DAY OF INTERCESSION.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 147, 18 February 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

DAY OF INTERCESSION.

CALL TO PENITENCE AND PRAYER. BY THE BISHOP OF ADELAIDE. At the Cathedral, North Adelaide, • on Sunday evening, says the "Adelaide of Dec-ember 30, the Bishop <[Right Rev. Dr. Thomas) preached in reference to the intercessory services "which will be held to-mqrrow (the last •<iay of the old year) in connection w.th the churches of all denominations in South Australia, on behalf of the Empire in the present crisis. His text was :—' Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?"—2nd Thron. xxiv. 20. Dr. Thomas said It is a dramatic and pathetic scene that is described in to-night's lesson. The good old priest Jehoiada is dead, and his son, a worthy son,. Zechariah, has taken his place. Jehoiada had been adviser and counsellor of the .young King of Jerusalem, Joasli, who was only seven years old when lie began to reign. The young king restored the temple; he ruled well, and the kingdom prospered, while Jehoiada lived. But after his death the princes of --Judah won the ear of the king, and he and the nat'on turned from God to -worship idols, with all the immoral Abominations that followed in the train of idolatrous worship; "and wrath -fame upon Judah and Jerusalem for ihis their trespass," In the midst of this national apostasy Zechariah had The courage to stand forth and utter .iiis solemn warning. "Thus saith God, '"Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord that ve cannot prosper?' because ye have forsaken the Lord, he -fiath also forsaken you." But the people would not listen, nor would they they bear to be rebuked. Forgetful of what his father had done for the State, they formed a conspiracy, and stoned him to death in the temple court, just as their descendants SOO years later in their indignation stoned St. Stephen to death. (It is for this reason thab this lesson is appointed for St. Stephen's Day.) Let me follow the story to the conclusion : Zechariah was dead, but his words came true. At the end of the year the Syrians came tip against the King of Jerusalem, and -though they were but few, inflicted a sore defeat upon him, took great spoils, -and destroyed all the princes of the people. No sooner had the Syrians gone than Joash himself was murdered by his servant? —an act of vengeance (it seemed) for the stoning of -the good priest's son. GOD'S QUESTION TO US. It is from the midst of this story "there stafld out the dramatic words of the text —"Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?" And on tnis last Sunday of the year—the most solemn and awful year in the lives of all of us —I want to drive the words home. They come from the Old Testament, and you may say—" Ah, "but we have grown out of the Old Testament. But hag it not already often struck you how the war has taken us back into Old Testament times again, and how extraordinarily appropriate is the language of the Psalms and of other Old Testament books, to the motives, designs, and acts of our enemies day by day? So I will not apologize for taking this text from an Old Testament story, but will at once go on to say why I have taken it. I have taken it because I think we want a Zechariah to say to us —" Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?" I believe God is saying this to us, and we will not listen; and I want us to listen. I have called upon our church-people through the press and the pulpits' of our churches to observe next Friday (last day of year) as a day of penitence and prayer, ana in so doing 1 am uniting with the Archbishops and Bishops of the old country, the Archbishops and Bishops of Australia, and with the other -Christian bodies in this State, and you, my brethren, in observing it will be uniting with English-speaking Christians almost throughout the world. But 1 iiave done so not simply to fall into line with others, but because I feel intensely the need that we should at last bravely face our national sins and our national impenitence. THE NEED FOR PENITENCE. The war may be said to be almost at a standstill. Humbly before God I denounce the cause —our sins and ouk impenitence. Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?'' It ia so. We may hold on doggedly, but wo cannot prosper, we cannot win tho great victory that shall turn the tide unless we face our sins, and repent of them honestly, humbly, and begin to put things right. Forgive me for coming back to the war to-night, but I -should not be doing my duty if I did not say what I have to say. I know some of you are tired of the war and of war sermons, but are we not rather like children who will not learn their lesson, and want to put it away, and get to something else? —Let us 'earn the lesson, and we will abolish war sor.aions. WHAT IS THE LESSON? Now, I believe God sent this war (or allowed it to come) to save England and the British Empire, Australia in ■eluded. He sent it to teach us a 'esson, and while we are learning the '-jsson victory waits. Either victory vvi'l wait until we learn the lesson, or if we learn not the lesson, and will not iiy to learn it, defeat will some—d-iteat a thousand times more crushing and complete than that which fell upon Joasli, I cannot put tlrs lesson in : ne v.o.t!, it is a big lesson; but I think 1 cr.n make it plain to you. Let me, a'., ar.y vato, try. Ten years ago there wa& published in Oxford a little Lor k which purported to be a handbook for il a national schools of Japan in tie year 200-5. It is called "The Decline and Fall of the British Einp--r" and it professes to give "a brnf .-.(count •>) the causes which resulted n the <!<> struction of our Tate Ally 'i.e., England)." In his opening words th? si p posed Japanese writer says, ' The sudden fall of our great Western A''y. unanticipated, a3 it was, by tho thought less mass of mankind, •'iioiiid *?ome as no surprise to ilio-.e few persons who study the rise and f lii <:l I:r - piles, and are acquaintyj wit!: the causes which in even' case ha-, luougl.t about their dissol Kion. F.\ei hrd we saved the British from d's is'o ( ,r assistance would only have afforded \ brief and ineffectual respite. The sources of their weakness were too deeply rooted to bp removed m any " And he then proceeds to point cut and comment upon *hcse sources of ur- il,ness —and (mark this) it s r,o tiev that he makes hut he i.uivs 'almost word for word) the c-iu-v'-i t.: w.'.th Gibbon in his '.vnous w>r;; : 11 r 11 ;■ t the decline and tail of t. Roeiir. M.-i pire. Let me give you tee list. I think it is illuminating---*. The [>'• valence of town -iver country life. and its disastrous effect upon the health and faith of the people (we recall that Adelaide contains half the population ■of this State). 2. Growing tendency to forsake the sea, except as a health resort. 3. Growth of refinement and luxury. 4. D.'clino of literary and d:\i-

