SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

THE ALTERING OF MY PURPOSE. [NOTES OF AN ADDRESS BT MRS. PENN-IEWIS.] I bring you a very solemn message from God. We are living in most critical days. The Holy Spirit is manifestly and rapidly preparing the Lord's people for His return. He is sifting and shaking all that can be shaken —testing us in fires of tribulation, individually and collectively.

Tho judgments of God are indeed abroad in the earth, and it will need great grace to be faithful to God in these perilous times. " They shall know the altering of My purpose" are the words that burden my soul tonight. Why God should thus speak to us I know not, unless it be that some, of us are in some grave crisis where we are hesitating as to the course we shall take, and He speaks from heaven to warn us that He will put us aside as His instruments if we fail to be true to Him.

He " altered His purpose" concerning Eli because he did not frown upon his sons in their walk of sin, causing the people of the Lord to stumble. He "altered His purpose" concerning Saul because he failed to carry out God's judgments upon Amalek, sparing what he thought good and professing to obey the voice of the Lord at the same time.

The Apostle Paul saw all this to be pocsible even under the dispensation of grace, and dreaded above all things to be put aside as a vessel "disapproved" flit. I Cor. ix. 27), a soul saved, but saved so as by fire (I Cor. iii. 15). Is it possible that this message means that God warns us that He will alter His purpose of using us, and turn from us to find more faithful instruments to carry out His purposes? Is this a message to some worker here, who is halting between two opinions as to whether God or the world (Baal) shall be first in the work committed to her charge? We all know the circumstances under which those awful words were addressed to Israel. They were on the verge of entering the promised land. The spies had returned with their report. The land was all that God had said, but—He had not told them that there were giants there, nor that it would mean conflict, and a fight of faith ere the whole land would actually become their own. They wanted the " land ." Had they not left Egypt on purpose to enter it? But giants! "walled cities to be overcome! for these they had not prepared. Ten of the spies gave an exaggerated report of the difficulties before them, although they could not deny that the fruit was good, and the land worth having; but they practically said it was useless hoping to enter it, for the hindrances were insurmountable. What use were " grasshoppers" to meet " giants?" As for God and the promises of God, they did not take Him into account.

Only two men out cf the twelve had courage to say, " Let us go up at once. . . . for we are well able to overcome it" (Num. xiii. 30); but they were unheeded. The language of unblief met a ready response in the multitude, and all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried." The tears were soon followed by murmuring against the instruments who had led them so far, and then the language of unbelief and sin. Some said " Would that wo had never started for Canaan," others, " Why did God bring us here only to kill us," as if He had taken advantage of them, and deceived them with His promises, and yet others, We hava-injured our dear ones by leaving Egypt, had we not better go back?" whilst some bolder spirits actually said, "Let us return." Yet these souls had seen the glory of God and the signs and wonders He had wrought on their behalf (verse 22). There was nd excuse.

In Train did the two faithful witnesses plead with the people, and say, If we are right with God, if He is pleased with us, He will bring us into the land. If God is with us, the very difficulties will become 53 bread" for us, nothing but food to strengthen us.

The only answer was, " Stone them with stones."

At this juncture God appeared. Ho had waited to seo if His witnesses would be heeded. Had Israel hearkened even then they might still have entered Canaan. " Tho glory of tho Lord appeared. . . . and the Lord said, How long. ... how long" (verses 10, 11). Grieved with the people who had trifled with His grace and presumed upon His longsuffering, He threatens to smite them with judgment. "Ten times" had they tempted him before, with their hankering after Egypt, and their unbelief. They failed to see that the very manifestation of His presence among them had put them under solemn responsibility not to receive the grace of God in vain. How Moses pleads for the people, and in response to him the word is passed, "I have pardoned. . . . but. ... they shall not see the land" (verses 20, 23). The eternal God of truth revoked His oath, and altered His purpose concerning the people He had brought out of Egypt. As they had said, so should it be (verse 28), they should die in the wilderness, and the little ones" (verse 31) should go into the land with the two faithful men who had fully followed Him in the face of the majority, The men who had caused the heart of the people to faint as they magnified the dangers and difficulties, and thus discouraged them, were smitten with death; and back to the barren wilderness the murmurers went, never to see the Canaan they had 60 nearly reached.

