PULPIT VOICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 105, 6 May 1929, Page 11

PULPIT VOICES.

"BIBLE SUNDAY" OBSERVED. BRITISH AND FOREIGN SOCIETY. GREAT WORK THROUGHOUT WORLD. In all parts of the British Empire yesterday was regarded as "Bible Sunday," a day on which thanksgiving was offered for the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society in publishing the sacred scriptures in many languages and in circulating them in all parts of the world. Many appreciative references were made in Auckland pulpits in the course of yesterday's services. Speaking at the Dominion Road Methodist Church in the morning and at St. David's Presbyterian Church in the | evening, the Rev. David Calder, Dominion secretary of the society, gave an interesting review of the efficiency, economy and absolute devotion to a great cause which had characterised the members of the committee in charge of the affairs of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Starting just 125 years ago, because it was clearly shown that Bibles were so rare and costly that only the very wealthy could possess copies, today the committee controlled an output that actually numbered 11,500,000 in its last year of operation. As servants of the Christian public of the British Empire the committee had set as its definite goal to publish the Bible or some part of it in every form of human speech and in such numbers that they were available for all men everywhere. An inflexible rule had been established that no note or comment on holy writ must be found on the society's Bibles and this had made possible a union of all the churches, both in the Homeland and in the fields of foreign missionary activity. The Scriptures, the speaker said, were supplied to missionaries on s<uch conditions that no part of their cos-t fell on the exchequers of the mission boards, while also much of the selling of the books was done by the society's colporteurs. Nearly 1000 of these travelling packmen were on the staff; and in one year they disposed of over 6,000,000 copies by sale. In so doing they journeyed into the most distant lands of the earth, both east and west. The Bible Society was not a competitor with other missionary societies. Rather was it a binding link, placing in the hands of all the printed gospel message, without which their own service would be incomplete. To carry on its activities the society had established about 50 Bible houses and many depots in the strategic points of the earth's population and these were equipped with staffs of business and linguistic experts. The income of the society now stood at over £400,000 a year and of this sum New Zealand contributed about fSOOO. It was estimated, however, that to keep the foreign missionaries of all the Dominion's Churches supplied in the Scriptures necessary to their work overseas, the society was expending at least £9000 per annum. Fortunately" the gifts from New Zealand were growing from year to year and a definite effort was now being made to put the Dominion on the sunny side of the ledger. The preacher went on to give instances of the value of the Scriptures in winning men to the Christian faith and called his hearers to the service of true prayer that the activities of the society might be richly blessed of Almighty God.

BEAUTIFUL GARDENS. A large congregation listened with close attention yesterday morning at St. Paii|'s Church, Devonport, when ithe Rev. Lawson Marsh preached oil the subject, of "The Garden of God." Describing the beautiful gardens of the Eastern peoples in Bible days, and mentioning the gardens cultivated by the higher grade Chinese in qyr own days, the preacher said that in western lands there had been a falling away from the lovely gardens of other lands. It was true that we had many very beautiful public gardens, but these were for promenade and show, and were different from some of the gardens connected with some of the old estates in the Homeland. Many of the gardens of to-day were just a floral df-coration in front, a shadow of the real thing, for they had nothing of the retreat of the real garden. People to-day, the preacher said, seemed to have more interest in roads than in gardens. People did long for something li'>e a garden, and the garden scheme of things. All the trend of modern times was to make a desert and wilderness of life and the deep worth of lovely things was encroached upon and lost. To make the desert blossom like the rose was the most important work in the world to-day. The first garden was associated with man and the last garden referred to in the Bible referred to the final happiness of our race. God was the great gardener of the universe. As God's word got out to the world the unholy passions and all the blight which came to man would be checked to let in love, meekness and temperance, and all the fruits of the spirit. The barrenness of peoples' gardens was often the emblem of the barrenness of their hearts. The world would be better when everyone cultivated a garden and plucked out the weeds to make way for beautiful flowers. ADAM AND HIS MESSAGE. At the Church of Christ, West Street, I Pastor Campbell spoke on "Adam and His Message for To-day." Believing firmly that the third chapter of Genesis was literal history, the speaker stated that when one really pondered upon it, the chapter was found to be most tender, and tragic, and touching. The first man and woman—a truly noble and exquisite creation, drawn to each other in a pure affection —found themselves in ideal surroundings. But the suggestions of the arch-enemy threw their minds out of balance. The one prohibition of God now loomed up beyond all His bounty, and Eve gave way; but in the moment of attainment, the glamour, burst like a bubble. So was every harmful but apparently desirable attraction still. But "God loved the world" then as well as now. He mercifully proTided the guilty pair with durable clothing, to replace the miserable covering of their own making; and, instead of inflicting death that day, Adam was spared for 930 years. So was it still. God's mercy was open to all. Our own goodness was insufficient, but in Christ righteousness was provided for us. Our natural lives seldom reached 100 years, but God had provided life abundantly to all who believed in His Son; for "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." • * »

