GIVE CHRIST HIS DUE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1029, 21 July 1930, Page 5

GIVE CHRIST HIS DUE

SAVIOUR IS WORLD’S BEST DRAWING POWER CLEANSING FROM EVIL If professing Christians would but give the Christ His due. He would be the greatest drawing power on earth. This was the claim of Mr. Davidson, who spoke at the Church of Christ, Ponsonby Road, yesterday morning. His text was John xii., 32: "And I, if I be I'fted up, will draw alt men unto Me." It was no idle boast of the Master’s when He used those words, said Mr. Davidson. There was in His life while on earth a magnetic power which was irresistible: crowds followed Him in His travels, listening to His every word intently. Even His enemies had to confess that never man spake like this man, and with a true presentation of the teachings ol' the Christ in the lives of those who called Him i,ord, the world would stand -ama-zed at the results shown. There was no denying that in many instances the Church was apathetic, it seemed to lack the thrust necessary to carry conviction to those who made no pretence of religion, and' yet behind the Church was the word of the everlasting God. Men everywhere were seeking the solution of life's problems away from God. Social life was being catered for, people were living in a whirlwind of so-called pleasure, and at the end there was no satisfaction for the soul; it therefore behoved Christians to put into daily practice the teachings of rhe Sermon on the Mount, and by so doing they would be exalting the One in whom all of life's problems were met. The lev. Mr. Crawshaw, a missionary to lepers, was the preacher at the evening service. His subject: “The Cleansing of the Leper." was dealt with in a masterly manner. The first act of Jesus after His memorable Sermon or. the Mount was that of healing one stricken by that fell disease, leprosy, said the speaker. Leprosy was a fearful disease; it was no respector of persons, all were liable to its- infection, and though many cures had been effected, it was a disease not to be tampered with, and in many respects sin was similar. Sin entered into a person’s life, and the devastating ruin which marked its track! It was possible to trace the track of the tornado through the forest; so was it possible to trace in the lives of men and women the track of the tornado of sin.

There was only one source of cleansing from sin, and that source was the blood of Jesus Christ. It was He who said to the sinner: “Come unto Me all ye that are weary, and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” and as the leper left the Saviour’s side cleansed of his leprosy, so the sinner washed in the Blood of the Lamb went away cleansed of his sin. MEANING OF LIFE “Life” was the subject of the lessonsermon in First Church of Christ, Scientist, Auckland, yesterday. The golden text was from Proverbs xvi., 22: “Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it.” Among the citations was the following from the Bible: “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.”—Proverbs xii., 28.

The lesson-sermon also included the following passage from the Christian ■Science textbook: “Jesus said (John 'iii., 51), Tf a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.’ That statement is not confined to spiritual life, but includes all the phenomena of existence. Jesus demonstrated this, healing the dying and raising the dead. Mortal mind must part with error, must put off itself with its and immortal manhood, the'Christ ideal, 'fill appear. Faith should enlarge its borders and strengthen its base byresting upon Spirit instead of matter, when man gives up his belief in death, he will advance more rapidly toward Cod, Life and Love.”