SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 244, 20 November 1909, Page 3

SUNDAY READING.

I 'THE SECOND SENSE." tes uf a Sermon preached by the liev. F. P. Kellow in the South Koad Wesleyau Church, New Plymouth. >. . . . Hear and your soul shall i' lis. lv., 3). 'i,an, know thyself" is excellent ade. We have followed it a little and ;u some profit, that is, we are belling to discover how small is the usiue of our knowledge of this inuring subject. I is written of Jesus of Nazareth tHe knew what was in man. Surely , moves that He was more than man. : of no other can this be truly affirmed. We know in part. Wo think of and see ourselves and our lives too superficially. A very little hard thinking must convince us that in the field of enquiry which is concerned with the explanation of ourselves we have not gone very far. Similarly, with our surroundings, with this' great frame of Nature, we are tempted, because we have given it ■ few passing glances and pondered over the few facts which men of thought and observation have set down, to imagine that we have reached die sixth standard of knowledge. Certainly, measuring ourselves jy ourselves, our present with our past, we appear to have gained much. ,J&i\J

But, thinking of what we have won by that which is yet impenetrated, undiscovered, but no doubt discoverable, and we find that we are at the beginning of the way. But patient and reverent research will, in days to come, unearth hidden treasures of God's outward order of whicu at present we can hardly dream.

TOO SUPERFICIAL. B repeat that in all things we arc too superficial. We are soon fascinated or repelled by the outward aspect of things. We content ourselves with glancing at them, and then we think we know. Of course, 1 am speaking of the Jnajority, and the great majority, too. For example, the average man looks upon this wonderful panorama of beauty and utility which we call Nature or the Universe, and what does he see? Why, a mere accumulation of sticks and stones, with very little suggestion of order, or meaning, or mystery about it. But to the man who thinks, the man who enjoys second thoughts, and still deeper thoughts, how different it all is! To him the mere stone, the pebble by the wayside, is a thing of romance and wonder. He regards it as a thing of the ages. "He reads the history of the earth in that commonplace object. And then as he thinks of its constitution, its properties, its origin, and its possible, utilities, in the light of recent discovery-, lie begins to "hear" something of the meaning and message of this commonplace thing as well as merely "sec" its surface aspects and dimensions. We should bring to all things our second sense.

WHO AND WHAT AllE WE? Sow, let us come away from the commonplace things of the world—the mere j sticks and stones and think of our-1 selves. Who and what are we! Who and what are your fellow-creatures? Commonplace, too! Surely, my friends, we and all our mysterious Surroundings iiave a meaning deeper than tbat. We should accustom ourselves to bring second thoughts to our life and surroundings. We must not only look at things: we should consider wc want the •whole attainable truth, for only by the truth can we fully live. Hear, as well as see, and thy soul shall live. We notice that this is' the counsel enforced in the text. It says, "Hear" that is, listen, hearken, as ■well as look, and your soul shall live. I think the text recognises that we may have looked at many things. The things which interest us and concerned us may have made their appeal to us through -that first avenue of knowledge. We may have seen tilings, but that is oiuVknowingthem in their outwardness, That is not enough. We must be spoken to nirough that other sense of which hearing is the symbol. The second appeal must be made and responded to. The inwardness of hearing.—The text speaks of hearing, Now, that should not be taken in a literal sense, but as implying that faculty in man hy which he is enabled to get below the surface of things and to discover their deep and spiritual meanings. Let me employ an illustration. A man (goes forth and looks out upon the material universe whicli is Iris present abode. He sees the arching sky and all the wonders it displays. He sees ,tlie earth in all its varied beauty and changing aspects, as well as the teeming life which inhabits it. And then we will suppose lie doses his eyes. What follows? If man were only a brute that would be the end of it, but, being numnn. being a man. flic vision he beheld touches his soul and informs it. He had looked, he had seen, ibut now he also hears. And he begins to know and to enjoy with the knowledge and enjoyment of a man. That man begins to live the human life. He knows by the instincts of a man that •what he has seen is not the final thing, but that the Great Reality whom we end God is in it and behind it all, partly hidden, partly revealed.

