THE GENERAL MISSION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 125, 5 September 1910, Page 3

THE GENERAL MISSION

AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH. SATURDAY NIGHT'S RECEPTION. There was a good congregation at St. Mary's on Saturday evening at the reception service for the missioners from England—Canon Tupper-Carey and Mr. Joe Harris. The Vicar (Rev F. G. Evans) conducted the service, ami In the name of the Church extended greetings to the missioners. Rev. John Wilkinson also | took part in the service, and the singing was led by a strong choir. Special mission hymns were sung, and special prayers offered.

Canon Tupper-Carey addressed the gathering on the necessity for prayer. He explained first what ki mission was. not—it was not a series of sermons and addresses. These were the least part of a mission. He cited many remarkable instances where missions had benefited people who had! never attended the mission service or heard one of the ad-i dresses. A mission, he said, was a pouring out of the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer. They were goihg to see the power of the Holy Spirit in this mission. He was quite certain of success, for thousands of people were praying for it in England and all over the world. They would see the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit as they had never seen it befOri, He uttered two. AvaniingS:' "Don't be surprised If the mission makes people worse; and don't be surprised if you feel unhappy."' In regard to the 'first, it waa a hopeful sign. For when God made an effort, the devil was not likely to take it lying down. It was a sign of conversion taking place when the devil made a man blaspheme and almost sing in despair. Don't be surprised if some people, or yourselves, are troubled and anxious, about your soul. That is the wjark.'bf the mission. The Lord Jesus Christ came tp disturb us, to unsettle us,. to : upset us. He had no message whilst, every filing was going smoothly; but when, a nian realised the burden of sin, these were the words for him, ''Come unto me,'all, ye that travail and are heavyj laden, and I will give you rest." They must not be surprised to see people shedding tears; that was the way the Lord had of bringing them to His* cross. He asked his hearers to pray for the mission, and to pray regularly. The power of prayer was remarkable, and the preacher grew eloquent in speaking of it. Eloquence, he said, was of no iise Without prayer. His experience was that they could do more good for a person 1 toy prayer that* by speaking to hiini for in speaking to him they might say the. wrong thing and "put his back up." The pliajfers of the whole congregation should be in' voked, in the manner provided, on" behalf of people who it was desired to Kelp or reform. Prayer concentrated must have results, and its influence would be felt far afield. He,asked Ms hearers to cancel social engagements as far as possible during the term: oPtfhe mission, to attend regularly every s'erviee, to bring their friends along, and, above all, to pray. They would have an atmosphere of the Holy .Spirit, for had not God promised to confer His Holy Spirit on all who asked. "Don't be afraid to ask," he concluded. "God will turn people's hearts. Pray for big things, and expect big things! and you will get them."

SUNDAY'S SERVICES. There were large congregations at yesterday's services. Special services were held in the afternoon for children and for men. j At the men's service in St. Mary's | Church, Canon Tupper-Carey based his remarks on the text, "'Righteousness exialtetli a nation," and spoke of the great 'necessity for founding our national greatness on righteousness. Why, he commenced, had the missioners come from England to New Zealand? In the first place, because New Zealand had asked them to. Secondly, because they believed that the future of the Old Country lay in her dominions overseas. The Old Country was going to live again in her commonwealth, and there could be no doubt that they were on the eve of great changes. The centre of the world was shifting. Just as it shifted four hundred years ago with the discovery of America, so it would, he believed, be shifted now to the Pacific and the nations living round the Pacific. The future lay not with Europe, but round the Pacific—in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, Japan and China. People here were alive to the fact, as were people in the Old Country. "We have not come here because we consider you are any worse than we," he went on. "I believe you are better, and you are more important because you are younger. We are living in the past; you live in the future. If that is true there can be no doubt that you have rocks ahead.* Every individual would have, at some time, to pass through the fire, to be tested, the character tried. There were signs now. Clouds on the horizon were observable, small perhaps, but none knew when they would break, or how. Up till now, with the exception of the Maori war whose sign 3 he saw round the walls of this historic church, this country had enjoyed peace. They had never known the terror of invasion, hardly heard the tramp of armed men or the boom of cannon, or seen foreign warships in the offing and their troopships landing troops. No nation in Europe could say that. All had known the bitterness of war, their rivers had run red with the blood of friend and foe, their cities devastated, and given over to the sword. To-day the greed for gold, desire for markets, the lust for land, had in them all the elements which might cause the warclouds to burst at any moment. The only thing that would stand the nation in good stead in that day would be righteousness. That fact was stamped on every page of history. Was it time to say that we were growing righteous in New Zealand? lie could not say. But he could speak of Europe. There the traditional religion and the old churchgoing was going out of date. Not five

per cent, of the adult males ever entered a place of worship. In a, factory i with 1200 to 2000 employees the coin-j municants might be counted on the {in- j gers of one hand. He could take themi into street after street in the cities and say, '"Not a single adult male or female goes from here to church." Of course, religion didn't consist of going to church, psalm-singing, and saying prayers, but if a man were-living for God in his work on the six days in the week he was compelled to go to a place of worship on the seventh. It was a serious matter, then, when religion and church-going were losing their hold on the people. The future of this nation lay in righteousness, and it would be a serious thing if they allowed the irreligion of England to spread to this country. "A man's life consisteth not [of the abundance of things he possesses, not by bread alone, but by every word 'that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The greatness of the nation in New Zealand could not be founded on material prosperity, but on righteousness. Anv other foundation was a foundation of sand. It might be said

that he was looking at the dark side. Thank God. there was a bright side.' There were signs ;>.iid movements in the religious world which were going to prciiumdly affect the future of re-; legion. Reference was made to the| great laymen's movement in Canada, where 3000 business men met and determined to evangelise Canada. He was* going to try and get some of those lay-j men to go to England. The "Students' Volunteer Movement" in all parts of the world had as its object the preach-} ing of the gospel to every creature on> earth. He lcnew what New Zealanders had been capable of in the fights of the past, on the battle-fields of South Africa, and . their capabilities were further shown on the football field. Wo aid they bring those great qualities to the feet of Christ, and use them in his service?

Mr. John Harris spoke briefly but forcefully from the words "Except ye be born again, and become as a little child, ye cannot enter the Kingdom of J Heaven." "Jesus Christ," he said,i "laid that down as the condition of salvation and the words w T ere spoken at a, time when the disciples were wrangling, about who should be the greatest of them in heaven. Christ pointed to a' child, and said 'There is your copy.'" St. Paul, the greatest scholar of his, time, who, before he knew God had persecuted the Christians, had the light i of the Holy Spirit poured on him, and he became as a child. He recognised that he had beejj persecuting his. God, , who had given him life. Every time a J man sinned against his fellow man, he i sinned against God, persecuting Him. ( This mission, he said, was going to make ' people unhappy, if they were sincere. The greatest saints in history had become unhappy in contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, realising their umvorthiness. On the other hand, every little, act of charity, brotherly love, or of kindness to a fellow-being was done to, God Himself. He felt that during the 1 mission a vision would come to men of the life they were meant to live, and the life they wanted to- live. "Dcn't; pass it by." ' Speaking about conversion, S Mr. Harris said that some people claim- ; ed to have been converted and professed their ability to remain converted without church' or prayer. "Not everyone j that saith 'Lord. Lord,' shall enter intoj the Kingdom of Heaveii," he quoted, but he that doeth." He made a stirring t appeal to men to live pure lives, andj not to do anything which would prevent others from living pure lives also. ,