OPENING OF THE NEW PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, GERALDINE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1690, 24 January 1888, Page 2

OPENING OF THE NEW PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, GERALDINE.

This building was formally opened for divine service on Sunday last. The removal of the church from its former she on the east side of the Wuihi River, an 1 the alterations and improvements that have been made in it, have all been well and faithfully carried out by the contractor for the work, Mr W. Young, of Geraldine. Advantage has been taken of the removal to substantially enlarge the edifice. The nave has been lengthened some 10ft., and is now 30ft. long, while iho transept Iws-been lengthened by Bft,, and widened by 4ft., ranking it in all 40ft. x 16ft. The height of the walla is 10ft., and the distance from the floor to the apex of the roof is 25ft. A square has been railed off directly under the pulpit for the use of the choir. The platform and vestry have not been enlarged. The porch is 10ft. square, and has a door opening on either side. Above the porch is the spire. This will attain to a height of 56ft., being purmountod by a gilt cross of Roman pattern. The plastering was done by Mr J. Brown, of Geraldine, and the painting and decorating by Mr T. W. Fyfe, ofTimaru. Both tradesmen have carried out their portion of the work in a manner that reflects the greatest credit on themselves. Mr Fyfe has succeeded admirably in the somewhat difficult task of matching the old portion of the work with tbe new. The whole of the interior of the church has a very pleasing yappsaraoce, aqd ,jho Presbyterians of Geraldirte may congratulate themselves upon the able" manner in which, under their architect, Mr M. DeH. Duval, of Timarn, the whole of the work has been carried out, and upon the handsome and comfortable place of worship they now possess. The Rev. Mr Elmslie, of .Christchurch, conducted the services both morning and evening, addressing the children belonging to the Sunday School in the afternoon. There was a good congregation both morning and evening.* That in the morning was especially large, the Church being densely packed. The sealing accommodation was found, to be quite inadequate for the occasion, and a number of chairs had to be brought into requisition. Even then some vVere unable to find seats. The choir, which was under the leadership of Mr J. Ait ken, was assisted by members of the various other choirs in the town.

The rev, gentleman look for his text in the morning the words, “And when I •aw Him I fell at His feat as one dead, and Ho laid His right hand upon me saying: Fear not, 1 am the First and the Lust, and the Living One, and I was dead and behold I am alive for evermore, and behold I have the keys of death and’of Hades.” Rev. i., .17—18, revised version. The Lord Jesus hero revealed Himself as the Glorified Redeemer, and at the same time as the ever present and watchful guardian of the Church Militant. The vision was given to tho Seer of Patmos, and its effiet upon him was that he foil as one dead. This was instructive, because it showed that in their present state mortal eyes could not bear tho full splendour of unveiled Divinity. Although some asked why, if there was a God, they could not sea Him so as to make sure of the reality of these spiritual things, the spiritually enlighteued'eye did see them. If those who wished ta draw aside the veil were enabled'to do so they would flee from the dattling sight, or call for the rocks to fall upon them. He would ask them to note fir*t that Christ and His living presence was the chief glory of the Christian Church. Let them see that they clearly comprehended this truth as a fact. It was this that enabled her to fufil the idea of the seven golion candlesticks. It was this that made her “ bright as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with bankers.” Tho continual presence of the bright cloud at the tabernacle was but a type of the continual presence of Christ with His Church, The fulfilment of the promise, “Lo! lam with you always, even until the end of the world,” had always been the experience of the Christian Church, and it was a singular fact that as the living presence of Christ had been realised the Church had prospered, whereas when that pie sance bad not been realised the true glory had departed, and “ Ichabod ” might be written over it. He would ask them to notice, secondly, that the. living and indwelling presence of Christ was tho main source and sign of the Church's life. Life was the first condition of all that wa« greatest, noblest, and best in the Church itself. It was the indispensible condition of energy and activity, of spiritual growth, and spiritual enterprise. The real presence of Christ was the one and only source of such life. Where the real presence of ChrisJ, was<fel]t,io‘the Church it refreshed it as streams from Lebanon, but lot the realisation of that bo withdrawn and the heavens become us brass and the earth like iron. Christ was a fountain of life not only in refreshing His people bat also in quickening those dead in trespasses and sins. Again the Lord Jesus Christ in respect to His living presence was the Church’s only safeguard; Whan they thought of the dangers that lay in their path they could reap a rich consolation when they heard Him say “Fear not, I am the First, and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, and behold I live for evermore, I will never leave thee or forsake thee.” When they heard the True andFaithfulOne thus speak to them they were enabled to thank and trust Him and to go forward encouraged. He was a living safeguard by virtue of His Divine Omnipotence conjoined wit|i Div'ne authority. He had become dead and was alive again, and had the keys of death and of Hades. There was a sweet thought for the believer in the contemplation of the fact that death was entirely in the hands and power of Christ. Wheu thay thought of the dark valley of the shadow of death, or of the dear ones who had gone before, they had. a thought of true consolation when they remembered that death and the Valley of the shadow of death were wholly under tho power of Christ. The authority hung at His girdle. Without His permission death could not take one soul, nor Hades open her gates to send one back, It was pleasant to think that the power of death had a Royal commission. It was under the authority of their Lord Himself, It was well for the Church to remember that the living presence of Christ was its only safeguard. The enemies of the Church were legion. They were ever seeking her hurl and contending with her. The weapon they all wielded was death. It might show itself in different forms —■ wordliness,

