SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 119, 27 August 1910, Page 10

SUNDAY READING.

" THE TWO MYSTER IES." "The Mystery of iniquity.''— 11. Thus. IV' 7 ' .'i" 11 ' 0 " NI * VSUn ' V of'C'lirist.' Col. (By the Rev. John Laird). These two mysteries are incomprehensiblc. Who -by searching can find out al] the}' mean and contain? We are conscious of their existence and influence in the world. They are the greatest forces at work to-day. They affect mankind more than all other tilings put together—the one ior "good, the other evil. ■Sin blights and curses its slave and turns Eden into a wilderness. This thing we call sin came as an intruder, into Sod's world and though its effect has only been evil and that continually it is allowed to remain here, as we look backwards into the ages that are gone we see its influence; as wo look within us. as we read the newspaper, we are compelled to say, "The mystery of iniquity." We also are aware of another and mightier force—yea, the greatest thing operating among men and conquering the power of sin, and turning many to righteousness, it is unseen; it is beyond knowledge; it is "The mystery of Christ." Let us think of these two invincible, mysterious powers that move us so mightily, that shape our characters, that decide our eternal destiny. !

THE ENTRANCE OF SIN into the 'world is not the most mysterious thing about it. A burnt child ilreads the fire that inflicted pain and sorrow. Sin burns, yet men go and trespass again. We might be able to fake up something like an excuse to-day. We know something of its consequences both toy observation and also by experience which were unknown in sinless Eden. They might plead ignorance; we cannot —we sin with our eyes open and with the knowledge of good and evil. .We know that all sin brings punishment. The Latin poet who never saw a Bible wrote: "Punishment dogs the heels of crime"; "Nature never forgives and never j forgets." Every hospital bears witness to the awful face that "as we sow so shall we also reap." Thougih this fact is written large tooth in Nature and Revelation, sin is not only tolerated tout practised. A few years ago a man who lived in Atlilone got drunk and in trying to make his way home fell and lay asleep on the railroad. The midnight mail passed by and cut off his thumb, which happened to be on the rail. He woke up from his drunken stupor to find out his i loss and escape from death. This man went home, signed the pledge and never touched drink afterwards ? No; he did < aot. He ought to have done so, but a few weeks later he got drunk again, tried j to go home the same way as before, i fell on the railway line, the midnight mail came along again, and this time to

CRUSH ELM TO PULP. Oh! "the mystery of sin." It brings sorrow and punishment here and will ibring punishment in the eternal world and yet men sin. It is an unfathomable mystery. Again, there is nothing so unreasonable and absurd as sin. It cannot justify itself in any court. If we sin we shall lose in the end. There may be pleasure, but it will only be for a season. The,unjust man and the thief carry a conscience that no man envies. iSan "is lawlessness. If the laws of God were bad or cruel then there would be an excuse for sinning. But they are good, just and holy. Who would propose to remove one of the commandments from the Decalogue, giving it as a,reason that it would be ibetter for us if this command did not exist ? God sees and 'knows all things; even the things we do in secret we cannot escape His searching glance, and He says, "Sin shall not go unpunished. Be sure your sin will find you out." And yet in the light of these fa-ets sin is indulged in. Sin is a mystery indeed! ISin is such an ungrateful thing. ISin, said Dr. Parker, "is giving God a slap on the face." If sin were something done to injure the devil we could understand it. But it is against Him Whose name is love and His every act pure grace. When we look at sin in this light \tfe say with the apostle, "The mystery of sin." Another thing about sin is its great power. Once let an individual give way to wronghdoing; and sin will twine itself around like a sna'ke and weaken his powers and lead him captive. We know men who lhate certain definite forms of sin, and yet when tempted to do these very things we are unable to resist and fall 'before the temptation and do the thing they would not. It blinds the reason. Israel doth not know; people I do not consider.

God is great. He is omniscient. If we sin we cannot escape His eye and justice. God is good. He seeks to make us free. Yet such is the power of sin, that men shut their eves' to the fact of His omniscience and refuse His love, pardon and righteousness. Eternity stares them in the face and yet they live and act as if there were

(NO GOD AM) 'NO HEREAFTER. The world's Redeemer is also full of mystery; His name is "Wonderful." When we know Him, study His life work and character, we say with Paul, "The mystery of Christ." Christ came to deal with sin. "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. That is an unparalleled claim. None ever made it before He came and none have made it | •ince. There" have been reformers and, advocates of righteousness who have | addressed themselves to certain forms of evil and tried to abolish them, but to put away "sin" no man has ever laid claim to. They have not had either the spiritI ual, mental or moral powers to do so. It has been too much for organisations of men to deal with any form of evil, but Christ can and' does save from all sin. The attention of the whole universe ought to be arrested and attracted by such a claim as that which Christ makes. He must be mysterious —wonderful—who makes and sustains such a claim. "Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached into the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." He did create wonder and mystery when on earth. Men "marvelled" and said "we never saw it in this fashion." The method of putting away sin ibv Christ was to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks it was foolishness, for it was by the sacrifice of Himself. He says to us individually, "Trust Me, come to Me; the merits of My sacrifice can put away all thy sin." He commissions His people to proclaim "Be it known unto you men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin." "Be-lieve-on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou slialt- be saved." When we have heard that proclamation and trusted Him and that salvation from sins becomes ours, He again says, "Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but 'under grace." Men marvelled | at His works still, for it is so in experience that Christ saves from sin and its ' power. Great is "the mystery of Christ."