Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-03
Christian Endeavor Hour
Conducted by Grace Livingston Hill-Lutz.

For Sunday, November 4, 1906.
Topic: The Blesselness of Communion With
Christ" Consecration Meetng.) John 14:15-2G.
TO- If We love me, keep my command
ments
16 And I pray the Father, and He shall
give you another Comforter, that He may
abide with you forever.
II. Even the Spirit of TRUTH whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth Him
not, neither knoweth Him; but We know
Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall
be in you.
49, 1 will not leave you comfortless: 1
will come to you.
49, Yet a little while and the world seeth
me no more; but we me; because 1 live,
ye shall live also.
90 At that day ye shall know that l am
in my Father. and We in me, and in you.
81 He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he 1t is that loveth me: and
he that loveth me shall be loved of my
| Father, and l will love him and will mani
| fest myself to him.
| %. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest
myself unto us and not unto the world?
%. Jesus answered and said unto him:
If man love me he will keep my words.
and my Father will love him, and we will
! come unto him and make our abode with
| him.
~ he tHdt lONetN me not keepeth not
my sayings; and the word which we hear
| is not mine, but the Fathers which sent
me-
! -. These things have I spoken unto you,
being yet present with you.
| 20. But the Comforter which Is the Holy
| Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, He shall teach you all things and
bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever l have said unto you.
The Lesson.
Communion with God is the great fact
of life." says Hugh Black.
And again Religion is not an accept
| ance of a creed or burden of command
| ments, but personal secret of the soul, to
be attained, each man for himself. 1t is
the experience of the nearness of God, the
| mysterious contact with the Divine and the
consciousness that stand in a special
individual relationship with Him. =
AL religious experience has had this in
common that somehow the soul is so pos
sessed by God that doubt of His existence
ceases, and the task of life becomes to
keep step with Him, that there may
be correspondence between the outer and
/ inner conditions of life. The soul
| that Is bound by this personal attachment
| TO Jesus has q life in the eternal, which
transfgures the life in time with a great
! joy. The human means of COM
municaton is prayer, though we limit it
| sadly Prayer is not an act of worship
merely, the bending of the knee on set oc-
1 caSionS and Offering petitions in need 1t
/ is an attitude of soul. opening the life on
! the Godward side, and keeping free COM
| munication with the world of spirit. And
| so 1t is possible to pray always and to
keep our friendship ever green and sweet;
| and God comes back upon the life, as dew
upon the thirsty ground There is an inter-
! change of feeling, responsiveness of love,
| a thrill of mutual friendship"
| Marcus Dods, in speaking of this chapter,
| says What do we find in Christ? We
| find perfection of moral character, superior
| ity to circumstances, to the clements to
disease, to death. We find in Him one
| who forgives sin and brings peace of con-
! science, who bestows the Holy Spirit and
| leads to perfect righteousness. We cannot
, imagine anything in God which is not made
| present to us in Christ. In any part of
| the universe we should feel secure with
| Christ. In the most critical spiritual emer-
| gency we should have confidence that He
| in the spiritual world He is equally at home
| and equally commanding. We Believe
| Him when He says that he that has seen
| Him has seen the Father. Unless
| a man can find some real connection be-
| tween himself and God, unless he can rely
| upon receiving inward support from God,
| he feels that there is nothing which can
| truly be called salvation"
| Andrew Murray says:
| There are branches in close communion
| in unbroken communion, with the vine,
| from January to December. And cannot
| I live every day-it is to me almost ter
! rible thing that should ask the ques-
| tion-cannot l live in abiding communion
| with the heavenly Vine? You say: But
| am so much occupied with other things
| You may have ten hours hard work daily
| during which your brain has to be occupied
| with temporal things; God orders it SO. But
the abiding work is the work of the heart
| not of the brain. the work of the heart
| clinging to and resting in Jesus. a work
| in which the Holy Spirit links us to Christ
Jesus. Oh, do believe that deeper down