ANGLICAN MISSION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 903, 11 October 1910, Page 3

ANGLICAN MISSION.

CROWDED SERVICES. RECEPTION OF THE MISSIONER. After mouths of preparation at last the Mission has come, and commenced on Saturday evening when the vicar handed over his parish for a week to the Missioner, the Rev. A. H. Col vile m.a. The missioner gave a short address at this service, which was listened to with great interest. He said that the key note of the Mission was ; “What does Jesus Christ think of me ” —“ not what do I think of Jesus Christ,” and he emphasised the fact that the Mission was sent because of man's need. Man needed a Saviour so Jesus came in the Incarnation —man needed forgiveness so Jesus Christ died on the cross that all might be saved — man needed a friend, so Jesus Christ came to be his friend, and lead him to God. The invitation of the Mission was, “ Come unto Me.” The missioner then made an earnest appeal to the communicants. He said if they would come faithfully to the Altar during the week it would bring a wonderful power into the Mission. Some people would find it almost impossible to come, and some would find it most inconvenient; but it was just when the almost impossible was made possible, and the greatest inconvenient was overcome, that power was brought into the Mission. Every one in the Mission was to be a worker, not satisfied in coming alone, but always bringing someone along. This was an opportunity, and every one should make the best of it.

SUNDAY’S SKKVICKS. The 8 o’clock service on Sunday morning was attended by a large number of communicants, the missioner being the celebrant. At matins the church was full, the missioner delivering a very powerful and helpful address. He took as his text part of the Gospel for the day: “ Behold I have prepared my dinner ; my oxeu and my fallings are killed, and all things are ready ; come unto the marriage.” He drew from this a lesson on hospitality —mau’s hospitality, God’s hospitality. He spoke of the'miser whe clutched at everything with open fists, and when he had got all he could get

* he would close them so tightly that no one could have anything. Then he spoke of the generous man who in the time of prosperity gave bountifully to others. He then illustrated the attitude of the world towards these men. When the miser was down on his luck it would keep him down, but it was just the opposite with the generous man, tor the world could sympathise with him and call to remembrance his good deeds. God was generous and gave to man every hospitality, but man was often mean and couldn’t see the wideness and love of God’s mercy. The missioner then went on to explain how some people had a grievance with their neighbour or thought that God did not treat them like he did others, and. so they kept away from Him. “ Let the Mission,” earnestly pleaded the preacher, 3 ‘‘be the time when you get rid of this grievance. Have it out now ; for if it is kept locked up iu the dark it will only grow. Bring it out into the light, and God’s Holy Spirit will blow it right away.” Every man had a programme in his life, but he must put God first. If God held first place iu his life everything would go well. Give God that fair chauce iu your life and you needn’t worry about other things. The missioner then explained how men were shy and ashamed to come to God. He said a man came to him the other day and said: ‘‘l am not religious; it is not in my line. Fancy me a regular church-goer ! People would laugh at me. As they stood at the door and saw me going to church they would say, ‘ Fancy so-and-so going to church on a Sunday morning !’ ” What an awful thing it was for a man to say religion “ isn’t in his line.” Why, religion was the whole thing man was made for. There was a spark of God in every man, and every man was going to God. God wanted every man. God had fno set. There was one word written over the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven, one word that ought to be written over every church, and that word was “Whosoever ”—“ Whosoever, will let him enter.” God's House was open to all, God’s Kingdom was for all, and in God’s heart there was a place for all. In this very Mission God was inviting all to taste his hospitality. He knows what we need, and he longs to give to us bountifully. Perhaps some of us mistrusted the Mission, but once we tasted God’s hospi-

tality we should want more and more. We should soon become God’s messengers ; we should be like postmen, handing to people God’s letter, but we should be unlike them In that we had to wait for an answer, and not leave until we got it. That was the way we were to bring people to the Mission. He finished the address with a strong and stirring lesson — God reaches man through man ; God wants men to help men. That was Christianity—getting and winning others to God. The age of shallow Christianity, selfish Christianity had gone. The world looked for men who were real and had sympathy, that would go out to men and help them. In the afternoon a mass meeting for children and parents was held, the local Band being a great attraction and added to the originality of the service for the little ones. Owing to the vicar being called away, the children’s procession was unfortunately omitted.

The missioner preached on the incident of blind Bartiraaens, how that when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, called out that He would have mercy on him. When the crowd told him to hold his peace he cried out the more, “ Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me,” bringing out the lesson that we must go on praying until we receive. He set belore the children two illustrations that would help them in the spiritual life. He took first the senses . Their eyes were windows which they must keep open to take in the pure air of God; their mouth was the trout door which they were to keep locked until they were spoken to ; their ears were side doors which they were to keep perpetually open to receive information. Our Eord had a mission to children as well as to grown-ups, and he, the missioner, had come to help them and tell them something of Jesus of Nazareth. The second illustration dealt with the power Satau had, and how, little by little, he gained ground if not checked. “It,” said the preacher, “I were to take the weakest child in this church and tie its hands with one strand of cotton, that child would be able to break it, although weak. If I were to take the strongest boy and bind his hands round and round with cotton the boy would laugh, and say he could break it, but he would find that he was unable. -So it is with Satan ;he tries to make us give way over a little sin, and leads us on to bigger ones until he has bound us fast and we find we cannot break away from the habit of sin. He then urged the children to pray for help that they might break away from the first temptation of sin, and so not be won over by Satau. The missiouer then asked if any child could tell him the meaning of “conscience.” Conscience is a message from God. Their minds were like a telegraph office, and when temptation assailed them God sent them a telegram, which, if they received faithfully, would help them against the temptation. But, on the other hand, it they got into the habit of just receiving the message and then tearing it up without paying any attention to it, it would soon end in the closing of the office, as the messages would cease to come. Conscience could be hardened and not able to receive the message. So they must pray earnestly to God and keep their consciences open by communion with God. He then made a strong appeal that they should form the habit of praying night and morning, and not cease this good practice when they left school, but, like blind Bartimaeus, go on praying more and more, taking no heed of the crowd that would keep them back.

