SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 138, 2 December 1911, Page 9 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING

Ti!K i;s:ai"i", mf holiness. preached li; .I.l''. iu the Queou I'rimit ;\v \h ihodist Church. New !'! ymoutli. ihe ij■;iiii Hi the Lord (nir 1 I be upon li-." ! J .~;l I 111 XC.-17. "Adorn ihe i;in ! ride of God our Niv»iHT in ail I'm- iir-l ot lilt' Scriptures teaches US '' l! is ill!' "beamy." or grariuusm-ss, "t G.nl < iii'<s!>in:r i lif -pint of innu which his lite 11 i\ 1111•!\ beaut i f til. The • 'i'' v »«*rlpl lire ; twins thai. I hi- gra-.-inii-in—- of lloil. wiiii-ii clothes the be'iever- -Miii!. iiiii-i In. ~o in tct'iireti'tl by iiim in Uic individual actions of his '«'>!> ■ !l '' a* to nuke ilmt jrracidiisnfss nr '!n.-i i :in. of (luil hi- Saviour. more !><•:■ 11l iltii -til!. Let us briefly dwell up. mi each nf these ideas. Eirsl. 11l .MAX LIKE IS MADE MOKE liKAl'TlFrb by beauty'' or grariom-ness ot God. "i.ei tile beauty of the Lord our Cod be njion us.'' it we Luke a concordance and carefully search out the term "beauty" ami its derivatives, we .shall I'ntil that when they are related to God they refer io Hi. moral and spiritual perfect ions. The beauty of God is the holiness of God. When the Jiible speaks of the holiness of God it does not refer to any single distinctive quality of His nature, hut rather to the infinite perfection of Ilis character. Holiness is God's crown, in which are set all the perfections of His Godhead. Holiness is the harmonisation of all God's moral and uainrat attributes. So glorious*in holiness is He that no mortal eye eoukl bear the excessive light of Ilis presence. Cherubim and Seraphim, whose spiritual vision is vastly clearer and stronger than ours, bow in Jioly reverence before the Light which cannot be approached. God, however, is pleased to temper the light of His holiness to the limited capacity of our spiritual sight. Through media innumerable He hashes the glory of His nature upon the reverent, purified heart. There are moment's of enraptured fellowship when Hie sanctified soul sees deep into the heart of God, when the glory of Ilis presence transfigures all common surroundings. It is in such hallowed seasons that the soul "beholds" the bcautv of the Lord, and that beholding illumines life, ennobles service, and sanctifies every relationship of life. "How beautiful God is!" So said Kingsley when the film of death had dimmed his human sight, and the soul's gaze was fixed on the face of the Eternal. "The all-beautiful Hod" —so said liobertson, of Brighton, when in one of his loft v moods (he Spirit of God gave him a glimpse of the L'nseen. God is beautiful. Nature is one manifestation of the beauty of the Lord. The whole earth is full of His glory. "Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge." The eye blinded by sin mav not see the glory of God in nature, but it is there. Men see more clearly through the heart than through the eve. The two disciples going to Emmans did not recognise in that strange from the Son of God. "Their i yes were holden." And why? Not because of any arbitrary decree of God. The cause was in themselves. They were "slow of heart to believe." It was the glow of a Divine fire in the heart, kindled by faith, which opened their eyes, and they "knew" it was the Lord, "messed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." They shall see Him everywhere and in everything. They shall see 11 iin not onlv iu the stars but also in the dust at their feet. They shall' see Him not only in the largermanifestations of His love, but also in the smaller mercies which are crowded into every hour. The good man looks upon nature with the eye of faith. He knows that nature is not a charnol house, but a temple; not a merciless machine, but a school for the formation of character; not an undesigned combination of dead substances, but one grand, harmonious whole. But tlio