i ' - Are any of us at this critical place tonight! : Have we come to the edge of Jordan, and are we hesitating whether we shall follow en the way? We have left Egypt, and after much tossing and suffering we axe on the verge of knowing all that we hare heard of the "land." . We have seen the fruit and heard the testimony of faithful witnesses, but unexpectedly in the path we have come face to face with hindrances that seem insurmountable. We never anticipated these, and our hearts faint. Others gather around and say, " Will it not bo better to return to Egypt? It is impossible to go forward and fully follow the Lord in the face of all these difficulties." Wo see clearly that if wo are faithful to God in the work committed to uj it will mean loss of subscriptions and friends that have I hitherto been our stay. We see the land ci I the fulness of the Spirit ahead, we have ! pleaded for an outpouring of the Spirit, wo have received tho assurance of God that Ha will open the windows of heaven upon us; but, face the loss of everything, go through I the stripping of all resources, the apparent " death" in our classes and loss of all that is not of God— fact, all that Jordan meanswo cannot; it will cost too much. Listen, God speaks! " They shall know the altering of My purpose." Oh, sold, take heed. God has said, ! " If he flinch through fear, My soul hath no j pleasure in him" (Heb. x. 33, Conybeare). You are on the edce of the land of fruitfuli ness. Be true to God. Do not fear the I giants; if God is with you, they will be but j as " bread" to strengthen you. " They shall know the altering of My purI pose." Let us cry, " God forbid." God forj bid that He should put us aside individually las marred vessels. God forbid that IU J should alter His purpose concerning the wort I entrusted to us and forbear to us it as a channel of blessing to a perishing world. God has wondrous purposes toward us if we will be true to Him in these perilous times, if we will walk with Him at all costs and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Let us not seek the •*■' shadow of Egypt," for it will be only " confusion" (Isa, xxx. 2, 5), but '•ather let us go forward with God at ail costs. "If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land." HINTS ON GUIDANCE. "All who are led by God's Spirit. . . are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of bondage, that yon shonld go hack again to slavish fear, but yon have received a Spirit of adoption wherein we cry. . . Father." (Rom. viii. 14, 15).—Conybeare. "Because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into oar hearts, crying. . . Father." (Gal. iv. 6). To all believers the child spirit is communicated by the incoming of the Holy Spirit into the heart; and is deepened in proportion as ' the old life with its slavish fear is committed to the cross, and planted into the death of Christ; so that it may bo said that the guidance of tho Holy Spirit is for those who '• become little children. So far as we receive the continual supply of the Spirit of Jesus, in union with the Risen Lord, we shall increasingly learn to walk as children with the Father, depending upon His faithful Spirit to guide His little ones and keep them in His will. The Holy Spirit does not lead to any course of action contrary to the written Word. Th» , Snirit in the word, and tho Spirit in the child ; of God, are always in accord. The witness' of the Spirit is always given as we walk in the will of God. We need quick i discernment to recognise His seal, as we test every step, and watchfulness to obey tho first i hint that we are out of the line of His will. • The Spirit has always a definite purpose in ; His directions, and He does not waste tho i time, or strength, of those Ho leads. It is not befitting that we should take any infallible position as to guidance in every de- • tail of action. It is better to walk with God 1 j silently, and to let Him prove to others, in His own way, the skilfulness of His hands upon us. When God has shown His plan for us, let ' us take heed that we do not date it, or assume that it will bo fulfilled immediately. We should remember that it is possible to have mistaken conceptions as to what that plac really means, and that we may materilis* what is spiritual. Let us beware of making bargains wit! God, and calling them " Covenants"--" I! Thou . . Then I will." For later on the soul may be fettered by its " covenants," ar.c I not free to recognise the fresh revcalings ci God. We should not gauge our future by out present light. The Father has only promised to lead us one step at a time. Let us never be afraid of owning that wo have been mistaken. The Spirit of God abides where there is honest .transparency. We are but " earthen vessels," and the leading of the Spirit is so easily checked. It is far better, to recognise that we may be wrong than that God should be dishonoured by our attributing to Him a course of action undertaken by us through misunderstanding Him. We may not expect " special" guidance when all we need to know is written in thWord of God. In the Acts of Apostles we see manifested the general principles of a ' life under tho Spirit's power, and wholly surrendered to God; and, in the letters of Paul I the Apostle, we are shown the mind of the ' Spirit as applied to the practical details rf ' everyday life. If we did but search the word . diligently, and obey it right up to our light, 1 we, too, should soon find our lives brought ; under the guidance of the Spirit. ! It is possible to got into such a strain over , the question of " What is the will of God?" , as to quite miss the doing of His will. In a ; wholly surrendered life we can expect Him to work in us hour by hour to will His will, whilst we give ourselves up to tho fulfilment of our momentary duty with our whole hearts. Let us depend upon the withholdings of ' God. as well as upon His promptings. "The ' Spirit suffered them not." (Acts. xvi. 7). The "voice" is only promised when vo turn" (Isa. xxx. 21): if we are going straight on in the path of His will the Father gives His smile, and the heart is at rest. The written Word needs the illumination of the Spirit. If we go to it full of our own thoughts, we shall read our own ideas into it. Le us wait humbly upon God for His interpretation of His own book, and never act upon an isolated text. Do nothing in a hurry. There is always time for all that is in the will of God. The waiting of one day may bring to light some point which will show us how near we were to a serious mistake. The walk with God appears to be a very slow one, but it is very sure in its effects, for there is no waste power in it. To souls wholly possessed by God the Holy Spirit gives deep rest in all things which are in accordance with His mind. Restlessness, and agitation, generally indicate that the Holy Spirit is opposed to tho step before us. It is safe never to make any decision except in perfect calm of mind and heart.

GUIDANCE IN TIME OP PERPLEXITY. 1. Definitely commit the special difficulty to God. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust." (Psalm xxxvii. 5).. 2. Exercise definite faith in the faithfulness of God. remembering that as j» Father He cannot fail to guide His child. "Ho that cometh to God must believe. . . that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him." (Heb. xi. 6). 3. See that all personal preferences are honestly surrendered, and he willing to be guided in God's way. "The integrity of the upright shall guide them." (Prov. xi. 3). 4. Obey up to your present light every indication of the will of God. 5. Trust the Holy Spirit to give you a sound mind, and carefully look at your difficulty from every point of view: first, as it concerns God's kingdom; second, as it concerns your duty to others; third, as it affects yourself. (Psalm xxv. 9). 6. Leave the whole matter with God, in calm assurance that He understands, whilst you do the "next thing" that lies in the path of duty. "I -will instruct thee and teach thee in , the way which thou shalft go: I will counsel the* with Mine eye upon thee." (Psalm xxxii. 8). "Believe ye that I am able to do this? . . . Yea. Lord. . . According to your faith be it done, unto you." (Matt. 1 ix. 28, 29).—Mrs. Penn-Lewis.