OUR LAY SERMON FOR SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 42

OUR LAY SERMON FOR SUNDAY READING.

YOU MAY BE A VICTOR,

" Bo strong, and quit yourselves like men." —I. Samuel, chap, iv., !L It seems to mo that wo need a more constant encouragement in our religious life. Religion is in itself the most cheering thing in the world, and if any one takes a gloomy view of it ho does both himself and his religion an injustice. He who tells us that we can do everything that is required is tho angel over the right shoulder, and lie who tells us that wo cannot is the imp over tho left shoulder.

It is not easily explained, perhaps, but the fact stares us in tho face that it is much easier to coast down hill than to draw tho sled up hill, and we sometimes become disheartened. Still, wo onco in awhile get a glimpse of the reason for this. Wo know full well from both observation and personal experience that if wo were to coast down hill all our lives, and if thero were no climbing up hill to be done, we should be little better than the sleds which bear us. There might be excitement, but wo should lose our vigour and our health. Tho up hill work is what makes tho man. The plan of life, therefore, has been so arranged that no one can have tho short pleasure of coasting down hill without tho long labour of dragging his sled up hill. A youth must be continually reminded of these facts, for he discovers at a very early stage that harmful habits may bo contracted in a few months which cannot be eliminated in years. Ho must therefore become a philosopher or ho will be ultimately ruined, for philosophy will teach him that hard work, both in the way of endurance and of resistance, is the only condition on which he can chisel a beautiful statuo out of the crude marble of experience. He may wonder why it should bo so, but he must recognise tho fact that it is so. When that has been done his feet aro on the first round of the ladder whoso top rests against the throne of God. A good life, a noble life, a life worth living and worthy the dignity and destiny of tho soul, is not to be had for tho asking. It must bo earned or not possessed at all. But when earned and possessed it is as glorious as a broad landscape lighted up by sunrise. There is nothing on tho planet so majestic as a whole and perfect human soul. Tho angols of heaven who sang their hallelujahs before the world was are an infoiior order of beings, because tho perfection which is tho result of hardship and suffering is grander than the perfection •with which any of tho immortals can bo endowed. I believe, therefore, that when wo get into tho other life the man that has endured and won tho prize by his onduranco will stand on a higher level than any other created creature, and tho soul that has borne the ills of timo in the spirit of tho Master will stand nearest to tho throne of God.

But it is not easy to endure. Tho school of life is a school of discipline, and many fall by the way. So far as God has spoken, however, Ho has used the language of encouragement. And tho words of Christ aro full of pity for those who are downhearted, and of good cheer for those who still look toward tho "tars. Prayer is simply tho means of borrowing strength from tho Most High, or an expression of gratitude for what lias already been received. In prayer the human heart comes into contact with God's will, and by a law, tho working of which is somewhat mysterious, because our minds are not yet open, such contact results in an accession of ability which is palpable to thoss who have availed themselves of this privilege. "Whomever you may be, whatever station of lifo you may occupy, however adverse may bo your surroundings, you can earn a right to God's approval. Not every one can have riches, because riches depend largely on laws which man has made, but every one can have heaven. The present time is short, but tho future is long. Today you must work ; but do your work well and to-morrow your toil will bo regarded.

l'ossiblyyou may be suffering the pinching pangs of poverty. Envy creeps into the heart as you recognise that others are surrounded by luxuries as well as comforts, and envy is a knife driven into the maple tree which lots tho sap run out. We are not made to be wealthy, but to be noble. Wealth is an incident in some lives and not in others, but nobility may be had by all. The richest are not the happiest, for happiness comes from the soul, not from the pocketbook. The Sultan may wear a crown, but ho is wretched; the peasant who digs his field for food to eat has more enjoyment and more content. Not outside, but inside, is peace to bo found. Or possibly you have fallen on evil ways and habit has made you a slave. God knows you have a hard stint to do before sundown, but you are a man and can do it. An immortal soul conquered by a habit is a sorry spectacle ; a king dragged at the chariot tail is a strange humiliation. But victory may yet bo wrested from defeat. You and God can do great things together. When you and the angels put shoulders to the whcol it cm bo lifted out of the mire. Recall the forgotten fact that you are a man, blow a blast on the trumpet of defiance, issue the proclamation of your own freedom, and do bravo battle with yourself. Tho hosts of tho skies aro on your side, and though the struggle will tax your whole strength, begin it now, and keep it up till you have conquered overy intrenched tendency to evil. I somehow think that ho who has been lowest in this world and fought his way to manhood through legions of devils will stand highest in tho timo to come, for did not Christ say, " Many that are last shall b» first ?"

Religion is another word for irrigation. The arid fields, overflowed by tho vivifying stream, spring into fruitfulness, and souls parched with barrenness when touched by the spirit of God may bring forth a harvost that shall be garnered by the angels.