THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3342, 3 April 1918, Page 53

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR. No. 240. < By Duncan Wright, Dunedin. WHO SEEKS FIRST? If you have an opportunity of getting hold of a book just published, entitled "Fifty Thousand Miles on ji Hospital Ship/' by "The Padre," you will, like me, think it far too short. The writer is an Anglican who knows and loves men, and knows how to handle men in" a manly fashion. He knows, too, in a very practical manner the spirit of I Cor. ix, 19 : "Though I be free from all men, yet have .1 made Myself servant unto all, that I might gain ,the more." He was thus addressed by one of the soldiers : "Well, Padre, can I break on your thoughts '. 1 have been looking all over the ship for you. Do you really believe what you told us to-night ? I would to God I could feel sure it was true." I stood amazed, and was silent for a moment or two : the speaker was Lieutenant M—" Mac," as we called him—a Scotch laddie, public schoolboy, strong in limb and gay in disposition, one of the centres of life of the party; and yet one who, when judged by his disposition at •times "(we were near in the cabins and I could not help overhearing much), could not be viewed as a controlled Christian man. "Do you think I should be such a cad as to buoy you up with a falsehood at such a time as this —there is no doubt about the dangers you and I have to face?" "Well, no I don't suppose you would; but oh! if I could only know it is true. I have been a bit of a rotter in my time, and I know I haven't done the best with my life ; now I have a feeling it's going to end—old Johnny-Turk will settle my little lot—but I do -want to go down with a clean sheet. You said Jesus Christ never changed in His work—it stood for all men always : will it stand for me now when I've never cared all these years. It seems such a rotten trick for me to turn round when I may soon have to peg out." "I can only tell you, old boy, what Christ Himself said, 'Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out'—for no reason whatever —and that covers your rotting and your delay, doesn't it? I don't know what you have done, but I do know Christ want's you for His man, and He is willing to take all the risks if you will put yourself into His hands. Won't you take Him at His word? He loved you and gave Himself for you, and He can clear you to-night if you will." "But," said the soldier, "I shall have to stop a lot of things. Oh ! I know you have heard me swear pretty hard, and I shall forget; T've done it so often, it comes out without me thinking about it. And there are other things." "Yes ! probably there are. I have heard you swear a good deal, but, as I said, Christ wants to be the Master of your life as well as the Saviour of it. I know it will mean a fight, but He will help you and you can conquer through Him. Laddie, shall we ask Him to help us.?" And so we prayed as we stood in the darkness with our faces towards the east that the Sun of Righteousness would shine into this man's heart and would open to him the Way of Life. "Take him, Lord, and be his Master. Help him to fight a good fight and be a faithful servant of Thine. Lord, grant to him a knowledge of sin forgiven, and of peace with the Great Father through Thee. Teach him to realise that Thou dost love him, and strengthen him when he is tempted to sin. In life, in death, 0 Lord, keep him pure and clean in Thy sight and be his stay. Amen! Amen!" Let God speak : "I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest to them that asked not after me."

Everywhere men are earnestly seeking after God, and, in their own fashion are seeking Christ on the battlefield and in the busy mart; but everywhere, too, there are temptations, idols, lusts, which war against the soul. If any reader of this message imagines that it is child's play to give these up and say, "I surrender all, then the reader is only a babe in knowledge—or want of knowledge rather — of at least two open books —man's corrupt and thrice deceitful heart, and the tearful records in God's Book. Suppose a case: A young Christian in his lodgings finds that he is to share a room with another fellow; he has courage to kneel quietly in prayer; his new-found friend creeps from his bed and prays also—both were Christians. Do you see my point? Every young Christian needs and longs for sympathy and encouragement, but doesn't always get it. Do you know the bearded man who sneers at the youth ? Is he a man ? Is he not a coward ? That poor specimen of manhood, and all scoffers, should read, mark, and inwardly digest the great words of Christ in Matthew xviii : "Whoso shall offend one of the?e little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Mercy, 0 Lord, mercy we ask: This is the total sum. For mercy, Load, is all our prayer, O let 'L'hy mercy come! I never did like the question of earlyyears : "Are you seeking Christ?" Or, "Have you found Christ?" The correct view, or the Scripture teaching, is that in all cases, without exception, Jesus Christ is the first to seek the wandering sheep. In most cases it would be honest to say : "For years and years the Good Shepherd has diligently sought me, and all these years I have refused to be found of Him." Let the truth be told, and put an end to all insincere whining. But none of the. ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed; Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed thro' Ere He found His sheep that was lest! To the inner court of heaven alone is this deepest mystery of mysteries known. No mortal man, no seraphic being, can ever fathom the depth of the grace that seeks and saves the lost. Purposely, I repeat and emphasise what are reckoned the chief points; and I do so because you, as an inquirer, need help, guidance, and comfort. In the matter of being' saved it is not so much a question of seeking, conviction, and struggling to do right, as it is a matter of trusting in, believing on, accepting Jesus Christ as the unspeakable gift of God, even although you may not fully understand at first all that is implied. We speak of faith, trust, believing accepting, receiving : what do we mean by these words ? Just this : the head, the heart, the will, the affections yielding to the Holy Spirit's strivings within, and saying quietly and with all deliberation : I will believe, I do believe That Jesus died for me; That on the Cross He shed His blood From, sin to set me free. The mere intellectual assent to the indisputable facts of Scripture—rviz. : Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose again—will never bring quiet peace to the soul any more than a ball can fill a triangle. Legal bondage never brings comfort, joy, or peace. One Sunday morning I heard C. H. Spurgeon preach on the words, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Multitudes believe about Christ, but neither salvation nor songs of gladness come to the soul until by grace we answer His. own invitation "Come unto Me" and say O Lamb of God. I come. Stupendous love of God most high, He conies to meet us from the sky , In mildest majesty. Full of unutterable grace . He calls the weary, burdened race — ' Corn© all for help to Me. Dpn't I beg of you, blame Scots for being proud of their illustrious countryman, Dr Thomas Chalmers, • Scotland's great theologian and philanthropist. In the language of the common people he could and" did set forth the way of salvation to timid seekers after the truth. We have from an eye witness the following picture : A low, dirty hovel, with damp uneven floor; a poor, old,- bed-ridden woman, and almost blind ; the great preacher explains God's way of salvation, but still the aged pilgrim hesitates. At length she declares': "Ah, sir, I would fain do as you bid me, but I dinna ken how. How can I trust in Christ ?" "Oh, woman," was his expressive answer in the dialect of the district, "just lippen tae Him." "Eh, sir," was the reply, "and is that a' ?" "Yes, yes," said God's servant; "just lippen to Him and Jean on Him, and you'll never perish." Who seeks first? Have I helped anyone ? Do you comprehend the main issue ? Jesus, my Lc-rd, I know His name, His name is all my. boast; Nor will ITe put my soul to shame, Nor let my hope be lost. If a friend, both rich and kind, said to you : "Here is a gift I have brought for you," what would you reply? Simply this: "Thank you." God asks no more when He offers you His Son. If you gladly and promptly assent and consent to be saved in God's way, on God's terms, and at God's time, NOW, peace will come without delay. Even if your faith be weak and your vision dim," as you accept the gift and receive the Saviour as Lord and Master who for loner, weary years has sought you almost with tears, light will come, joy will follow, and a great peace will, sooner or later, fill and flood the soul.