SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 238, 6 April 1912, Page 6

SUNDAY READING.

A RESURRECTION INCIDENT. Extract, of Sermon preached by Rev. R. J. Liddell in the Queen St. Primitive Methodist Church. "Abide with us, for it is toward evening."—l,uke xxiv.-29. None of the Resurrection incidents touch more tender feelings and suggest deeper 'things to the spiritual imagination than that of the two disciples journeying to Emmaus. The name of one was Cleopas; of the name of the other we are ignorant. We are also unacquainted with the design of their journey, but it betrayed the imperfection of the two men. It is astonishing that they could leave Jerusalem before tney had ascertained an event so interesting as the Resurrection, especially as Jesus had more than once assured them that He would rise again on the third day. Instead of waiting expectantly at the metropolis they stroll off into the country. They are still under the strain of recent excitement and sorrow, and, it was natural that their hearts should be full of one great burning theme, and that they should commune together as they walked concerning what had recently come to pass. How often we see cases analagous—the sorrowful relatives of some promising young person recently deceased. How often they spend the first lonesome hours, relieving their pentup feelings in telling again and again the familiar story of their loved one's] ambitions and hop*?: what cherished plans and dreams o.' good the coming years were to have seen fulfilled, and' how just on the eve of attaining his ideal he had been struck,down. This must have been the. thoughts and conversation of the disappointed disciples as they made their way to Emmaus. In the midst of their sad communications j they find themselves suddenly overtaken | and addressed by an unknown wayfarer, j who, with the irresistible fascination of Divine grace by one question, won their confidence. With that strange sad delight which mourners ever feel in relating even roost trivial incidents wherein their departed friends have chiefly figured, the disciples tell the stranger the sorrow of their hearts. But the pupil proves wiser than His instructors, and in turn opened to them the Scriptures, showing how the Messiah ought to have suffered these things. Still they re- , main ignorant of Him with Whom they ) spoke. At last that journey—begun in sadness but brightened by the presence and conversation of One they did not recognise—draws to a close. The three stand at the parting of the ways. Perhaps the formalleeremenies of an eastern farewell had begun, when by a sudden impulse they persuade the stranger to tarry with them. They press upon Him their hospitalities; they insist upon ■ His entering their humble abode, saying, "Abide with usj for it is toward evening." Then the lamps are lighted, the table is spread, and they rejoice in His presence and the breaking of bread. At last suddenly, with overwhelming power, the fact is realised that the Stranger is their own beloved Master and Lord, and as they look at His resurrected body He vanishes out of their sight. CHRIST NEAR, YET UNRECOGNISED. The text teaches us how near the Master may be to us and yet be unrecognised and unknown. The minds of the disciples were absorbed in the incidents of the previous week. "They communed with each other of all the things which had happened." They were companions in tribulation. They journey to Emmaus full of sadness, it being evident to the stranger, for He asks, "What manner of communications are these which ye have with one another as ye walk and are sad?" So engrossed, so absorbed were they will the incidents of the week that the stranger is unknown to them.

It may he so with us. We may be so absorbed with the things transpiring around us that when Jesus draws near we fail to recognise Him. Many men in our own day are so engaged with their business, with pleasure, and frequently with trivialities that when Chirst comes they are not prepared for Him, and consequently, they fail to recognise Him. Jacob arrived at a great crisis in his life's history; he had sinned against Godand against his broth*, and liedi to nis father. As a result, he is a fugitive away from home and friends, sad, disappointed, lonely. He arrived at Bethel, where he throws his weary 'body down to rest, and he dreamed—a ladder set up to the heavens, angels ascending and descending thereon. When he awoke he exclaimed, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not!" So with many an experience and many a place—the Lord is in them. These prosaic duties, these commonplace companions, these obscure self-denials are parts of God's, plan. He has appointed them and permitted them, in order that they may become channels of His grace, instruments of His education, and sacraments of His love. Unbelief was largely responsible for the disciples' inability to recognise their Lord. Up to the time of the Crucifixion the disciples had a glorious dream of the triumph of Christ but the death of their Lord had shattered all their hopes. The sudden and inexplicable failure of Jesus was unexpected. The dead Jesus had destroyed the deepest aspirations of their life. The reported Resurrection ■ only amazed and perplexed them the more, so they set it aside as the idle talk of deluded women. So they said to the Stranger, "We trusted that it had been He that should have redeemed Israel." Then the Master exclaimed, "Oh fools—oh! foolish ones; oh! men of perception!" To-day, unbelief is one of the obstacles which'prevents men getting a clear perception of Jesus. Yes; Christ was near the disciples, and they knew Him not. So the living Christ is near us, speaks to us through our sorrows, joys and bereavements; He speaks to us through nature, through the glory of its sunrise and its sunset, through storm and calm day and night. Often He is by our side' but we fail to see Him fail to recognise Him. Our eyes are holden, our ears are dull. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," says Jesus in one of the most pathetic sentences every spoken. It is painful to think we have not heard the knock, that in our spiritual blindness we have not recognised our Guest. CHRIST COMES TO BLESS.

