RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Issue XXXVI, 21 October 1905, Page 10

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

TJEE EXALTATION OF CHRIST'S j STTEEBO3L. 1 (By Dr. George Matheson.) { i The powers of the heavens shaP be Shaken: and then shall appear the sign of jhe Son of Man in heaven. "—Matt xxir. S-J and 30. ' I When is Christ's sign to appear in heaven? Our Lord says it is when '•the powers of the heavens shall be shaker/—-Then shall appear the sign of the Pon of Man." I take Him to mean that the symbol of Christianity —the Cross—can only appear when the forces of material power have ceased to be objects of adoration. As long as tbe crushing powers of matter are looked upon with reverence there is no place for the worship of the Cross. As long as the eye of man is riveted on gigantic masses it will have no glance to spare for so unobtrusive a thing as the strength of self-denial. The Cross may be on earth, but it will not appear iit heaven—will Dot be viewed as one of the sublfme things. But when in the mind of tbe beholder the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, when the spectacle of crushing strength shall lose its glory, and the mere height of stature shall cease to be necessarily sublime, then for the first, time will be seen the glory of the Son of Man — the glory of stooping, the glory of sacrifice, the glory of self-forgetting love. The shaking need not be an outward one. It is in human estimation that the sun shall be darkened and the stars shall fall. The transition wanted is a mental one ■ —a change of opinion. Many an object which our childhood placed in heaven our manhood locates on earth; many a i thing which our childhood deemed on I earth our manhood claims for heaven. One of these latter is the Cross of j Christ. It seems, to-day, a poor thing. In comparison with the might of battalions and the force of artillery, the still small voice of resolute love appears of little weight. But when our estimate of these forces shall be shaken, when materialism shall cease, to rule our inward sky, then there shall be a change of government, and the last shall be first. Christ will be glorified. Calvary will be magnified. Pity will be exalted. Mercy will be crowned. Kind-1 ness will have a kingdom, tenderness aj tiara, sympathy a sceptre, love a lauda- | tibn—in the day when in the heart the powers of the. heavens shall be shaken. Hasten, 0 Lord, that bright and happy mora! I have been seeking in the heavens a purely physical glory. 1 have, been saying, "When I consider the heavens, what is man!" I have seen in the sky other signs than the Cross. 1 have seen Mars—the symbol of war, Mercury—the symbol of speed. Venus— the symbol of physical- beauty, Jupiter —the symbol of the lightning, Neptune —tiio symbol of the fathomless sea. I have christened no star by the name of the Cross. Why? Because 1 have thought the Cross unfit for heaven. I have heard no voice say of the sacrificial soul, "I go to the heavenly mansions to prepare a place for thee." 1 have figured war in heaven. I have figured beauty in heaven, 1 have figured wings of speed in heaven, I have figured fathomless depths iv heaven, I have figured lightning flashes of truth in

heaven; but T have thought sacrifice a sign oi earthly weakness. Reverse, the judgment of my heart, O Lord! Show ine the strength of the Lamb! Teach mc the. power of love! Reveal to mc the heroism of sacrifice! Inspire mc with the greatness of being gentle! Tell mc tbe treasures of the unselfish soul! Put a crown upon the head of the crucified! Proclaim to mc that the Christ in the manger is worthy of a star! Then shall I believe that heaven itself holds Thy Cross. Then to mc shall the world of "spirits be a world of ministration. When I have magnified the work of humanity on earth, i shall discern in the Eky the sign of the Son of Man. CHURCH NEWS AND NOTES. The Salvation Army self-denial returns for Australia, so far as they have been received, lead the authorities to believe that a record will be established this year. The fund was started in ISSB, when a sum of £1026 was raised, and from year to year the total increased until In 1904 it reached £27,358.

"The desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose" is the appropriate quotation from Isaiah on the stained glass window placed in Caunton ChuTch, Notts, to the memory of Dean Hole, for 37 years ■riear of "the parish, whtfse fame as a cultivator of roses was world-wide.

