SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 109, 28 October 1911, Page 9

SUNDAY READING.

I A iU'.N WAV SL.VYK. KMr.H-i »f i /i'l,i ■l!< 11 !iv the Uev. ! I i'Xt, "I ' 1 i i ; lire i'm!' iny <iii] < Ml'" :mll ~ : i:i 11 i hive beguM-ii in my bond-: \Vllit-l> i" ! JW-.1 W:l- in (lice i unprofitable. ;:niv profitable to tin's l i'.ml : 10. 'l'iii' -lory 1.1 ! :ip-iiipiis. i'if runaway ; sinVl l . is ionsi .. -I iiia:. m.t only to tin' ( hri-l i in. Un mi i iir si iii.-i.iaii, (lie ]ilii|:inilii'ii])i-i. :• ».| i) all wlm -eel; to iii'in ilii'ir i". •>: a. Tliis wonderful ] iitlii- !i-i 1 iiiii- Hi I'll' mn-t beautiful p, ic, ■i■ - iif ]i[i i ;i: u. i;i ! in* world. It is so ' per; i-ily mi; n .C. ami »<-iiniui'. in -pecial i ph tiding is ,la:;,' v, i-h S'.U'll dignity. ' i liri.-t ia !i i"11111 linc-s. that oni' almost J feels lii'iii'atii 11; i■ words tin' tender throbi liin-j hi til" w riii hi-art. | "Tli" .'iii -in i- |lull called it into j being are <a- i: eiulevstood." says a | writer in tile ( "ill nry Bible. It reveals jto us ehanning interior of a .Christian ; home in Colo.--?-. Philemon, the master j of ilv house. was obviou-dv it mail in ea-iv cireiun-Linces. for he owned slaves, i and could oii'er a suitable meet ill" place? [ fur t-he Christian community under his I i'iwif. 'rile awakening of hi- spiritual life ! he I to tin' Apostle Paul's ministry, most probably during the time of the | Apo-tle's residence at Kphesus. He was ! a (.'"Herons.hearleii mail, and his wife, Applii.a, shai'eil }>ii- husband's Christian I a-piraiior.-. an 1 willingly seconded liim ! m his efforts to further the interests of ! liie i-!inr;-h. Among the household seri vanl- of I'iiilernon was a slave named | Onesimus (whii'li means profitable), anM : it is apparent i'iiilernon put great con- : Ihleiicc in him. One day, however, yield- : iii-r to a sudden impulse, or temptation, I Onesimus roblii'd 1 lis master, and abI -eonded to Piume. To-day, runaway thief i boards a train, or a steamer, and leaves i fur Australia, England or America, seeking to hide in one of the great centres 1 of population, where lie is unknown, and where consequently there will be less chance of di-'cnvery and punishment. Hut in Paul's day T!ome was the absconder's : rendezvous, ilie centre towards which i felons hurried. Ilie asylum for defaulters; ' and this helped. !o make Rome the sink :"f tin- eivili-ift world. At. this line- anolher man was on his v r i.-i '.lie Ja-ni-na] ,-ity. Hut how diff rciil the meii, how different their cir- ■ - -inii! The other was file Apo-tle I'anl. a prisoner for Christ, going lo lie ' i'i;'d at Caesars judgment 'I lies,- i <vo iJien eventually met. I!l I ••.!>•'.!•!• I':' I''- JiVi'.U'ltillS. til' 1 absconding -lavi was converted to Jesus •' f'lni-t. Tii-'a Piiul writes tlii's letter to Piiil'-i'iiai. l«»»'i|ijf him to forgive Onesimus. asking bi'n to receive liim lurk in his hou'cbold. reinstate him in his posi-ii-ai. n-'t - a siave. but as a brothel' beloved. Among the many h--son- of (hi- ' !■'- • ' 1 '!'- "'.I 111 ! j V-. L - : *!''li-' p!j.,w>it:ii.:TV OK ]■>'' AI'IXG ; KKOM COD. It would a,.pr:ir I hill Oi):>>ii!)iH. like ; Oia !'n/i-j|i!. had ul or wa-ted liis tl'g.-'ten T 1 ai:i -. and. one nighl ill at c.is". v illi ;| gilii'y conscience. lie looked I in at a preaching .-ervice to hear the , .1 wi-li pr>-oner proclaim ihe iinsenrch- : able ri.-!ii-s Christ. As the ihief li-feil-eil. the Word arrested him. lie could not get away, he remained to talk with tin- preacher, and. 10, this poor ab-S-,-.Cider. o:,c of ill,. Ilutsam of the city iiic. -.iii- conv-r«"il to Cod. - That i iln-.-e wan jnv in t!lo ])reHenee of the j aii'j- 1- of Cod. for a sinner hfrfl been 1 saved, a i>rod!'.r.ll had rdurned. a rebel ' had -iiii-'-udereil. The eye uf the Lord | was on i lie •.vaiideriif/ -hep. R V i-n when i One-inn;- thought himself most con- ' ceaied. he was most observed. Fleeing j from au earthly nia-ter he ran into the | arms of the heavenly. I Little |do we know the issues to which j our steps are leading, or the strange | turning- that will -urprise us in the path ,of life. Out of our very sins and follies j it pleases (iod at times to unfold the I opportunities of grace. Sometimes men refuse this grace, they shake ofl' the | hand of Cod that is gently laid upon I their life. Tint not so with Ouesimus. j Perhaps lie had been long enough at the black heart of the iniquitous city, and i had tasted of its wretchedness anjd I horror. His soul jn-w lean on the ! husks of the world, and so when tiro chance of a better and purer life was presented to him he did not refuse it. Tliis story has repiated it-elf often. .Men. when they least expected it. have been confronted with fioid. Thousands have absconded, they have sinned against »elf and loved ones, and Ood. and turned their steps, to pleasure, wordliness, and the intoxicating cup. Rut Oo<l follows hard after the absconder, and though the sinner may escape man, get away from the Church, the Bible, the preacher, he cannot possibly get away from God! At unexpected times, in unexpected places, he is brought face to face with the Eternal. Go hack to the. beginning of this book. Adam sinned against (lod. hid himself among the trees of the garden. But the wail oi a -orrownil (iod aft.iT a wavward mini was heard in the cool of the evening iii Hdeu a-king. "Adam, where art thou.'" Lot pitched his tent towards S'.diim. got into Sodom, but Cod met him in the heart of that doomed city ] and hvl him -alely mil. One snowv Snnj day morning a. young man entered a [ Utile Primitive Methodist Church in I Kngiand -eeking lor shelter from the ! sllll w -torn), [lie congregation was small I and ill.-- i'.'ini-t r whs unable to keep his I appointment. Itnberr Kgbui, a local I preacher, conducted the .ervice. [lis I test. wa-:. "Look until Me. and he ye ' -aved. S eing the voung stranger in | the back -eat of the church, the prcachei i cried. "Soiing man. hiok. look to Jesus." | He did look, and that morning a soul was was born anew. That young man was

