SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144051, 22 March 1913, Page 6

SUNDAY READING.

Notes of a sermon preached by the Rev. J. W. BURTON m Uni Whiteloy Memorial Church. M iIV WE ARE METHODISTS. Text: “If this counsel or this work be of men, it will lie overthrown: but if it is of God, ye will not he able to overthrow them.” —Acts V 38, 39. It is in no narrow denominational spirit that I deal with this subject on tho occasion of tho anniversary of tins church. J have no odious .comparisons to make between one own church and others. It is not without significance for ns That in .John M'esley’s lilty-threo sermons, which are, together with Ins notes on the New Testament, the only standards of doctrine amongst us, there is one sermon on “A caution against Bigotry,” ami another entitled “Catholic Spirit.” Ajul yet wo have a reasonable pride in our great church, and it thrills us to recount its history. f ! o ho proud of being a Briton is not to despise a German; to glory in being a New Zealander is not to pour scorn on an Englishman ; to honour and revere oar own mother is not to look witn contempt upon the mothers oi o.'-hers. The best Methodist is lie who, while loyal to tin) blood-that Hows in hw veins, is big-hearted apd broad-minded enough to love the members ul all other churches and to allow to them the same liberty of thought which he claims for himself. J.t may he said thal this is not the day in which to emphasise “iMiis ’ ol an'v sort. And there is some s.i)a<; in which this is true. The time has gone for any set oi men. no matter what tho.il' pretensions, to say that the flowers of Christian character can flourish only in their liowet'-pnts. The dilierences that were so real to our fathers, und which H**panit»:cl them, urn not so real to us; for there has been, tor the most part, a common approach to certain central truths in religion. It is sometimes said that religion is losing its hold upon men. Ido not think mi. What men are glowing weary ol are the peddling refinements o) eeele.siastieism. tin; rigid dogmas of councils of men oi no greater intelligence oi piety than the men of to-day; the tawdry millinery and vain show of so much of onr church ritual —these are the things which are losing their hold niioii us. But the heart of man 's profoundly and im-radicahly religious. The soul still thirsts tor God. .Some /if us believe thal wo have heard the sunset gun of demumnatioualism, and a mighty spirit of union is already stirring in the breasts ef men. M e

iuav not live to .‘-ee its consummation : hut v.e can so lire as to help in the bringing about of that time. \\ o have been taking church clothes for men.

“Why,” said Carlyle, ''should wo mi.sknow one another, fight not against the enemy hut against ourselves, from mere dilferenco of uniform:' All uniforms shall ho good, so they hold in thorn true, valiant men.” And tile world is less concerned about the uniform, whether of a High-church prolate or a Salvation Army officer, than it is about the heart that heats within it. But, at present, wc are separated (ill in different churches, and we shall best .serve onr day and generation in being loyal to onr own faith, and each slrivingto make it more like the faith of Christ. Jt is in this spirit, then, that 1 wish to treat of Methodism.

THE RISE OF .METHODISM. The origin of nearly nil great movements Ims been Mirronnded In; ignominy, scorn and contumely ; and Methodism is no exception. It is almost inconceivable to ua that such a revival of personal religion should have provoked „uch bitterness. Rut then, Llio beginning of the eighteenth century was a dark ago in religion. Green paints a vivid picture of the times in his Short History; "Never had religion sieined at a lower ebb ... A large number of prelates were mere Wing partisans, with no higher aim than that til promotion ... A Welsh bishop avowed that ho had not seen his dioce.se lint once, and habitually resided at the lakes of Westmorland. The system of pluralities turned the wealthier and more learned of the priesthood into absentees. while the bulk of thorn were indolent, poor, and without social consideration. . . Of the prominent statesmen of 11 to time the greater part wore unbelievers in any lorm ol Christianity, and distinguished for the gross-, ness and immorality of their lives . . . At the other end of'the social scale lav the masses ol the poor., ■ They were ignorant and brutal to a degree which is hard to conceive, for the vast increase of population which followed on the growth of the towns and the development of manufactures, had been met by no effort for llieir religions or educational improvement. Not a new parish had been created. Hardly a single new church had been built. ’ It was into this state of .society that Weslev was horn in 1)03. In 1 <2B he was ordained priest of the Church ol England, look his degree of .'LA. at Oxlord and was made a fellow ol nis college. After some varied experiences, nn his return from America, he met with some Moravians who shed new light into Ms religions life. In 1738 ho was converted, and in 1739, in company with his brother Charles and Whitfield, ho commenced a class-meet; ing for Ihe study of God’s Word and for spiritual culture. These were held with such regularity, and such method | was observed in the religions conduct of those University men, that they wore nicknamed “Methodists. __ And the mime has stuck. Certainly Wesley had no thought of establishing a separate clnm-h.' His was a society within the Anglican Church—.just, us the Church of England Men’s Society is to-day; but the movement spread with such astonishing rapidity, was so wide in its ramifications, and was so opposed by the clergy, that Wesley hud to make some provision for these sheep without a .shepherd. Ho was loth to" separate himself from the Church of his birth, hut he was practically driven from its fold. llenco open-air preaching became a necessityand the agency of the "local preacher” was called into being. The revival spread until toys of thousands of men ami women were truly converted in their life and character.

