WHY MEN SUICIDE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 969, 12 May 1930, Page 14

WHY MEN SUICIDE

ADDRESS BY WELL-KNOWN EVANGELIST WAY TO PEACE OF MIND Mr. Harry Dawson, the well-known evangelist, continued his revival campaign in the Grange Road Baptist Church last evening in the presence of a large congregation. An enthusiastic after-meeting was led by the pastor, the Rev. A. S. Wilson, and Mr. Dawson addressed the united afterchurch Mothers’ Day service in the Dominion Road Methodist Hall. The subject of Mr. Dawson’s address at the first service was “Why Men Suicide,” and his text from Proverbs. “By sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken,” going into a Sydney establishment he read on the board, “We mend everything but broken hearts ” and the impression so fastened on his mind that he longed to tell that business man of one whom he knew couldmend broken hearts—the Lord Jesus Christ. It was well to distinguish between

the prince of darkness, who broke hearts, and a Saviour wbo mended them. If the heart was open to him the devil came into hearts as a tenant. Some in that service had allowed in a tenant who had deceived them. Because a man was a spirit he was capable of spirit consciousness or of communion, either with God’s spirit or satan’s spirit. Man had self-consciousness and world consciousness, although separate entities in our make-up. Man was functioning indivisible. In a motor-car, if one of the separate parts broke down, the whole broke down. Men suicided because of the wrong driver. The super-conscious mind in the ungodly was the spirit of man, which held communication with the spirit of the devil. MIND DOMINATED Thus while the spirit of a child of God was holding communion with the Holy Spirit, the super-conscious mind of the ungodly was dominated by the devil. That accounted for sudden terrible brain-storms which resulted in suicide. The domination of the Christian mind by the Holy Spirit created calmness, and endurance even unto death Passing from the various attitudes and states of mind engendered by living a worldly life, and letting the devil control, the preacher referred his congregation to Psalm 51, which declared that a broken and a contrite spirit God would not despise. To the life so crushed and overwhelmed God would come with calmness and healing. God could take hold of a shattered life and give a new spirit, a new will, a new heart, mind and body. When a man was born again he placed all his capacities and faculties under the control of the spirit of God A man was, therefore, lifted out of the fleshy control into the realm of spiritual control. The spirit of God, if allowed, would burn up old sinful habits and fill the life with peace and power. During the evening duets were sung by Mrs. Dawson and Miss McTavish, the organist being Miss Twentyman.