SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 188, 28 December 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

SOUND ADVICE. Outline of ii sermon preached by MR. HAROLD 1. L'LAi in tlie South lload Methodist Church. "L-ibor not for tne meat v.Uicli .perisheth, but lor that meat which endureth unto everlasting life."— John VI. 27. 1 Our Saviour was the greatest statesman that ever lived; other statesmen legislate for time—Jesus for eternity. One generation of statesmen recinds the legislation of its predecessors, or amends it till the original is obscured. '■The laws which Jesus Christ placed upon the statute book of life nineteen centuries ago are as potent to-day as ever, Truly He is rightly called the Counsellor, for His is the soundest advice that was ever given to man. Jesus was concerned not only with man's temporal happiness but also with man's eternal welfare. He realised that man was an immortal being, a pilgrim bound on an endless journey, and therefore the great Lawgiver brought down legislation that ' was° calculated to supply man'g every need and satisfy his highest aspirations. The Christ's outlook on life was so broad, so comprehensive that He was enabled to pierce beyond the gloom of the present into the sunlight of God's presence, and there He laid hold on the "rand secret of life. Jesus was a man of prayer, ; - use the word "man" reverently. " He dwelt so continually in God's presence that to Him life had no mystery—the hereafter no shadow. His meat—His spiritual refreshment—was to do the Father's will. From the spiritual atmosphere in which He lived the Christ brings the heaven-born messuage of our text, which is the secret of sfuccess in life and the most trustworthy advice to mankind, "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Here our Lord, oflers two things for our consideration. on the one hand the bread tliat perisheth, and on the other the bread that endureth; natural things and spiritual things, things temporal and thin"s eternal. Let us imuse for a moment and consider what this text does not teach, for there is a danger of it being wroiHv mterpreted. °*

JESUS DOES XOT DEPRECATE

HONEST TOIL.

The lazy man cannot shelter behind this text and say that Jesus Christ has advised him not to work. The Christ has done nothing of the sort. Jesus was a toiler, and all who follow Him must bo willing to work, for the night cometh when no man can work. Our Lord knew that material bread was necessary--V«ui lather knoweth that ve him; need of these things." (Luke' 12, ;«) ) 'Man shall not live by bread alone but e ;; el '. v word that poureth but of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4, 4.) Then what is the meaning of the text? Here we must glance at the context. These people came to Jesus C'hrist-.a spiritua teacher-presumaably to learn spiritual things, but beneath the surface ami show there was an ulterior motive—they remembered the loaves and the fishes; the Christ was too much of a thought reader; His perception was too Keen, His knowledge of human nature was too extensive to be misled bv their sanctimoniousness. Under the <niise of interest in spiritual things they were seeking for temporal gain and 'satisfaction; and Jesus could not tolerate this hypocricy Above and beyond all else the (hnst admir-d straightforwardness. luT i"'?i S " "' ookc,<l actio " '""I He rebuked them lor it. Xow. if we look up our Greek testament we shall find that the word for labor '-ergaazomai" means to labor or work for some ultimate object. .lesiiii considered that tint object was eternal life, whereas his hearers apparently considered that it wis temporal life. Our Saviour sets out to ; correct this error, and this lesson..shows ho.v grandly He succeeded. Jesus .incuicated the principle of

ACC'UU LATIXG SIMRHT VI CAPITAL

rather th 'n temporal capital. There are many men to-day who 'reouire to tak" this lesson to heart. The be all and end -ill of lite to some men is to get rich—honestly if they can—but to get rich in any case. W| w t will they not do to accumulate wealth? Sharp' practice is winked at sweated labor is an unconsidered tr.lle If renting a pew in a fashionable church on tlie Sunday means an extra customer or two on the' Monday liat pew is rented. At the opopsite pole, but also in the frigid zone, stands the man wiio regards time spent in devotional exercises as time wasted. Sm-h men are spirit i.,l bankrupt,,, they have spent their money for that which does not -satisfy, iUKI , )ut tll|ljr moiipy in(o with holes in them. Thev have listened to foolish counsel and taken strand adviod. There are a good many Esau* today who are willing to sell their birthnght tor a mess of pottage. Men'whose houzon is limited to the self-sphere Jesus comes to broaden their horizon, to enlarge J,eir sympathies, to lift the veil from off the future that they illicit Set a glimpse of life in the fulness of "its living reality. He exhorts them to «et. a banking account in heaven and thus accumulate spiritual capital.

TffF.in FIRST DEPOSIT. IS to be their covenant with the Son of man. Upon a life I did not live t'pon a death 1 did not die. Another's life, mother's death, I stake my whole eternity," •Jesus ; s the bread of life—the bread that satisfies the longing so „i ; till , l)f(;a(1 t)m) . endureth unto everlasting life It is wlyi we recognise that His way in life is icst. and when we turn to' Him as our ouns: j il.ir mid Frirnd that life assumes, its true worth and dignity. Mv brethren the great sin of to-day'is that we are refusing this bread, 'rejecting •Jesus who is called Christ. 1„ , m 'v anxiety to accept a man-made creed we have almost, lost sight of the lowly Aazarene. Tt is the divine person and personality of Jesus in our hearts that you and 1 require, my brothers, for unless we have Him our spiritual experience will he colorless and insipid. As Uto physical life n?<|uiros Umh\ for its sustenance so the spiritual life requires at which will refresh and upbuild it. SPIIHTUAL XOt Lil,S 11MEXT. is to be found in .testis Christ, who comes to you in every event of your life whether of sorrow or of joy. shadow or noonday light, an I He savs. "Lo. | will never leave thee, neve,- forsake thee" lie is that Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and when other friends fail you and (lee from you. He is still alongside to help. U t | u> r)iri( . t the. One who is best able to give direction to all your aspirations, pungency to your soul's experience, and stability to your characer? Then make a compacY with Tlim. and deposit that agreement as tne basic principle „f your spiritual life, and from to-night, upon that found;t.on, begin, as a wise master builder, to ereer; the edifice of your character, according to the plans'and specifications submitted to you in the pure and noble life of the Son of Man.