I matic taste, 5. Gradual decline of physique and health. The number of men declared unfit for military service varies from 25 to 33 per cent. What are tho causes? G. The decline of intellectual and religious life, and we must remember Gibbon was not a religious man himself. 7. Excessive taxation and municipal extravagance. 8. False systems of education prevalent. Now I say that we can actually see these causes at work if not all of them) in England and in Australia to-day. And this is the lesson God would have us learn —to discover the sources of our weakness, and remove them; to find our sins, and mend them. And the war has come in the providence of God to awaken a great nation from its lethargy, to save it from becoming degenerate and effete. Has it come in time? Five years later, and it would have been too late; but has it come in time? That is the question. Yes, if we have the courage and the backbone to face now our sins —these open sores that are draining the life blood and the manliness of the nation. Lot us call them by plainer names than (ribbon in his list. THE EVIL OF DRINK. There is drunkenness. What slightest attempt have we made since tho war began to diminish it? It- is true a 0 o'clock Closing Bill has been carried. but that was opposed by many who had nothing else to offer. Yet during the last 12 months over a mil- ! lion and a half has been spent on drink in South Australia for which there is really nothing to show — while some have been trying to practise economy, and many of us by donations and carnivals and every sort of device have been scraping together the paltry sum of £200.000 for our wounded soldiers! The time has come when we should put away strong drink for the nation's sake. GAMBLING There is the national s : n of betting and gambling. Since the war began racing has gone on almost as usual, and the gambling spirit has been stimulated throughout the country by art unions, which have literally broken loose, and although unquestionably illegal have run riot, even in the grounds of Government House itself. The hands of church people are not clean in this matter, and I say the time has come when we should put it away in any and every form for the nation's sake. IMMORALITY. There is the sin of immorality. This may not so much in evidence as the two I have already mentioned, but a report recently made to the Chief Secretary of this State contains some very disquieting disclosures, and there rs no doubt that immorality is directly or indirectly the cause of much of that unfitness for military service at which we wonder. The time has come when in any and every form we shou'd put it away for the nation's sake. APOSTASY. And then there is that national sin that I may perhaps best call bv the old-fashioned name, apostasy slipping away from God. For many years the nation has been slipping away from the worship of God to the worship of other gods—luxury and pleasure and sport—and many do not go to church or make any profession of religion, and many church people neglect their church and sit indifferently to their religious duties. The time has come when, for the nation's sake, we should return to God. LUXURY AND EXTRAVAGANCE. And at the back of almost every sin is selfishness in some form or other. Two commandments indeed embrace the whole of our duty:—"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . and thy neighbour as thyself." EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE. And so I say, as Zechariah said of old, "Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?" I beg you on the last day of this year to come to one or other cf the services that shall be held in this Cathedral, to bring others with you, and to swell the stream of earnest penitence and resolve of amendment that shall flow Godward on that day. We have tried many ways to win this war; shall wo not try The way of penitence consists of definite confess.on of our definite sins, definite resolution of amendment to give up our wine and spirits, to give up our points at cards, or our ss. on the tote, or to keep from art unions. To do the thing we are holding back from as yet. It is only porhaps a very little thing that we can do. but "many a little makes a muckle," and you will bo helping to save a great nation. Shall we not try the way of penitence and amendment? Think not merely of the act, but of the spirit that will spring from it. Why, there will be an altogether new spirit of earnestness and determination. And what will it mean? Why, a sober, serious-minded, Godfearing country will mean energy, economv, and excellence of work at cnce. \Ve are fighting spiritual wickedness, and we need spiritual weapons. Shall we not try this then—penitence ? You say—we do not understand it; it is a new thing- Australia likes to laugh over its troubles; that is our way; it is not natural to us to be penitent. Ah, my friends, the laugh is a brave thing; God bless you for it; but there must still be the penitent heart underneath. or the laugh has no merit in God's sight. So I beg you to come to your churches on Friday in penitence. Let it be a day apart from all others—quite different from any you have ever spent. There will be short services in the Cathedral at 12, 3, and 7.30, but the Cathedral will he open all day for prayer, and there will be special directions to help you. We shall begin with celebrations at 7 and 8, and I hope that every one will observe the day as a real fast. I suggest total abstinence from food till midday, or till G o'clock, if you are able, or abstinence from some pleasant food at every meal, or ab.st'nence from smoking, but make it a real fast. It will help to remind you of the solemn character of the day. At night the band at tho Town Hall will play some solemn hymn tunes as the old year passes, and there will be a short service in the Cathedral at 11.30; and all will lead up to a New Year's Eucharist. Brisbane has set us a splendid example by observing such a day a fortnight ago. At one church there were 200 communicants early; at the cathedral there was a constant stream of intercessors and at the special services from 400 to 000. all grades in the community from Governor downwards, being represented. Can we not, brethren, throw our whole soul as really and as earnestly into this great act of penitence? Can we not, for our country's sake, offer to God a national repentance for our national sins? Can we not do this thing that we have left undone"' Can we not by a genuine penitence and earnest amendment of our ways icniove tho causes that have destroyed other great empires and threaten destruction to ours? Can we not—shall we not —by our penitence, deep and true. oj>-n at last the way to til.* victory which tarries?