Restful Thoughts For a Quiet Hour

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12283, 31 October 1925, Page 12

Restful Thoughts For a Quiet Hour

Text: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give vou rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me: for X am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light/*— Matt. xi„ 28-30.

PEARLS OF WISDOM The saint trusting God in adversity has more joy than the wicked in prosperity. • • • • "I am determined,** said an old eaint, "never to speak of a man’s virtues before his face, nor to speak of his faults behind his back.** Noble determination! Never condemn another on hearsay, without having learned what he has to say for himself. • • • • • "Our time of need is God's time of love —our times 'of deepest need are His most loving times.** • • • • Faith makes everything possible; love makes everything easy. ■ * * • • 'Fear God, all ye saints,*' and there is no one else ye need to fear, A PRAYER FOR LORD’S DAY MORNING 0 God, who turnest the shadow of death into the morning and makest the putgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice, we thank Thee for the return of the day of rest, for its opportunities of quiet and recollection, and its holy memories and associations. This is the day which Thou hast made; we would rejoice and be glad in it. Guard our hearts from sin, and enable us to think on whatsoever things are true, and honest, and just, and pure, and lovely and of good report. Be with us as we go into Thy house of prayer, and help us to take part in Thy worship with grateful hearts and joyful lips. 0 Thou in whom our fathers trusted, and Thou didst deliver them, hear the prayers of Thy children this day. 'Cause us to hear Thy loving kindness, for in Thee do we trust. Enlighten our minds, and establish 'our hearts in Thy testimonies. Enable us by true worship to glorify Thee; and grant that by the air of Thy Holy Spirit we may enter into the liberty of Thy truth and the joy of Thy fellowship. Keep our hearts in Thy peace this day, that everything discordant may pass from us; and in the quiet of waiting on Thee in Thy house, give us strength to serve Thee more worthily in the world, and to overcome evil with good. For Christ's sake. Amen. —Prayers for the Home Circle. “THE DRIED BROOK” (One-minute Sermon by the Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D.) "It came to pass after .a while, that the brook dried up.**—*l Kings, xvii., 7. That is the way this world's brooks always do. For a time they flow full; then V-iey begin to waste, and at last dry up altogether. This is true of all earthly joys. 7 There is a comfort, however,* in what comes, after the statement made in these words. When thb brook dried up, God had another place ready for His servant. "Arise, get thee to Zarephath." There he found another help ready. It must have been a sore test of Elijah's faith, to watch the streako growing less and less every day. "What shall I do when the brook is dry?** he would wonder. But we need not suppose that he ever worried about it. He know that God was providing for him, and would have something else ready when this supply ceased. One morning there wafc no water running over the stones, and the prophet had to eat a dry breakfast—only bread and meat; but still, I think, he did not grow anxious. Then after breakfast the Lord came and told him to move. The lesson is, that we are never to doubt God, no matter how low the supply gets. Though wo ha've come down to the last mouthful of bread and the last cupful of water, and still see no new provision beyond, we sire to take the last ifiorsel with thankfulness, believing that God will have something else ready in time. It will be soon enough if it is ready when we have eaten the last efust.

GEMS FROM THE PSALMS Behold how good and how pleasant ft is for brethren to dwell together in unity! • • # • It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon ths beard, even Adron*s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. * * *. • As the dew of Hermon, and as the de# that descended upon the mountains of Zion : for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.—Psalm cxxxiii. BEYOND TO-DAY If we could see beyond to-day, As God can see; If all the clouds should Toll away* - The shadows flee— O'er present griefs we would not fret, Bach sorrow we would soon forget, For many joys are waiting yet For you and me. If we could know beyond to-day. As God doth know, Why dearest treasures pass away And tears must flow,— And why the darkness leads to light, Why dreary paths will goon groir bright— Some day life's wrongs will be mad* right; Faith tells us so. If we could see! if we could knowl We often 6ay. ' But God in love a veil doth throw Across our way,— We cannot see what lies before, And so we cling to Him the more He leads us till this life is o'er; Trust and obey.

JOTTINGS General Booth, at liis jubilee as % Salvation Army officer, recalled the early struggles of the Army, and said in those days their fondest dreams could, not have embraced the hope that one day the Army flag would be flying in some seventy or eighty countries. An unusual honour has been conferred on an Irish minister. The Rev. W. M. Wilson, of Newtonbutton, has been* apl pointed by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland to the Commission of the Peace for County Fermanagh. This is believed to be the first time such an honour has been conferred on an Irish Methodist minister. _lt is interesting to recall that Dr. Eden, Bishop of akefiold, has now held his see .27 years longer than any other bishop in London, although he is still eight years short of Archbishop Edwards's record of 35 years in the aioce*® of St. Asaph. Delivering a sermon while asleep.—Mr Ray, in his "Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon," 6ays that in the early years of the pastor's ministry many strange incidents happened, and gives the following" One Saturday eveningMr Spurgeon found himself unable to collect his thoughts and dissect the text which he had chosen for hi.s sermon on the morrow. Utterly exhausted and dispirited, he agreed to his wife’s suggestion that he should retire to rest, on the condition that she woke him early in the morning. . . . Some hours of sound and peaceful 6leep followed, but with the dawning of the day Mrs Spurgeon was groused by hearing her husband talk in his sleep. She listened intently, for it was no mere meaningless ramble of words; he was going over the subject of the verse that had appeared so difficult and giving a distinct exposition of its meaning. There were no means at hand for taking notes, but praying that her memory might be strengthened, Mrs Spurgeon repeated over and over again in her mind the striking sermon eh® had heard. Then all her efforts to keep awake being fruitless, she fell into a sound slumber, only to be awakened at a late hour by her husband's distress at having slept so long. ‘What shall I do?* he cried, ‘Listen.* replied Mrs Spurgeon, and she repeated wbat she had heard in such strange circumstances. The exposition was original and clear, and C. H. Spurgeon that morning preached a powerful discourse, built upon his wife’s report of his sleeping utterances."