Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1859-09-14
Preaching the Gospel"

to be- But we go to preaching, and we love
preaching. Not your 'rule and square"
compass and plummet'+' tongue and
groove artistic fixing up, a la essay of the
'SchoolS-dignlficd as the science of Sermon
asing"-but we mean earnest Gospel preach
i~ng-something to wake up the nearer from
carnal security-something that VIII 'stir
the divinity within us" and cause it to burn,
instead of laying there like dead piece Of
Phosphorus.
.Preaching the Gospel" may be termed a
Aged phrase from the fact that we
Neo much substituted by modern sermon
In 'the olden time" land we are not
very old either when 'the power and demon
~stration of the spirit accompanied the word"
we were accustomed to witnessing and feeling
something of this power, when the faithful
"watchman on the walls of Zion'' preached
Jesus and Him crucified. Then the Preacher
told us, in the plain but beautifully dramatic
language of the Bible, the sublime story of
the Cross-he depicted to us 'sin thoughts
that breathed and words that burned" the
story of the Manager and the Star of Bethle-
hem-thet ranscendant miracles fthedoubted
and despised Nazarene-the trials and perse-
~cutions of Him, who 1when he was reviled,
reviled not again"-of his lofty and sublime
teachings, and His still loftier and more sub
lime example. And we remember how
"our hearts burned within u.s." when the
pious herald reiterated the words of Him
who spake as never man spake J" and when
the dark and bloody scene Of the Cr~ucifxion
was portrayed, with what solemn awe, and
how with sympathetic gush of tears, we fol-
lowed the Preacher to the garden of Gethsem-
ane, and up the rugged hill as HE bore His
cross to the tragic summit of Calvary. And
we remember, too, how graphically and in
dellibly he fixed upon the tablet of memory
and engrafted upon the soul Of faith, how
the bloody act was mourned in Heaven when
J the glorious sun refused to look upon the
scene, when wicked men and devils exulted
over the death of the Son of God; and how
a. tLACy iCFlIOu dtliu Vi lCO- hud! IIlOu UdSC saw
others, but if thou be the Messiah, save thy
self" And never shall we forget, how they
led us from this drear and hopeless termina-
ton Of the christian faith to the glorious ire
surrection MORN" when the Angel of the
!, Lord announced-s'He is not here but risen p
OF His appearing to his disciples, of His put
ting to shame a doubling Thomas, by forcing
him to put his fingers in the prints of the
: nails, and thrust his hand into the wound in
his side caused by the soldiers spear!-Ot
His glorious ascension in the presence of five
! hundred witnesses !-Of the proclamation O
the Angels, as they eried-"Ye men of CALI
{ lee, why stand We here gazing up into Heav
en-? This same Jesus which we now see go
a ing up into Heaven, shall come again, witt
d all the glory of His Fathers Angels, to judg'
u the world in righteousness"
This is the kind of preaching engraven up
on our memories, and which will linger an
vibrate in the sacred temple of the soul
faith while we live. But in this day of sys
tematic s~ermonising it would not be calle
fe preaching. Well, it may not be; but it wa
a soulsaving through the application of tn
B. spirit, and the world would be the bette
Aow, if we could have more like it. St
up the deep fountains of the heart-call I'M
ut play the pure and. holy sympathies of OF
k nature with which God has endowed man Il
holy and devotional purposes-preach as j
hs sus himself preached, andthe promise-"Lt
d. | am with you Away" will be verified, al
souls win be given as seals to the ministl
ne of the faithful Gospel preacher.
We would make no invidious compariso