BISHOP JULIUS AT RANGIORA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6886, 23 June 1890, Page 3

BISHOP JULIUS AT RANGIORA.

Last night Bishop Julius preached at the Rangiora Parish Church. The congregation must have numbered six hundred, the building being crowded in every parb The prayers were read by the Rev W. E. Gillam, and the lessons by the liev P H Pritchett. The Yen Archdeacon Dudley ako was present. His Lordship took for his textEcelesiastea ii., 11, "Then I looked on all the works that my hand had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do; and behold all wa3 vauity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. ' After referring to the philosophical character of the book of Ecclesiastes, and to its being a record of human life which, although written so far back in the world's history, was still a treatise on present day life j the Bishop went on to say that the writer was given out to be Solomon, son of David the King. Solomon it might have been, but more probably a Jew of Alexandria of later years. The record wa--one of a strange life ; the record of tht life of a man who determined tc test the value of life for himself. He had riches, and he tried the whole round ol pleasures that such could bring to him, and then from his own experience he gave the summing. up of human life. "And behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." Perhaps it might be said that such a conclusion could hardly bo wondered at in the case of a man who lived soloug ago. We might say life is very different now; The world with its doings has intense interest to us to-day. It would seem to us that life must have been very dull a hundred years ago, when there were no telegraph wires, no railways. Life to-day is full of interest. What would a man exchange for his daily newspaper ? Through it the world yields up her treasures to the poorest man. Therefore in these times we can hardly echo tho words of the text. It seems that in these days life is perfect. It is certainly more useful. In tho present day we are almost masters of the world in which God has placed us. Man singles out any branch of science to Btudy and he succeeds. He only wills to do a thing and he does it. We cannot say that this is a profitless world. Then again the world to day is a better world than it was three thousand years ago. There are people who go about telling us that tho world is going to the dogs. We know, however, that there is something wrong about the man who talks bo. He is either in bad health or ill-con-ditioned, or perhaps he has lost money on land at Melbourne. Others will cay, look at the vice that exists at tho present day. Yes, but remember the condition of cities fifty yearß ago. Can we say the world is no better when we think of tho hospitals, the organisations for carrying on works of charity, and the many other institutions for raising the fallen and benefiting man that exist to-day ? Men are looking into the great problems of human life, and striving to solve them. Look at the position of woman at the present day, and contrast it with her position in Solomon's time or a much later period. There is no better indication of the improvement of the world than this : We now give woman her right place as equal with man. The other day we learnt that a woman had taken a higher position in learning than a Senior Wrangler. If you had told your fathers a few years ago that such could be, they would have laughed at you. The whole world has changed, and I say it ib a better world. How much better is it than when slavery was tolerated ; before man learnt that he must love his fellow man aa brother? If the world is more interesting, more successful, it is bound to be a happier one. Is it happier than in the days of Solomon ? Are there none in the present day to echo the words of Solomon, " All is vanity and vexation of spirit." Yes, there are pessimists writing in that Btrain. Do you think, my brethren, that it can be true that God has put man into this world to find that it is all vanity ? If so, what terrible bungling. Man's better nature rebels at the thought: he won't believe it, and he is right. But, to return to the writer. He tried vice, pleasure, high positions, in fact everything that the world offered, and failed to gain satisfaction. Ho never writes about immortality. He did not believe in it. There lay the failure of the man's whole life. If a man has no hope of after life, he must arrive at the same conclusion as the writer. Man developes in accordance with the extent of his horizon. Take for instance a tramp who does not trouble himself beyond obtaining food for the day and a restingplace at night. He is little removed from tbe animal. A little better is the man who looks a little bit ahead and denies himself to obtain some future benefit. His horizon has spread beyond that of the tramp. Take another man, who whilst enjoying the pleasures of this life, works and slaves to gain a competency. There may be selfishness in the aim, but there is also nobleness. His horizon is Btill further extended. Then again take another man who can look away to the extreme horizon of the world ; such a man was he who wrote the Book of Eccle3iaetes ; but he was not satisfied. No, there is really no happiness 'in human life except in the hope of immortality. Man must reach out and say, I have mastered this life, I inußt have that. Despite the infidelity of the day, despite the advance of ecience, despite the attacks upon the faith of Christ, man is coming back to this again, that he must have the faith to give him real happiness. Love not the world; neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him. During the time the offertory was being taken up tho choir sang the anthem " How Amiable are Thy Tabernacles." In the morning Bishop Julius preached at Woodend, and in the afternoon at Pernside, the churches being crowded to erceeo at both places. This evening he is to bo publicly welcomed to Eangiora at the Volunteer drill hall.