SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12663, 17 September 1904, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

THE SECRET 01? OUR ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. [BY the kev. ALEXANDEB WHITE, D.D.] Just as I ■"am,'■■without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bldd'st, me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come. " JtrsT as I am." Now, a happier word than that is not in all the world. A better selected word is not in all the world. It was a stroke; oi : evangelical genius to choose that word, and to lay it as the very first syllable in this song of salvation, "Just as I am." That is to say, simply as 'I am, exactly as I. am, 'precisely as I am. Not in any other shape or form. Not in any other character or category. Not any better, but "Just as: I am." And as no on© else has ever been, or ever will be to the end of time. lam alone, and have no fellow, nor will ever have My sins are my own. and my misery is my own. "Just as I am, I corns.' : And "without one plea." If I had even one good and sound plea, you may depend upon it I would plead it. But I have not one. I. have no excuse, no exculpation, no gloss, no varnish. If I had I would plead like Adam. It was the woman that did it, was Adam's plea. It was the j serpent, was the-woman's plea. I did not think that one blow would have killed him, pled; Cain. The wine was red, and it gave its colour to the cup, and it bo moved itself aright, pled Noah. 1 was faint with hunger, pled Esau, and the pottage was so savoury. The woman was very beautiful to look upon, pled David, They all had, or thought they had, their pleas. My mouth is stopped. I remember and "am confounded, and shall never be able to open my mouth any more because of my : shame, said the prophet. Jiut when .we have. pa plea, When our -mouth is : stopped/' when ■We are confounded .and condemned, then these two pleas are put into our mouth, '"Without one plea, but that Tliv Blood was shed for mo, and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee." Thy blood, O Lamb of God, and Thy bidding. These are how my two all-prevailing, pleas. With '■ these two : pleas I . shall ■ always come with boldness to the Throne of Grace. And I am sure that as often as I plead thes© two pleas I shall never be put to shame.

Let us come, then. Let" us- come, and. let us learn better, and better in' what way to, come. In what way, and with what manner of motion. •,'•■•: We come,: but. not by locomotion, as in all other oases of coming. We com©, but not - by • removing ; ourselves out of one place, and removing ourselves. to another -plß.ee. We ; come by - a xeal' loco,motion, indeed; but it is by the locomotion of the mind" and the heart. It is not by the locomotion of our feet, says Augustine, but _ by the „ locomotion of our affections. And Augustine could speak on this subject with the authority of an incomparable experience. Think you to see the Lamb of God in all the situations in which He is set before you in;.the' Gospels, and then come to Him in all those situations. Think you to see Him as John > Bunyan thought He saw Him. "Methought'l was as if I had seen Him born, as if I had seen Him grow up, as if I had seen Him walk through this world, from His cradle to His cross: to whioh, also, when He came; I saw how gently He gave Himself to be hanged and- nailed upon it for my sins and wicked doings. Also, as I was musing upon this His progress, that Scripture dropped on 3 niv \ spirit, He was ordained for , '-.the slaughter. I saw also as if He leaped at the: grave's mouth for joy that He was risen' again, and had got the conquest over our dreadful foes. I have also, in the spirit, seen Him a Man on the right hand of God the Father for me; and have seen the manner of His coming from heaven to judge the world with glory, and have been' confirmed in these things by the Scriptures following." Think you see the Lamb of God in that way. .You may not have such. good and inward eyes as John Bunyan had. No other man ever had such eyes a3 the tinker had. But use the eyes you have on the best thin-"-, and your eyes will grow bettor by use. Only direct your eyes sufficiently often, and sufficiently fixedly, and sufficiently long at a time, on the Lamb of God, and there is no. limit to their increasing clearness and their increasing power- ' .God gave your inward eyes to you in order that you might see His Son with them. And that, like the prophet, your eves micrht then affect your heart.. Look, then, till your heart is affected, and till with your whole heart you come to Him. And come at all times, and came in every way: Come from all your former ignorance and