MEANING OF THE CROSS. Preaching in Pitt Street Methodist Church last evening, Rev. W. Walker took for his subject "Living Heroically," basing hi s remarks on Luke ix.: 23. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The preacher stated that these words of Jesus contained the marks of true discipleship. •Jesus never hoodwinked people into becoming His followers. He made discipleship a daring adventure, a staking of one's life that Jesus was the Divine Son of God. Some people had interpreted self-denial to mean the observance of certain fast days, and the imposing of penances upon the body. The demand, of Jesus, however, was much more rational, and went far deeper into life. Man had a two-fold nature, the higher, consisting of conscience, reason and the moral sense; the lower, consisting of the appetites, and the affections, which he shared with the animal creation. When appetite said: "Thi 3 will give me pleasure," and conscience declared it to be sinful, the will must side with conscience or the inner harmony would be destroyed. These were two claimants for the throne of man's will, Jesus and self. Self-denial, therefore, was to deny the rule of selfishness as the guiding principle in life. Dealing with the cross, the preacher stated that many people had at best a hazy idea concerning its true meaning. They spoke of hardships and misfortunes and the cares of life as "crosses." This was not the meaning of Jesus. The distinguishing feature of the cross was that it was always voluntary. It was this fact which made the death of Jesus not a martyrdom, but a sacrifice. The cross, was not so much an object of faith as it was an experience of the soul. Merely to say: "I believe that Jesus died on the Cross" did not transform character; but to belieA'e in the redemption of Christ to the point of givin" one's self for others did lift one into union with God. This was the heroic ministry to which Jesus was calling His followers to-day. Reference was made to the self-sacrific-ing work of Father Damien on behalf of the lepers on the Island of Moko«ai and an earnest plea was put forth that followers of Jesus should adventure their lives 011 behalf of others.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. "Everlasting Punishment" was the subject of the lesson sermon in the Church of Christ, Scientist. The golden text was from Psalms cxlvi:9:—"The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down." Among the citations which comprised the lesson sermon was the following from the Bible: '"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."—Galations vi:7, 8. The lesson sermon also included the following passage from the Christian textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," by Marv Baker Eddy: "Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastitv, re\ enge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness and success. They will deliver you to the judge, the arbiter of truth against error." The judge will deliver you to justice, and the sentence of the moral law will le executed upon mortal mind and boly. Bull will be manacled until the last far:li'i is paid, until you have balanced votir account with God. 'Whatsoever h man soweth, that shall he also reap.' The good man finally can overcome his fear of sin. This is sin's necessity, to destroy itself. Immortal man demonstrates the government of God, good, in which is no power to sin." EAST AND WEST. Preaching at Avondale, the Rev. C. B. Jordan commented on a recent statement of the new Archbishop of York, who had drawn attention to a popular fallacy regarding the differences between Eastern and Western nations. The main difference between them was not due to the respective characteristics of East and West. It was mainly the same as the difference between Israel and heathen nations in ancient days. Religion and righteousness were coupled together in Western nations, and righteousness was considered the principal business of life, i.e., by the leading men in those nations. The Western nations had received this characteristic from ancient Israel, Israel had got it from Moses and the prophets, and these latter in their turn had received it through the method of Divine revelation. Hence the real contrast was not between East and West, but between the countries where the Bible had had a strong influence and the countries where its influence was weak or negligible. The main distinguishing feature of the New Testament religion was the '"love" philosophy. Even the Western world wa3 somewhat slow in taking this seriously, for even the civilisation of Britain was based more on Moses than on Christ. All the same, in so far as real Christianity, or the "love" philosophy) had been tried it had proved a success in building up the life of nations, communities and individuals, and also in promoting peace. The Apostle Paul's dictum, "Love never faileth," would prove to be true in future experience. The preacher expressed his unbounded faith in the practical efficiency of Christianity to mould and shape the life of nations as well as of individuals.

MEMORIAL BAPTISMAL FONT. In the presence of a large congregation at St. Matthew's yesterday morning Archbishop Averill consecrated the new memorial baptismal font which perpetuates the memory of the late Mr. J. W. Leigh, who was associated with the church for 20 years. His Grace congratulated Mr. J. W. Andrews on his artistic designing and carving of the font. Subsequently three infants, whose grandparents are the oldest parishioners, were baptised in the new font. At St. Matthew's last evening a service of thanksgiving was conducted by the vicar, the Rev. Canon Grant Cowen.

CALL TO CANON JAMES. Canon Percival James made reference in the course of his sermon at St. Mary's Cathedral yesterday morning to the call which he has accepted to St. Paul's ProCathedral, Wellington. The call, he said, was quite unexpected, hut it wa s couched in such strong terms that despite the fact that he had made arrangements to go to England for a, holiday he felt it his duty to accept. Canon James said he would leave Auckland this week for a holiday in Dunedin, but he would return here for a Sunday before taking up his new duties. V'

SERVICE OF DEDICATION. An impressive service of dedication was conducted yesterday afternoon by Archbishop Averill in connection -with the opening of the new church hall in Muidoch Road, Mount Albert, as a place of worship for people in that portion of St. Luke's parish. There was a full congregation. The archbishop said that for some time a more convenient place of worship had been warranted for that particular part of the parish. He paid a tribute to the generosity of the late Mr. A. C. Caughey, who had contributed half the value of the site. Local donations had totalled between £200 and £300, and the new hail was built by the aid of the church extension fund. At present there was a debt of £900 on the building and section, but eventually it was hoped to erect a vicarage on the property. The speaker paid a tribute to the designer and builder, Mr. W. Weaver, remarking that the hall was one of the best structures of its kind erected since the inauguration of the extension fund. The Archbishop dedicated the sanctuary alone, leaving the hall to be used for social purposes and for a Sunday school. His grace was assisted in the service by Archdeacon H. A. Hawkins, the Rev. A. J. Beck, vicar of St. Luke's, and the Rev. A. Drake, vicar of St. June's. Mr. Beck will conduct services in the hall every Sunday. CLERGY'S REFRESHER COURSE. On Monday, May 27, the annual refresher course for the Anglican clergy in the Auckland Diocese will be opened at King's College with an introductory address by Canon H. K. Archdall, while on the following day a devotional address will be given by Archbishop Averill. Holy Communion will be celebrated daily, and lectures on religious topics will be given by the Revs. W. G. Monckton, R. H. Hobday, H. T. Steele, E. E. Bamford, R. G. Coats, H. A. Coleman, F. G Harvie and F. C. Long. The course will conclude on Friday, 31st inst.