War Sermons.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 554, 4 January 1916, Page 5

War Sermons.

» ■■ ■ . HEARTENING FOR SOLDIERS

NEW BOOKLET BY REV. A. MACDONALD, M.A.

It gives us much pleasure to announce that another of our ministers has entered the ranks of authorship. Like so many of our more successful writers, the Rev. A. Macdonald, of Otautau, has been impelled to publish by the requests of those who hava listened to his spoken sermons. We have no doubt that the message that we have before us will have as great ah acceptaace with the wider constituency of the public as it already has had with the nai rower one of the parish. Mr Macdonald is seldom heard at bhe General Assembly. We remember, however, one occasion when the sonvenor of the Church Extension Committee induced him to tell the story of his work to the Assembly. And a notable story that is. TwentyEive years ago Mr Macdonald went West into the wilderness. He eniured all the hardships of the pion3er. He brought to the furthest back af the backblocks the learning and the piety of Edinburgh. He brought bhese m the medium of ar sympathy that anticipated the settlers' spiritual necessities and of a self-sacrifice that supplied them. He has won for himself homage and gratitude. We a,re expressing only the barest truth when we say that there is no clergyman who speaks to Southland with inoi'e authority than the travel-worn minister of Otautau. His original district has been already divided into four parishes, each with its church and manse, and soon there will be a fifth derivative. Last year, Mr Macdonald received a remarkable honour. He was asked to lay the foundation stones of three churches. He is a young man still, with many other honours of this kind before him. The Church of Otago has already shewn her appreciation of his labours by placing him m the chair of the Synod. It will not be long before the General Assembly will claim him for a like distinction. We need only to glance at Mr Macdonald's sermons to see some of the elements of his success. They are the revelation of a personality, fresh, original, breezy. We find here none of the mustiness of city dens all dry-as-dust. Here is the spell air of the Aparima Plains and the tang of the Takitimos. Mr Macdonald has read much — his library is known to his brethren — but he has observed more. In constant contact with men, he has learned directness. He goes right to I the heart of his subject and his reader. There is therefore an appropriateness upon every page. He knows the questions that the plain man is asking, and he knows the woVds m which to answer them. He is *a preacher and a writer for the many. JChese five sermons are entitled : — " The War— lts Benefits," *' The War ana Patriotism," " The War and Christianity," "The War and GermaVi False Teacher*," and " The Last Great War — Armageddon," Each of t these subjects is developed m forceful paragraphs, full of short, crisp sentences. Here are a few of them : — " No Christian denies that we have a duty to all men and all nations, but with the patriot his own country comes first, just as his own family comes first." "Some one may say: Would you stand by your country when she is wrong? Yes, I would. It is when our country is wrong that we need to stand by her." "If we lose m this war, it will be an instantaneous, change, from freedom to bondage. Moses led the Israelites from slavery to freedom. The Kaiser wants to lead us from freedom fa slavery. The cost of freedom is great m men and money." " A national policy of non-resist-ance would mean the surrender of the world to the dominion of the Devil, and it would be treaohary of Christ to let His enemies trample His cause under feet. If Christ were placed m , this world as we are, He would fight." " Our Lord pronounced the highest ! eulogy upon a Bom an soldier : I bay€ | not, found so great faith, no not it r Israel: The Presbyterian view is ap I parently. more m favour of Minister* of the Gospel becoming soldiers. Th< - ■ M-

necessity of war will remain until wicked passions are eradicated from the human soul" " It was reserved for Nietsehe to take tbe last fatal step and to abolish Christ, and to set up Anti-Christ, the God of Force. Germany has deliberately taken the side£.of Napoleon. The Germans seek not to be worldconquerors only, but to be the authors of a new religion, the religion of the supermau, a religion m which Might is Right," " Because we believe our nation is fighting againstfa pagan ideal and on the side of civilisation and a Christian conception of life, we can pray that we may be victorious." "To allow Germany to conquer would be to reverse the course of history for 2000 years." We have quoted enough to shew that this sixpenny booklet is the very thing to send to every man at the front. Our Minister Of Defence has asked us to pray on Christmas morning that our soldiers may be heartened togain such a victory as will lead to a lasting peace. We have prayed our prayer. But prayer is often an swered along the line of cause and effect. We will m our letters tell our boys wo have prayed thus for them. And wo will sond them Mr Maedonaid's bravo words to express what we have m our minds. And our lads i will still*endure until the end.— "The Outlook."