of sinners. Wonderful as it is, It is none the less true. The believer is one who has known and believed the love that God hath towards him. He has to dwell upon it, devoutly and humbly, as an eternal fact. He has to keep himself in it. It is to be the very atmosphere in which his soul is to live and move and have its being.

There abiding, his spiritual strength is re. newed day by day. He is kept in a state of soul-health. He is ready for work. And God calls him to a life of activity. Not only his own spiritual progress, but the good of others, form the great end and aim of his exertions. _ Prayer becomes the. habit of his being, and is as great a necessity as breathing is to his physical existence. But it is prayer in the Holy Ghost. Let him cease to abide in the love of God, and at once he finds his freedom of utterance and liberty of action impaired. He has lost his soul's vigour Keep yourself in the love of God by ahij. ing, and the Lord will keep you from falling by His divine power. You need not struggle in order to abide, and you need not struggle to help Christ to keep you from stumbling. His power is sufficient for this. If we are struggling we are not .resting. To abide in Christ is to rest in Him. All true activity has its root in a condition of soul-rest. But resting in Him does not mean inaction or indolence, or mere passivity. It is that state of soul which is the condition of recciving His strength—and to receive His strength is to be active and diligent, as well as prayerful and watchful. An aged man, over ninety years of age, was asked by his pastor this question:— " My dear aged friend, do you love Jesus?" His "deeply-furrowed face was lit up with a smile that sixty-seven years of discipleshin had imparted, and, grasping his visitors hand with both of his, said : — " Oh ! I can tell you something better than that." The pastor asked him, " What is that?" ".Oh, sir," he said, " lie loves me !"

A QUAINT LITTLE SERMON.

Mr. Harvey was riding slowly along the dusty road, looking in all directions for a stream, or even a house, where he might refresh his tired, thirsty horse with a good draught of water. While he was thinking and wondering he turned an abrupt bend in the road, arid saw before him a comfortable farmhouse, and at the same time a boy tenoi twelve years old came out into the road with a small pail, and stood directly before him. " What do you wish, my boy?" said Mr. Harvey, stopping his horse. " Would your horse like a drink, sir?" said the boy respectfully. "Indeed lie would, and I was wondering where I could obtain it." Mr. Harvey thought little of it. supposing, of course, the boy earned a few pence in thin manner, and therefore he offered him a bit o' silver, and was astonished to see him refuaj it. "I would like you to take it," he said, looking earnestly at the child, and observing for the first time that he limped. " Indeed, sir, I don't want it. It is little enough I can do for myself or anyone. lam lame, and my back is bad, sir ; and mother says 110 matter how small a favour may seem, if it is all wa are capable of, God loves it as much as He does a very large favour. And this is the most I can do for others. You see, sir, the distance from the town is eight miles to this spot, and 1 happen to know there is no stream crossing the road that distance, and so, sir, almost everyone passing here from that place is sure to have a thirsty horse." Mr. Harvey looked down into the grey eyes that were kindling and glowing with the thought of doing good to others ; and a moisture gathered in his own, as a moment later he jogged off, pondering deeply upon the quaint little sermon that had been delivered so innocently and unexpectedly. GETHSEMANE. Behold the Saviour calmly go Before His chosen hand, As if unconscious of the woe That now was near at hand. Gethsemane appears in sight, They tread the well-known way: And, .-.lirouded by the shades of night, He seeks a place to pray. For swiftly in His tender frame There thrilled a sudden fear, That sin's appalling doom and shame Were more than lie could bear. All human sorrows, bred in sin, Swept o'er His sinless soul, AY hose floodgates opened wide within, As wave on wave they roll. The cup of suffering to the brim Was tilled to overflow ; And 'this must needs be drained by Him, Or Saviour none could know. No tongue can tell, no words reveal The bitter agony That wrung that sorrowful appeal ; " This cup remove from Me." Yet still up through the silent air The voice which victory won Rose, welcome, to the Father's ear : "Thy will, not Mine, be done." O King of love, Thy love for me Achieved this victory; Our love, though poor, yet take as Thine For all eternity. J. F. Q