THE DAY OF REST. Christ Seeking and Saving.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 342, 13 February 1889, Page 5

THE DAY OF REST. Christ Seeking and Saving.

'' For Oic Son of Man is conic Lo seek and save that v. Inch w as loot."— Luici: xiv. 10. To me this is one of the sweetest verses in the whole Woid of (Jod. In this short sentence Ulnist tells us His mission to this woild — what He came for— not to condemn the world ; but that the world, thiough Him, might be saved : for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Jf any man in thi-> assembly is finally lost, it will bo no one's fault but his own, and because he will not accept of salvation j as a r/i/f from God It -n ill not be that (Jod did not send Chiist to save him- for Christ /ins 1 come to seek and to save that which was lost. — -Some yeais ago Tin: it.mci: oi w \lls \vio«t to amlkiu\. The whole country was excited to know what ho had come for. Ifad he come to eNiitnino iulotho principle.:, of republican government? had he come to look into institutions? had he coma to sec the countiy MmpU V — wliat hci'i he come foi ? A number of [ico|ile look it up, and discussed it ; but no on > iountl ouL what had biought lam. He came, and he wciitawaj without 4-t q.: 11 1 n^ u.^ the object of his coming. iiUT V.llti.N Till. I'RINUi; OF UI.WI'Y CAMI.< lie did n t leave us in d'likne-s as to what Ho had come tor ; but told us t'.at He was come to teek and to s \e that which was 10-t. And He ha-, the po>vi to save Mimer^. Many of you can testify to H s powci. There are many wit'ie^so^ that can testify to the fact that Christ is able to to the uttermost. The glory of the Gospel i=, that it tells ot aS.xviourwho came to ba\e fiom sin ; and who, when you are sa\ecl from sin, has the rowr.it to ki:li> moM all six. and deliver you from the dominion of the do\il. Now, when I come to a text like thi->, I like to take it up and look all round it In the eighteenth chapter of Luke, we rind I coming near the old lo\\n of Jericho a poor blind beggar. 1 can imagine that, a, few days previously a man fiom Jerusalem aa.v this beggar ; and that, as I c \ub entciing the city, the bougar asked him forassistance. Nay, bays the man, I ha\e no money, no siherfor you: bub I tell w hat — theie is a piophet in Isiael that can cure yon. No, says the beggar : these is no prophet that can cure in ; I was born blind. But, leulics the nun, I tell you that ///?■? prophet %•> able to give you .sL;ht\ I came from Jeiusalem , 1, too, was born blind ; but Jesus of Na/aieth ga\ c mo my sight. How \cry singular! says the beggar" of Jeiicho ! how veiy singular ! 1 ne\cr hcaul of such a thing bcfoic : how did he do it? — Why, bespat on the giound, and made nn ointment of the clay, and put il on my eyes. What,, says the other, nn put cr, \y ox your kyls i Well, after ho had put the clay on my eyes, he told mo to go to a pool and wash. — I should like to have met Him myself ! says the poor bctrgar of Jciicbo. Well, says the other one, I was told on leaving Jerusalem, that lie was coming down thia way in a few days. Now, you just get" your case before him : you need no influence, theie is no deputation nece?.saiy, you do nob want anybody with a high-sounding title to plead your cause befpio Him — that ib nob the way to do it— you "must just go and tell Him what you want. I can imagine that, one day, after this poor blind 'man had becn'taken out by his little child, or his faithful clog — 1 can imagine that, as he was sitting by the wayside, he hoars footsteps ; the footsteps of an approaching multitude. Ho inquiics of one who happens to be passing near vJiafc it is Oh, they say, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by this way. Oh ! says he, that's the man that gives