SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9401, 6 January 1894, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

* GENTLE AND GREAT. By Mark Guy Pearse. '

I 'have recalled gratefully again and again a Word that my drawingmaster gave me when 1 was a little lad, blundering at my first lesson. I had set the copy before me and was tiying very hard to reproduce but, alas, what j crooked lines! How impossible it was for anything to be like my picture; and yet how impossible it seemed to make my picture what it should be. Smudged and messed by many rubbings out and many failures, trying only made the matter worse. Then { came the master and took th* pencil, and in the twinkling of an eye the thing was done, every stroke firm, straight, exact. Then my despair was completed. I had tried so hard and failed so utterly, and he had done it without trying at all. I laid down the pencil with a sigh, and said; 1 shall never draw." - • *': • "> •; 7 • „ : . " Nonsense," said the master cheerily, patting me on the shoulder. . " You can draw as well as I could when I was. your age.' • . - " What ? Was there a time when he bungled and blundered! I looked up in amazement; —" I mean it," he said, amused at my look. I was an artist then— never since. He had come down and back to me and was again himself-the little awkward beginner, and I was lifted up and linked on to him. That was gentleness, and it made me great. It saw not the copy only; it was not ashamed of the blundering little pupil it came down to be a child that it might help the child up towards the artist. Look at it. •Is that not the very Gospel of God ? God hath made Himself one witn us that He may make us one with Himself.' He has come down to be little and weak and beset with our hindrances, that he may lift us up and set us on high amongst His heroes and conquerors. . Look at the words; in Hebrews ii. 11, "For it became Him by whom are all things• and for whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory" (there is the greatness)—" to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings; for both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are . all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to- call them brothers." < • If I am to think of God as the sublime, the majeutic only, if l have but the law thundering from Sinai, or graven on stone — thou shalt—thou shalt not—What hope havo I ? What allowance can be made for weakness, for ignorance, for peculiar difficulties? What, indeed, can the law ; know of these ? But if the infinite love and gentleness of God do bring' Him down to be one with me in my very flesh and blood, one with me in all.the round of daily life and circumstances, then I may set out with confidence. If He understand me, in all ray peculiarities and needs, and be ever ready to help - me, then may I triumph —His gentleness shall make me great. v'* - This perfect understanding of us away by ourselves, and this perfect 1 sympathy with us, this separate love and separate help, is the; very strength and sweetness of the Gospel of God. His tender pity is mine for every weakness and every difficulty ; , and yet for me are these glorious things spoken, these exceeding great and precious promises; and for me is all the great provision of His. grace. . Let the peculiar . ones take heart— and are' we not all of us peculiar in some respect— who think that they are not like other people whom the past has bruised and scarred; against whom: all circumstances do seem to gather with a cruel adversity, and fortune fights relentlessly. There are souls whose every step upward is a battle, and whose, every breath is a struggle. With others secret sorrows do eat out the very heart, or past failures have put out. the eyes of hope. ; Fear hears in every sound a Hew;, threat, and dreads in every scene a new hindrance. Trust has been slain. How gentle must be the love that can win back confidence. . How wise and how tender must be the love that can help those most needing help. How patient and how constant must be the love that can heal these wounds and lead these to any better life! < This -is our God, whose gentleness doth make us great! ; God is not consumed, as some have thought, with an incessant craving for His own glory, compelling all things? to that end as their purpose. But God is consumed with an incessant longing for the welfare and blessedness of His children. All things are set and perfectly,adjusted to this end, " working together for "good to them that love God. Listen to the word of Him' in".whom the Father Himself speaketh to us—" I am meek and lowly in heart." ' He does not seek those who bring greatest honours to their Master by brilliant gifts ; He seeks not the reward of those who shall shine most splendidly as His pupils. " The Blessed . Lord, doth stoop to the dull and backward; those who have no genius, no gifts and aptitude for discipleship. He takes, indeed he seeks, those who are the failuresand with these He lingers and delights. You to whom the - beginnings of the life oL([od are a perplexity, and goodness is a despair, He calls you to Himself that His greatness may make you great. t .

THE WAY THAT LIES BEFORE US. "STAND STILL"? 7 GO FORWARD." We have here (Exodus xiv., 13, 15), a paradox, but not a contradiction. A two-fold message, each message a sentence of - two words. ; The first—" Stand still "—means Rest, the second—"Go forward" means Action. This message came to Israel from God as they were coming out of Egypt. "In the Christian life these two commands may be said to coalesce. They should be distinguished; but not separated. They do not imply two different. stages or experiences, but a condition of soul in which both are true at one and the same time—there is both rest and aotion. This is the true ideal. It is for us to grasp the truth and realise the experience. ■ r>< , '7;., ■ ' What is the relation of these apparently opposite commands to each other? The answer to that question is found in this twofold principle— Rest is the condition of Progress, and Action is the outcome of Stillness. Grasp that principle, and 'there is no mystery in the perfect harmony of these con:tradictory ideas.'wi• s*V f ' : *i .1- Rest is the .condition of Progress. Progress means action, and all activity implies power. In the first command, "Stand still and see," etc., we are brought to the one Source of all true power. We , break down not because we make no effort, but because we are drawing our strength from a wrone source.' The supply runs out, and leaves us helpless and exhausted. Our struggles and efforts are the outcome of mere human energy. o, h : -v. , -All : real progress springs from calm confidence and , Divine. enabling. " Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." Here is the secret of all spiritual advancement. We must see the. salvation of the Lord. We must see Him who is the God of our salvatton. We must see Him working in all His saving power on our behalf. , Restful faith is essential to hopeful action and steady progress. M " Stand still and see." iße Btill and Know— 1- am God." . For an intelligent faith and resolute action there must be a clear vision. God must be seen in His saving power. , But .a'clear; vision can only, come as we stand still." We must know what it is to be.quiet and restful before God. Without this/ faith's vision is dimmed; We lose sight ; of God even in our activity for God. And 1 when we lose sight of ■'» the fact that the burden of: our salvation tis oh the Lord, we shall begin. to feel that it is on. ourselves. , Progress is then hopeless. Hence the first step in obeying the command, "Go forward," lies in being obedient to the word "Stand still." This is the

