FAITH IS REQUIRED

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4574, 13 June 1923, Page 2

FAITH IS REQUIRED

BISHOP AVERILL’S SERMON. At St. Paul’s Church on Monday evening ’the Bishop of Auckland preached to a crowded congregation. The text was taken from the 14th Chapter of St. John, Bth verse : “Phillip saith unto the Father, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” His Lordship said that in spite of all the great unrest in the world to-day he felt convinced that the people were craving to know the truth about God. The tragedy of the matter was that men were looking % elsewhere thnn' in the right direction for the answer. All the world needed to-day wan an absolute belief in God, but did we know God ; and did we trust Him as we ought ? His Lordship said that many hundreds of people were looking forward to the advent of the Hickson Healing Mission, which was. due in New Zealand in October next. The first axiom in it was : faith and trust, and little real good could be expected from the mission without, those attributes. Men to-day were far too apt to base their faith in God by what they read in magazines or heard in the streets. Many things that happened were credited to Providence. He thought that many people’s conception of Providence really only amounted to fatalism. A very grievous mistake was often made by believing only what was in the Old Testament, and not. what was in the New Testament; Many people had taken their conception of God from the old Books. The'early conception of. God had been a kind of family Deity, .then a.tribal Deity, and then, further on, a national Deity. Those were the different stages of the faith of the earlier peoples. The true God had been revealed to the (people in the New Testament. Until the coming of Christ we did not have God revealed as the God of Love., .It was certainly a tragedy in the life of every man until he knew the real God—the Father—the One who could be trusted and loved. We had been given a sense of free will by God, and yet<how often we abuse that free will by using it against Him. The recent great war had revealed a suffering God, said Dr. Averill. Had not parents given their sons in the cause of what they believed to be right ? When those young lives were ■laid down in that cause,, did not, the parents suffer greatly, too ? Yet God had done similar acts when he sent His only Beloved Son into the world to he scoffed at and crucified. People should not look on Him as an eastern potentate. He was r ( eal, and very real, and should be looked on with 'perfect trust and love. The Great Creator could only be known thrpugn Christ. God had so impressed Himself upon the Son that He had the full trust, love, and confidence of His Father. Therefore belief by the people must ,be .manifested in Jesus Christ before the love and help o? God could be enjoyed. The verdict of. the world was that Christ was absolutely sincere. Although He had been tempted and had gone through the privations of this life on earth He had no consciousness of moral evil. He had shown such wonderful trust in human nature. Christ had shown wonderful, reserve in the use of His supernatural powers. He had used those powers sparingly, and almost apologetically. It was useless seeking the loving help of. Chrjst unless we firmly believed that. He was genuine. His perfect life had already been revealed ip person to the world,, and it was reasonable to suppose that He would again visit the world. It would be useless anyone attempting to benefits or help at the forthcoming mission unless they wefje imbued with implicit faith and confidence in their Lord and Maker.

In conclusion His Lordship said tliat he thought a further proof ot the wonderful power of the Lord Jesus Christ would again be revealed to the faithful at the forthcoming mission. He counselled the coyigtegn* tipn to pray long and devotedly for the success of the mission. It was only by fervent prayer that the soulcleansing, and spiritual and bodily healing could be accomplished.