SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 64

SUNDAY READING.

Clergymen and all interested in religious work are invited to send news items and other contributions suitable for publication in this column, to “Mizpah,” care of Editor “New Zealand Mail,” Wellington. THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. Oli! ’tis all brightness yonder, no clouds nor din, But joy and peace and gladness and rest from sin. Oh! ’tis all glory yonder, for Christ is there, A blest effulgence, shining beyond compare. And there's no sorrow yonder, nor grief nor pain; They live to serve and worship the Lamb once slain ; And there’s no morrow yonder—’tis one to-day, There shines with fadeless splendour the sun’s bright ray. For Christ’s the sun and sunshine or that bright place, There we shall learn His glorv. as here His grace; And now we wait with patience His blessed will— The stormy wind and tempest His word fulfil. They’re servants of His pleasure—He bids them come. Then by a word they’re silenced, and all is calm : And we shall reach in safety the moment bright. When we shall see His beauty in radiant light. And if meanwhile He calls us to face the storm, His shepherd care surrounds us, and His strong arm Shall guide us through in safety the long dark night, Till earth-born clouds shall vanish in morning light. —E. C. THE GUESTS OF GOD. “Why should we wear black for the guests of God ?”—Buskin. From the dust of tho weary highway, From tho smart of sorrow’s rod, Into the Royal presence, They are bidden, the guests of God. The veil from their eyes is taken, Sweet mysteries they are shown, Their doubts and fears are over. For they know as they are known. For them there should be rejoicing, And festival array, As for the bride in her beauty, Whom love hath taken away. Sweet hours of peaceful waiting, Till the path that we have trod Shall end at the Father’s gateway, And we are the guests of God. SUNDAY AFTERNOON. Beside the dead I knelt for prayer, And felt a presence as I prayed. Lo, it was Jesus standing there! He smiled, “Be not afraid.” “Lord, Thou hast conquered death, we know ; Restore again to life,” I said, “This one who died an hour ago.” Ho smiled, “She is not dead.” “Asleep, then, as Thyself didst say, Yet Thou canst lift the lids that keep Her prisoned eyes from ours away.” He smiled, “She cloth not sleep.” - “Yet our beloved seems so far The while we yearn to feel them near, Albeit with Thee we trust they are.” Ho smiled, “And I am here.”

“Dear Lord, how shall we know that they Still walk unseen with us and Thee, Nor sleep nor wander far away?” He smiled, “Abide in Me.” “LET ALL EVIL SPEAKING BE PUT AWAY.” See here an ancient story which contains A lesson many of us need to learn. A lady sought a holy man to tell How she had sinned in word. When he her tale Had heard, he bade her to the market place Repair, there buy a fowl, and thence return To him; and as she came, she was to pluck The feathers from the fowl, and let the wind Carry them where it would. The lady did As she was bidden —bought the fowl, and strewed Its feathers in the streets : then to her friend And counsellor returned. “And now,” said he, “Go back and gather all those feathers up, And bring them here to me.” The lady cried: “Impossible!” “As hopeless,” said the saint, “It were to think that you could e’er recall Tlie words that you have spoken. V hen again To evil speaking you are tempted, think Upon the scattered feathers of your fowl.” —Miss Dyke.

PRAYER. Gracious Father, forgive us that we have not loved Thee more fervently, and trusted Thee more implicitly. Thou hast been yearning for our love and for our trust, and we know that we have grieved Thee by our coldness of heart and unbelief. Forgive us, for Christ’s sake. Reveal Thyself to us. Me have wandered away from Thee, and forgotten Thee; but through Him Vho died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to Thyself, we return to Thee now. If Thine anger has not yet passed away, reveal Thine anger to us, that we may kate the sins which have provoked it. Rebuke us, 0 God, if we need rebuke; but forsake us not. Even while our hearts are troubled by Thy chastisements, manifest Thy love to us.

AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. Would you use life wisely? Would you make it do for what it is meant to do? Then set apart a little time each day in it to view your lives, your words, your thoughts, in the light of that faith—that the trumpet shall sound. Prepare your hearts that they may be fit to receive your Lord, that you may bo fit to meet, and welcome Him. If there arc sins that darken your memories and wicked passions that still sway your souls, let me repeat a wise saying of one in our day, “The way to forget your sins is to remember them before God.” Or if . you think that there is no dark stain upon you that would make you ashamed to face your Lord, then use this season to widen your sympathies, to learn to love other forms of work that is done for Him, other forms to what you understand and are familiar with. But indeed, if you do think that you have nothing to feel shame at before your Lord, I would above all urge you to jn-obe well, to examine your hearts, to see if there is no pride, no vanity, no selfishness, above all. no thoughtlessness towards others in your lives. And to all of you and to myself I would say: Could we better prepare for death and for our Lord’s return than by gathering before His Holy Board each Sunday morning in this season, preparing ourselves to meet Him then, all the week through looking forward to the next Sunday as the time when he is to come to us? This would, indeed, lift our minds Heavenward, would draw us out of the world, would prepare us for His coming. “Hark!” says a hymn which well sums up what I have wished to say:— Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding, “Christ is nigh,” it seems to say; “Cast away the dreams of darkness, 0 yo children of the day.” Wakened by the solemn warning, Let the earthbound soul arise: Christ, her Sun, all ill dispelling, Shine upon the morning skies. Lo! the Lamb so long expected, Comes with pardon down from heaven, Let us haste with tears of sorrow, One and all to be forgiven, That when next lie comes with glory, And the world is wrapped in fear, With His mercy Ho may shield us, And with words of love draw near. Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall ;dve thee light.

THE CONTRAST. I saw a vast multitude of the sick and dying, all fast hastening to death, and I heard a voice saying to each and all, “There is life for the asking,” and tliero was but one or two of all that company raised their voices to beg the boon. I saw a band of weary travellers in a sandy desert, parched with thirst,

and faint beneath the rays of a burning sun, and I heard a voice saying to them, “There is water for the seeking. Oh!-every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” And directly in sight appeared a cool and sparkling fountain, gushing from a rock which threw its deep shadow across the weary land, ancl but few there were who made the effort to reach the grateful shade of the rock, or to slake their thirst m its waters. “There is gold for the digging,” proclaims another voice: thousands of eager questioners cry, Where, where?” Far, far away over the mountains: danger and disease must be met, privation and hunger must be brat eel, but what of that! There is gold for the digging at the end. And now they throng and press and crowd to reacu tnat far-off land. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?”

DON’TS FOR CHRISTIANS. Don’t make a Sunday a dismal clay for the children. Don’t use your religion as an advertisement to help your business. Don't give up your faith when you have no feeling. Don’t let it appear from your manner that it is a gloomy and disagreeable thing to be a Christian. Don’t claim to be happy in a voice that would frighten children. Don’t begin to look blue and wretched the minute you get on your Sunday coat. Don’t draw down the blinds and give tho family the impression that it is a sin to be agreeable on the Sabbath day. Don’t do anything for tlie sole purpose of trying to build up a reputation for zeal or piety. Don’t forget that Jesus warned His disciples against hypocrisy as often as He did against sin. Don’t neglect your Bible and your closet. Don’t think a sin is harmless because it looks little. Don’t let your manner be such that sinners will think that if you do know God you are very sorry' for it. Don’t speak in church as if you were at a funeral, because ;t may seem to be the conventional thing to talk that way. Don’t leave your religion at the gate when you go home. Don’t be more concerned about what men will say than what God will think.

CONVERSE WITH JESUS. Lord Jesus, who dost know tho things of earth do oft press down my spirit, yet thou art to me the faithful friend who never changeth, always reach' to listen to my mournful tales cf sin and sorrow. Thou art the One who for my sake Thv precious life laid down, and by Thy spirit hast revealed to me the beauties and the glories of Thy grace. Oh! wondrous love, rising above my highest thought, ancl bearing onwards to the realms of bliss all who, like me, have known and felt its vast immensity'. Oh! blessed Jesus, I know that Thou art there, and this is all the foretaste of my r bliss, my joy. my peace, my life, my all Thou art. Yea. Thou art every'tliing, and now amidst the scene through which I pass, how sweet Thou art to me. And can it be that my poor soul is worth the price which Thou hast paid for my deliverance! Yea, Lord, it must be so. But why, oh! why? Is it because Thou lovest the praise that mortal man can give? If so, Lord Jesus, help Thine helpless one to consecrate the minutes as they fly with praise and adulation to Thy name ; thus happily employed with open eyes and loving heart till Thou shalt come, then evermore .Thy praise shall occupy my tongue, and I shall feel and taste and know the joy that -it is to live for ever with Thyself, amid the glories of those mansions in Thy Father’s house, prepared before the world began. Halt! another milestone, with the oil of gladness; Rest awhile ancl ponder on the unseen way. Praise shall, bring our blessings down the angel’s ladder, And the golden promise turn our night to day. Speak. Thy servant lieareth; henceforth let mo follow. Let mo trust the living God and every word he saith.