The report of the Church Missionary Society (Anglican) recently published in London for the year ended June 1, WOn, gives the following statistics: — Juunber of stations 545, number of European missionaries 1356, number of native workers 8850, number of native Christian'adherents 307,692, number of communicants 88,889, number of baptisms during the year 25,284, number ot schools and seminaries 2475. number oi native scholars and seminarists 130,239, numbeT of in-patipnts 20,013, number of out-patients 859,873.

The London "Daily Telegraph's" correspondence on the question of head I covf-rim? in church, raised by the Vicar J of Si. Crantoek, reminds a correspond- j cnt, of the. "British "Weekly" that in \ .Roman Catholic countries women are j freely permitted to enter churches with I the head uncovered. In Hungary and j Austria the peasant girls, go to Mass! without any hat or bonnet, and one sees I the same custom in country places in Germany. In Valentia and other dis- I tricts of Eastern Spain a very strict I etiquette prevails. Ladies are expected I to attend church wearing a black dress j nnd with a black mantilla on their \ heads. In a recent book of Spanish ; travel it is recorded that a departure j from this custom drew on a lady tourist \ Borne unpleasant attention. 1 Some sane things are excellently put! on the proper attitude of Christian ) people towards Biblical criticism in the I Pastoral Address of the British Wes- 1 ieyan Conference, issued last month (says the London "Christian World"), j "Methodists are fTahkVy told that, put- I ting aside the mischievous innovations j . of a few reckless extremists, the trend of modem Biblical study is decidedly \ to throw Christian -people back upon j views of Scripture which can be deduced from Scripture itself, in place of the theories which only a later tradition has evolved. A novel touch of humor occurs I bete: 'When a British and Foreign Herbert Spencer Society has published ■translations into four hundred languages, and has thereby brought civilisation to the savage, and moral uplifting to the depraved, it will be time enough to discuss a revision of tbe doctrine iof inspiration.' The Church is reminded that ia some traditonal beUeis have seemed to be weakened by modern thought, the effect his been vo make the deity of Christ, tie central tenet of Christianity." __

Reports received at the international headquarters of the Salvation Army from Colonel Eullard, the chief of the Salvationists' corps in Japan describes welcome visits paid to the sick and wounded in the hospitals and a, lavish distribution. of Bibles, etc Though some of the officials are Buddhists and Shiotoists, they are characterised as "land and helpful,"' but not "enthusiastic" Colonel BullaTd writes: "It is quite an interesting scene, after our officer has been through a ward, to see the -War Cry* fluttering all over the place, and everyone who can read doing so out aloud, as is the custom here, the fluttering of the "white wings and babel of noise being succeeded, after our officeT has departed, with a familiar Salvation Army chorus, just as you ■would hpar a crowd under similar circumstances at home sing 'Will you goF"

The Primate of India, the Right. Rev. Stephen Copleston, preaching in St. Michael's Church. London, told a good story to a crowded congregation. In the hilly districts of his diocese, said His Lordship, the people were very cheery and full of fun and laughter. But they had an extraordinary mania for carrying heavy loads on their heads. This to them wa,s a delight. "One day," proceeded the Primate, "the bead of one of the tribes saw a very smart girl, dressed in a velvet jacket, carrying an enormous load of stone strapped teTher forehead. T think I have seen you before,' he said. 'Yes, siT," replied the maiden, 'you presented mc with a prize the other day.' 'You go to school, and yet you are carrying stone?' queried the chief. With a pleasant smile the srirl answered, 'Oh, yes. I am reading "for the Cambridge local examinations, but as it was a half-holiday 1 thought I would come out and try and earn sixpence."'

In response to bis appeal for funds for the reparation oi the central tower of Canterbury Cathedral, Dean Wace has received '£11,000 towards the required amount —roughly estimated at £15,000. Some of the money subscribed will be. expended on the. solidification of the ma-sonry in different parts of the mother church, and £300 are to be laid out on the improvement of the tomb of Henry IV.

