THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 4 June 1938, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

HYMN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT Come, Holy Dove, Descend on silent pinion, Brood o’er my sinful soul with patient love. Till all my being owns Thy mild dominion. Round you. sad Tree, With frequent circles hover. That in my glorious Surety I may see Grace to redeem and righteousness to cover, „ On wings of peace Bring from that precious Altar The Blood which bids the storms of conscience cease, And blots out all the debt of the defaulter. Spirit of Grace Reveal in me my Saviour, That I may gaze upom.His mirrored Face. Till I reflect it In my whole behaviour. Oh. let me hear Thy soft, low voice controlling My devious steps with intimations clear, With comforts manifold my heart consoling. Let that sweet sound To holy deeds allure me With heavenly echoes make my spirit bound, And of my Home in Paradise assure me. Come. Holy Dove, Guide me to your bright portal Where I shall see the Saviour whom I love, And enter on the joys which are immortal. -(Richard Wilton, 1827 to 1903.) A PRAYER FOR WHITSUNTIDE Grant unto Thy servants, O God, to be enkindled by Thy spirit; strengthened by Thv power; illumined by Thy splendour; filled with Thy grace; that so going forward by Thine aid there may be in us simple affection, brave patience, presevering obedience, perpetual peace, a pure mind, a right and clear heart, a good will, a holy conscience, spiritual strength, and a life unspotted and unblameable. And grant that after having manfully finished our course here on earth, we may be enabled happily to enter Thine everlasting kingdom, through the merits of Jesus Christ. Thy Son. our Lord. —Amen.

FOR EACH DAY’S MEDIATION Sunday.—“l even I, am the Lord: and beside me there is no Saviour. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand; I will work and who shall let it? ’’—lsaiah xliii: 11 and 13 Monday.—“ Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened. to My commandments! ’’—lsaiah xlviu: 17, 18. Tuesday.—“ Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God.” —Isaiah 1: 10. Wednesday.—“ Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” —Isaiah liii: 4 and.s. Thursday.—” The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed: but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” —Isaiah liv: 10. Friday.—“ For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, 6 God, beside Tl.ee, what He hath prepared for him that -waiteth for Him.—lsaiah Ixiv: 4. Saturday.—” Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, even without a voice. It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear.”—lsaiah Ixv: 14, 24. I prove God does hear and answer, even before we call. —H. R. Higgens, in A.C.W.

THE BIBLE TO-DAY “ The time may come when the Bible will cease to have its place in the scanty library of the poor man s cottage, and when it will drop out as a subject of instruction in our schools, said Dr W. R. Inge in the first of a series of lectures in St, Paul s Cathedral on “ The English Bible.” To-day, Dr Inge declared, the Bible was not much read among educated people. Even candidates for ordination had only a superficial knowledge of it, but an effort was to be made this year to revive its study and the people s reverence for it. At the same time, we ought not to go back to the uncritical attitude of 100 years ago. Verbal inspiration was no safeguard against perverse misunderstanding.

OUR DEBT TO THE NEW TESTAMENT To ask what we owed to the New Testament would be an absurd question, continued Dr Inge in his first lecture on “ The English Bible.” ‘ The Christ of the Christian faith i. the Jesus of the gospels. We should like to know much more about the early life of our Redeemer and about His ministry in Galilee. We would give a great deal for a contemporary biography, like Boswell’s Life of Johnson, or even for such a portrait as Plato has given us of his master Socrates, But we must be content with the three synoptic gospels.” Perhaps the Bible had been more treasured in this country than in any other part of Christendom. But Christianity was not a religion of a book, as Judaism became and as Islam had always been. Christ did not write His message on paper, but on the hearts of men THE POWER TO RESTORE THE NATIONS Continuing his first lecture on “The English Bible,” Dr Inge said that the period since the birth of Christ had not been one of steady spiritual progress and enlightenment. There h 1 been progress in knowledge, but we had much to learn in spiritual and moral truth from the first century. We could no more rise above the revelation of Christ in religion than we could rise above the great Greeks in art and literature Our progress must be in more fully understanding what had been the guide and inspiration of the saints. "Now especially, when something like a reign of Antichrist has been let loose upon Europe; when ruthless cruelty on a scale never seen before has been not only practised, but justified by contemptible fanatics; when the liberty with which Christ made us free is crushed and persecut-d: and when the State, that monstrous idol, is deified and worshipped, where if not to the Gospel are we to look for a power which may bring back the nations to mercy and justice, to decency and humanity? ”

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCHES “ God the only Cause and Creator ” is the subject of the lesson-sermon in all Churches of Christ, Scientist, tomorrow.

The golden text is. "Thou art worthy. O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Revelation iv, 11). Among the citations which comprise the lesson-sermon are the following from the Bible:—“ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth " 'Genesis i, 1). The lesson-sermon also contains the following passage from the Christian Science text book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,’’ by Mary Baker Eddy:—“ Spirit, God. has created all in and of Himself. Spirit never created matter.”