The Lenten Season.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3501, 25 March 1905, Page 2

The Lenten Season.

SERMON BY ARCHDEACQH TOWGOOD. During Lent special services are being held on Thursday evenings in All Saints Church. Last Thursday the Ven. Archdeacon Towgood was the preacher. In the course oi his remarks, he said that two subjects are brought prominently before our minds, in conjunction, in Lent. The on* subject is sin; and the _ other is the sufferings of Christ. Sin may be in tha lives and actions of nations, of societies, or of individuals. But in every case sin is a matter of the heart,—of the will and intention. A man may be covered with mistakes and evil deeds, and yet have very little sin because he is ignorant or has been without Opportunities for better things. For example, in the present war in the Far East, the battlefields are not the scenes of the greatest sin and of ttys foulest deeds. These greatest crime* of the war are committed, in surroundings of refinement and luxury, by guilty statesman, who cause the. war. Sins of gambling, of drunkenness and other lust, are not seen so much in acts of bestiality that cause scandal, as in the characters enslaved to low passions, which have lost the power of self-control. The sufferings of Christ are the remedy for sin—sin in the character. The lusts of evil must be overcome and subdued by a higher, stronger passion. “ If, if I be lifted up. will draw all men unto me." Lent calls us to a fresh study and consideration of that great sacrifice. Reading, thinking of this, we get to sec ;the misery of a state in hostility to God ; we learn the depth of sin and the greatness of God’s suffering, sacrificing love. So we are drawn to Christ. His life and power in us can overcome, can drive out sin, and renew us as God’s children.