THE SECRET OF ENDURING STRENGTH.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XII, 21 March 1896, Page 332

THE SECRET OF ENDURING STRENGTH.

By the Lord Bishop of Hereford. I have written unto you. younß men. because ye are strora. an*l the Word of God abideth in you. —1 Sl John ii. 14. The moec obvioae, the moet distinctive, the meet striking of all the qualities of the Lord Himself, when on earth, was Hi? separateness of character. VV hen we read the Gospel record we feel that there was nothing which so profoundly impressed all who came near Him : whether they were dis ci pies drawn to Him oy love, or Scribe* and Pharisees repelled by hate and fear, they could not but fee- His separateness, His independence. His first power among men was this f>ower of the separate life, combined, as it was, in awe inspiring union with the spirit of sympathy and selfsacrifice. Con?equently the first word which this life of the incarnate Son seems to have to say to those of us who, by our upbringing or otherwise, are steeped in the world’s influences or enfeebled by them in character or tone, is none other than the old prophetic declaration : • Come out and be ye separate, and I will cause you to walk in a straight way, and ye shall not stumble therein, and ye shall be My eons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ In Christ there was sympathy, but no subservience to the conventional, no spirit of conformity, but the presence among men of a soul that dwelt apart, in communion with the Father, and He is our example. So He spake as one having authority and not as the Scribes ; so He inspired men with awe ; so He taught us the everlasting, unchanging, -trength giving lesson that we do not win the world by endeavouring to be like it, but by the power of a separate and independent life, with the Word of God abiding in it.

Every generation has to meet its own danger?. We breathe air laden with the influences of wealth and luxury, and troubled by the spirit of unrest. We are subject to many fascinating attractions of the external materialistic life, which looms so large (hat we can see almost nothing beyond it, and thus the old battle between flesh and spirit has to be fought out under conditions. We are exposed by our circumstances to an insidious so vent of spiritual power — a solvent that infects our nature and tend? to unfit us for the life of spiritual sacrifice and seif denial. How, then, are you to avoid or to lessen the risEs? It will help you if in your youth you bear in min i how largely a man’s ruling purpose determines not only the character of his life but even the character of his trials and temptation? Again and again we have seen how marvellously men are uplifted and changed ; how they are strengthened and illumined so as to grow into new men by their aelfdedicition to some good purpose in life, as by the right choice of profession, or by the consciousness of some call, or by the responsibilities of some office. So the spirit works in us for our salvation.

Some men of great promise have seemed to drift ineffective: the promise of their youth has come to nothing, because they have gone forth lacking the dynamic force of an uplifting purpose, and had no abiding strength in them. And some have fared even worse—following some low or mean conception of life, they have sunk to the level of it. But some, on the other band, starting apparently with no better endowment have risen and expanded as on the wingsofa new spirit; and these are they w ho, seeing the vision of seme high purpose, never cease to grow in strength as they follow it upwards. While the others drift or stumble in the crowd and are powerless to cast out any e*il spirits that rule there. rhc?e climb the Mount of Transfiguration and become new men in Christ May you young men, who read, be such as these in your journey through life. We pray that you may be strong with this kind of spiritual strength, strong in moral courage, strong in freedom from materialistic influence, strong in that separate lite of prayer and thought in which men dwell with Christ, and walk in His footsteps, and feel His power, so a? to face their tempta lion, and pass through their hours of weakness or gloom in the spirit of the ancient psalmists and prophets. • The Lord is my light and my salvation : whom then shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life : of whom then shall I be afraid?’ *They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength : they shall mount up with wings a? eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not faint.’