ADVICE TO ELECTORS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 November 1917, Page 2

ADVICE TO ELECTORS.

SERMON in' THE REV. J W. SM V’TH. ‘‘Thy will lie done on earth ;is It is m Ilea,ven" was (lie text of the' sermon wliieli the Rev. J. W. Smyth delivered in St. John’s Presbyterian Church last night. The rev. gentleman said, inter alia ; I ranees R. Uavergal wrote a- hymn well known to those who praise God in the English language, "Take .My Life, etc.” At a, recent general election in England an addition was made to IhaCTiymn, which was thoroughly Christian and thoroughly in harmony with the spirit, aspiration, words, and metre of the hymn. The addition was ; Take my vote, and let it he Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my fingers, let them trace Crosses in the proper place. I want to bring you and myself to that mind in view of our coming election, and still more in view of the responsibility which .abides on us as oilmens of New Zealand and of the British Empire, which may God preserve and on noble, f want you to realise that our vote is to be consecrated as much as our prayers, or our praise. ‘‘Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” That is our responsibility and that is our heritage through grace. “Who sweeps a room as for Thy cause makes that and the action fine,” sang G. Herbert. There is no secular and sacred to the believer; all things are yours; in them we can glorify God. "Wo can do that especially by onr vote. God’s will embraces our whole time, energy, action, and inaction. The noblest being is he or she who most fully accepts God’s will for himself or herself, who hears it or does it in courage. To reach this point wo need a conscience enlightened by Word ■'nid by obedience to the Word of God. Religion and politics, then, are divorced only by sinful man, not by God. And what God has joined together let no man put asunder. Let mo remind you that the privilege to vote by ballot is one which has cost much —the young people who have always lived in tnrs Tree country can hardly realise how much. A Homan official, speaking to Paul once about citizenship in the Roman Empire, safer a great sum obtained this freedom. Paul replied : ‘‘But I was free born ” We have boon free born, but onr fathers or somebody else’s paid high for our freedom. The struggle for the freedom wo have has been waged in England from the dawn of history of England. Martyrs for it shed their blood and gave their tears. In Scotland and Ireland our forbears suffered untold agonies that vie might he free. Such freedom as people have in the Old Land was slowly broadened down from precedent to precedent. Alas, the price was not paid ; the freedom bought is being defended by awful sacrifices at this moment. If indepencleiice of the State and in the State is costing so much to defend, and cost so much to procure, surely the privilege to vote by ballot, is a sacred thing. Now is our chance to show ourselves 1 worthy of the sacrifices made for us. Again, we should remember Die present distress. What do the circumstances de- i inand? They demand good men. The present peril to the Allies’ cause is regarded j as serious by Colonel Rcpington. All should lie for the State. To get a states- 1 man and a patriot, you must gel a man who fears God. To vote for any other <■ kind of person is to dishonor the dead who died for us, the living who are maim- f ed for us. the bereaved whose' - lives have been clouded for us. We want a man who both fears God and honors the King. The man is now more than the party. We 1 want representatives who will see justice e done to returned soldiers, dependents of 1 fallen, and dependents of those on ser- !(

vice; a man who draws his principles from the Word of God, his motives from an experience of redeeming grace. Let us also remember the dignity of other voters. A man is better than a sheep or any other kind of property. There is a gentleman in

England, Lord Haldane, who is, I think, better than is his reputation with some, but his enemies have made much of his saying; “My spiritual home is in Germany.” There are others whose spiritual homo is in Berlin and Potsadm who yet are enjoying much good in British lands. I refer to those who try to compel voters to.reveal for whom they will vote and to punish those who didn’t vote to please them. If you arc urged by any show of compulsion to vote for any candidate, remember you are dealing with a Hun in spirit, though he may, 'like oilier Germans, speak English. Don’t toll anyone for whom you intend to vote; don’t give any promise, now or ever, under the shadow of a threat or any seductive voice. For thus you may prove yourself unworthy of your British blood and the sacrifices made for yon. I appeal to all here not to lot differences of view interfere with private church friendship. Let ns respect ourselves and also each other. Along these lines we shall prove ourselves worthy of Democracy. Tho principles underlying it arc given us in the Bible. They arc such as these: Ye are bought with a price: Be vet not the slaves of men; VV e arc made in the imago of God. Let ns over choose as our representatives the host, not worst, in the community-men of proved worth. Let them ho full o faith of the Holy Ghost whom wc shall set over our legislation and administration Thv will he done as on earth.