The committee of the Church Missionary Society announce that a party of three clergymen, a doctor, and two other laymen, specially qualified to give industrial instructiou, will start for the Egyptian Soudan this autumn to open a mission in the large district to which they have been invited by Lord Cromer and the Soudan Government.

The Bishop of Manchester's great mission to the holiday crowds at Blackpool is over. Dr. Knox declares it is the best holiday he has ever had, though he often preached thrice a day, besides delivering short addresses. On the Sunday afternoons his sermons on the Old and New Testaments attracted many hundreds of men. The mission has been marked by an absence of extravagance, or sensationalismu; it has been dignified, serious, and orderly. It has not emptied the churches, and has, indeed, seemed to improve their congregations.

A military gentleman who wrote to tbe "Daily Mail" (London) suggesting rifle practice ou Sundays, as a remedy against laziness amongst a certain class of the community, has come m for a rather bad time of it at the hands of many correspondents-—clerical and lay. "It would," says one correspondent, "have been a much nobler idea to have suggested the practice of 'knee-drill' on Sundays. There is a heady too much of the spirit of frivolity rampant in our Empire without introducing any such nonsense as rifle practice on Sundays."

The Bishop of Carlisle, speaking recently at the opening of Scaleby Church, near Carlisle, said he could not imagine a state of things, in religious as in other matters, in which people should think and believe alike; and, therefore, he for one did not desire reunion between the Church of England and the various Churches in Christendom in present circumstances. When be thought of the appalling condition of Russia and the little that had been done by the countless priests for the people, certainly he did not desire reunion with what was called the Orthodox Church. He had nothing to say against Roman Catholics, but he did not desire reunion with the Church, as it had existed since tbe Council of Trent. Again, as to the Nonconformists, he did not desire corporate union with them. Yvhat be desired was that God would favour all religious bodies with hallowing power, so that goodness and true religion might increase and spread in the land.

The necessity of a "seven days' religion" as distinguished from a "seventhday piety," a religion that works itself out in the mutual relations of an employer and his men, a mistress and her servants, that will govern the principles of a business house, a school, a Town Council and every imaginable sphere of permissible activity is strongly enforced in the recent British Wesleyan pastoral. Special attention is called to the need ot importing this spirit into ' every form of harmless amusement and recreation. The claiming foT Christ of I the amusements of the people is said to be one of the most difficult and necessary duties of the Christian to-day, and religious people are warned against leaving the saloon, the betting ring, the low theatre, and music, hall to provide tbe ' recreations of the masses. Everything that is debasing or doubtful should be I shunned by Christian people, but, they are exhort.cd to draw others to shun them by providing what is better—merj riment with the ring of health and purity in it, laughter which will be "welcome to the Father's ears."

Lord Avebury, in the "Nineteenth Century,"' writes on "The Recent Increase in Sunday Trading." After Yvscussing the Sunday Closing Bill, "on the grounds of health and happiness," and speaking from the standpoint of its supporters, he says: "We do not, howeve.!, ignore the strong religious grounds on which it appeals to the conscience of the nation. It has been supported by numerous petitions from religious bodies and congregations. I have been acting in consultation with His Grace the Arch"bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of 1 London, and the Bishop of Southwark, who acted on the committee. One I day's rest in seven—rest for the body i and rest for the mind—has from time ! immemorial been found of supreme importance from the point of view of health. But rest of the spirit is even more necessary. Philosophers, theologians, and men of business in all ages have agreed that every man ought to be Iset free on one day in the -week to study, to pray, and to thjnjt* to ex- | amine his own life, his conduct, and his I opinions; to lift his mind and thoughts from the labours and cares, from the petty but harassng worries and troubles lof everyday life, and of this splendid, | but complex and mysterious world, and to raise them to tbe calmer and nobler, J tbe higher and purer Tegions of Heaven 1 above."