sight to the blind, that's the man for me ! And he lifts up his voice, and SHOUTS AS LOUD A.S JUS CAN— Thou Son of David ! have mercy on me. He goes right to the point : and I hope many here to-day will do exactly the Fame as he did, and cry from the depths of their heart, and ask for. just what they want, crying ' Oh, Son of David, have mercy on me ! ' Ah ! friends, .no sooner had the prayer this poor/ miserable blind beggar utteied fallen upon the ears of the Son ot God, then came the answer. For Ho Fays to His- followers, Go and bring him. And when th'oy had brought him, and as they were bunging him, they said, BIS OV COOT) CIIKER, THIS MASTER CALLETII* TIIKB. j Ah ! lie. never called unless He had somej thing good in store. Yes ; and. Ho has

somobhing good in store for you, too, if you will only ask Him for ib ; something worth moro than kingdoms, and crowns, and dominions. And when they had brought him, He said, what, what can I do for you ? And tho blind man said : Woll — that I may receive my sight ! Ho had only bo ask and he had it. I want you to look at that) sceno. And romember that tho first object that mot his gaze was the Son of God Himself. Ah, I see him theie, and no one sings louder now than he. I can hear him calling at the top of hia voice — Mosanna ! hopanna ! hosanna to tho Son of David ! Tlion he goos sweeping into the city of Jericho. Ho reaches his home and there ho sees his wife. He had never seen her before. And then — HE MUST SEE HIS MOTHER ; ho had never looked on his mother— on her 1 who had given him birth. And then, ns ho hastes along, ho meets the chief publican of the city of Jericho. Ho passes along. Tho publican looks at him- Why, I know that man— and ho turns round, and calls out — B.u'timcus, Bartimeus, is that yon ? That's mo, says Bartimeu". Why, I thought so, sajs the publican ; but wherever did yon get thosoojes? Ha, pays Bartimeus, I have I'ust mot Jesus of Nazareth. Iwas sitting by the wayside, and when lie was passing by I called out as loud as I could for Him ho ha\e mercy upon me ; and what do you think ? — He gave mo my sight ! Is He lieie in Jericho? Well, -ays Bartimeus, Ho is now on Hip woy to Jerusalem. ZACCH.LI'S SAYS, I .MUST HAVE A LOOK AT HIM. I will try and ha\c an iutenicw with Him, if 1 Can ; but at all events, I will manage to oeo Him. And down goes Zacchanisinto the ot icot ; and in tho stieot lie sees a gicit croud assembled. He could not get near Him. Tho *\ hole town was attir. Well, he goe? up the highway. He was determined that, come w hit would, he would ha\e at lca s ti ono look at Thin. So he goes along the highway, and comes to a sycamore tioc ; and this s\camoie tree has a branch that come out over ihe road, and Zacch.vus get up into (his branch of the sycamore tree ; and now he is light. //> cannot get by now without his seeing Him. Hidden among the leaves, ho sees the crowd bursting out of the gates of the city. On and on they come. At last they bogin to pass nnrlci ncath the sycamoio tree. Tie scans closely each as they pass by. He looks at one — (hat am t Him. He bj'-and-by sees Peter — that ain't Him, But picsently, after scanning closely those who had aheady passed, Zaechauis says — Ah, tlini\ Him ! THVT IS THE I OHM OF THE MiN OF HAN I And he goes fuither away among tho leaves to hide himself. You know, lich men do not like to be seen among such a crowd. And the JSlastei comes by. Ah, lie, came to seek and to save that w hich is lost ; and He oamu to seek that one who was hidden in that tree. Ye?, HE OFTEN FIMJ.S THOSE HE SKEICS IX STRANGE I'LVCKS. And ho calls out, Zacchrcus, make haste and come down. And Zicch.vus mad 6 liable to come down, and rccehed Him joyfully. Now, some people do not believe in sudden convciMon ; butlsay thatZaccha-us