The purpose for which the risen Lord comics'to men is to impart blessing. How wonderfully He dealt with these two disciples. He blessed them with instruction and enlightenment they had never dreamed of. He interpreted to thorn the Scriptures, which they were ilovv of heart to believe. His exposition of Moses and the prophets centred in Himself. It was not an accident that He died. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?" The history of the race revolves around Calvary. Jesus was born to die and died to rise again. These disciples were strangely impressed by this unknown Teacher and captivated by His doctrine. They felt the strange magnetism of His person and the attractiveness of His instruction. So, when He made as though He would have gone further, they said, "Abide with us." At His feet we get our instruction. He says, "Learn of Me," and the person who—like Mary—sits at His feet will catch pearls of wisdom. He also bless-

Ed them with faith. He responded to their appeal; wont in to tarry with' them. The evening meal' was spread. He took bread, blessed it, brake it, and, as He did so, the meal suddenly became a Sacrament, the room the gate of Heaven, the breaking of bread a Divine symbol, their Stranger Guest became , the ' Saviour and Knlightener of their souls. Bofore, all was common, ordinary, insignificant; hut in a moment everything became symbolical, deathless and Divine. That which produced this wonderful change in their thoughts and feelings is the sense that Jesus, Whom they thought dead, was alive, and they exclaimed, "It is the Lord!" Why is it that to so many of you Christ is a dead Christ? Why has lie faded out of your life like some dim remembered dream? It is because you have not constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us." He has gone further, and to-day you have no faith in your Saviour, no knowledge of pardon, no peep of Heaven. Then pray the prayer of the text; plead for His presence, then sin will die, unbelief perish and you be able to exclaim, "My Lord and my God!" He blessed them with joy and gladness. When they started for Emmaus they were sad and depressed, their hopes were shattered, their Master was dead,, and life was not worth living. But all changed when they realised Christ was alive. Their sadness was turned into joy, their eyes were opened, their hearts "burned with love, joy, hope and sympathy. New light broke in upon old truths. Their soub were aflame for God. The life that is opened to Jesus will be joyful. I His presence with us means joy unspeakable and full of glory. I CHEIST'S PRESENCE A NECESSITY.

The risen Lord only abides with those who earnestly desire Him. He forces ! Himself on no man. He desires to tarry with us,, but cannot fulfil His desire unless we invite Him. "He.made as though He would have gone further, but the disciples constrained Him, saying, 'Abide with us.'" It was so on the Gallilean Lake, when the disciples cried to Him, and His presence calmed the storm. So we all need Him. No person can do without Him. You need Him in the gloomy hour of temptation. When your soul is under the spell and infernal suggestions of Satan, when the surging billows of tumultous passions are about you, then you need to pray, "Abide with me, thou conqueror of temptation." You need Him in the day of trouble, when cyclones of misfortune strike you. It is then you need Him who came to bind up the broken heart. You need Him in the gloomy hour of bereavement, when your family circle is broken into by the rider on the pale horse. When you sigh for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still, then you need Him Who stood at Lazarus' grave and wept. You aged ones need Him. The autumn of life is upon you. The day of life is far spent and it is toward evening. You have long passed the meridian of life. Your failing sight and failing health remind you it is toward evening. So you need the strong support of Jesus. Yon young people need Him. Life is apparently before you, but it is a course beset with dangers and pitfalls and allurements. You need the guiding hand "of the Blessed Christ and the inspiration of His glorious presence. If you constrain Him to enter your life and abide with you, He will not say you nay, but He will be with you in your home life, business life, social life and religious life, then afterwards you will be with Him in the life beyond.