averice, infidelity, unbelief—but in every instance the weapon was invariably deatb. It would, lead to death, spiritual tad eternal. Well, therefore, might Zion ■ >joice as a Church, and they individually i i the thought of their risen Lord when I hey heard Him say : “Fear not! I ana !he First and Last, and the Living One; a id I was dead and behold I am alive for ( verraore, and behold I have the keys of death and Hades,"

In the evening Mr Elmslie took for bis (xtthe word* “Lord, what wilt Thou l ave me to do !” —Acts, ix.„ 6. He remarked that in the morning they had been rejoicing In seeing that Christ was still among His people. He would like them to keep in view in the opening of their new church that the first great object was the worship of God in the spirit. If they only realised that the attendance at the chnroh would be much more regular on the Lord’s day. Tbe primary idea was the worship of God, and if they knew and loved Him their purpose should be to serve and honor Him. The next thing was the preaching of the Gospel—causing their light to shine before men. It was a great mistake to suppose this was the duty of the minister and nobody else. Their life and conversation should declare to the world what they were, and what they meant to be and do. Earnest souls were oftentimes painfully perplexed as to the coarse of life' they ought to pursue or the nature of tbe calling they ought to seek. This was especially the case with young men and women who were entering upon life’s earlier stages. They would be greatly helped in their difficulties if they would remember tbe great guiding principle of life, namely, that it was the chief duty of man to do the will of God—at all times, and under nil circumstances to know and do the will of their Heavenly Father. There was another and yet more dangerous difficulty to be faced by some, namely, the difficulty of distinguishing between their own will and God’s will. In this wvy young Christiana often fall into the mistake of supposing that the will of God necessitated their becoming evangelists. It might be God’s will that they should preach the Gospel, or it might be God’s will that they should go into business and take their place amidst the commerce of the. world as a witness for Christ. Only let them make sure that they were doing the will of God, and they had found out the secret of living a happy, useful, and successful life under all the conceiveable circumstances in which they might be placed, The life of Christ from beginning to end was one emphatic recommendation to His followers to do the will of His Father. From Bis earliest infancy this was His theme, and this was what enabled Him to exclaim upon the " cross that He had finished the work He had come to accomplish. Mr Elmslie pointed out that in respect to those things that were of the most vital importance they had the Will of God expressly declared in Holy Writ. Of other things that were cot of so much importance they were to a great extent left to infer the Divine Will as indicated by things and circumstances, or by the Spirit of God in their hearts. With regard to personal salvation and personal sanctification they had the Will of God expressly declared when He said, “ This is My commandment : that yo believe io the Lord Jeans Christ." And again, “This is the Will of God, even your sanctification.” The doing Of God’s will was the only way in which they could live a truly happy life ; it was the only way in which they could live a truly successful life, and »t was the only sura and certain way to life everlasting in glory. The rev. gentleman preached an excellent and impressive sermon both morning and evening, and was listened to with rapt attention on both occasions. At the conclusion of the service it was intimated that the Rev. Mr White would conduct service in the church next Sunday, both morning and evening. The collections during the day were in aid of the church building fund, and the donations were very liberal throughout.