SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11200, 21 October 1899, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

THE RIVER OF PLEASURES.

[BY REV. MARK GDI PEARSE.] "Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures,"-Psalm mvi. 8.

So, then, God is the God of our pleasures. It is well for us thus to think of Him. And more than well; it is necessary. No man really knows God, no man thinks of Him rightly, until he thinks of God as the God of our pleasures. Pleasure is not meant to ho the luxury of the rich; it is a necessity, a duty, a religion. Pleasure is needful to all healthy and true life. Therefore is it that God's love cannot rest in anything short of our pleasure. Heaven is at once the fulness and completion of God's love, and the fulness and completion of our service. The great mistake we make is in supposing tiat heaven is a place instead of a condition. It is now and here if we will have it, not only up there and in the future. THE PARABLE OF THE RIVER. Let us get away to the river, and sit down by it under the shade of the trees. One of the best purposes of the holidays, and one of our chief aims, should be to store the chambers of the imagery with fair scenes. He is poor, indeed, and greatly to be pitied who has no picture gallery that he carries with him, scenes fairer than any artist can paint— of God's own beauty hung up for ever in the mind. Sit here, then, in the shade, with the great blue stretch of heaven over us, the green grass for resting place, and the flowers at our feet. Do you see that the river is heaven made available for each —heaven come down to earth,- put within its reach, and ministering to it? There are great whito clouds that go sailing above the world; the thirsty meadows cannot .reach up to them, but, 10, they touch the mountains . and pour out all their wealth, and the mountains store in their depths the beating ram, and send it down in a thousand rivulets and laughing waterfalls to join the brimming river, . Follow it as it goes on its course of blessing, its ' banks overhung with ferns and bright with flowers. Think how it hurries on t° , urn the dripping mill-wheel and ,to - feed the hungry people. Do you" remember how of .old to the. sleeping prophet there came an angel who' baked* him a cake and B# l 1

m at his head a cruse of water? So « it thrtMfl heaven is ever coming down m the rivers ; mg of water to bless men—to meet the thousand-J0 needs of tho people, enough and to spare, m as it goes on its way to tho city that itself, g|||| makes great. Wo should have had no Loni don if it had not been for the Thames, and. .;■ss 110 Liverpool if it had not been for the M|| Mersey. 'ilia river yields a highway to the ships that go with their cargoes to the ends jg|| of the earth. _ • ■ Come back again to our resting-place. The .Jg* river is heaven made available for earth. 'gjM Loot how it gives itself to the tree that , overhangs it—the tree planted by the BW, J| of water, whose leaf shall not wither. See how n thousand creatures quench their thirst; from it, and above it the happy birds sing, Jig M if it had brought thorn their joy. ' Jg| And what is the river of the pleasures of Spii God, but just this—God made available for us, God putting Himself most graciously' LAp. within our reach ? -That- is the meaning cf, tfjgf everything that God has done in the world's history and is doing for us. Thero is in' every developed religious life a threefold ; stage. First,"God is. Then God is with us in tho person of His Son. Then God » jg|.; nearer yet and closer still—He is in us. By \sMlj a spiritual communion, by an inwrouyli* sense of love, He becomes our very possesion. The love of God is shed, |p abroad in the heart by the Holy (gm Ghost given unto us; and tho river is ever the emblem 01 the Holy Ghost. "My soul • thirsteth for God. for the living God, and ill the river we drink of Himself as the plea- ': - sure and satisfaction of our life. This is s what He is seeking to make us know by all upSl tho revelation of His Word and by all tho • way of our lifethat He is within reach, is available for us. This is the great teach- ' f ing of the Lord Jesus. ' WHAT GOD GIVES. ' ,||| God is not far off, as we thought, in His ■' >M high heaven, amidst His holy angels; but nigh at hand, wrapping us about with His ■_)£/ goodness, clothing us as He clothes the . .» flowers, ministering to us as He ministers to the birds, but with a tenderness infinitely deeper and more gracious than they can evei Jvf.know. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are tho children of God." What j j?': does that mean but that tho great God .in Sgv>, heaven comes down to give Himself to me, and puts Himself within my reach? I am i to take His hand, to know Him as my own; ■ $j| I am to find His almighty power available • • Vff for my weakness, to find His infinite wisdom guiding •my steps. He Himself is to be .j£ my Friend, with whom I am to walk and . 0 talk. My life is to find in Him its refuge,. M I its strength, its peace, its joy. As the river gives itself for the satisfying and gladdening of the earth, so my life is to be cheered and brightened, and gladdened and blest by ■;£. His presence, There it is-a thing available M : not only to think about, not only to sigh for. ft but to drink of and live. The great love of f; God is really to minister to us, and refresh -v,v us, and satisfy us. This is what Jesus $|U comes to bestow. "If thou knowest who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would |1f have given thee living water." ■ |f : And mark this word "satisfied," which ap- Jp plies to the river of God as well as to the |p;. provisions of His house. Only the river of !»g God's pleasures can satisfy the whole nature. '0:j We are too great for any but our Creator ; Himself. There are deeper wants than any. m, other can minister to; higher and greater needs than any other hand can satisfy. I. was reading in the paper some time ago of. with goldfields that have been lately dis- • '0 [ covered in British Columbia. Hero is an . extract: " A miner from Klondyke, who has . returned to Montana, tells of the great hard- ' a: ships experienced in the wild gold regions, | and declares that in the course of three years '-\f he saw over 200 graves. A large majority f of tho deaths had been caused by starvation. Ho admits, however, that gold abounds in 4jg the district." Was ever so grim a picture? j| j /There in the tent lies the gaunt skeleton, ig. j and tight in his bony grin the yellow gold, | the hard and shining gold of which he had »££ dreamed and for which ho had toiled, and • having which ho said he would have all 'teg and be in need of nothing. And lo! lie held the treasure in his grasp, and sank and died, J|| for want of a crust of bread. % .jb? There is a terrible price paid for the pos- f session of many a thing that a man counts Ipf.; good— higher price than ever the miner ?J| paid for his gold. Truth, goodness, love, .j,t : purity, honour, these are dead, dead whilst ' iho man grasps the treasure that he coveted. How good to turn from such a scene to these ;g|> words, "Thou wilt make them to drink of the river of Thy pleasures," the river of the J0 water of life which ministers to all within rag us, and brings a perfect satisfaction. i:i;: They told of old of a water by which the bitter memories were lost. But he who '■}; drinks of this river holds the joy of a past ife forgiven, blotted out, remembered against gjjjf him no more for ever, cast into tho depths of the sea as if the waters of the river bare •• it on and 01, away, away, until it sinks Jj| buried beneath the great billows of the "|| ocean. Of old they sang of a river in which youth was renewed. But they who drink of this river have a life that is everlasting, 0. ever new, ever young, ever fresh, ever glad, 'i a river that bears us 011 and home to the 'JS fair city of God. Pleasure is ever a smaller 'S; thing than satisfaction, until we find our homo in God. Then it is satisfaction brim- •;£ ming over into pleasure. _ ?% Is it not worth while for us to be still for a moment or two in the fever and fret "|i of the world, and to ask ourselves, "What, •./; after all, do I need? What is that which, if $ I lack, I yet lack all?" Well, I want a _| peace, assured, authoritative, spoken into my "ff innermost heart, that only God can give. I want a new life, full, true, good—something ( § that can touch tho deepest springs of my | nature, and sweeten all that is bitter, and purify all that is evil, and keep me for ever S at my highest and best. I want tho grasp of a hand that will never let my own go. 1 | want a homo and refuge that can never fail "i me in the uncertainties of life, and in the | certainties of death and eternity. How can i they be mine? Here is the answer: "Thou shalt make them to drink of the river ol | Thy pleasures." Not to think about it only, • not to hear about it only, not to long for it only, but to drink. I must avail mysel' J of that which is made so available; I must take that which is freoly given. "Tin 3 Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And lei f him that heareth say, Come. And lot him - that is athirst come. And whosoever will, k let him take of the water of life freely."

