The Portland daily press., 1874-04-27
SUNDAY SERVICES.
PLYMOUTH CHURCH.

PLYMOUTH CHURCH.
The pastor preached an excellent sermon
yesterday morning taking his text from 1st
Corinthians ii 2. ssFor I determined not to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ
and Him cruciied'' The story that Paul told
was just such as the people of Corinth would
have seemed the slowest to receive. Yet it
was in the inherent power of this very story
that he relied There is principle involved here
The life and death of Jesus Christ are the
soul of preaching. 1t seems fitting as there are
many theories of preaching to Inquire what it
really should be. Who first is the preacher
and to what dignity is he entitled? He is no
priest; he has no supernatural power to show
above other men. He is simply one among
others set apart for convenience to minister to
the rest. 1t is not the laying on of hands that
makes him the minister and the choice of the
church. In the same line of thinking, too. he
merits respect not for dress and title but for
what he is and what he does. He who trusts
bim most as brother, honors him most
And what now is the object of preaching? 1t
is not pleasure People constantly judaa it
falsely when they aim at amusement in hear
ing it. Its object is not morals either though
there is strong misapprehension on this point,
But the object of preaching is distinctly relig-
ious. Strike out of the thought of the world
the belief in a personal God and the hope of a
future life and there is an end to preaching.
The preacher is not mems servant ;he is Gods
servant. If he proclaims love and duty and
brotherhood, it is for a higher aim than expe
olency; or 1t IS because he recognizes above all
common and eternal Father.
what now is PREACHING in ifaa1f2 + hos fxuo
elements. The first is instruction, Religion
beginning with q few simple truths widens out
in its relation into one of the most profound and
Uompaenensiye pre- m I'VE OF studies There is therefore,
element is persuasion. There is no preaching
which does not throw warm and urgent hearf
into the work, persuading men both of the ex-
cellence and the necessity of divine truth.
We come now to the question what shall we
preach" We answer with the principle of our
text that the life and death of Christ are the
soul of preaching. The historical facts of the
life and death of Christ are the anchor of relig.
ious belief;-these facts once given, all religious
instincts must centre about them. 1t is palmer
to-day than ever that here is the one surety on
which hangs the faith of the world, For who
could go on preaching religion, not only with
absolutely no facts as basis but after the only
set of supposed facts ever given had turned out
falsities? Thus it is that Jesus Christ alone is
the soul of preaching.
What now is the scope of this preaching?
1t has no narrow meaning. 1t does not mean
that every sermon must begin and end with the
name of Jesus Christ, though that name must
always be dear to the prescher-It does not
mean that he must forget all other knowledge
1t does not mean that the preacher must set
forth always certain doctrines, though from GER
tain essential truths the true preacher can never
go far astray;, Yet Christianity is more than a
system or body of doctrines, it is rather life.
Neither does preaching confine itself entirely
to the thought OF mems sin, though sinners
can never be far from the preacher love. Sin,
however, is not the the key note of the gospel.
The whole idea of preaching is that men by ali
means, for fear of death or for love of good bnt
better always for love than for fear, should See
and lay bold of that Eternal Life, which Christ
has certified to us. Neither is preaching that
only which is narrowly and strictly religious.
There is nothing that is strictly religious.
There is no class Of subjects beyond the scope of
the pulpit. 1t is indeed only the religious aim |