was conveitcd there and then; and if there and then, it must have been soinewheic between the bianch of the i-ycamorc tiec and tho giound. He was coin ci led as he was getting down ; bub, when ( hiist went into his house, the righteous Phan'secs weie at their old game of finding fault, and complained that He Ind gone to be a guest with a publican. That was the only fault they could find with Him — that he was a fitend of publicans and &innci s, and that Ho teccived binner-i and cat with them ' But, thank God, ib is I lie gloiy ot the Gospel ot the Son of the Ron oi Cod that He rcceivcth and eatcbh w ith sinners/ And Ho who did not come to condemn Zacelwus, did not come to condemn the woild either. The woild is wi etched enough now, and needs no one to condemn it. L>ut one thing I ha\o learned is this, that, bcfoie anyone can be *atrd, he has to wake up to tho fact that lie is /on/. I lcmcmbcr being in New Yoik some j ears ago, and a man came and wanted me to go to the Tombs (New Yoik prison) to preach TIIH PRISONERS WERE IN" .THE CELLS, which w ere in tie: s ; and I was talking, as it WL'ic, to the bare walls ; and, after I had done, I thought I would like to see how the prisoners had icceivcd tho Uospclinvitation. I went to one cell, and they were playing cards ; perhaps they had been, all the while F was preaching. And I said to rhem, Well, how is ib w ith you ? And they shook theii heads, and tried to make out that they weie innocent, and that, had it not been for a ialsc uitnc^s, they would not ha\ c been then in pii=on. Ah, I saw how it was — I\>O''hNT 31 EN. THERE W\S KO LO VT O.N E TIUOlli:. I went into the no\b cell— And how is it with you? Well, the fact \va«, that there was a man that looked very like tho piisonci in thi^ cell, who having been mistaken lor him, found himself that day in the miseiablo position he was in, while the real culprit had gob clear. "Well, in tins cell thcic was no one guilty: so that theio was no ono lost. I went into the next eel. How is ib with you ? Well, you sec, chaplaui, I have not been tiied yet; but my tiial is coining off th's week, and then my innocence will be made clear. Well, I thought I had iierer met so many innocent men in ono day befoie— theio was no one ab all bo blame but tho officers that had put them there. I th'uiEfht I would give it up. But I made up my mind that I would go into another cell ; and lhe)c 1 found a man with his head buried in his hands, and streams of tears flowing down his cheeks. Woll, my fiiend, said 1, what is the trouble ? Ha ! said he, my sins :uo moro than I can bear. Woll, thank God for that, said I, for you are THE VERY M\N I HAVE BEEN SO LONfJ HUNTING IiDK. What ! said he, did you not call youreolf my friend ; and are you glad ? — Yes. — [Why? said he. Because, I answered, if ; yon leel your sins are more than you can bear, you will lay them on Ono who can bear them. Well, it was quite a refreshment to find ONE MAN WHO WAS ABLE TO SAY HE WAS LOST. Now, I said, wo will lift up our hearts to God in prayer. Kneeling on thafc stcne pavementhe liftedup his voice to God, and cried, O God, be merciful to me a vile wretch ! Oh, it was sweob to hear him pray that prayer. I bid him good day, and told him that, hotween 9 and 10 o'clock, I would beat the hotel praying for him. 1 saw him next morning, and found him rejoicing. He seized my hand, and pressed it, -and told me how CHRIST HAD SET HIS CAPTIVE SOUL VRV.E, and that he was the happiest man in Now York; and I believe he was. Why? Because he had mot Christ, and Christ took away his sins ; and because ho believed what God had said — that ho was lost, and that Christ had come to set him fieo. If ■ you bclievo that to-day you aic lost, I come Jto bring you glad tiding/ Qf great joy; and.

