ROSLYN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 34

ROSLYN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

REV. J. CHISHOLM'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. The Rev James Chiskolni preached his last sermon as minister of the Roslyn, Presbyterian Church on ounday-forenoon. Iriere was a large attendance at the seiwice. the text was taken from the first chapter ot St. Paul'e letter to the Philippians: 1 thank my God . . . for your partnership in furtherance of the Gospel from the first day until now." After speaking about the Avay in which the partnership wias formed and the methods by which it Avas carried on, the preacher dwelt on the purpose for which it existed. Men band themselves together under various names for the attainment of certain ends. To take only one line of things, Ave have football and cricket clubs, tennis am 1 bowling clubs. When these are limited to genuine sport and usee' for re.oreatiA-e purposes, or to promote a spirit of good fellowship and mutual helpfulness amongst their members, they furnish elements that tend to keep life pure and wholesome. What, hoAvever, one sometimes wanders at is not that so much enterprise and time and money are freely spent on these, but that so little thought and energy are devoted to what is of infinitely higher importance. The Gospel is inseparably bound up Avith the will of God, and is the most lasting and powerful energy at work on earth. There have been many schemes devised by men for getting rid of the awful pressure of sin and misery that crushes so many to the A*ery dust and shrouds them in despair. Many Utopias also haA*e been sketched where outward conditions would give free scope for the play and interaction pf human brotherhood. But all these have failed. What of lasting quality there was in them came from some ray of. the grace and truth of the Gospel. The Gospel is not only the "mest lasting and powerful, it is also the most gracious and hopeful thing on earth. It reaches down to the lowest depths of moral degradation and away out to the furthest limits of estrangement from God. v It Avhispers forgiveness and hope to the most abandoned, in the very article of death. Altogether ignoring the distinctions that bulk so largely in 'He estimates of the world, it asserts that "we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." Without any inquiry as to political franchise or earthly citizenship, it •p'iawa tha-h "our citizenship is in heaven, whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself." One other element Avhich helped to intensify the thankfulness of the Atvw*l*> was <"he continued loyalty of the Philippians " from the first day till noAV." An interval probably of nine or 10 years elapsed from the time of his arrival in Philiopi to the date of this epistle. What changes these years must have brought to the infant church. Through the exigencies of love and labour old ties bad been broken and new ties formed. Death aI«o had been busy, and, every age and condition in life lay open to its inroads. It ha* _ been the same here during our partnership of nine vears. We know of some in the daAvn of manhood Avho were fitting themselves with diligence and success for useful liA r es. They heard evermore the summons of the future and a call to quit themselves like men and be strong. Suddenly, however, they were arrested in their career, and a A'oice, calmer than silence, bade them " come up higher," and Avith the shadoAV of a great mystery on their faces, Avhich only the day of the Lord will remove, they passed into the. unseen. We can never forget the passing of such partners as the young Dunbars. We haAie had here also these of riper years whe have gone. They knew hoAv sloAvly forms of evil, long entrenched, in human nature and in social custom, yield to the poAA-er of the Gospel. They also believed that aback of the feeblest evangelical assault there are the resources of the infinite—

For Avhile the tired waA'es idly breaking, Seem here no painful inch to gain,

Far back through creeks and inlets making Comes silent flooding in the main. And so through faith and patience they noAV inherit the promises. By many amongst us the memory of such men as Alexander Campbell Begg, James Kilgour, John Wright, and William Johnstone will be long and fondly cherished. They AA-ere called by you to the high and honourable office of the eldership. They magnified their office by their readiness to undertake the lowliest services. They would rather be- doorkeepers in the house of their God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. It would b 9 invidious to . mention the names of others Avho are still with us—the rest of our fellow workers" whose r.a.mes are in the book of life. They are giving evidence of their partnership, just as the Philippians did, by their prayers, their Christian character and life, and their liberal giving. I can, concluded Mr Chisholm. honestly say, Avith a very humbling sense of the defects of my OAvn character and the shortcomings of my oAvn ministry, I my God for your partnership in furtherance of the Gospel from the first day until noAV. And so ends my pastorate among you.. May God of His abundant grace bring it to rich fruition in your liA-es and mine, even uoav and during the coming days. To Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.