indifference, and come to: the intensest interest and anxiety. Come from never thinking a thought about the Lamb of God to thinking about nothing and about no one half so much. Come from seeking your own pleasure in everything to asking what; will please Him. Come from taking your own way in everything to taking His way in everything, and your neighbours way as often and as far as i* is His way. Come from a ' hardness of heart like the nether millstone, to an utter brokenness •of heart, and till your head is waters. Come from never taking time to pray in secret to praying in secret in all places and at all times. And in all that, and as the heart of all that, and as the true end of all that, say continually, 0 Lamb of God 1 come. ' _ . And waiting not ' > . j To rid my soul of one dark blot. "Wait," said Satan to Teresa; "wait, woman. Wait till you have washed away that dark blot-in the holy water Want till you have done some decent penance for such a sin of self-indulgence. Wait, till the pain is a little worn off your conscience. Wait, for shame, woman, and go not so foul-handed into the very presence of God." "Let no one," she says to us, "be tempted of the devil as I was to give up prayer on account of unworthinoss. Let him rather believe that lf -ii mi BtlH re P eufc a » d » v > our Lord will still hear and answer." And the darker the blots, and the more recent, come all the more immediately, importunately, believingly, assuredly. And always say, '0 Lamb of bod, i come. ..." SighV riches, healing of the mind." I like that line immensely, I repeat that line continually. I repeat it sometimes every day, and every hour. And th'.s other line always bring itself on to that line, till they run together, " Canst thou not minister to a mmd diseased?" These two lines run in my mind continually. Do they ever run in your mind? Or, is your mi ad so sound and ?o whole, so wise and so good, that these two lines were not written for you I have neither _ the time left to-night, nor ( have I the courage,: fully to exhibit and explain my continual ■'■ reA Uri i i those two lines - But it in a fact. And let this confession of mine be some encouragement to those who feel so absolutely ! alone and desolate as they cry continually— () Lamb of God! Sight, riches, healing of the mind! And, 0 Lamb of God,"'canst Thou not minister to a mind diseased like mina! 1

! Just as I am, Thou wilt receive : With welcome, pardon, cleanse, r«iW*t' -'■ Because Thy promise I believe; ■ O Lamb of God,, I come. jj .... .... ...... ■ Just as I am— love unknot» ' Has broken every barrier down— - Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alon-», --i O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am, of that free love ' ! 1 The breadth, length, depth, and heis-V' *« I prove,'.' ' *"■ ; *" i Here for a season, then above, J O Lamb of God, I come. '•■■'". .--."■-■ I ■ ■ -,_ ■■ — - ■ \-£ WM OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH TEfF ' i| FATHER. q | [Bt BEV. G. CASIPBEXI, MCEC**?, S.t>.j '"j I wonder sometimes whether any mor* * I startling or profound word is to be found in • <■ ) the New Testament concerning the relation- ' ->! ship into which men and women in Jesto* I Christ are brought to God. This indeed i& ?., J sea wherein all our thoughts are drowned ■ ■ 1 We may approach tins great theme and «e» I some of the gleams of light that break froni" I it, and yet when we have meditated upon fen ! prayerfully and carefully, under the guidance ' " of the Spirit, it still stretches out beyond us I baffling our thoughts, incapable of being ex .' pressed in any words of earth's poor language '; waiting for its final exposition, for the ] language and the illumination of the Father's house. " Our fellowship is with the Father." Th 9 emphasis is placed upon the word that indicates the relationship. It is a most startling announcement—fellowship. How differently the minds of men think of God. There ! are those who hate the vary though of Hire, 1 There are those who fear Him 1 with a slavish fear. _ There are ■■ j those who think of Him only as I a king to whom they are bound to submit I themselves. But the distinctive and over- 1 whelming glory of Christianity is that it brings us into a new relationship, that of - \ fellowship.. All enmity is banished from th» • i heart; all fear, save the fear of filial love, is for ever swept away; henceforth we enter' through Jesus Christ, upon the profounde?