thab is, that Christ has como tQ seek and to savo that which is — lost. "■ We hear of a man who has lost his health, and we sympathise with him, and we say it is very sad. Our hearts are drawn out in sympathy. Here is another man who has lost his woalth, and wo say, " Thab is very sad." Here is another man who has lost his reputation, his standing among men. " That is sadder still," you say. Wo know f what it is to lose health and wealth, and , reputation, but what is the loss of all tlieso things compared with tiio loss of the soul? I WAS IN AN EYK INFIRMARY SOMJS TIME AGO. A mother brought a beautiful little babe to the doctor— a babe only a few months old— and wanted the doctor Lo look at the child's eyes. He did so, and pronounced it blind —blind for lite— it will never ceo again. The moment he said tl at, the mother seized ifc, pressed ib to her bosom, and gave a torriblo scream. It pierced my heart, and I could not but weep. What a fcaiful thought to that mother! "Oh, mydailing," she cried, "arc you never to see the mother that gave you birth ? Oh, doctor, I cannot stand it. My child, my child !" It was a sight to move any heart. But AVHAT IS THE LObS OF 13YEPIG11T TO THE LOSS OF A SOUL? I had a thousand times rathor have these eyes taken out of my head and go to the grave blind that lose my soul. The lo.^s of a soul ! Christ knew what it meant. That is w hat brought Him irom the bosom of the Father ; that is what bi ought Him fiom tho throne ; that is what brought Him to Calvary. The Son of Cod was in earnest. When He died on Calvary it was to save a lost world ; it was to save your soul and mine. That may be true, or it may not ; but theic is one thing I know to be true — there arc two bidders lor your ?oul to-day. It is ior you ti decide which shall have it. Satan offers you what he cannot gi\ c ; he is a liai, and lias been fiom the foundation of the woild. I pity tho man who is living on tho de\il's> pi onuses. Ho lied to Adam, and deceived him, stripped him of all he had, and then left him in his lost, ruined condition. But tho Loid Jesus Chi ist is able to give all He offers, and He otters eternal life to overv lost soul hcio. " Tho gilt cf Cod is eternal life." Who will have it ? What do we read in tho fifteenth chapter of St. Luke ? There is a shepherd btinging home iii.s sheep into the fold. As they pabS in, he stands and numbers them. I can see him counting one, two, thiee, up to ninety-nine. " Bub," says he, " I ought to have a hundred ; 1 must have made a mistake ;" and he counts them over again. "There aio'only ninety-nine here ; I must ho-se lost one." ITo does not say, " I will let him lind his own way back." No ! He takes the place of the Seeker; he goes out into the mountain, and hunts until he finds the lost one, and then he brings it home. Is it the sheep that tinds the shcpheul? No, it is the shepherd that finds and brings back the sheep, lie rejoices to find it Undoubtedly the sheep was very glad to get back to the fold, but it was tho shepherd who rejoicsd, and who called his fiiends and said, " Rejoice with me." Then there is that woman who lost the piece of money. Someone perhaps had paid her a bill that clay, giving her ten pieces of silver. As ehe retires at night, she takes the money out of her pocket and counts it. " Why,"' she says, " I have only got nine pieces; I ought to ha\c ten." She counts it over again " Only nino pieces ! Whoie have I been,"' she says "since I got that money ? I am sine I have nob been out of tho house." She turns her pocket side out, and there she finds a hole in it. Does she wait until the money gets back j into her pocket ? No. She takes a broom, and lights a candle, and sweeps diligently. She moves the so r a and the table at.d the chaiid, and all the rest of the furnituic, ard sweeps in cveiy corner until the finds it. And when she has found it, who rejoices ? The piece of money ? No ; the woman who finds it. In these parables, Christ biing=* out tho great truth that God takes the place of Seeker. Pcoplo talk of finding Cliiist, but it is Christ .vho firt,t findo them. I was over in England in 1872. About that time A YOU>,G MAN, WHO WAS Tllk ONLY SON 01" A WIDOW, had come ftom the country to London. He was her pi op and her stay, her hope and her comfoit. Oh, how that widow lo\od that boy ! How her prayers went up for him ! When he came to London, his emplovn invited him to the theatie, and asked him to drink. I mot that mother sinco and she told mo that the employer dirchni trcd that \ oung man after he became a drunkaid — that he refused to Ihwg him in his employ — -tliafc her son came homo, and died a poor di unkard. That mother is now weeping over her lost boy, and she mourns as a mother without hope, because ib i« said that no drunkaid shall inheiit the kingdom of Cod. Now, that is teirible. ' How many mothers have soiib hastening to ruin ! Coil wants you and me to go and tell them the glad tidings to nn.te them to I the Gospel feast. And theie ib not a man so far gono but that Chiieb \vills-a\e him. A FdN YI2AKS AGO A \ ESSISL OF TIIK WHITE STAtt LINK went to pieces on a rock off tho coabt of Newfoundland, and 500 men went down to a watery giave. Theio was a joung man of crreat piomisc, having a laige business at Detroit, who was on board that vcbtol, and soon after the \essel sank there came a dc-patch to Detroit to his wife ?nd partner to say that he was lost. Tho business was suspended, and that young wife was throw n into deep mourning. Hci heait was just broken, and the mother's heart was bleeding, that her boy had gono down, as they supposed. But in a few houis theie came another despatch over the wiies, "Saved!" with his name signed to it. They felt so grateful, that they had the despatch fiamed and put up in his office, and theie it is. If. you go into that man's office now to do business with him, you may sue that despatch, " Saved !"' Now let the news Hash over the »v ires to hea\en, sinner, that you want to be eaAed. You can bo saved, if you will. God is able to sa\c. God is willing to save. God is waiting to save. Now, make up your mind that you will bo saved. Make up your mind thab you will press into the kingdom. God invites you to come. He invites you to come, just as you aie. " Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out."