HIGHEST MAXIFESTATIOX OF GOD is in the spiritual realm. Hove are seen FTis truth and righteousness and love. These principles, as we Jiavo observed, are. in the Bible. invariably connected with tlu beauty of the Lord. When we think of Hod's bcautv. we associate with it TTis goodness, truth and love. In (lie same manner, when we think of Jesns Christ, we think, and even speak of Him as fairer than the "sons of men," as "the chief among ten thousand," as "'the altogether lovely." We do not think of Jp.,us thus because of any physical beauty Tie may be supposed to have, possessed; neither do we associate the beauty of .lesus as mere grace and relinement of person. But we have our thought fixed upon the Divine qualities of His heart and mind. Our conceptions of -lesus are intuitive. They are part of us. We connect the beautiful with tlie good, and the good with the true. The Beautiful. the True, the Good; Tlie Good, the Beautiful, the True, Are Wisdom's treasures from above, Divinest gifts to me and you. The Beautiful, the True, the Good, Are open secrets in the Lord; The Good, (he Beautiful, the True, Are in the manifested Word. The Beautiful are righetous deeds, The True are loving, holy lives; The Good is God: All Perfect One. Whose grace man's fallen soul revives. And he who trusts shall know the True. Shall live and move in beauteous light, Shall dwell in God, the only Good, Till lowly faith is changed to sight. Xo magic wizardry of power Can rear life's pure and hallowed shrine: We build our lives as God builds worlds, By slowly adding line to line. The gentle deed, the thought of prayer. The sweat of blood, the song, the sigh • These are the stones of character And blissful Immortality. AH art and poetry witness to this in111itive faculty. Take art. for instance. Th" genii!- of art in its portrayal of •le-us Christ has pictured Him in the liiulie-t forms of human beauty. The artist when thinking of Jesus Christ, l>i:• -i before his mind the loftiest ideal of grace and beauty, and (hen labors to give form and substance to his conception. What is the truth which underlie; this? «implv this: that (he artist gives beauty to the. painted figure of ('1:r;-i be-ause lb' was beautiful ill spirit , and he would make I he canvas diet're the moral qualities of the Saviour's nature. When had !i:'i-h'-i! his wonderful picture of ''Christ ill fore Pilate." it was hung in the Paris Aeadeniv. The verdict, of the critics was that (he face of .Testis was too stern. Tt reflected justice too much. Tie featnres were not evenly balanced. The painter look the picture back into his studio, and threw a softened splendor into I he face. He then sent the picture forth tor receive the commendation of the world. The harmonisation of the fact of Christ with tho holy principles of His life satisfied the inutitive reason-

{!«»•!. ilk ivfori- think Ki »„ beins; 1..-iiniif;il. So in ilie stum* order 0< iliiMiifMi is tin. idea ih.ti. <i(itl ill t lir Church. s!sis hl'ali I: f: 11, it is II,)! till' jrjory 111 al'clli1. sir.', ill.- .-isicn.i'ir nf riiiissl, tins charm in t'i(>tjisi■ ru-1■. i lie jjhire of i'u-liion, wiliril llialil's till' I illlivh (if Coil beautiful. :-ln; limy lutv.- nil i.licr.;-. and yet In l "[iniiv an.l lilin.i sin,| iinki'il," The ,-ihiU v.im gather fur worship wiihiu ii rude building uiav li;ive more i run loveliness in tlirm tlinn those who kneel within the pomp .nid splciiodr of the gran.l in I liedral. Tin' satltlfsi iiimont of ill'' liilile is in-.'il on the Church's 10-s of this true beauty of lln- Divine pre-ciice. "From tile daughter of /ion nil In r lii'iiutv is i!i■ ]i-Ir(eii."1r(eii." .-oh.- .lereniiih: "nil that puss l,y hiss and wag their lieails, saying. Is this 111,■ city which men call (lie perfection of beantv, the ;joy of the whole earth':" The beauty of Zion was Die Lord Himself, ami v.'lieii lie was departed, nought but. desolation ami blight reimiinei!. It is mi with limnaii life. 'Tnt" loveliness is spiritual. The fair fare with a. loiil heart is a -ail -iirht. Yet e\'erv day we see the sorr',- union. Culture of mind and "race of form are often preferred beiore beantv of ...oui. Yet beauty of face fades easily, anil sometime* quickly, a< the beatiiv of a moth's win;;; but. the beauty of fondness is eternal. The I'saimist. in the Psalm from which we have quoted the first words ai the bead of this address, reminds us that all (rue moral and spiritmil lieauty is borrowed from heaven—is the gift of find. The self-righteousness which is its counterfeit is siiperticial. The beauty nf real Christ-like goodness is from above. It mar lie summed up in the Apostle's words. ""By grim' arc ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of Cod. To this truth, if you are a Christian. I can command your assent." (To lie continued next Saturday).