ST. ANDREW'S.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 186, 19 August 1901, Page 2

ST. ANDREW'S.

The Rev. Dr. Marshall, one of the j delegates from the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, to the, j General Assembly of the Australian i Presbyterian Church, preached at St. Andrew's Church last evening, from : Phil ii. 21: "For all seek their own,: not the things which are Christ's. The' minister said it was a sad state of affairs which the Apostle described, ; but if he could come into our churches nowadays, and look into our daily; life, he would, he feared, see some-! thing similar to that existing in the. Church of Philippi. "They seek their | own," practically, devotedly, con- j stantly, and with all the energies of ; body and mind. They were not half- j hearted; they sought to get, to keep, j to increase. They made their plans I to compass their purposes* There was j no higher compliment could be paid j a man than to say he was prudent. { Did they in the same way act as re-; gards "the things of Christ?" Did! they show a like devotion, and per-; eistency? Different men had differ-1 ent aims; in some cases it was money,, ambition, position, the esteem of ourj fellows —we seek our own things. They cared nothing for the advancement of Christ's kingdom, that teem-| ing mfllions of Chinese had never! heard of the name of Christ—that the missionaries of India had hardly touched the fringe of Hindu life, and that they still worshipped idols. The members of the Christian Church were supposed to be the servants of Christ, but if they had a servant who was always busied about his own affairs j and his own things, and paid little i attention to the business of the master, they would discharge him. Yet there were many members of the Christian Church who acted as inconsiderately and indifferently as that servant. What were the strifes between capital and labour but arising from all "seeking their own," without! regard to the welfare of each other? The outsider looking upon the divisions and rivalries of the Christian j Church would say as he looked upon it, "See how-these Christians love one another." i

In the evening Dr. Whitelaw, in St. James' pulpit, preached upon the exceeding things mentioned by the Apostle Paul, the exceeding sinfulness of man's sin, the exceeding rich ness of God's grace, the exceeding greatness of the divine power, and the exceeding greatness of heaven's glory. The sinfulness of'man was frequently underrated even by Christian people. Generally it was considered n trifle, but no sensible man, remembering the greatness of divine love, and the wickedness of man could doubt its enormity. The grace of God was a theme which kindled the enthusiasm of the Apostle. Among the considerations that had aroused the enthusiasm of the Apostle none had more effect than when God proposed the redemption of mankind, and the tremendous sacrifice at which that was accomplished. The grandeur of the salvation, its fullness and security, presented themselves to the Apostle's mind and had awakened in him a perfect tumult of emotion. Then the exceeding power of the divine spirit worked npon the mind of the Apostle, kindling a similar (fervour. The last theme which awakened the enthusiasm of the Apostle was the exceeding greatness of heaven's glory. This could not be spoken of by any preacher from personal experience, for eye had not seen nor ear heard nor the mind conceived the glory prepared. Nevertheless, as depicted in Scripture, it was an overpowering glory and honour and felicity. In conclusion the preacher stated that the three things were inseparable, the cradle of grace, the cross of godliness and the crown of glory. He who would win the Crown must lie in the cradle and bear the burden of the cross. At the conclusion of Ma sermon the preacher stated *he great satisfaction it had given

i him to preach to an Auckland congre- i nation. He had met many f riends \ < from the Homeland in Auckland. He j had a particular interest in the pro- | gress of the country and in the welfare of the citizens. Over in Australia the problem was agitating the minds of men how to make a white Australia. He had no objection to ; the presence of brown men or yellow j men in Australia or New Zealand, but < the problem which the people of both j countries had to face was the. securing of a morally white Australia and New Zealand. He hoped the Divine bless- , ing would descend on the colonies, , and trusted that prosperity would be ( enjoyed by both. He had many friends in Auckland, and in time to come he j would look back with pleasure to the 1 happy hours he had spent in their j midst.

must train ourselves in honesty and competence. The people of New Zealand have it in their power to say whether these fair lands shall be ruled in righteousness or become the prey of ignorance and greed and selfseeking, whether they shall in their laws and policy give God His rights or drive Jlira forth as an alien.