I C. H. SPURGIOOX. who became the prince (l { preachers in knuland. Dei I a<ldn>s- an OuesiniHs ioVon ii!;iv uoi have nibbed your master. you .uc not a fugitive from jn~l_icc. inil if \>>n are unconverted you ro!> '■Oil. II,;- ha- lollovvcd yon into til is .HIT vi-.-e fo Mini your feet into the wav <>t 1 hei e ;i]"i l some (liin«r.s \ou have ll "»" }on imagine |lt , rso!l knows, I,ui I tell yon there is One who knows, .-.ml tlial One is Vim cannot. avoid. Till' next fliinir wo note iYoiii tlii- rjii sll" is Til 10 IMIWKI! 01' oiliMSTl.Wrrv To HI!KAK DOWN" SOCIAL Ii.AUb'IKRS. < 'hristianity i- the ; ,rc:at leveller ol lite liuniaii race. When w'e desire (o -cpaiate m.( n into elas<e* we draw horizontal lines and say, "lower class." "niiddle class." "upper class." Christ made no Mich di-tim-tion. He never drew horizontal lines. ||e drew a vertical line and .separated men into "saved and iiiwavty." '-wheat and (dinlV," "sheep and ,lt<mts." His separation was not according to social distinction. Tt was relationship to God. When Paul sent Onivsinms, the slave, buck to Philemon, it was that he might, be received as a brother beloved, as a member of the household of faith, not as a slave. Paul's heart went out to this Colossian serf No conventional barriers warped his judgment. so lie desired Philemon to exhibit the same love.

In Christ -lesiis al! *n.-ia! birri'".'- break down. In liim there is neither barbarian, scythian, bominc'ii. no- V. urm. The black man and the wait ;":-u ~.i;ay ennip to the same throne, and -ay "Our Father which art in Heaven." The .-jury is iohl of a well-known duke in l-.'ngland who went to lak" Coinimuiio:-'. 'er, was crowded out of a nla.ee at the ( 'mM11,;111i<111 rail by a poor farmer. The mlai-ier asked the farmer to give ola--- to Ihe irebleman. Bill ihe duke <aid. "Ao. we are .ill one, here."' Yes. ( livMianity breaks down social barriers. We have Ilea rid a great, deal about a "While Australia'': an a l tempt to clo-e the door against all whose skin was not white. T am convinced that the "While Australia" and the "White Xew Zealand" God desires to see. and that Ohristianit) is destined to establish, is one where whiteness of the -kin counts for nothing, hut whiteness of Ihe heart, purity of life and nobility ot' eha racier. "Cod lfalh made of one liim*! all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." Tic is no respccley -of persons, hut ill evrrv nation he that fearelh liim and worketh righti oiisness is accepted unto Him. The third lesson T gather from this letter is that

('lli:lsTlA.\Tl'Y IS DI.MFTKICALLY OPPOSED TO SOCIAL EVILS.

