PULPIT MESSAGES

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 49, 21 November 1932, Page 9

PULPIT MESSAGES

Wellington Churches THE ARMOUR OF GOD Withstanding in Evil Day

Preaching in St John’s Church recently on the text “Wherefore take unto'you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6: 13). the Rev. J. R. Blanchard said that the- writer did not have any particular day in mind, but any day of massed difficulty and abounding temptation. “The world is passing through such an evil day at present,” said Mr. Blanchard. “A short while ago there

seemed to be a clear, broad way to peace and plenty before it, and suddenly everything altered. With one stride came the dark, and in the darkness the world has lost its way, and is being set upon by those powers which love. the darkness be- ■

muse their deeds are evil.

“Under cover of. need plausible proposals are set forward to ease its lot and maybe show the way out; and while conscience says that such proposals are an offence against what is right, conscience is soothed with the assurance that the end justifies the means, that what is proposed is but a small and temporary departure from the ideals which should govern men, and any harm done can easily be repaired when better days come. Slow Headway. “So slow does the world seem in making headway against its difficulties that severe temptations beset men to lose patience and let themselves go, to surrender faith and take up with doubt, to abandon hope and give way almost to despair. As for love—that greatest of all the graces—strong do men find the temptation to let its place be taken by a root of bitterness springing up into evil growths of suspicion and fear, envy, and hate. Hundreds of our boys, eager to express and justify the stirrings of manhood in them, face a world which seems to have nothing for them to do. What temptations romp and rage about them oln such a situation ,it is not difficult to imagine. Full of evil is the day through which the world is passing. “But the evil need not master us,” coitinued the preacher. “That God, Who in the mysterious dawn of man’s making, said unto him, ‘Have dominion,’ is still here to give him dominion now if, by seeking the way of God, man can show it to be a safe thing for him to be trusted with dominion. He can ‘withstand in the evil day, and having done all stand,’ if he takes unto him the whole armour of God. The Girdle of Truth.

“Certain is it that when people permit the antipathies of personal prejudice, the twinges of wounded vanity, the pangs of defeated pride, the fears of threatened self-interest to blind them to the truth when it is before them, and to make them dishonest with themselves in respect to its personal application; when a low standard of frankness and honesty is adopted in order to gain a personal or party victory; when loyalty to what has always been blinds the mind to its defects and arouses opposition to the changes required to make it what it ought to be; when the greed of vested interests refuses to admit the truth in the cause of others and secures that something less than justice is done unto them; when slavish bondage to the spirit of the age makes men oblivions of the Spirit of the Ages incarnate in Christ, Whose claim to be the Truth the mightiest moments of mankind’s experience have verified—certain is it when these things happen that, instead of holding well together, things begin to fall apart into that confusion and chaos in which the powers of evil love to riot. Nothing is clearer than this. If men would be able to withstand in this evil day and, having done all, to stand, one thing at least they must certainly do: They must tighen the belt of truth about them, and each one must look well to his own belt.” CHRIST’S RETURN The Day Approaching “Who may abide the day of His coming?” was the subject of an address delivered at the Christadelphian Meeting, Victoria Hall, on a recent Sunday. The speaker said that on many occasions it had been pointed out that the general condition of the world, taken in conjunction with specific signs, indicated that the return of the Son of God was imminent. The return of the Jew to Palestine, the “drying-up” of the power of the Turk, Britain’s power in Palestine and Egypt, the turmoil among the nations of Europe—all these factors, which were in complete fulfilment of prophetic utterances, together with the prevailing distress of nations, prophesied by Christ, pointed to the return of Christ. The prophet Malachi (iii, 2) had asked: “Who may abide the day of His coming—for He is like a refiner’s fire.” “This introduces us to a phase of the work of Christ which is definitely and clearly outlined by Him and His Apostles, but which is generally lost sight of by Christendom,” said the speaker. “Christ is coming to reorganise society—to place the glory and honour of God first, and then to bring peace to the people. This work can be done only with fire and sword. “For the enemies of God,” the speaker continued, “the day of Christ will be a day of wrath and destruction, There is a terror as well as a joy connected with the gospel of the Kingdom of God. This terror concerning judgment to come caused Felix to tremble (Acts xxiv. 25). It will likewise sober and subdue every reasonable mind, for although forgotten in Christian ethics this part of Christ’s work has not disappeared from the Divine purpose.” Concluding, the speaker said that this day spoken of so fully in the Scriptures was approaching. The question was. "How do we stand in relation to it?” “Jesus has told us how we may prepare to stand in that day (Luke xxi, 36), and if we follow Christ’s precepts we shall be in the position spoken of in the parable. ‘Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock ... and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock” (Matt vil, 24). If we are in this position we shall indeed be able to stand when Jesus appears and be invited to enter into the rest which remaincth for the people of God.”