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THE HONG KONG WEEKLY PRESS &
GOD'S WAYS AND MAN'S WAYS
Sermon By Bishop Of Hong Kong
His Lordship the Bishop of Hong Kong in his sermon at the Induc- tion of the Rev. H. D. Rosenthall at Christ Church, Kowloon Tong. on Oct. 24, said:-
In August of this year a group of men and women were sitting in the top of the Missions Building in
planning for Shanghai evangelistic campaign among the students of China. As they sat there, suddenly they saw bombs dropping near a Japanese cruiser not half a mile away from where they sat.
It was difficult, one of them said to me, to believe that he was not sitting in a picture theatre watching something quite unreal.
It is equally difficult, in spite of the pain in our hearts, for us here in Hong Kong to realise the ter- rible nature of the Evil Thing that is happening now to our be- loved China.
But we must do so. We must face the power of evil in the world. We must allow what is happening to open our eyes to see that this is no
it is temporary madnes; Just human nature taking its own way to get what it wants.
CAPACITY FOR EVIL
The world in which we live has always this capacity for evil; what has happened in the last two months has drawn the curtain
away
from something that was always there. Against evil of this kind and a human nature capable of such selfishness and cruelty, hu- man goodness seems powerless, in- effective. and rather pathetic.
Goodness cannot stand against the power of evil. In the world in which we live goodness is not enough. The overthrow of evil needs
than goodness. It❘ needs godliness. A parson who is a good man is not good enough to be
that parson. For
a
more
reason
he must be a godly man, a man of God.
The first business of a minister of Christ is to be a man of God. Indeed, no one of us dare enter upon the ministry of the Church unless we believe, as we are asked at our ordination, that we are truly called of God. is not of our own choosing: it is
Our ministry
something put upon us by God Himself. Our chief business is to of God in a world in be men which evil is a terrible reality.
GOODNESS AND GODLINESS
To you, then, to whom I have this morning committed the care
of this congregation, I would say, with all the authority committed to me, be not content with good- ness, but with all your heart pur- sue godliness.
Only godliness is adequate to the world in which we live. Godliness, remember, is a consuming fire, of which we Have a right to be afraid, and yet, because this con- suming fire is the love of the Eternal God, our fear is swallowed up in love and reverenice and gratitude.
I hid you, then, beware of that typical clerical sin of being satis- fied with goodness, gentleness, per- sonal discipline, regular habits, competent and efficient conduct of your job. All these things you must have, but they must not be allowed to take the place of that godliness which alone can give to the people of God the inspiration and the power for the overthrow of evil.
in
THE WAYS OF GOD
And that you may pursue god- liness, you must study the ways of God as they are shewn to us the scriptures. There ᎥᎦ a sharp contrast in the scriptures between the ways of man and the ways of God.
David, the great leader of the Jewish people, whose name you were given in your baptism, did not seem to men a likely king. His elder brothers seemed much more qualified to be the annointed of God. But they, who to men's eyes seemed so fitting, were fected. The lad away on the hill- side tending the sheep was ac- cepted of God
re-
The judgment of God and the Judgment of men have different standards. You must never ex- pect them to meet. Beware when all men speak well of you. It is God who judges.
This contrast is still more no- ticeable in the New Testament it- self. In the words of George Mac- Donald,
"They all were looking for a
king
To slay their foes, and lift
them high:
Thou cam'st a tiny baby thing
That made a winan cry."
The coming of God into the world at Bethlehem was to men's thinking incredible. How
could God become a helpless, human baby? But we are here to-day be- cause that is what God did do. This is God's way, unbelievable to men.
October 29, 1937
CHRIST'S WAY
THE ONLY WAY
DR. STANLEY JONES
AT THE CATHEDRAL
Why We Get Nowhere
at.
A timely message was delivered by Rev. Dr. E Stanley Jones St. John's Cathedral on Oct. 21 when he spoke of the widespread disillusionment and futility in the affairs of men and nations caused by a refusal to walk the way of Christ. He urged that the very moment people admitted Him into their hearts. and surrendered themselves entirely to Him, they would instantly find the inward unity that they had been search- ing for.
was
one
Humanity's path
of fruitless toll until Christ came. Lkening our struggles and endea- vours to the toll and stress of the boatmen in the
the episode in Gospel of St. John, who made no headway until Jesus appeared to them, Dr. Jones said that all the contradictions and failures in pre- sent-day life would be solved if we looked to Christ for guidance. Men had sought to express them- selves freely. but had found the result disappointing. To lose our- selves was Christ's teaching, but
men
wanted to find themselves. We could get nowhere until We took the way of Christ, and then a strange thing would happen. our self would come back to us.
THE WAYS OF THE DEVIL
A similar contrast runs through are the the temptations. "You Son of God," says the Devil, and to tell Our Lord the proceeds things that, by man's judgment, the Son of God should do in the world. It was not easy for Our Lord to reject these human Judg- ments of God's ways.
There is a note of stress and dread and agony in the Temota- tion stories. The Lord Jesus was up against something terribly evil. This terribly evil thing was man's estimate of how God works. So he fought his way through to be Indeed Son of God.