[ more wonderful, more intimate relationship indicated by that great word, "fellowship/- < It seems to me almost impossible for us to begin to attempt a description of what friendship with God mean 3. The word "friend" is one of the most sacred and beautiful words in .our language, and a word very sadly ( abused. There is & great difference between , ! an acquaintance and a friend. I thank God . i for my acquaintances, but I have not many ■ J j true friends in the world, nor have you. A friend is so precious that no human being , I ever has very.many of them on life's pil- ! grimage and pathway. How many people j are there with whom you fee] perfectly safe? How many with whom you feci, sittinc alone, j that you can pour out. everything' that is in your heart, the mean thing as well as the 1 . noble thing, the doubt as well as the confidence. There are very, very few; but that is friendship. ; "Our fellowship is with the Father." We have been brought into such - - relationship with .. God that if we do but know Him and, understand its truth, we can together fulfil that very idea of friendship. lean feel perfectly safe when I have entered ■into my inner chamber and have shut the door against all others than my Father, I can say to Him everything that is in ay heart.;- ■>:/;,,,: : , "v;. - ■■."?■ :• : .'. ; \:; : -! :: > '■ : Dear young believer, have vou discovered that ? If not, then you have not yet ex- 1 perienced one of the most precious things in life as a Christian, one of the deepest and profoundest blessings that has come in Christ Jesus. There is one thing God never wints to hear from you. and that is a word of th» nature of i hypocrisy. Ho never wants to hear you say that your will is resigned to His, when your heart is hot and restless and you think He is dealing hardly with you. When you think so, He wants you to tell Him. He wants you to dare to pour out in His listening ear everything that is in your heart, your meanness, your littleness, your baseness, your doubts and your fears. Ob, but you say, I would be afraid to do it. There is the secret of a» good deal c; lack in your life. Begin, to do it, and you will find that He will sift, the things you «ay to Him, and He will blow away that which is unworthy, and retain that which is best. Notice a quotation from Dryden, in that poem, " All for Love": — ... We ware so mixed, As meeting streams, both to ourselves wen lost. ... We were one mass; we could not give or tab Bat from the samej for hs was I, I he. ; _ '.That is & perfection of friendship, and that is the very inner heart of the meaning of this word "fellowship." I give to God, but I can give to Him only Himself as He has given Himself to me. God gives it me every day. What docs He give to me? God gives to me my new self in Christ. A* two streams have mingled, so thr> life <.£ hi soul in Christ and the infinite fife of God have mingled, and all my frailty .finds its forcefulness in His might, and all "His might finds its means of espressin- itself along the line of my frailty. That is the fact; "our fellowship is with the. Father." Now, hew far do we recti»' if! _ There is such a thing at practising friendship, practising fellowship. We have only been talking about .the- nature of the great fact of friendship with God, and through Jesus Christ. - In every life there ought to be time iav the practice of fellowship with God. Hero is one peril of the age. Oh, this rushing, restless, feverish age! We are swept off our. ieefc by the rush of our work, carried along from day to day, tumbling like a turbid stream, and there is no restfulness, ■=•■•-. practice of fellowship, no time for it,, Time for everything 'eh*, but not for that, and everything else is weakened for lack of it. First take time to talk to God, and secondlj -- . •■ inis is more neglected than the first— .ah* time to let God talk to you. The first needs emphasis; take time to talk to Him. Ido not say pray, though ii would be right :lo say it, but we have so largely associated th» word prayer" with petition. We have been busy asking for things. Talk to Him. Tell Him all about your own life; about vow home; about your children. Ask Him' for i things if you wish, but the nearer you live in communion the fewer petitions there wi!' ; ■* in your ■ prayer. Practise the art of talking to God.;.:. t Tell Him everything, and then tab time that He may speak to you. " _ Oh, that this message may at least call i halt amid all the activity of the Church, and call everyone of us back to the practice oi our fellowship. Beloved, fellowship is a feci. . 1 am not asking you to create the fact, bat to show it. The fact is created in Ciirirt. « Jesus I have been made the friend of •5: .^ h ? tr:,ubl<? is not there, the trouble is that 1 haw not practised it. And hi me ' say_ that when a soul begins to practise this I waiting for God and for Hi? speech, then will come a new sense of Christ, such hi «he soul has never had before. j