Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-06-27
&eadiuq for the Sabbath
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
lOriginal ]
PREACHING.

lorlgInal
PREACHING.
The minister of the gospel is an embassa-
dor sent out from the court of high heaven.
Such is the meaning of the word in the Greek
New Testament Scriptures When Christ,
after his death, sent his disci pies into all the
world. the commission he gave them was
simply to proclaim, as ambassadors, the glad
tidings of salvation through the blood of the
son of God. Such is still the duty of the
minister of the gospel. His business is to
proclaim to the world that God, in the pleni-
tude of his love, sent his only begotten son
into the world to make an end of sin and
bring in an everlasting Righteousness. In
addition to- this, it is the pleasing duty of the
minister of the gospel to proclaim to all,
with whom he may, in any way. come in con-
tact, that whoaoever, of Adams race, will be-
lieve on Jesus Christ, shall be saved
Between the apostles sent out by our sa-
viour and tho ministers of the gospel, who
ever after have succeeded those apostles, and
all other ministers of the gospel to the end of
time, this difference mainly existed. The
early apostles were chosen with special refer.
ence to bearing testimony to the fact that
they had been eye witnesses of Christ after
bis resurrection. In other words, in order to
be an apostle, it was necessary that an ipdi.
vidual had seen the Lord after he was risen
from the dead TO be preacher of the gos-
pei, at the present time, this is not necessary.
The first apostles had particular work to
perform. They had to fill up the canon Of
Scripture In other words, they we're required
to prepare the New Testament Scriptures. No
minister of the gospel has, at present, any
such work to do. He dare not add anything
to that which is written. This work was fin-
ished and completed when John penned the
book of Revelation. The great duty of the
minister of the gospel now, is to explain and
enforce the Scriptures. Preaching and teach
ing mean about the came thing
. This being a common sense view Of the
subject, as we'll as in perfect conformity with
the tenor of the Scriptures, it is manifest that
the first requisite in order to preach the gos-
pei, ia thorough and accurate knowledge of
the Scriptures. No man can teach we'll what
he does not know himself. Whatever the
minister of the gospel may know, be must be
we'll versed in the Scriptures. In one respect
he enjoys an advantage over every other pro-
fessional man. The lawyer or physician must
read and study a number of huge volumes,
but the minister may be eminently successful
in his work and be man of only one book.
Every precept he is required to teach, every
law he is required to expound, is contained in
one book, and that book is the Bible. His
duty is not to give his own theories of this or
that doctrine or duty, but to declare plainly
what the scriptures teach on all subjects, which
come within the range of his proper work.
In order to be useful minister of the gospel,
more than correct and extensive knowledge
of the Scriptures is necessary. He who would
engage in the work of preaching Christ and
him cruci6ed, must be "apt to teach" In
this, to no small degree, lies the call to preach.
God has given some men the ability, in an
eminent degree, to probe almost any subject
to the core, but he has not seen fit to bestow
upon them the ability to communicate their
thoughts to others. In other words, all
learned men are not "apt' to teach, neither
can they become 80. Now we feel safe in say.
ing that the individual who has the power to
acquire knowledge, but has not the ability to
communicate that knowledge to others, no
matter what titles he may have received from
ecclesiastical courts, never was called to
preach the gospel.
The tendency of the age is to degrade the
pulpit into a platform, upon which may be
displayed the powers of defamation in him
wbo occupies it. Every senaible man knows
that much that passes current for preaching
in the present day deserves no better name
than Grant" The sophomore tastes of the
audience is pandered to, and the poor sinner
is neither instructed nor convicted. He is
delighted, it may be, but not with the gospel,
for there was no gospel in the whole thing.
If any one will examine the epistles of Paul,
he will discover that they consist mainly in
exposition, or in teaching what sinners are to
believe and what they are to do. His speech
es as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles
are, no doubt, fair specimen of bis preach
ing. These speeches, or sermons, if that word
is preferred, are very different from much Of
the exercises which are conducted in the mod
ern pulpit. Either Paul did not understand
how to preach the gospel, or much that in the
present age goes by the name of preaching is
no preaching at all.
Numbers of men seem to think that there
is no other way by which young man of fair
talent can glorify God but by becoming
minister of the gospel. This is all nonsense.
There are a great number now pretending to
preach, who would have done more for the
cause of the Redeemer, had they turned their
attention to farming. The fact is, there are
too many preachers, and there are too few
preachers. This is only an apparent contra
diction. The harvest is great and the labor
ers are few. So long as things remain as they
now are, there will always be call for more
laborers in the Lords vineyard; but there
are multitudes now in the gospel ministry who
never we're called to the work. They select
ed the profession of the gospel ministry, that
they might avoid work and spend a life of
honor and ease. Such selfconstituted minis.
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