A GOSPEL WITH POWER.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

A GOSPEL WITH POWER.

SOLVENT OF WORLD PROBLEMS. "One of the chief claims that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has for consideration as a solvent of world problems and a panacea for world ills is that it is a Gospel with power," said the Rev. R. J. Howie, preaching in St.. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Wellington, last Sunday. "The Gospel of Christ not only sets before man a vision of the ideal life, the ideal state and the ideal world, it offers to provide him with the means whereby the ideal can be made real. "No gospel that does not contain with'in itself the necessary stimulus for the < realisation of what it proclaims can ever hope to hold for any length of time the allegiance and enthusiasm of men. It is at this point that the Gospel of Jesus differs from all other gospels that have been preached. It is not, as the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians, a 'Gospel in word only, it 13 a gospel also in power.' It does not merely get before mankind the noblest ideal of life that lias ever been conceived, it offers at the same time the power whereby it can be realised. Christianity is moru. than a system of religious teaching; it is more than a code of ethics or a philosophy of life; it is a life. Jesus not only preached a doctrine, He lived a life and His life was the embodiment of His doctrine. His Gospel alone has shown itself to be capable of being adapted to the needs of all men. His Gospel aloiie is a Gospel of power making possible the realisation of the great ideal.

"What mankind needs is a new heart, a new outlook, a- new spirit. He needs something more than an ideal, he needs power to achieve it. What use is a road unless one has strength to travel it? What man needs is some inner driving force that will enable him to fulfil the things of which in his better hours he dreams. ~

"The blight that hangs upon society to-day is not hatred of the good, it is apathy towards it. Men and women are content with second best things. They need to become possessed of. a spirit that will not be content with anything less than the best, not only for themselves, but for others. What they need is a spirit that will enable them always to visualise the beat and a dynamic that will help them make their dreams come true. What they need is power. Christ points man to the goal and Hβ promises the power to reach it.

"There is a danger that we may miss the real meaning of 'the Gospel. , . The word means /good news' and the good news is that God hae come to earth and tabernacled with men in the Person of Jesus Christ. Tlie good news is Christ, it is not something about Christ.. We can attach too much importance to the Church and the creeds of the Church and not enough to Christ. He cannot be ,tshut up within the walls of any Church or restricted to the Harrow limits, of any creed. The Gospel is for every man, Christ is for a.ll the.world. The Church's task is to carry the Gospel to every creature and with united voice to aa'y, 'Behold, the Man." ,