ON THE THRESHOLD OF SUNDAY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19721, 11 December 1926, Page 14 (Supplement)

ON THE THRESHOLD OF SUNDAY

(Contributed by the Wanganui Ministers’ Association.) PRAYER Almighty God, if we do not fear Thee, we owe our confidence and boldness to Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Saviour and our Priest. By Him wo come to Thee, boldly asking that we may find grace to help in time of need. We have no confidence' in ourselves, but we have confidence in the Cross—the key that opens heaven, the way into the broad universe, because the way into pardon and purity and peace. We come by that way time after time, and our feet delight to walk it, for in walking it our hearts glow with sacred fire. Jesus Himself joins us, and makes our hearts burn with love, and sets before us in the farthest distance a light that makes us glad. Amen. THESE LAID THE WORLD AWAY (By Rev. J. H. Jowett, D.D.) “These have I Icormted loss for Christ ” —Philipp, iii. 7. Nothing counted to the apostle Pav.l but Christ and His Kingdom. In the other scale nothing was of any appreciable weight. He put into the balance some of the things which are most fiercely coveted and treasured by the world, but they were' lighter than vanity. Tho claims of long descent, the pride of ecclesiastical privilege, the hope of worldly preferment—ail that belongs to condition and rank were firmly laid aside, as not worthy to be reckoned or named. And in all this the apostle was like his Master. For He, too, had been shown the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and He had waved them aside as having no tempting value to one whose soul is set upon spiritual goals. The Lord Jesus would not “bow down and worship” the world, however many and glittering were its offered crowns. “All these things.. if Thou!” He rejected the impious bargain. The reality and intimacy of our fellowship with Christ can be' judged by our power to lay the world away. The world is presented to us in many different forms. Sometimes it is just aJ fine alluring road, with an open way to i brilliant social triumphs, and all we have to do is to make a moral com- | promise and we are' in possession of' both the road and its goal. Burke ■ looked up this road at Bristol. Macaulay looked up this road at Edinburgh .Both could have won political victories if they had been willing to incur moral defeat, and both laid the world away! Sometimes the world approaches us in the form of ease, sometimes in leisured circumstances, sometimes in hoarded traditions, sometimes in the public display of our own griefs. And God’s call comes to us in a command to leave them, to shake our feet free from all their toils, and to step out on roads which seem to bristle with menace and hardship. “And they left all and followed Him;” Ihat is the spirit of renunciation—rather, say, that is the spirit of infinite gain. To lay the world away is sometimes like shedding a lounge coat. Some times it seems like throwing away a warm garment on a winter day. Sometimes it appears like tearing away our skin. The measure of our difficulty is the measure of our conquest. And the measure of our conquest is tho measure of the force we contribute to the army of the Lord. And the measure of nur contribution is just the measure of our capacity for entering into the joy of our Lord. We have laid the’ world away: we have entered into the inheritance of the saints in light. THE DIVINE CALL” Lovest thou Me more than these?— John xxi. 15. Jesus calls us o’er the tumult Of our life’s wild, restless sea; Day by day His sweet voice soundeth. Saying, “Christian, follow Me.” Jesus calls us from the worship Of the vain world’s golden store, From each, idol that would keep us, Saying, “Christian, love Ale more.” In our joys and in our sorrows. Days of toil and hours of ea.se, Still He calls, in cares and pleasures, “Christian, love Me more than these.” Jesus calls us! By Thy mcYcies, Saviour, may we hear Thy call. Give our hearts to Thy obedience, Serve and love Theo best of all.