RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 15, 17 January 1914, Page 14

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

THE OPEN CO___d rT JNIO"N. (Sermon preached by the REV. W. BEATTY, at St. Mark's Church, ; Remuera, on January 4, 1914.) ;■ " 11 ■--: — i. Eomans iv„ 9, 10.—"For we say that faith j was reckoned unto Abraham for righteous- j ness. How was it, then reckoned? When . he was in r-ireuuicision or iv uncirr-nm- ! cisiouV >'ot in circumcision, but iv uu.-lr- j cunicision." One of the most momentous questions that a mau can ask himself is this: How can I, a sinner, be made righteous before God? Two answers in the main have been uud are given. .One that by the infliction of penances and mortifications, the offering of gifts and sacrifice's, tie performance of rites, ■ ceremonies, works of one sort or another, men can appease-. God's wrath, and purchase his favour. This notion lies at the root, and forms the strength of, all priestcraft, —heathen, Jewish, or Christian. The other is that we are utterly umable to atone for our past sins, or to be righteous iv the present and in the future; that we cannot bribe God | with His own gifts: that there is no | need to make this vain and presumptu- I ous 'attempt, since He is righteous and meroiful, and srhow.s His righteousness I and His mercy by justifying the un- j godly —counting righteous and making j righteous tho.-e who can have no J righteousness of their own. To trust in ; such a God, to cast ourselves as we are ; entirely on Him, is to be justified, re- j stored to our just and right and proper | position as children of God. This belief is the parent of all manliness, courage, ■honesty, truth, freedom. And this faith which justifies, saves from sin, and enables us to please God by doing good work —good in principle, iv motive, in spirit, in intent, as well as in external appearance —this iaitb is not acceptance of a system ■of doctrines, but trust in a Jiving Person. Abraham's stock of theology was very limited. He was ignorant of truths which are known to every well-instructed Christian child. But "he believed God. He trusted in His almighty power, His steadfast faithfulness, His perfect righteousness, and he showed his trust by unhesitating obedience even to a command that seemed most painful and terrible. And so, though like the rest of us in himself he was but a. frail, mortal, sinful man, %vith no stock of righteousness that he could call his' own and boast of, he was counted righteous by Him Whose judgment is always according to justice and

truth. Faith is - only, ; the recognition j audi ' ajccepitansre of - what... 'js the | acknowledgment of our trt%;ir|*a;tk>n to I God,' -"of His unchangeable '-character and. purpose. Unbelief- is'the denial- of j ivhat Is'T superstition is the-belief in what is hot. The man whose- eyes are good -sees -tilings -as they reallv'are; tbe I man who is blind' sees nothing at all -, the man whose, brain "is. .diseased, sees | t"_rujs7tb_t.:b : ave no; existence,; j."And._so j faith-,trust 111 a'loving J ;'giopd,,;gracious, ' righteous';.Gofl.'.3*f "simply .out right -and | normal condition as reasonable men. : Want of faith is a departure from our true human state. Hence the Bible, from first to last, teaches us to trust in God; sets before us sure grounds and solid Teasons for entire and undaubtmg trust. The ordinances of the Old Covenant, the ordinances of the New, are one and all encouragements to -faith. Abraham, St. "Paul tells us, received tbe sign "of circonwrision, a seal of the righteousness of the -faith which he had, yet being ttncircumcisoil. It was at once a pledge of God's perpetual mercy to him, and to his seed after him, and a. reminder that he and they, if they would keep their faith, must cut themselves off from all those .worldly and carnal lusts which ■w-cruld alienate them rfrom Cod and bide Him -from the rye -of their spirit. In the case of Abraham himself, faith preceded the covenant rite; in the case of bis posterity the rite would be received before they weTe able to -believe, because rt .would be to them an abiding sign and pledge of the presence with them of One in Whom they could believe Now, the Jews in "time came to aifcach an alto-

