CHURCH NEWS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 25 January 1913, Page 6

CHURCH NEWS

■ WHAT GOD EXPECTS, .NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE OR excessive. (By Pastor Russell.) (In-sorted My Special Arrangement.) "What doth tlie Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love* .mercy, and to walk' humbly with thy God?'' —Micah, vi,B.

These words, written by the Prophot, constitute the basis of Pastor Russell's ■sermon this week. Who could iiiul fault with these requirements':' questioned the Pastor. Who could -say that in ..setting -such a standard For iris creatures the Almighty required too much? On the other hand, •how could we imagine a just and loving Heavenly Father requiring less than is here stipulated?-God's law, variously stated, always amounts to the same thing. The statement of it as given to the Jew.s- at Mount Sanai, embodied in the Decalogue, corresponds with this statement, as does also the presentation of it set forth by the great Teacher, saying, "Thou slialt love the Lord Thy God with all thy mind, soul, and strength; and thy neighbour as thyself." Many of us. after con feeing with Sb Paul that tho Divine Law is holy and just and good, have been surprised to find that what all our minds would heartily approve we are unable to obey—to the full. For thirty-five hutndred years the Jews -have forgot to keep that Divine Law. under the promise of eternal life for so doing, but none of them have been able to gain the prize. When as a nation they realise their inability, and not sooner, tllev will be ready to receive at 'God'is hands, as a free gift through the Redeemer, the forgivness of their violations of tha Divine Liuv. And then, untier their iCew Covenant (Jer. xxxi,3l; Heb viii, 8-13,) they will I liave Messiah's assistance in regainI ing that perfection of mind and bodv land a "new heart," which will enable [ them to obey in every particular the Divine Law, wliioh all our minds re- ' cognise as just and true, but -which, because of heredity, we are unable perfectly to obey in the flesh. That blessing, which is soon to come to natural Israel, under Messiah's kingdom and the New Covenant, will be extended through them, as the natural seed of Abraham to every nation, 'kindred; and-tongue, in harmony 4vith tho Divine promise made to Abraham. ' A different, .although a corresponding favour, is now, in advance, bestowed upon a .small class gathered from Jew# and Gentiles, and Scripturally known as tho "Church of the First-Boras, whose names are written in Heaven." These, in advance, realise their inability to keep the Divine Law, and by faith lay hold upon the Redeemer's merit and consecrate their all to God through him. In the Redeemer they are accepted of the Father ; and their heart endeavours fot? righteousness iare recognised, • the flesh and its imperfections are renounced and counted as dead; and are offset hy the ,merit of. the Redeemer. Ihese are Scripturally classed as members of the Great Prophet, Priest, King, and Mediator between God and men. Tho thought-of our next text will be completed when all the faithful, as members of tho Messiah, "the little flock," will be made joint heirs [ with him as "the Bride, the Lamb's I Wife."

ANALYSING OUR 'J7SXT. TO I>o JUSTLY, We may demonstrate to ourselves the truthfullness of the foregoing: i W ha . t ,s lt t° do means I ra " moie __thari j£ t to overcomo our I nei(rhbr; ir £j 10 gooc l s } ie may p U .,._ J chase of us. It means much more not |to defraud him in the giving of changer To deal justly means, justice as. between sen-ant and master, mistress and maid, buyer and seller—that we should do to others as we would that others would do to us; it means strictly following the Golden Rule enjoined by the Great Teacher. Applying -rfJiis principle of justice to our words, it means that we should not speak of either friend or if that wo should not,. -e;

insinuate evil.. It (Mea**' even should not tell -*s that we know to be t.ho . jssarily what we our aith, if it wquldlharm erects '' Jar, disparage him, aJid dis- »*"* mm in tlie eves of others. It -eans that we should love our neighbour and his interests as wo love our own, and should defend his interests and guard them as carefully as wo would our own. Justice, In order thus to operate in our words and deeds, must operate in our hearts —in ouir minds. "As a man thinketh, so is lie." If he thinks J unkindly, ungenerously, unjustly, he | will find it impossible always to avoid unkind, unjust, unloving words or actions. "Out of the abundance of the lie-a.rt the -mouth speaketh." Tt J follows, then, that to do justice sig- j nifies absolute righteousness in ' thought. in word, in conduct. This J none of u.s are capable cf. The near- 'j

est approach to this is the perfect or just intention of the heart, covenanted by all those .who become followers of tho Lord Jesus Christ. The intentions and gocd endeavours of these are accepted of the Father, As for tho t woi'kl, it will require long years of assistance and uplifting out of the weakness and imperfections of the flesh to bring them to where their thoughts, words, and deeds will be absolutely just and in full accordance with the Golden Rule. Their attainment of this will mean their getting rid of all the imperfections of the flesh and, by full restitution, return ing to the image and likeness of God lost in Adam. TO LOVE MERCY.

All recognise mercy as a very proper, a very desirable quality. All realise tlu'ir nerd <,f Divine mercy. All should know that the Divine purpose is that enly those who show mercy to others will themselves receive* mercy at the Lord's hands. Many, however, while admitting all this and while seeking to practice mercy, do not love it. Rather, they love vengeance, a.nd are merely constrained to mercy by the laws of tho land, public sentiment and tho Word of God. Time, and again this has been ' shown in the case of lynchings. Mobs have gathered for the infliction- of punishment, glad of an opportunity f for setting aside mercy and letting looso justice, as they might express it. And in those mobs have been jmanv Kuiltv of perhaps as great crimes as the one who was mobbed. "0 consistency, thou are a jewel!" WALK 'HUMBLY WITH THY GOD. Bv a strange perversity of our fallen nature, those most able and willing to follow the first two 'requirements arc apt to be the most delinquent in this third requirement. In a word, the just and merciful are very apt to find themselves possessed of

a spirit of pride, a feeling c-f superiority to their fellows, a hindrance to their having a humble walk with God. Those most humble towaixls the Almighty are frequently those who have had great sins and great weaknesses which have helped to hximblo them. Tims the great Apostle St. Paul was allowed Jo retain a measure of visual weakness as a reminder of the t:me when ho was a persecutor of Christ of the "Church which is his Body"as a reminder of how the grace < f God apprehended him on the way to Damascus, and that without tie Divine interposition he might" hive continued hopelessly blind. The Apostle refers to his of eyes as a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan permittee! to buffet him. The Lord declined to remove the affliction, doubtless because it would keep the Apostle humble enough to attend pronorly to the great work God had for him to do without being puffed uip to 'his own injury. The Divine message was. "My grace is sufficient for thee; my stremith is made perfect in weakness. 1 ' "Realising tlie imnor't of thN the cried out, ''Rather, therefore, will T glory in mine infirmiti *s that the power of Christ, mav rest upon une." And so may all God's people, while realising their inability to live up to these Divine requirements, rejoice in the Divine provision on their behalf that God's grace is sufficient for t.henr, where their weakness is recocrt>issd and confessed and abhorred, and His mercy appreciated, sought, and accepted.