The Penn's Grove record., 1911-04-14
A PRAYER
FOR YOU
By REV. STEPHEN PAULsON

TEXT-For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father that Christ may
dwell In your hearts by faith.-Eph. III:
4:17.
This is part of a prayer of st. Paul
for his people. Paul was in a Roman
prison. The liberty of his movements
was restrained; he was in a stone cell,
and he was chained to a Roman sol
dier-but his prayers were not
chained.
st. Paul says: "The prayer OF a
righteous man availeth much" and
there are surely more things wrought
by prayer than we ever imagine. l
tell you 1t is worth while having n
who carries you on his heart to such
an extent that he prays for your safety
and welfare. When Lots family was
in danger Abraham prayed until God
promised them safety. When the Ephe-
sian church was going through the
fires of persecution, Paul sent up pray
ers IN their behalf from his prison cell.
When Peter was in danger of backslid-
ing, Jesus prayed for him: "Simon.
Simon, behold Satan hath desired to
have thee, but l have prayed for thee
that thy faith fail not"
Do not many faithful pastors send
up prayers, as Paul did, for the
churches committed to their care? Do
they not pray for the homes of the con
~gregation and for individuals who are
going through some trial and for the
young people who are starting out into
life? And now as of old, the prayer
Of a true, sincere man availeth much.
service which is very often overlook
ed and yet Is of the first Importance.
What a fine thing 1t was for the Ephe-
slams to have st. Paul praying for
them upon every remembrance. Al
though he was far away, he was still
their pastor.
But for what did he pray? Did he
pray that they might live in comfort
and ease and have plenty? Did he
pray that they might be free from per-
secution and that the church might
grow without hindrance? That, prob
ably would have been our prayer I'M
der like circumstances. But his pray
er vas THAT Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith"
How wonderfully comprehensive
that prayer is when we begin to an
alyze it. Oh, it takes the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit to make a prayer
like that. 1t takes insight into the
deep things of God, and into the
needs of the human hearts.
Do you think that there Is anything
you need more than that? Do you
not honestly think that that would
make most things right which are
wrong, would bind up broken hearts,
would heal things that hurt, and drive
out evil things which are spelling your
life? Yes, you know it, and know
1t, SO let our prayers be that Christ
may dwell in our hearts by faith.
This is the substance of your faith.
A better and more comprehensive
definition Of our religion could not be
given. It contains the whole of
Christianity as the acorn contains the
oak.
The whole Jewish law had its d.
vine inspiration, its secret spirit, but
1t was hidden In a vast system Of
forms. Christ said, Il come not to
destroy but to fulfill" and the true
spirit of the law was seen in him. In
winter an old apple tree is homely,
gnarled and twisted. But in spring
when it is covered with blossoms
there is nothing more beautiful. So
the old Jewish law blossoms into
beauty and comes to fruit in Jesus
Christ.
Christianity is not a system Of
laws, but a state of the heart. Christ
in a man-that is the Christian relig-
ION. 1t is Christ dwelling In the
heart by faith, and then a man be-
gins to know the length and the
breadth and height and depth Of the
love of Christ which passeth knowl-
edge. Outside Of personal expert
ence, Christianity is pale as a lunar
rainbow.
There are three of expe-
rience by which Christ may come to
man-sight, intellect, the heart. To
have seer Christ was deemed of great
Importance in the early days. Those
who had seen Jesus possessed a GER
tain distinction, Paul, defending his
apostleship, says, Have l not seen
him?" But how meager was the
Christian life of those days COM
pared with that of later ages, and did
not Jesus pronounce a blessing on
those who had not seen and yet
believed?
Christ may BIO presented to a mans
intellect. There are certain facts to
be- known and understood concerning
lin. but there are also many that are
beyond our understanding. Creeds
sum up a few great facts of our relig-
ion. Not that the repetition of a
creed will mako anyone a Christian.
hit a creed is like the astronomers
telescope. He sweeps the heavens
to find a particular star. BY and by
the telescope brings 1t to his eye.
II ia not the instrument that sees the
star. but the mans eye. A blind man
could not see the heavenly bodies
with a telescope, no matter how pow
erful it might be. So a creed may
bring facts to your intellect, but it
takes the heart to apprehend and in
terpret them.
therefore Paul prayed for the Epba-
SLAMS not greater knowledge, but that
Christ might dwell in their hearts by
faith. For the heart may embrace
Christ with an enthusiasm of love.
even though the intellectual percep-
ton be imperfect and vague.
Facing Away From Shadows.