Hear and your soul shall live. Lot us take this thought a step higher. Man looks at

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRUTH. These things arc presented to him iii ■a hundred different ways to-day. He glances at them as they pass before Ihini. They may have for him a moment's fascination. Rut this is only seeing. This is only looking at the form and surface of tho thing. The .music of life lies deeper. And these surface aspects of truth will never come home to a man with saving power unless they are also made known to him through the inward hearing. Truth came to Elijah in the caves of Horeb in several forms. It came to him as lire, as storm, as earthquake. In these forms it was seen and felt. But it lacked the power to restore his drooping courage. But when it came to him as the still small voice, the man's soul heard it, and he was once more the prophet of Jehovah. It is always so. It is not so much the forms of truth as the articulate voice of truth which tells. Now, apply this principle to yourselves to human life, and you reach the same conclusion. There is much that is bright upon

LIFE'S RIPPLING SURFACE. The things which make their appeal to us through the sight of the eyes may in many cases instantly fascinate. But wait a little. Close your eyes for a time to these rapidly changing and bewildering surface manifestations, and let ihe undertones of life And their way to your lis'tening soul and how wonderftily changed is the meaning of it all! It is always wise to distrust somewhat the things which demand, or even secure, our instant admiration, whether they be things of life or art. The painting, the poem, the song, the sermon, the hook which carries us off at the first moment of appeal is a thing about which it will be better to reserve our judgment ifany things, both in art and life, ami e-speeialy the latter, have>a superficial loveliness, but they lack the elements of permanent worth; they have not the qualities that abide. Don't judge of life by what you see on its flowery surface, •nor even on its troubled waters, until you lave hearkened earnestly for those deep and wondrous meanings which are softy spoken at its gates. And now turn your thoughts for a moment or two to Him who said "1 am the life, the truth, the way."

BEHOLD THE MAN. and what do you see? A man as others) have seen Him—"his visage marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.'' But it is He who shall sprinkle many nations, the kings shall shut their mouths at Him, for that which had not been told them they shall have, and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Well, you see here a man with nothing comely about Him that He Should be desired. He lived ill poverty and all lowliness, and died, to the eyes of the world, as a malefactor. It is true He went about doing good, but you will not surely judge this man by what is only seeii. Xow bring the best powers of your manhood to the study of Hun. or you will fail miserably. When you come to ] Hira you must not only look to know, but you must listen that your soul may I live. Hearken to His words: "I am the life, the truth, the way." Listen again: j "[ am the resurrection and the life; he | that bclicvctf* in me though he were dead yet shall he live." "HEAR, AXD VOt'R SOUL SHALT, LIVE." What is the conclusion of the whole matter? Why. that we must bring to our consideration of the great facts of our life and destiny not only sight and hearing Tmt our best and' innermost. | powers. We must hear, but our chief acts of listening must not he to the

sounds of things, nor to the voices of I men, tout the true objective of all our hearkening is the "Words of God.' The Almighty Father, the father of the Lord Jesus Christ, lias broken lor ever me silence of eternity and now spea;»( to man through Jesus Christ, His only he- ; gotten Son, and we ■,ve by hearim; and! obeying His words. •■> , peak, L--ru. and I thy servant, lic.ireili," is man's most reasonable and becoming itiilude. ■ It- «'io lakes that position li. ens at the '" r of life, and he will hen: the ,iiv|u.-akalne things of God. Tin l lest ..ssi'es uslnit he who so heir* shall . vs. '■ h.i; i* n.e blessed result promised. Man's U'ue U'e is realised in conscious nea.'ir'ss to God. He who comes to God cJnies to I: k fountain of life and ot all eoly activities, and he there obta as pariou asd grace, and receives lr~ -ai.-it ul (yiipuient and the vision of i is I'f.'-: woik He is sent fo.'ta upon lis inis : ie-s, ihc true business of his l!e T.'ie godly man is not an 'dler. lij i.vu-ii la that. The lazy man is not a jjo.ily ina'i. J lie two things are incongruous. Tlie man who shirks work—'not w »rK loi himself merely, hut .1 some lcfinitj waj, work loving an 1 uns3i(nk lor lis feliow man, knovs hi'.'- o r nothing ot God, or else he is forgetting Him, and ignoring His con et ids \\3 »>.iill do well to rememb-i.- these word) oi (he Lord and give t.iem , radical liui. "Ye cad .ne "-liivi■■- an.t Lor.!, and ye say well; .)r ») . mti. If I th'n your Lord and M iter iinv; vanhed jour feet, ye ought mso 10 wu>'i oi'e another's feet. For 1 have gnen ion as example that ye should do as I have done to you. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them." My friends, let us not fail God. He will he faithful to us. We have looked upon the outward things, and the world has captured many of us. And yet has been to us no more than a workshop, or a pleasure ground, or a Vanity Fair. Let ns be still before God, and listen to what is within us. Know this that ye are temples of the Holy Ghost. Give yourselves into His keeping. Your lives are His. Then place them whole-hcart-.edly at His disposal. They are a trust from Him, not a gift in fee simple, but a splendid and solemn trust. Our wills are ours to make them His. Our lives are ours that we may make them the instruments' of loving service, giving glory to the Father and benefit and blessing to the children.