The Sabbath

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20917, 23 September 1939, Page 18 (Supplement)

The Sabbath

“I UNDERSTAND” (Ps. 50 : 15) Hast thou been hungry, child of Mine? I, too. have needed bread: For forty days I tasted naught Till by the angels fed. Hast thou been thirsty ? On the cross I suffered thirst for thee: I’vfi promised to supply thy need, My child, come unto Me. Perhaps thy way is weary oft. Thy feet grow tired and lame: I wearied when I reached the well, I suffered just the same; And when I bore the heavy cross I fainted ’neath the load; And so I’ve promised rest to all Who walk the weary road. Doth Satan sometimes buffet thee, And tempt thy soul to sin? Do faith and hope and love grow weak? Are doubts and fears within? Remember I was tempted thrice By this same foe of thine; 'But he could not resist the Word, Nor conquer pow'd divine. When thou* art sad and tears fall fast My heart goes out to thee, For I wept o’er Jerusalem— The place so dear to me; And when I came to Lazarus' tomb I wept—my heart was sore; I'll comfort thee when thou dost weep, Till sorrows all are o’er. Have courage then, my faithful one, I suffered all the way, Thy sensitive and loving heart I understand today: Whate’er thy grief, whate’er thy care, Just bring it unto me Yea, in thy day of trouble call, I will deliver thee. THE CHRISTIANS ASSURANCE ABS O LUTE CERTAINTY Readers of the New Testament cannot fail to be Impressed by the note of certainty which pervades every page of it. Though differing in style, - object and feeling, these books are all written by men who have no doubts about what they are writing. They neither indulge in speculation nor balance probabilities, and thus do not treat as open to question the message which they deliver. Every page which they write overflows with the Feeling of Certainty. Their characteristic phrase is not, ‘‘We think,” but, ‘‘We know.” ‘‘We know that the Son of God is come.” “We know that we have passed from death unto life.” Nowhere is this note of convection more clearly heard than in the reports which the Evangelists give of the words of their Master—the Christ. He Is never shown to men as One Who is expressing opinions; but He stands before men as the truth itself: “I am the Truth.” In Him there is no feeling after God, no reference to other authorities or earlier teachers—except, as in the Sermon on the Mount, to set them calmly aside in favour of His own ipse dixit—nor does He enter into arguments or advance theories, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” is a frequent introduction to His utterances. He speaks always as One Who knows with absolute certainty both what is in man and what is in God. Such thorough belief and confidence seem the more remarkable when they are contrasted with the prevailing lonp of much preceded or contemporary Greek and Roman literature, of which speculation, scepticism, and even despair are characteristics. The Roman world had few fixed beliefs* and in the midst of an unstable sea if thought the New Testament stands out like an immovable rock. The same contrast is observable when one turns to look at the present state of vacillation with regard to religious truth. On all sides one seems to hear the note of hesitation and questioning rather than that of the certitude displayed by the New Testament writers. For this marked difference between their state of mind and that of the modern world there Is at least one obvious reason. It is that we live today in a world, which, having become, intellectually and in every other way, infinitely more complicated through the advance made by scientific knowledge, confronts the seeker after xcli.qio.us truth with a vast array of facts with which the world of 2000 years ign was unacquainted, and by which, therefore, it Remained Undisturbed. A consequence of living in this altered and more complicated universe is that much more of the modern intellect has become engaged with the surface ol life, and much less of It with the roots of this life. Here would seem to be the cnief reason for the contrast which has been noted. The New Testament writers belonged to a race which, though by no means lacking in worldliness, had yet, for centuries, had its true self engaged in Ihe unseen world, and its soul absorbed in the deep things of God. In our modern world a large part even of the best thought of the best men is occupied, to a very great degree, with interests, which though perfectly good and wholesome, are not, in any "sense, spiritual interests, nor directly concerned with the great conflict between good and evil, temptation and grace. In a word, the vast area of new interests and studies has drained away a great deal of that mental life which, in earlier ages, was concentrated upon spiritual issues, and it has diverted it into channels which are purely secular. The law which decrees that diffusion must result in loss of depth has come into play; and, in proportion as men’s minds have become' absorbed in the temporal and surface problems of life, they have, of necessity, been withdrawn from the contemplation of its deeper, eternal issues. The almost inevitable result is a diminution of certainty concerning the Eternal Verities of the Unseen World. Yet no greater mistake could well be made than to suppose that the intellectual faculties are the sole avenue by which certainty can he reached, and to forget that there is an inner judgment of fhe true man which comes into play when lie finds himself facing the gravest spiritual issues, and especially those of right and wrong for his own will. Here, in the last resort, all uncertainty vanishes, and a man finds that he does, after all, know the meaning of certitude with regard to the spiritual world In the very sense in which it was realised by the New Testament writers—a certitude born, not of intellectual inquiry, but of inward personal experience.

