THE QUIET HOUR

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 23, 25 May 1929, Page 3

THE QUIET HOUR

SUNDAY READING. : " V „ ' '(By ENSIGN, ROBT. TPROUSE, S.A.) TheVEpistle 'of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesipns, Chap. 2. i" ' fV: ' There are many things in Paul’s life we admire, but most of all his love for Christ. In the first chapter the namt of Christ is mentioned no less- >tha& -.ten, times,. Cut out - •; li the name?.'of Jesus and His titles, and the L pronouns referring to Him, and you -would .so mutilate every chau*a‘ and nearly every verse in as to make it almost unintelligible. Christ vJas his meat and Christ was his drink. He lived by 'Christ. He lived for Christ., He' lived in - Christ and Christ lived in him.' He says: “I am crucified With-- Christ;' nevertheless, I live; yet not; .hut Christ liveth in me; and the lifd which I now live in the flesh I live hy the faith of the Son of'God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” And agaih he writes :> “For me to live is Christ” ’ How heartily would Paul sing that beautiful hymn:. rMy heart is fixed, Eeternal God, "Fixed on Three ; ** And my-eternal choice is made, Christ for me! He is my Prophet,. Priest and King

Who died for me Salvation bring, And while I’ve breath I mean to sing— Christ for me! a The heart of Paul was in heaven, his affections were there, but his feet resolutely trod the rough roads of earth, and his hands grappled with its rough work, while his head planned campaigns and conquests' of its enthroned evils and cruelties, and the healing of its foul diseases and festering sores. But ,in all his travels he* had one thought—to carry Christ to the people sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death; and in all his labours be had one purpose—to make Christ manifest. He knew Jesus, and he knew that only Jesus could dispel the darkness in which the people sat, and remove their fear of death, by bringing them the life that is eternal. He knew that Jesus is the Friend and Brother of the toiler, and that He can make all labour sweet. He knew that only Christ can overthrow entrenched evils, and heal the deadly disease of sin hy enthroning His Spirit in the hearts of men. Let us learn some of the evidences of life eternal in Paul, and so possibly learn how more accurately to gauge our own spiritual life and how to nourish it Paul hungered and .thirsted after God. When we cease to hunger and thirst, we are either sick or dead. Paul’s hunger and thirst for God

was insatiable.. With the psalmist he could have, said: “As the •pEffßStsKsyfter the water-brooks, so soul after Thee, 0, God.” He wasittways reaching ouTafter counting the dearest tilings well 9 lost, that he might know Christ and win Him. Like a strong, determined runner, he pressed “toward the mark for the prize of the High .calling of, God in Christ.” Mot only was Paul’s spiritual appetite keen, but all his spiritual senses were alive and wideawake. It was the divine message he heard and obeyed, that made Catherine Booth, the Mother of the Salvation Army. It was the spiritual vision (he, saw and followed Hi at made William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. It was the words sounding in the depths of his soul: “The just shall live hy faith,” that liberated Martin Luther. It was the voices of the Lord in his own heart that sent Livingstone to

darkest Africa... Paul’s spiritual eyes wcrpXopen, his ears wore awajjerfecl. He heard the voice of >tiie Lord speaking to him when lie was on his way to Damascus and that memorial meeting with the Lord, changed his whole outlook in life, not for worse but for better. Paul overcame the infirmities of the flesh, he pressed on with the grand and glorious work of preaching the Gospel. His preaching brought life into dead souls. All kinds of people were converted as a result of Paul’s faithful preaching. His life was constantly endangered, but he still showed a Christ!ike attitude to his enemies. He gloried in tribulation, he said: “For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Christch Jesus might show forth all long sufferings for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in Him to life everlasitng. He said: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I

I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The secret of Paul’s success was: He ’ lived by Christ, he lived for Christ, he lived in Christ, and Christ lived in him. We can share the life that was his and exert some of the heavenly influence, if we are not dead while having a name to live.