EDDIE AND THE l AKK MOUNTAIN'S. I havo hoard a story of a little boy named Eddio who was drawing 1 near the gates of death. His mother thought he was trusting sweetly in Christ ; but one day, when sho camo into his room, he said, as ho was looking out of his window, " Mother, what aio thoso mountains that I see yonder?" The mother said, '"Eddie, theio is no mountain in sight of the house." "Don't you see them, mother?" said he ; "they'i'C so high and so dark. Eddie has got to cro^s those mountains. Won't you take him in your arms and carry him over those mountains?'' The mother said, "Eddie, I would if I could, but I cannot." ' Now, I want to say to every one of my hoarcrs, that there is a timo coining when your mothsr cannot help you. There is a timo coming wnon your fiiends cannot help you. When you come to the mountain, if you have pot Christ, you must bake, that

journey alone, for there will be no one fco help you then. What will you do in the swelling Jordan, without a Saviour, without Christ? bub if you have Him, He won't leave you. What does He say ? " Yea, though I walk through the valley of tho shadow of death, I fear no evil. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.'' Now, this little boy, instead of being troubled by a valley, was troubled by a mountain. The mother prayed with that little boy. Then she eaid, "Eddie, you must take your eyes off your mother. You must havo your eye^ upon Jesus. He will help you.' The mother again prayed with him, and tried to get his little mind off fiom the dark mountain. All at once he said, i " MOTHER, HARK ! DON s '! YOU JIISAR THEM CALL ?" " Hear who, Eddie V " Don't you see the I angels just on the other side of the mountain ? They are calling for me. Take me, mother, and carry me over the mountain." The mother said again, "Why, my boy, I cannot go with you ; but Christ will be with you. Ho will take you safe over the mountains if you trust Him." Again the mother prayed tor her boy, for she could nob hear to ha\o him die in that state of mind, so troubled about the mountain. At length ho closed his eyes, and he prayed, "Lord Jesus, bo with me, and take me over the mountains." Then ho opened his little eye&, and said, "Good-bye, mamma; tlcsus is coming to carry mo over the mountains ;"' and tho httle sufferer was gone. Sinner, Christ has come to carry you over the mountains. He will carry you safe, lie w ill carry you over the mountains of unbelief, if you will only let Him ! Oh ! may (jod help you to press into His kingdom. Some may think that they aie too gteat sinners to be saved ; but let me say that Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He is able to save every soul here that is willing to come to Him and to be saved. May God make you willing in the day of his power. And may this be the day of your salvation ; of your birth. And that God may this day, tor Christ's sake save your &oul.«, is the prayer of my heart.

One there is above all others, Oh, how lie loves! His is love beyond a brother's Oh, how He loves! Earthly friends may fail or lea"\ c us, One day soothe, the next day giicve us But this Friend will ne'er deceive us, Oh, how He loves ! 'Tis eternal life to know Him, Oh, how He loves ! Think, oh think, how much we o^\e Him, Oh, how He loves! With His precious blood He bought us, In the wilderness He sought us, To His fold He safely brought us, Oh, how He lo\ cs ! B'essed Jesus ! would you know Him ? Oil, how He loves! Give yourselves entirely to Him, Oh, how He loves! Thii k no longer of the morrow. From the past now courage boirow, Joaus carries all your sorrosv, Oh, how He loves! All your sins shall be forgiven, Oh, how He loves' Backwaid shall your foes be driven, Oh, how lie lovos ! Best of blessings He'll provide you, bought but good shall e'er betide you, Safe to gloi jHe i 1 guide you, Oh, how 110 loves!