Since our last notes, all special classes nave started and, according to reports, all meetings have been well attended to dale, nothing definite has been settled for a Fireman’s class, hut in all probability these classes will he held every Thursday night. In the meantime, all would-be firemen can carry on with their other jobs and watch this column Tor rurther details. Cheerio. " HAMUTANA.” THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor. COMING EVENTS St. George’s Troop birthday tonight at I ) m * in Toorak Ilall. Don't forget the tlmp! Church parade at St. George’s Church, Frankton. tomorrow, at 10.30 a.m. This service is a special one Tor Scouts and Guides only, and all troops are cordially invited to be present. Preacher, Rev. v. A. Bianchi. WORK OF THE WEEK JOTTINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES The cyclist section met on Saturday for their first parade. A full arternoon was spent, as we covered most of Frankton and also the area round the lake. On Tuesday night a very Tull programme tvas completed, when we split up into sections to learn traffic rules, mapping, and all about the “ innards ” of our bicycles. Next Tuesday will see us pulling our own cycles to pieces, while this Saturday we hope to learn all we can about the ins and outs or Hamilton East. Sunday saw about 17 or the ambulance section present at Seddon Park to take their part as 44 casualties ” ror the St. John Ambulance Brigade, at tbc 44 aii‘raid ” staged to show how they would act in such an emergency. This went off very well, and we all gained quite a lot of useful tips on ambulance work ODDS AND END 6 This Is Just to remind all Scouts who are not in any of the special emergency classes that a special meeting is held for them every Friday night at First Frankton Hall, commencing at 7.0 p.m. Scoutmaster in charge Is Mr C. Andrews. This is to enable all those Tenderfoot Scouts who want to push on with Second Class work to carry on as usual. Don’t forget the night! HAHftUTANA CREW It’s quite a time since we have been in print, but that does not indicate that we have simply faded out or existence. Last week-end, Cutli and Gus went to the Chateau and had the time of their lives. Cutli vows, however, that he’ll never trust a toboggan again. Gus, or course, was in ills element, and from all accounts he’s going to be the crack skier of the crew. We are looking rorward to entertaining some of our C.M. and S.M. mends from Auckland on Sunday, October i, and hope we can make their day enjoyable. Well, choerio till next week. Scribe TROOP NOTEB ST. GEORGE’S Well, tonight’s the night for our longawaited birthday and we’re hoping to make it the best in our history. Tonight marks nine years or our history and we hope we will be able to go on from strength to strength, in spite of the difficulties and troubles of today. Tomorrow we are holding a Scouts’ Own church parade at St. George’s, and wo are hoping to see a large number or our brother Scouts rrom other troops. Good Scouting. Scribe SOUTHERN CROSS As we are unable to hold our usual weekly meetings, owing to the special parades, we have not very much to reOur S.M. has worked out a new alarm system, by which we should be able to get the troop out In 12 to 15 minutes. The following boys have passed Proficiency Badges in the past three months: Fireman’s.—G. Blunt. K. Elliott, H. Ilemsly, J. Ziman. J. Ofsoski, L. Allan, S. Morrison, M. Lymburn, C. Yonston. Starman.— J. Ziman. World Friendship.—C. Yonston, K. Elliott. Debater’s.—J. Page, K. Elliott. Cyclist.—G. Blunt, K. Elliott, K. Hemsly, J. Clark, J. Ziman, J. Page, J. orsoski, M. Lymburn, L. Allan. I. Taylor, S. Morrison, R. Smith. Bcribe HARAPEPE TROOP Our last two meetings have been well attended and a good deal of userul work has been done. Good progress has been made ' with knots for Pioneer’s Badge. An observation pructice recently showed us how little we really see. After reading the Chief’s yarn on observation in Scouting Tor Boys, we tried our hand at describing a missing boy, with fairly accurate results. Several alterations to the Patrol-Lead-er’s uniform were harder to spot, and later, small changes in various Scouts’ dress proved really difficult. A trail, during the course or which several Scouts disappeared, convinced us that we really don’t observe at all. Opinions differed considerably as to where the missing boys had last been seen. At our last meeting, we decided to divide into two patrols. The Court or Honour has appointed Patrol Second R. Fullerton to lead the new patrol, and Scouts T. Currie and J. McPherson to be patrol seconds. These Scouts will be invested in ther new post tlon sat a campfire tonight. The first inter-patrol competition was a tracking contest, In the course of which treasure in the shape or flour, baking powder, etc., was found. At the end, we had to bake dampers, which was voted excellent. We are hoping it will be possible to bold a troop camp in the Christmas holidays, now that the Jamboree Is cancelled. Bcrib*