The strain of the Temptations is re-enacted when Peter tells him that no Messiah can die upon the Cross, and he answers. "Get thee behind me, Satan. You are taking man's estimate or God's way and not seeking to be a man of God. going God's way, doing God's will "
October 29, 1937
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
MODERN MIRACLE IN
Acclaimed By
World
SECRET OF SUCCESSES AGAINST
JAPANESE AGGRESSION
FAMOUS STATESMAN
INTERVIEWED
A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR TO HONG KONG AT THE PRE- SENT TIME IS MR. CHEN SHU-YEN, A FORMER GOVERNOR OF YAT-SEN'S REGIME. KWANGTUNG PROVINCE UNDER DR. SUN AND NOW HOLDING AN IMPORTANT POST IN THE EXECUTIVE YUAN OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF CHINA AT NANKING Mr. Chen is the President of the Commission of Overseas Affairs in Nanking and is on his way to Manila personally to convey the thanks of the Central Government to the Chinese of the Philippines for their generous help to the mother country during the period of times since the National the present crisis as well as at other Government was inaugurated. This will be Mr. Chen's first visit to He is accompanied Manila and he is keenly looking forward to it. by Mr. Lee How Chu, a former Chinese Consul-General in Manila. and Mr. Liu Yik Lung, his private secretary.
Mr. Chen in addition to being a Chinese Statesman of repute is an artist of international distinction. Specimens of his work are to be found in the national academies of practically every European na-
Christ's Way The Only Way
of service
True greatness came and giving of ourselves.
"We do not lose our enemies by of them." said Dr. getting rid Jones. "But if we made up our we should minds to love them,
find friendship, or at least would have got rid of our hatred."
JAPAN AND CHINA Taking an example from current the affairs. Dr. Jones asked if
the Japanese could get rid of alleged anti-Japanese feeling in China by fighting the Chinese. Could one hope for another's love by sticking a bayonet into him? love before one One must first
asked could gain love. Jesus
Dr. "Can Satan cast out Satan?" Jones thought that it would be all if we immensely better for learned to smile, which procedure involve only 13 was
stated to muscles of the face, than to frown. "Why which moved 63 muscles.
the
overwork
speaker.
Men who
asked our face?"
broke God's laws broke not those laws but broke Dr. Jones concluded themselves.
to
by appealing to all present
themselves completely surrender
to Christ-it was the only way.
tion. In China he is recognised as one of the country's greatest living painters.
A man of charming personality. Mr. Chen is one of those many great men of China who are the very personification of simplicity and when a "Daily Press" repre- sentative visited him on the Vic- toria on October 22 he re- ceived the pressman with all the charm and cordiality usually ac- corded to an old friend. That is the secret of the popularity of Chinese statesmen the world over. Mr. Chen freely discussed the without and Sino-Japanese war minimising
of the gravity
the situation so far as China is con- declared cerned, unhesitatingly that with the goodwill of the world the Chinese people had every confidence of emerging vic- torious from the ordeal through which the country was passing.
"NOT MAKING BOAST" "In saying this I am not making a mere boast." said Mr. Chen. "After travelling about a great
China deal in
and seeing the effects of the recent Japanese bombings in our different cities, I have come to the firm conclusion that never in the history of our country has the spirit of the peo- ple been finer than it is to-day. In the bombed areas, tragic as has of of thousands been the fate
the children. and men women masses are firmly behind the Gov- ernment. They realise that the Central Government is fighting
a people's battle and they realise
CHINA
025
fully what would be the fate of China if the Japanese were allow-
ed to have their way."
Asked whether the Japanese would attempt to capture Canton "For and Hainan, Mr. Chen said: three months the Japanese have made no headway in Shanghai and they have done very little in North China. One would think that the battle line was already long enough for Japan. The long- er they take the harder they make things for themselves. How- ever, China is prepared for all eventualities and I dare say the Kwangtung authorities will knoW how to deal with whatever the situation develops in this part."
LONG RESISTANCE
Mr. Chen is of the opinion that resistance against Japanese ag- gression will last for a long time and China was naturally placing a good deal of hope on the Nine- Power talks. He believes that if sanctions were applied against the
от
Japanese the latter was bound to collapse sooner later while China had power to resist for an indefinite period.
her
"If Japan were now to express willingness to declare an armistice would China
agree?" asked the pressman.
"I cannot, of course, speak for the Government, "replied Mr. Chen, "but I am sure the will of the people of China is that no peace would be acceptable to them except it be peace with honour. By that I mean that every account would have to be settled between the two nations. We are. after all, fighting for our terri- torial integrity.”
SECRET OF SUCCESS
as
our
"That is the secret of our suc- cess so far." proceeded Mr. Chen. "Has not the world acclaimed Chi-
resistance nese
à miracle? How has that been possible? It has only been possible owing to the courage
and dauntless spirit of our troops at the front and the unity and self-sacrifice of civilian population in the face of the most damnable brutality in the shape of death raining from the skles. Right through this terrible period there has not been one complaint from the masses, and I can
you that the more ruthless and cruel the Japanese grow, the stronger will grow the unity of the people and the great- er their determination to help the Government."
assure
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