gether false meaning te circumcision. . They regarded it as a isere badge _of • their separation from and superiority . to _» rest oi mankind, and made it not the warrant for bumble -faith, but the pretext for .pride and self-glorification. Hen-re tbe need for St. Paul's reasoning in this epistle. One of the subtlest and deadliest temptations which 'beset the heart of man is to suppose that the ultimate distinction which God' makes, and .which we are to make, is between one ch_s 0"f persons and another, and not between the good' and tbe evil which dwell side by side in greater or less degree in each person, so long as he is in tbe flesh. If we yield to that temptation our conscience becomes blinded, our repentance shallow and unreal, presumption takes the place, of faith, harshness of charity, pride of humility, carelessness of watchfulness, and Whatever church we belong to we aTe sectarians in the worst sense of the word, for we ©ut ourselves off from our brother-men in love, in reverence, in sympathy, in goodwill, in hope, and therefore it is that when we come to church we are moved and bidden to confess not. the sins of -heathen, atheists, heretics, profligates, -but our own sins, and to say after each of tbe Ten Commandments: Lord have mercy upon us foT our transgressions in trine p-ast, and incline our hearts to 'keep this law for the time to come. Now, just as tbe Jews made circumcision a sign of their separation from the , rest of mankind, and of their superiority to the uncircumcised, we may likewise I pervert the meaning of the Christian sacraments and tbe other ordinances of j th<k Church. One of our Articles recognises this danger and warns us against it. It says: "Sacraments ordained of. Christ ibe'not only badges or tokens of Christian men's' profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of. grace and God's goodwill towards ns. by the which he doth work invisibly in us, _ and -dotb not only, quicken, but also strengthen and'confirm our -faith in Him." Arid the whole teaching of the Prayer Boole leaves us in no doubt as to those who are the objects of God's grace .and ooodwill of which the Sacraments be.ir witness. Tt was "man's nature," not the nature of Anglicans, "tbit Christ took in the womb of the Blessed Virgin." it wi- "for man." and not for Anglicans, that "God.made His.Blessed Son to.be o'rriimrised7 and, obedient to the law." It was"-of tender love towards mankind." and not towards ' Anglicans, that "He sent His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon Him our flesh, arid to suffer death upon the Cross, that' all mankind," and not Anglicans, "should follow the example of His great humility." "The full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction which Christ made on the Cross" was "for the sins of the Whole world," and not for the sins of Anglicans, And yet bis_o.ps arc aw*_sed of _er_ey and

threatened with legal pains and penalties because they admitted to the rite which commemorates this Sacrifice . Christian ! men, earnest and true believers, whose l only fault was that" they had not j received the ordinance of Confirmation, |-wh'ch is not a Sacrament appointed, by Christ, but, at tbe most, an apostolic practice. A hard and rigid adherence 'to rules always blinds the eyes of ecdei siastics to the boundless, universal love I and goodness and mercy of God, to the | ! claims of their fellow men in their . i brotherly kindness, sympathy and fel- : lows-hip. The words of Christ to the I j Pharisees still 'have an awful and searching power: "Go ye and learn what that mcaneth. I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." We have need to learn, that the Church, like the Sabbath, was made for man, and not man for the Church, that the Son of Man is Lord of tbe Church, as He is Lord of the Sabbath. We are bound to hold fast all truths, principles and practices which are needful for the complete building up of the Church, for the salvation of mankind. But we are equally bound to remember that the Church is not an exclusive corporation, possessing a monopoly of God's grace and favour, hut the witness to His fatherly goodwill and kindne«3 towards all whom He has created in His own i image, and redeemed by the blood of | His Son." J CHURCH SEWS AND NOTES. The Eev. Morse, who is temporarily in i charge of the Epiphany Parish during [ the absence of the vicar. Rev. W. E. ! Lush, will shortly join the Melanesian ' Mission. I Referring to the diminishing population of the South Sea Islands. Bishop Wilson states that extermination began long before the arrival of the missionaries, as was proved by the long-deserted villages and large tracts of land, and by their own stories and traditions, by the awful devastation he had himself witnessed under the raids of the -head hunt- , ' ers, and by the decimating labour traffic, ■which cost Bishop Patteson his life in • 1871, by epidemics such as measles and ! in'SVueuza, often introduced by traders | and labour vessels —seldom, indeed, by ;' the missionaries—and at the present i time to the unnatural food and the grog , often supplied to the black labour on .the plantations. y I So successful has been tbe Chapman- , Alexander mission in Glasgow, that the , j Zoo building, capable of holding between , j six and seven thousand people, has been I secured, and another five weeks of set- . ; vices are to -be -held at the close of the _ i mission in Edinburgh, j Dr. John R. Mott stated in England . i that more students commit suicide in

