SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 172, 7 December 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING

THREE PROBLEMS .SOLVED. Extract, from Sermon preached by REV, R. .1. LIDDELL in the Queen St. Primitive Methodist Church.

"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life",—John vi.-OS.

The miracle of feeding the five thousand, was followed by a startling announcement from Jesus that He was the JSrcad of Life and the. Son of God. This eaiiKcd many of the Jews to break into loud murmurs of disapprobation. His sayings were so mysterious, his demands so stringent, that many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Jesus saw them going, turning their backs upon light and life, leaving Him because they would not accept His teaching, nor submit to His rule, nor comply with His conditions. Addressing the twelve He says, "Will ye also go away? Are you afraid of the difficulties, the hardships, the sacrifices, that are to be encountered in My service? Is the demand made upon you too hard? Will you leave Me? This was a startling [question; it startled the disciples into, thought and caused them to take their bearings. It also enhanced the value of Jesus to them, and, in a forceful way, points to the fact that Christian discipleship is a matter of choice, not of compulsion, and the answer given to the question suggests that Jesus is the soul's great need. Jesus did not wish them to go away. He loved them too much for that. lie wanted to keep them, but they must remain from deliberate choice. The others had made their choice, and had left Him who had interpreted the Unspel into the terms of daily life and conduct. The question of Christ is answered by a question from Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? It has never occurred to us to leave Thee; the very thought is painful. If we go, where, and to whom can we go? W r here can we find another who will love us, whose presence will inspire our courage and disarm our fears? Where can we find the anchor to hold our lives and prevent them drifting?" Men in all ages have found what a complex thing life is. That there are many tangles that require unravelling, many mysteries he is faced with, that he. vainly seeks to solve. Some .people when they come to these crises in life have endeavored to understand them, and when they have failed to do so have turned awav from Christ, and the Bible, and wandered in the paths of scepticism and infidelity, only to be more entangled and more thoroughly lost in life's mazes. Now, there are three great problems the true solution of which we can only find by resorting to Jesus Christ.

THE PROBLO OF SIX.

When Jesus ilealt with the sinner it was always with tenderness and pity. But to Him sin was a serious thing—a problem, a great, dark mystery which in its first and further stages fronts all men in the journey of life. It is something not to be iiimothed over, or made light of. Sin is what a man is, not merely something a uian doe*. Read Paul's dismal catalogue „f ii„. uov k s 0 f the flesh, lint those are not all. Sin is more, than the sum total of men's sins. The'fruit is corrupt because tie tree is corrupt; the stream is tainted because the fountain is impure; m*n commits sin beeause he is sinful; deep in the heart of man evil has its seat, and until that is touched no reform is possible. Jesus set forth the terrible effects of sin. He spoke of men as blind, sick and dead; He saw them as sheep astray, as sons lost, as men in debt and bondage. The vast accumulation of metaphors bears witness to Christ's sense of the havoc sin has wrought. We, too. see the effects of sin in our day—the drunkard's bloodshot eye and unsteady hand, the gambler's greed, the profligate's deadness to shame and respectability. You ask what is the origin of sin? [ have no answer. Why waste time in asking why Hod permitted sin. Jesus never discussed the origin of sin. but He always assumed its presence. lam not troubled abo'it the origin of sin; I am most concerned about its prevalence and its remedy. If a man poisons his hand it is no use to sit down for hours troubling about the cause of the trouble. The wisest thing is to make for a physician and to obtain a remedy. So'l am not concerned about the "origin of sin; T know (he prevalence of the disease, so am most anxious about the antidote. To whom can we go with the problem of sin? There is only One. "Xone hut Jesus can do helpless sinners good." We arc in debt, and have nothing wherewith to pay. hut Christ takes the long account and pays it. We are in bondage, hut Christ rends the chain ami proclaims deliverance to the captives. We are stained with sin. but "the blood of Jesus Christ eleanseth us from all sin.'' "ft is a significant fact that (he first mention of sin in the New Testament is a prophecy of its destruction. ''Thou s] m ]] call His name. Jesus because lie shall -ave His people from their sins." There is no unpardonable sin. save the sin of refu>im.' the pardon which is offered. Jesus firmly believed in the recoverability of man at his worst; never does He turn any away saying. "You afe too far gone, there is nothing I can do for you." One of the saddest places T have ever visited was an incurable hospital. Patients were there upon whom f.he physicians had exerted their skill and failed. Put in the world of ailing so:ils every day (he Christ walks, and there is no incurable ward; lie heals, pardons, restores.

