ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 230, 27 August 1928, Page 8

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

ANNIVERSARY SERVICES. Anniversary servicos at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church yesterday were conducted by Rev. J. Gibb, D.D., formerly of St. John's, Wellington, who proachod to largo congregations both morning and evening. At tho morning servico the speaker based his remarks on the text John 6: 69: “And wo beliovo and aro suro that thou art that Christ, the son of tho living God.” “Happy Peter, thrice happy ho and his fellow disciples who, in tho day of tho Galilean spring, united in this greatest of confossions. Not loss happy wo, from whom tho visible prcscnco of Jesus is withdrawn, if wo aro sure that Ho is tho Christ, the Son. of the living God. For upon this assuranco doponds all that makes human lifo worth living, all that invests it with dignity, honour and real value. I want you,” said tho speaker, “to consider these things this morning. First, what Jesus Christ means to those who aro suro of Him, and then how wo can bo suro of Him. Tho greatest and most precious of theso all in itself is that tho Creator of tho vast majestic and awe inspiring univorso is our Father, and that His namo is Lovo. Now, that is a truth with which we aro all familiar. Wo hayo known it from our childhood. It. is in reality a truth which, seriously considered, is not easily believed. Tho Christian pulpit i 3 tho last placo in tho world whoro doubt should bo suggested and tho difficulties of faith magnified. Critics say that tho wcaknoss of tho Church is duo to lack of certitudo in public utterances by ministers of roligion._ And yot I, for ono, would bo thankful if a good many who would bo horrified to be considered unbelievers were shaken out of their easy superficial, rather smug acceptance of tho Fatherhood of God. Tho Fatherhood of God is the most glorious and tho most difficult. of all truths. If you do not _ realise its difficulty you will not realise its glory. When a man is suro that Jesus is the Christ, ho is suro of his own soul and, though ho belongs to the order of time and of tho dust, he also belongs to tho order of eterand tho Kingdom of God. In theso days, more probable than in any other day within the Christian period, tho spirituality of man’s nature is challenged with consequences of tho most distressing sort to tho moral welfare of tho people. Tho now psychology as sot forth by many of its expounders banishos tho human soul as effectually as it banishes God. 'Dust thou art to dust returnest’: that is tho wholo of tho truth about human nature, so wo,are told; your thirst for God, for holiness of heart and lifo aro but the refinement of purely animal instincts with no basis in spiritual roality. This,” said tho speaker, “is a deadly lie. It is only in Jesus that the lio is soon in all its foulness of untruth. When wo aro suro of Him, suro that ho is tho Christ, tho Son. of the living God, we aro sure that we aro _ not all of earth, sure that we too aro akin to tho divine, called and destined, if wo will but listen, to honour, glory and immortality. Ho who is sure of Christ is sure of his own soul. These then are some of tho great things which become ours through the assuranco that Jesus is indeed tho Christ, tho Son. of tho living God. So, how can wo be sure cf Christ ? Tho answer is by a living personal experience of Christ, an oxporienco of tho power of Christ to uplift, redeem and save. Thero is the testimony of the New Testamont and those who were in immediate contact with Him during tho days of His flosh, Paul, Matthew, Mark and John. In all these testimonies that of Paul is the most impressive. And so it has been through tho centuries with thoso who have come undor the influence of Jesus. From Him, as all men know, has been derived tho power that has saved the world from tho grossness of uncivilised night. I counsel you then if you would bo sure of Christ to practiso the presence of His spirit in your soul. Maintain intimacy with Him, seek the fellowship of His suffering, take up His cross. It is not a cross that restricts and cramps, it is a cross that, once accepted, ennobles and renews. In closing, may I ask: Is this assuranco, this oxpenenco, of Christ yours ? Is the Man of Nazareth really tho Christ to you l Doubtless He is to many of you. To-day He offers you again all the fulness of His graco and truth. Ho offers you again Himself. Make Him welcome. Let Him be the power of your lifo and the soul of your soul. Let Him varify in your experionco tho adorable lovo of tho Father, the grandeur of your nature made in His image, foreshadowing tho glory which shall be revealed in tho life that lies beyond.

ADDRESS IN EVENING,

At the evening service Dr. Gibb spoke from Acts 1,8: “Ye shall be My Witnesses both in Jerusalem and all Sumaria, and Bo the uttermost part of the earth.” “To tho question," said tho speaker, “what is tho Christian church, no more comprehensive answer can be given than thi3. It is tho witness to Jesus Christ. The lines of cleavage between the various Christian doctrines are many and deep, but the churches are in solid agreement that their chief business is to bear witness to Christ. It has no higher vocation —indeed, no other vocation. To make Christ known ought to be the dominating desiro in the lifo of every man who has named tho name of Christ. It is treason of the first aort to fail him. As we hear the words ‘witnesses to Christ’ there flashes on our memory the kind of man Jesus was in tho days of His Flesh and at tho same moment a vision of ourselves and our glaring inconsistencies and selfishness. If tnore had been no Church, thoro would have been no Christ to-day, and if the Church were now to fall in pieces, the very name of Jesus would rapidly pass from tho common knowledge of mankind. In tho second place, consider what it is in Christ we are called to bear witness to —the mystery of His existence, His incarnation, atonement and resurrection. All this is a necessary part of the Church’s testimony. But this is the witness which above all else is required of us— Jesus is the power of God for the salvation of the world. Thus far our testimony has been concerned with words, but conduct, character, pereonalty are of infinitely greater value. Fifty years ago the sphere in which the Christian was called to bear witness was narrower than we see it to be to-day, but we are coming to see that we are not giving full witness unless we claim for Christ tho kingdom of all human interests. The Church cannot stand back from the critical social anrl international aonfusions of our times. In tho third place, the present times constitute a profound appeal to intensify cur witness to Christ. The Christian virtues are being weighed in the scales of anti-Christian thought and are found wanting. This is a time of crisis not only for the nations called Christian, but for the whole heathen world, a crisis which can oidy be mot by the enthronement of Christ as Lord and Master in the hoarts of men. Not only by the wounds of His body and the agony of the Cross, but by the yearning of His love, which is still His pain, he is calling us to bear witness to Him.” Tho choir under Mr A. J. Graham rendered most pleasingly the anthems “Tho Lord is Our Shepherd” (McFarren) and “Arise, Shine” (Elvey).