Divine Order; not action; In order to rest but rest as the conditiooof'aßfcion. • 11. Action l. the- outcome) of stillness. "A" forward." % The Christian life is a life of proS. not a refuge merely, it is a wafk There no station, but cewelew activity. •• And yet within the eonl } ra the centre of. the believer's heart-if be is in his right ' condition—a •- peaceful tranquillity reigns* He does not ce«e to rest because he has begun to act. On the contrary, activity has 1 become free ; and efFective.because in quietness and in confidence ». he has found his strength in God. ■■■•*■4 ■ ~ , - t ■ The reason of this is evident,, when we consider what it is that hinders our spiritual Cn There'is the paralysis of fear-fear arising from a view of our enemies, from a sense of our weakness, from the anticipation of failure This robs us of strength, and makes progress impossible.. How is this fear to be removed? .By a vision of God; by a view of Hia salvation as a present reality. "Foes and difficulties are nothing when seen in the Presence ot God. Our weakness is no ground for, alarm, when the power .of God rests upon us. . It is then that, with firm step and courageous heart; we can at once respond to the Divine command," Go-forward. , 'There is the darkness of. unbelief-when the soul <is J .shrouded Vin .an impenetrable mist, and nothing is ; realised. Christ and His salvation. are not rejected, but they are felt to be so unreal. A terrible deadness has come over the soul. What it- to be done? Does our hope lie .in effort No. Lot us take God's order. Staud still." Consider. Recognise, we do not say realise, but recognise as tacts the truths you have received as doctrines. Take in the -whole situation. Understand the condition of things. Quietly and helplessly you lie at the feet of Him who is infinite in grace and power. See with the eye of faith the salvation of the Lord. J ■ Your salvation is in His hands from beginning to end. ... ' • ' To "stand still," under the circumstances in which the children of Israel were placed, might seem contrary to common sense. ii.be enemy was close behind them., It might have seemed wiser aud easier to* hurry on—to go forward without delay. . But true progress can only be as the Lord Himself doth lead. And He it was who now said, " Stand still. The activity of restless impatience is only so much waste t,of energy and loss of time. Resting in the Lord is the right attitude of progress. . ;■; , . ~ V ... These Divine words to Israel at the beginning of their pilgrim journey, are the words that will suit God's children to-day on the opening of another year. Some may feel discouraged by the remembrance of -past failures. And these failures, too, in spite of many a renewed consecration. -Well, what can you do? There is nothing for you to do but to come to your Lord and Saviour fclrsTh, and in humble confession seek His pardoning and restoring grace. "Stand eJili and see the salvation of the Lord," and " Go forward." Perhaps others ere disheartened by the presence of threatening obstacles.. /It seems impossible to live triumphant lives in .the midst of such influences. Do not stop sod calculate. - Rest in the Lord ana trust. Rely on His faithfulness and .".go forward." Is it unbelief that holds you back ? There is only one remedy for doubt. Do not try to have faith. Lay hold of the Faithful one. Be not occupied with your act of trusting God, but with His trustworthiness. It is when you know that He is faithful that you learu to rest. And when you rest in Him, you are ready to " go forward,"

A NEW YEAR'S SECRET. "I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and oat, and And pasture."—John x. 9. Now the Old Year lies behind you, And you stand to-diy On the threshold of the New Year, With its unknown way; Though you know not what it brings you, • You need never fear, ... If you will but learn the secret Of a Happy Year. - , . It is going in to Jesus If by sin opprest, Taking from Him all He offers, Pardon, peace, and rest; . 1 Then 'tis going out and trusting, Every day and hour. ... Finding He who saves can keep yo& . By His mighty power.. It is going in to Jesus If the year be bright, . Asking that the joys He sen is yoa May be used aright; Then 'tis going, out an<( seeking Saddened Jives to cheer, ,* . ~ Trying to make. others happy Through the coming year. It is going in to Jesus : ? > ' If life's joys grow dim, Taking every care and sorrow Straight away to Him ; • Then tis going out and learning In His love to rest, Knowing everything He sends yoa Must be for the best.' It is going in to Jesus, Asking you may know' How to labour in His vineyard Everywhere you go: , Then 'tis going out and serving Just where'er He will, Sometimes working, sometimes waiting, Sometimes lying still. ' Going in that He may bless you, Proving every day ■' What He is to those who trust Him All along the way; Going out for loving service, Keeping at His side, ••. „ < You will find the New Year happy, .Whatsoe'er betide. : " Ethel Waking.