SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16169, 4 March 1916, Page 8 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

j>: Br r.isroß D. H. steffens.

' DISCERNING the TIMES. * %

1 • '-,1 Ye hypocrites! ye can discern the . face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not (harem this tiiuo?—Luke lii.. M 5. . Good old Matthew Henry saya . of this text: " Having given his disciples their lesson in tho foregoing verses, hero Christ turns to tho people, and gives them theirs. 'Ho said also to tho people.' Ho preached ad populum —to the people, as Well as ad clerum—to the clergygeneral, ho would have them be as wise in th« affairs of their fouls as they are in their outward affairs." He. is preaching ad populnm and ad j, riorum to-day. He would have us ho as wise in the affairs of our souls as we are in our outward affairs. To that end. il is our supreme duty to try and discern the spiritual import of Iho present time; to conjectures what will bo from what has been ; to take notice in order that we may give notice; to learn to discern I lie way of God toward us, that we may heed it- 0 warnings and seize upon tha blessings of our time. Men have always endeavoured to discern times and seasons. \\ lieu the people of Christ's day saw a cloud rise out of the west, they were reasonably suro of a shower; for observation and experience had taught litem to look for rain from the winds sweeping toward their •■oiintrj from tho Mediterranean Spa. hen they felt, the south wind blow, they *aid,"There will bp heat." foi observation and experience had taught them to look for heat from the winds sweeping toward their country from the hot deserts of Arabia and Africa. An agricultural . people, they used these forecasts to govern themselves in their everyday affairs. Wliilo they might now and then make a mistake —for nature does not always move in a beaten track—they ordinarily profited by , their observations. But. they made the great mistake of not applying the same care and diligence in the discernment of spiritual thincs. Hence our Lord s charge : "Ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky and the earth ; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?" Had they studied the writings of their prophets, they might have known that it was time for" their Messiah to come, and that according to the marks given of him, he had actually appeared and stood in the midst of them. Now was their accepted time; now was their day of. grace. But tliey knew him not. They knew not tfic day of thpir gracious visitation. they miserj ably (ailed to avail themselves of their j opportunities. With all their shrewdness t and foresight in worldly affairs, they made J no effort to discern the spiritual import j of their time, and thus were guilty of a | folly which wrought irreparable ruin unto j their entire generation. We have gone far beyond those people in our efforts to I "discern the face of tho sky and the earth. I Assisted by the invention of most delicate '• and exact instruments, as well as by tho I records of widely extended and long-con-k tinued observations, the organisation of { our meteorological and weather bureaux j » under governmental direction enables us I to publish weather forecasts of surprising I "accuracy for the benefit of the nation. | Storm signals give timely notice to the i, mariner of impending danger, and daily i bulletins assist the farmer in planning his \ work. Telegraph, telephone, and wireless / • combine to make this exceedingly valuable ! information so universally availaulo that j we almost unconsciously look tip the local ! v . weather forecasts of tho daily newspaper. ; Crop and market reports are handled in the same 'way. Long before the new crop ' .is harvested accurate estimates of probable yields arc published for'flic benefit | of tiiuse whoso business has to do with f i-Ikgo things. We do the samo tiling m . . the field ut politics, leading the signs T; - the . times and - making political fore!T casts, .men niter into combinations and ■> agreements, Irjiuo treaties and foster or j (i annul national, and international relations. I I > In all of these things, men to-day show I remarkable shrewdness and energy, and j wo are prone to point to the success ati ■}•- tending our efforts to discern the times p in nature, business, or. politics as an cvidence of increasing civilisation, and a conv sequent improvement'*of map's ; lot m this y r * world. '■'%} ( 'j" ' '' This time of ours is tjig with portentous .'C events. Now what men . discussing? 1 wAs I read our newspapers, I road only of j % the necessity of increased armament and ; improved national defence; of new held; Jv for trade, inviting exploitation; of the «•; urgent necessity of our promptly building * a large merchant marine; of the advisv ability of our. securing ourselves against, • L industrial competition after the war; of •' tie interest'of certain belligerent nations. ' It may be as wise and innocent that wo I should discuss these things as it was for 1 •-> the men to whom Christ addressed this resl buke to discuss the weather. But if we j % stop there as they slopped, how can we I f' hojft to escape the scathing rebuke of | V hypocrisy addressed to them? They con- [ cerned themselves only with tTie time as it >: affected this present life. They acted as if the finding of an answer to* the.janesI tion: "What shall we eat? What shall i - |we drink? Wherewithal shall wo be .. fi clothed!" were the great end of all exist- . ence. They thus placed -themselves-on the j ;« level of tho Gentiles who know not God v. and ask only after material things. Meani ■'»!}' Irhilo they claimed to he children of God ..' and heirs .of his. spiritual kingdom, to ■J whose ways and affairs they never gavo a •" thought. Surely, hypocrisy could go 110 '■ farther. Is this what we aro doing, dis- ! i" cerning the time as it may affect our material interests, rather than as it bears i upon the. great interests of the Church of 1 , God? Have you heard any serious disii Mission of the prubablp effect of this present time 'of stress and struggle \ipon the great world-problem of missions, in the advancement of which the churches of BriI tain anil Germany, with united forces, led tho world? Have we asked ourselves how we propose to meet the general religious v and moral decline which in the past has ft , been the invariable accompaniment of war, f and its dissolution of the bonds which I ordinarily hold men in restraint? § But you will ask : " How shall wo disI corn this time? How shall w-i consider I , and discuss these great problems? Who I is siillicicut for these things'? I know jj ; but one answer :In the light of the Word | of Cod. For whatsoever' things were I written for our learning, that we through fc patient*l and ly-nfort of the Scriptures \ might have hope." The men of our Lord's I day failed to discern their time and its J spiritual import, because thev* knew not I Moses and the prophets. This was Christ's | charge against them: "Had ye believed | Moses ye would have believed 31c, lor | he wrote of Me." | I therefore hold that there can he no I „ truo discerning of our time, or any other § time, s3vc as we use the infallible Word I of God as the measure and interpreter of I tune, save It is given the infalliblo Word of God as the measure and interpreter of all time. It is given us for this purpose. "Heaven and earth," says our Lord, " shall pass away, but my words shall not j . pass away," They shall 'abide, immutable | in the faco of fluctuating human opinion, ■uncertain scientific statement and ever- ! changing experience. No wonder David says; " Thy testimonies are my delight • and my counsellors." To ignore them and '' try Ho ''.discern the time" is as futile an effort as 1 lie discerning of " the face of the sky and the earth" without a thermometer and barometer. Let, us, therefore, in our efforts to discern the spiritual import of this time, use this standard, applying its eternal principles in measurement of its perplexing movements and in the solution of its baffling problems. Let men talk of " efficiency,' "success," "humanity," i civilisation, and " Kultur" as measures i anil standards. None of them are infal- , lible. All of them are misleading. But > ••tir standard i•- ever true and ever right. • the " impregnable rock of Holy Scripture." ■ I " ''or the Word of God is quick and power- *.[;.• f«l, and, sharper than any two-edged I, B Word;. .piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and Jnarrow, and is a discerucr of the thoughts and intents of the heart." It, is " p ,l T- niiv. Oi'judgment. "The word that in tie last i ' » io J am . o . s^a 'l judge him ** - e " v da i"' ( Should it nob be ours? ■d