In Paul's dav sin vi ry .was the worst oi all the -oci"! evils. Prisoa-'i-s of war' were always treated as slaves, and to capture uml mas-acre ilie-e unfortunate people was an almost daily occurrence. This letter to Philemon is of unique value because it is the first forecast of that noble. Christian literalnre of emancipation which has seen its latest and .fairest fruits within our own time. Christianity did not violently uproot, the social evils amid which it sprang up, but permitted its own new life to permeate the surorundirigs, till it not only ousted the evil. dint, supplanted it by the good. This little letter is the oldest piece of anti slavetrv literature in the world, ft is the first note in that noble music that has found place in its orchestra for the strains of Lincoln, Lowell and Harriet Beechcv Stowe.-- Onder its inspiration Granville Miarp and William Lloyd Garrison beiiainc -aboli tipnisls. This epistle began the vvnrk of righting one of the most, awful wrongs man can inliin. upon bis brother. Surely therefore it reflects the pure radiance of the cross, and the spirit of disus Christ, "lieceivc him not now-as a-.slave, but above a -lave, a brother beloved." Sii Chri-tiaiiity has ever -tooil opposed to Micial cvik To-day. as ever, it sets its lace against, the liquor iraii'ie. Like slaviTv in Paul's day this tratfie hampers and handicaps the work of the church. It, is a menace to the moral and spiritual interest- of the community. It is a foul slain on the body politic. Christianity ri cognises the fact and oppose,-; it, and seek.- its destruction root and branch. The same may be said of other -ocial evils, such as gambling, the opium IraH'ic. social impurity. In Christin nit v Cod is marching on lo the con-ipi.-'-i of ih? world, helping men io realise thai broth rhood recommended by Paul in this epistle. Then

Ivicli man's good shall be each man's rule. And uuivei'-a! nea.-e lie like a ;ia f( of light Across the world We see in thi- epistle also TilK POWEIi OF C.'IIPvTSTfANITY TO TRANSFORM A MAN. Much has been written of chemical discoveries and mechanical inventions which have turned to profit what previously lias been only so much waste and ref'isi. l-'.vervwhere do we behold the conversion of things worse than useless into articles of beauty and profit. Go into ;i paper mill, and at one end of the building you will see heaps of dirty ra.gs. But those rags are put through a process. «o that at the other side of the mill you will see them converted into beautiful, spotless paper. If we rejoice over this wonderful transforming work of machinery and science, how much should we. lie thankful for any power which, will take the waste and residue of human life and mould it into honest forms? We surely hail that as the greatest benefactor of mankind which wilj take the drunkard and make him temperate, the thief and make him honest, the impure and make him chaste. This story of Onesimus, the runaway slave, is an illustration of this transforming energy. He robbed his master, absconded to Rome, heard Paul preach, received the gospel message, and he returned to his master to make restitution, plead forgiveness, and commence a new life—the Tife of Christian service. Tradition tells us Onesimus became a minister of the church at Ephcsus, and that he sealed his testimony with his own lift's blood. He joined the glorious army of martyrs for his Lord, and among the lierijes of faith the name of the runaway slave appears in the Lamb's Book of Life and high on the muster roll of God's worthies. Wonderful power of Christianity. "Tf any man he in Christ .Tesns lie is a new creation. Old things are passed away and behold all things are become new." This slave which in time past was unprofitable, became profitable to God. the church'and to his fellows.

Tn the book by Harold Bcgbie. entitled BROKEN EARTH K X WARE. we have main- illustrations of the transforming power of Christ-iunitv. In the characters of "The Puncher."' "Old Born Drunk." "The Copper Rasher," and others we see the flotsam and jetsam of the city life converted into God-loving and man-loving members of societv. and saviours of their fellows. Do I address an Onesimus to-night? You may come back from Ihe tar off country, back home, and be reinstated in the Father's family circle. "Let (he wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, a ill lei him return unto the Lord: lie will have merev. ami lo our Go-f | or He will abundantly pinion."