A REMARKABLE SCENE.

A VERT remarkable scene took place at one of the closing meetings of the recent Keswick Convention. A correspondent writes thus concerning it to the Christian:—

" I wish I could .tell you the blessing we got at the Drill Hall on Friday night. The Rev. H. B. Macartney spoke on two or three verses in John i. But the Lord poured out such a blessing. Ho opened heaven: Ho showed lis tha glory: He showed us Himself. He seemed to come down on to the platform to show us His unveiled face. Ho came into our hearts. He filled us with such love to Himself, that we still feel the blessed awe of His presence, and are still breathing 'Holy, Holy, Holy.' Never in my long life havo I been present at a meeting anything at all like it. Mrs. Henry Varley was with me. There were only about 100 present, but the testimony of the wonderful blessing had spread all over Keswick in an hour. It was the top atone of the Convention, the kernel of all the blessing, for it was Jesus Himself. "Mr. Macartney did not preach, lie did not teach doctrine, he did not expound Scripture; but he was so filled with the Spirit that he seemed to be out of himself. Wo apprehended nothing but Jesus as God. The words he actually said were so simple that, written down, they might not look much. They were certainly very unconventional. But the Spirit of God, beaming out of His servant, seemed to envelop us all —lifted us out of ourselves—to take us into the glory to see Jesus. "When he first knelt down to pray, ho said, 'Lord Jesus, I thank Thee Thou art going to give us all a great surprise,' andso He did,"

"MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU."

(John xiv. 27.) Help, Lord! The waves arj high, The rains beat heavily, The storm breaks o'er ine, and the windJ increase; Oh, give me help, dear Lord! "I Rive My peace!" Help, Lord! My hopes die fast, And, quenched by sorrow's blast. The lamp of joy goes out! Let the glooa cease; Lighten my darkness, Lord! My ligui is peace!" Help, Lord! I cannot bear This constant pain, and fear! My heart is breaking, bid its woes decreases Dear Lord, tend comfort now, "I send My peace!" "Lie still, my child; lie still, And let Me take thy will; Bear for My sake the griefs that come from Me; Then, 'midst them all, I grant My peace to thee! Have faith; believe 'tis best That thou should'st find thy rest In the dark storms for ere the tempests. cease, Not as the world doth give, I give My peace! Peace—whilst the waves are high; Peace— the storm is nigh; Peace-in the midst of grief, whilst woes increase, , I ' Such is the triumph of My grace, And peace! v a.o.Wc