Put Wesley’s own converts wore only a small part of the result of this “Evangelical Revival,” as it is called. The old church was quickened into a new activity. “Rut the Methodists themselves wore the least result of the Methodist revival,” (1 am still quoting Green), “its action upon the Church broke the lethargy of the clergy and made tlio fox-hunting parson and the absentee rector impossible. In "Walpole’s day the .English clergy wore the idlest and most lifeless in the world. Jn our time no body of religious ministers surpasses thorn in piety, in philanthropic energy, or in popular regard. In tho nation at largo appeared a now moral enthusiasm . , . whoso power was seen in tho disappearance of tlio profligacy which had disgraced tlio upper classes, and the foulness which had

infested literature over since the Restoration. lint , the noblest result of the religions revival was the steady attempt, «hit'll has Miner ceased Ironi that (lay to this, to remedy the unlit, the ignorance. the physical suffering, the social degradalion of the profligate and the poor. It was not until the Wesleyan movement had (hmo its work that tho philanthropic movement hoSOME ClfA li ACTEDISTICS OF .METHODISM. The truths which Methodism taught and still leaches —were not now. Wesley appealed not merely to the -New Testament but to Anglican standards of doctrine. The only thing new was the emphasis. Ik* lifted up religion from a tiling of form and cnvinony to a practical cM])( i ricnc(? in daily life. U it> not to l)c supposed that there were no sincere and devoted Christians in England at that time, but they were scarcely known in tho prevailing worldiiness and formalism. , Wesley--a t first a rigid sncraincnUman —011110 to distrust I'onn and ritual as dangers to the human soul; and his followers since have never been quite happy in it. Forhap.s wo have gone to too great an extreme in this respect, bin we have grown to love simplicity and directness in worship. Two great truths were preached by "Wesley and bis men —Conversion as the beginning of the Christian life, and Christian IVricrtion as the ideal to be attained. 3n other words it was a spiritual and ethical revival that he aroused. Spiritual—for it relmd \\\wn spiritual forces operated by faith to change and transform the individual; Kihical, for that spiritual power nnut.' maniicM itself in purity of life and freedom irom the thrall of sin. Ami these two great truths—in .spite of modern elms*--wo trust Methodism retains unimpaired. Wesley and Ins preachers appealed, for iho most pari, to ilic labouring classes of Croat Britain. And the hulk of our constituency is still the middle and lowi-r*middle ( hisses of Bullish society. it is true that wo have amongst us many titled men and women, we have cabinet ministers and peers of the realm, wc have scholars and authors, men of wealth and captains of industry; but the rank and file .are from the masses of the common people. M e.-ley taught Ids people to give. Necessity laid it iijvrin him. Me" had no endowments to aid him. no tithe's he could collect, so he threw himself upon the free-will offerings of Ids people. lie established a-aysteni in connection with his classes. Kadi member was to give a penny per week, ami that modest smn .su/iiecd for the ordinary needs. The important thing was that lie trained tho nu-mbers m the ehmeh in systematic giving: and possibly them is mi church that raises such large sums of money, in comparatively small contributions, as does our denomination. 'lho characteristic of Christian fellowship was seen m Methodism, and the pity is that we are allowing lids means ol grace to flag. The class-meeting, where tho struggling Christian was helped ami encouraged, was tho secret of mud) that wa.s best- in earlier Methodism, and much of our present failure is due to declension hero. It was a feature of the apostolic church and must have a place in the life of the healihv church 10-dav. ; ‘ FUESENT POSITION OF METHODISM. Wesley, in his day, as lie viewed the results ol the revival exclaimed. “What hath God wrought!’' Since then mightier works have been done. The Methodist Church is said by statisticians to ho the largest Protestant body in tiie world. it has over 5J.000 ordidned minis! oi>: jnA.fKM) local preachers; SNIo.iKM church members; bT>,OO() Sunday Schools, with over 7,0d0.000 scholars; BHJ.OOO churches; and 35,000,01 K) adherents. In America, especially, tho church is both wealthy and powerful; but: its real position is in none of these directions. It still stands for the many of the best elements in tho religions life of the nations where it has taken root, and wo are ashamed neiiher of its past record I nor of its present position.

WHY WE REMAIN METHODISTS. Every institution among men must not only prove its right to existence hut to continued existence. Wo believe that wo ha\e still a message to mankind. Though the old message may ho modified to suit the needs of Iho now age, it is still essentially the in me message. The Methodist.Ch ureh Mill loads iiivu to Hod. It still emphasises tho fact that men need the Spirit of (hid to change and mould anew their lives; that they must be “born from above'* it they would live the highest life. It still preaches, we trust, that there is no .salvation apart from ethical conduct: and surely this message inner needed to bo preached more insistently than to-day—not only in individual life, but in commerce, polities, and social life. Tho elasticity of her ereed enables her in the words of Fere (Hairy, “to speak the word of God ains-h in each a lie, in accordance with both the novelty of the and the eternal antiquity ol the imth.’’ r i he only conditions! entrance into our Church is a “dr-vire to Hoc from the wrath to come and to live u e.odTr fitAe, 77 Ha preachers and officials subscribe to no ri.u;id creeds —rather docs a certain spirit govern them: so «c are tree to {istcn”io the Voice of Cod when it speaks to us and uives us higher interpretations of the Ancient Word.

1 appeal to you who have been-crad-led in the traditions of uiir chnvrb \M»o have drawn your biv;u,h upon its breast, who have been trained in its spirit, to be loyal to vhe best that it leaches you. Cultivate a sympathy witii all older forms of faith,* but let the spirit which lias done so much to mould your life claim noil in richer service for your fellows. We know not what .the future holds. Churches—our own ti inon;,.;st them—may pass away; hut if we have been loyal to the essential leaching of Methodism—(lie experience of Um Spirit, of God and the ethical .struggle lo be perfect—wo have done sonu-Udna; lo bump; about llm founding of that New Jerusalem which eoineth down from heaven.