Kussia than in all the rest of the world. . The Rev. F. A. "Russell, oi Southport, at the annual meeting, of. the Hull and District Free Church Council demanded that the Churches should denounce as r the chief of modern sins the renunciation of parenthood, which meant race suicide. The United Synod of North Melbourne District Methodists has passed resolutions expressing strong disapproval at the establishment of the Stadium in , West Melbourne, and at boxing contests, ! which have been so numerous of late. ■ It urged the authorities to do their ut- : most to suppress this growing evil, and also . Sunday picture shows, and other forms-of public entertainment I .run for financial gain. There are 740 ministers in the United Free Church of Scotland with salaries of less than £200. Professor John Edward Lloyd, M.A., of the University College of North Wales , has been given by the Honourable Society I of Cymmrodorion a special presentation j in recognition of his distinguished ser- j vices to Welsh literature. " Professor | Lloyd is chairman erf the English Congregational Union of North Wales. | The Rev. J. Morgan Jones, JVLA., has resigned the pastorate of the Congregational Church of Aberdare to take up the duties -of professor of Church history at Bangor Independent College. After 34 years' work in Madagascar, the Rev. T. 'and Mrs. Rowlands have returned to En<glandDr. Grenfell, the Labrador missionary, was best man at the wedding of the daughter of President Woodroffe Wilson. The explanation is that the bridegroom, Mr. Sayre, served two summers in Dr. Gren'feli's hospital boat on the coast of

Labrador. " Uncompromising determination to , ■ make dogmatic orthodoxy come into line j with truth, sectarian bigotry yield to | ' Christian love, sacerdotalism surrender i its pretensions at the bar of history and experience, the ideal of the service of humanity in the Spirit of Christ replace that of service to ecclesiastical eorporatiens " —is the programme of the Broad Cburch party, as set forth in the " Modern Churchman." Before leaving Trinity Church, Glasgow, Dr. John Hunter was presented by members of bis congregation and by other friends with the sum of £3,517. At present the great teacher is staying j at Bordighera, hoping by a year's rest | to recover strength again. From the chair of the National Council I of American Congregational Churches, '. held at Kansas, Dr. Nehemiah Boynton, the Moderator, made some frank re- j marks about mechanical evangelism, j " We are confronted with the problem of . evangelism," he said, "and our co-opera-tion is continually asked for all forms | and kinds of religious activity. There ! is ' the mechanical evangelism, relying, upon pious tricks as worthy con- | servators of the works of God. There is , blatant evangelism, relying upon coarse- . ness of speech, vulgarity of manner, , horseplay, and tbe caricaturing of re- | ligious lives, as methods of collecting I crowds and opening to immortal souls I the .gates of the Kingdom of God. These j are "extensively advertised, and _ often I one's personal allegiance to Christ is, , in the esteem of some, conditioned upon j the'fellowshipping and pushing these religious undertakings." The various committee reports of the work 'accomplished at Onebunga Congregational Church indicate great progress during the year just closed. The number of communicants was increased by 20, which constitutes "a record. Whoever is chosen as -pas-tor '-for 1914 in success to the Rev. J. 11. Mackenzie will have a good 'start. The general committee of the Men's Own Brotherhood (a very representative body of men) met in quarterly meeting at Pukekohe on Wednesday, there being present: Mr. E. Allan (president), Rev. E. P. Btamires and Mr. J. B. Brown (vice-presidents), Messrs, Conn Patter;,sgn, J. Hunter, J. Bel-bouse, H. Short 'aridTjVPilkington .'(secretary). Reports Ton the meetings and income for the past quarter were presented, and .arrangements made for the ensuing four months. I' Chancellor Prescobt, at Carlisle County j Court, 'has refused to grant a faculty . | empowering the vicar of Hawkeshead 1 Parish CbuTch, to enlarge tbe Sandys' I chapel to make room for a recumbent figure in memory of tbe late Colonel Sandys, which cost £1,500. The ground for tbe refusal is that it would grievi. ously Interfere with the architecture of . an ancient ctaircb.