SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 207, 10 December 1910, Page 10

SUNDAY READING.

(By J. 0. A. Henry, D.D.)

I ENTHUSIASM FOR CHRIST.

"One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of iny life to. behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire into his temple."—Psalm xxviii., 4. This text emphasises David's supreme passion in life: His first and finest enthusiasm was to know God at his best. Originally, enthusiasm was used to describe one who had tarried so long at the shrine of his favorite divinity that he cajne to feel that his God had now taken up his abode in his own soul. It meant new inspiration through an indwelling God. Henceforth the worshipper was to give himself with abandon to do his pleasure; with absorbing energy he gave himself to the will and work of his chosen deity. It was a kind of "divine intoxication" which made man oblivious to everything except the good pleasure of his God. The significance of this quality is indescribably great. Such passion always means power. It would be difficult in all history to find one mail who has wrought mightily for God or man who did not possess this holy ardor. It represents moral and spiritual dynamic. It charms the hostile, fires the indifferent, conquers difficulties, gives wings to work, inspires self-sacrifice, converts a chain into chainlightning, and is more contagious than either health or wealth. It implies attention, concentration and consecration. This passionate gift belongs to the very genius of the Christian religion. Christ is Christianity. Concerning Him it is said: "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." This was only another way of saying His life was on fire for God. In this respect, as in all others, He is our great exemplar. This holy contagion does not depend on any or all the external affairs of life. It relates to the spirit. It is an attitude of soul, a posture of the entire being in its relationship to God. It is not noise, fret nor fuss, but the unconquerable energy resident in the new and pure spirit and for ever inseparable from the immortal life. It is the badge of true discipleship. The great Augustine said: "If we do not love Christ above all we do not love Him at all." David's deepest desire was to give God the first place in his programme. To put Christ first is to possess this fiery and unquenchable enthusiasm. He is Lord and Emperor of the new life. The French writer Montaigne said: "Life is of no consequence until it is inspired." It is the distinguishing glory of the Christian religion that it provides constant inspiration through the comradeship of Jiesus and the presence' of the Holy Ghost. When Henry. Martin was converted he said: "Now, Lord, take me and let me burn for Thee." He burned his life out in ten brief years, but during that period burned the name of Jesus into the heart of heathenism so that it remains unto this day. Every Christian should be a flaming herald and every Minister an impassioned ambassador "for Christ. It is sad to think that there are so many Christians who are wanting in this spirit of holy contagion. The sourees of this spiritual devotion to the will and work of the Master are many, but they are open and available to all disciples. First of all, we inust possess an experimental, knowledge of Christ as Saviour and King. To be a Christian is to have Christ formed in us the hope of glory. There are many Christs in the world, like the Christ of Art, History, Literature and Theology, but the only Christ who can inspire us with perennial enthusiasm and power is the Christ of personal experience. The soul must have that definite and deathdefying knowledge which comes from personal contact with Christ in the forgiveness of sins. No mere opinion of the Saviour will gird us with spiritual energy. Without this experimental knowledge of the Saviour there may be business enterprise, political enthusiasm, social zeal, but there can be no Christian enthusiasm. To know Christ personally is to love Him supremely, and to drink continually from the fountain of living waters. To maintain this spirit of intense concern for the things of the kingdom we must also possess a. firm grip on the great fundamentals of the Christian religion. The faith once for all delivered to the saints rests on a bedrock of reality: we are not following cunningly devised fables. There are great certitudes in the Christian religion. To see these gTeat doctrines clearly, to grasp them firmly, to obey them implicitly, and to adorn them constantly is an unfailing source of spiritual energy and moral victory. We need a new vision of sin, guilt and punishment. of the meaning and message of the Cross, of the dignity and value of the hitman soul, of the limitless future into which we are travelling with such swift rapidity. A clear vision of these noble verities would lead us from conquering into conquest, for then we shall see with Christ's eyes, feel with Christ's heart, and with joyful alacrity follow in His footsteps to save the lost. Another secret of this glad and abundant life is an abiding vision of the person and work of Christ." We are to draw inspiration from His loving, asking eves and from the suffering agony of His cross. To live in constant communion with Him, to greet His face at everv turn of life is to enmantle the soul with imperishable power. Christ deserves our lost devotion. He is worthy of our best gifts. He would have us prodigal in our submission to Him. To behold His face will save us from formality and fear. The fabled giant regained his strength when he reached the earth; we recover and retain ours when we touch God. No one would question that Christ's clarion call is for such utter devotion to Himself. We need it in every pulpit, and we need it in every pew. We require a new birth of enthusiasm for Christ and His work fin order to save our churches to the high mission upon which Christ has sent them, viz., the salvation of the lost and the supremacy of His Kingdom in the word. Sidney Smith said his church was "dying of dignity." We must admit that much of our service is perfunctory and much of our worship coldly formal. It is not new. methods that are needed but new earnestness and enthusiasm in using the old ones. It is not sensa- j tionalism. but sympathy, warmth, unction and passion for souls that we require. We also need l the Pentecostal power if we are to solve the great and perplexing problems of the world. These black iniquities life drink, gambling, lust, greed, profanity, dishonesty, and Sabbathbreaking must be taken by the throat and strangled to death. As Christians, we have the numbers, influence and power to do it, if we can only receive this fresh baptism of energy, but the supreme reason why we should seek n new investiture of Holy Ghost power is that in obedience to the example and command of the Lord Jesus we should sro forth to the immediate conquest of the world by bringing men, women and children into saved relationship with Almighty God. The lost millions will never bo saved, the lapsed multitudes will never be recovered, and perishing childhood will never be restored until the rank and file of God's people go forfclj in the vigor and victory of an abounding Christian life to soul-winning service. An aggressive campaign to rescue the perisfa;n