At the evening service the seating accommodation, both in the church and vestry, was taxed to its utmost. The service consisted of shortened Evensong and Mission hymns. Then followed the sermon, which will be long remembered by those present. The missioner is a powerful and very forcible preacher, getting into his subject at once, and commanding the attention of his hearers. He is possessed of a very fine voice, a strong pelsouality, and an eloquent flow of language, which enables him to maintain the close attention of his hearers. His text was from St. Luke 12—2, “For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed ; nothing hid that shall not be known.” The subject was individual responsibility. The preacher said in the lives of men and women there came many little days of reckoning. Some mistake made, some sin committed, but at the time it seemed of little consequence, and it conveyed no punishment ; no one would know about it, and iu that they rejoiced. And so they began to act a part, to go on seeming good and righteous. Then circumstances seemed to work against them, things came out, and at last we are seen in our wickedness and shame. This pointed to the great day of reckoning, when Christ shall come —nothing shall be hid, there will be the discovery, the laying bare of the heart. The real meaning of that great day of reckoning is described by our Lord: “There is nothing that shall not be revealed ; neither hid that shall not be known.” Men and women may deceive the world, but the deception by which they dazzled the eyes of others would have no power when the Righteous Judge stood to judge all men. The missioner then went on to explain how many people had a wrong idea of God and Judgment. They seemed to think that God was a sort of tyrant and demanded so much from each soul. Then they might be doomed to unheard of tortures. But, he said, God is not like a schoolmaster looking through his boys’ exercises and scoring under every mistake with a thick pencil and giving them a certain mark at the end. We all know very well that it is not mistakes that bar anyone from God —not mistakes, but sin—God has given men power to correct their own mistakes, aud so grow day by day nearer and nearer to Himself, and He has also given them power will —• to go on sinning if they wished. Every soul must get alone with God, learn the meaning of “my separateness in the sight of God Almighty,’" —gripping of the solitary soul in the presence ot Christ. Man made his own heaven aud his own hell. There was one great truth: a mau’s life could make him absolutely unfit for heaven. He would be out of place there—God was just—God had made a high moral law a id God himself could not let a man off who died iu wilful sins and pass him into heaven because the man would be out of place. Man is what he is,

what he has made himself. God was continually drawing men with cords of love, and if man would not respond the fault was in man. not in God. Man was making himself now what he would be for ever. It was a natural working out. Man would not go to hell because God had so many marks against him, but if sinful he would go there for it was natural for him. God had done everything. He had sent His Son and Christ had lived the life of real man. The preacher then made a strong appeal to the young men and women. He prayed earnestly that they would banish evil and impure thoughts. They were not to entertain them as guests, and draw up a chair before the fire and invite them to make themselves at home. They would very soon find them unwelcome guests and difficult to gel rid of. The whole lesson was on judgment, getting alone with God and facingsin, getting rid of sin, sweeping the house clean, not leaving the dirt to collect under the mat and in corners, but sweeping everything away. God gave every opportunity, this very Mission was one, and God longed to pardon, longed to forgive, longed to win all to Himself. God’s love was so great that no one was left out, and man had the power to come to God if he would only let the Holy Spirit lead him.

On Monday night a large congregation assembled at 7.30 p.m. The service began with a hymn and then intercessory prayer. A number of petitions were offered in response to requests that had been sent in. The address was based on our Lord’s words: '‘Whosoever sinneth is the slave of sin.” The Missioner dealt with kinds ot sin that are as jailors and keep souls in slavery. Such sins are impurity, drunkenness, tempers, pride, indifference. Mr Colvile spoke very plainly to parents on their responsibility for the enslaved state into which young men and women so often grow. The freedom or slavery ot the growing lad or girl has been largely settled by the care or neglect, the earnestness laziness, or carelessness of the parents during childhood. Then the case was put with equal plainness to the young man who deceives himself with the current ideas of the self-indulgent world that attempts to disguise sins ot self-indulgence as merely a fulfilment of natural needs. To young women he pointed out the need of disciplining the affections. It was untrue to say that we cannot control our hearts, but the discipline must be gradually learned. Then the preacher passed to consider the escape for those who have fallen deeply in sin, the escape from the jailors. It lies in the power and readiness of God to forgive sins through Christ. In Christ was also to be found the power—fully supplied—that could change the poor slave into the man truly freeThe daily celebrations of the Holy Communion will be at seven o’clock, instead of eight, from Wednesday on. The Missioner will be very glad to see at these communions those who have been recently confirmed.