THE PROBLEM OF BORROW. In voni' anxiety about, loved ones, when your heart is lnonkinj.- willi anxiety on their behalf, where do yon turn? You find little comfort from your Fellow men; they do not understand, are not .able to see things in your lip-lit. About that boy of yours who is wayward, that son who is prodigal, tiiat „;,.j WMO - 1S WO rldly —with all your anxiety, ro whom eau you go? The Syro-Phoenician woman sets us all a good example. She travelled many miles to tell Jesus the story of her sorrow, and plead for the healing of her child. In spite of opposition, distance and difficulties, she made her .way to Christ none else would do. In sorrow through bereavement, to whom can you go? When ilea I h comes into the home and snatches from your side your loved ones, when you stand in the hours of desolation at the open grave and watch it close over the pride of'your life and the hope and comfort of 'your years, then to whom can vou go? When John the lSapii-: was beheaded, his disciples were plunged into deepest gloom, and reverently they took up the body of their beloved mailer, buried it-, then "went, and told Jesus." Yes; that's it. no friend like the lowly .lesus for dark days and gloomy experiences. "To whom can we go?" TTc understands our nature and the vast requirements of our soul; He has worn the robe of our humanity, therefore He knows our burdens and sorrows. Where else shall we find the key that will turn the lock and disclose to us the meaning and mystery of our lives? Where shall we find the interpretation of life's struggles and difficulties? Browning says: "God's in His heaven, ull's right with the world." But if God is only in His heaven, all is not right with the world. In Christ; however, we learn that flod has come out of His heaven down to earth, and in -.Christ we lind the eternal love that meets and answers all our needs.

THE I'RONLK.M OF TMMOtI'OLITV.

-lob was perplexed with tins probleuj and asked "If a man die. shall he live again?" We know it is appointed unto man oneo to die, but what then? We go to Agnosticism ami ask. and it says, "We don't know. Atheism replies, "He is not; he -imply ceases to exist." As Agnosticism ami Atheism can give us neither comfort nor assurance, we turn to another source. We see in the world immortality suggested. Tn the world nothing is re-illy destroyed; nothing is annihilated. There is >\ certain inrlestructability in tilings suggestive of immortality. Think of life's inequalities, bow they mock us. The world is riddled through and through with wrong. Multitudes of people are ''shipwrecked into life." Life's injustices bear unmistakable testimony to a compensating world beyond. But for the real solution of the problem we turn to Christ. Down the decade of 10 centuries His voice rolls: "J am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me. though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." As we ask. ''lf a man die, shall he live again?" Jesus replies, "Yes!" The Master makes poetry of the suggestions we see in the world. The demands we see in human nature He sets to music. Tn Christ, immortality is revealed. He who was dead is alive again for evermore. Because He lives we shall live. also. His resurrection involves ours. Our continuity is implied in His. From the Father's bosom Jesus came to reveal the Fatherhood of God. The outcome of that revelation was trie cross, and the cross crushes the evil out of death, so life is victorious for all eternity. The risen Christ is on the throne. "Jesus hath .abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by His resurrection. If we leave Jesus, where can u-e go?, None else can solve our problems. If we leave Him life would become dark and melancholy and eternity a misery.

Therefore we eome, Thy gentle call obeying, And lay our sins and sorrows at Thy feet; On everlasting strength our weakness staying, Clothed in Thy robe, of righteousness complete; Then risinsr and refreshed, we leave Thy throie, And follow on to know as we are known.