Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-08-14
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM:
fOriglnal.]
PREACHING.

lOrlgInal.l
PREACHING.
Nothing can be more evident than that God
has established Church upon earth. We say
with emphasis that God has established the
Church. It is not human organization, gov
erned by constitution and bylaws, gotten up
by men, God, the maker of all things, is the
author of it's constitution. He, and he alone,
is the author of all it's laws and regulations.
Hence with the most absolute propriety, it is
called the Church of the living God. In this
Church there are, by the appointment OF God,
several classes of officers. One of these Off
GERS is called the preacher. Sometimes, but
incorrectly, it is called a minister of the gos-
pei. A minister of the Lord is any one who
serves the Lord in any capacity; but the
preacher is designed to serve the Lord in par
ticuar capacity. No one is allowed to dis
charge the duties of his office.
The Old Testament Priest was type of
Christ. The proper duties of his office were
such that no one was allowed to otficiate in his
stead No one but Il priest was permitted to
offer up sacrifices to God, because no one else
was type of Christ, the Lamb of God, the
sacrificial lamb which, in the fuDness of time,
was to he offered up for sin. The particular
duties of the priest were clearly pointed out,
and it was highly offensive in the sight of God
for any one, except a priest, to undertake to
discharge these duties. Saul, the first King OF
Israel, in the very beginning of hisreign, made
grievous mistake, in that he, as he said,
''forced himself, and offered burnt Offering"
This act paved the way to his final downfall.
| The Lord slew Uzzah at NachOn's threshing
floor, because he took hold of the ark to pre-
vent it from falling off an ox-cart. God is a
jealous God. The right thing must be done at
the right time, and each individual must per-
form his proper part.
1t is the command of God that the gospel
be preached to every creature, but it is not the
duty of every one of the human family to
preach the gospel 1t would be sin-a great
sin-for every man to undertake the work of
preaching the everlasting gospel. 1t is the
privilege of every one who will to minister in
some way to the advancement Of the kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour, but as God would
not allow all the children of Israel to be priests
SO he will not, under New Testament dispen-
sation, allow every one who is of the spiritual
seed of Abraham to preach Christ and him
crucifed.
Jesus Christ has reserved the sole right of
selecting his own ambassadors. He, in the
exercise of his sovereignty, chose his seventy
disciples and sent them out to proclaim that
the kingdom of heaven was at hand. After
his resurrection he sent out the eleven apostles
to preach the gospel to every creature, promis-
ing that he would be with them to the end Of
the world. After the ascension of Jesus the
eleven apostles selected Matthias to ''take part
of this ministry from which Judas by trans
gression felt that he might 60 to his own
place." In the selection Of Matthias, it was
plainly indicated how the succession of those
whose duty it is to preach the gospel is to be
perpetuated. In other words it is plain that
Jesus Christ points out who are to be the her.
aids of the cross.
| No insignificant number of even those who
claim to be Christians regard preaching as a
trade-an avocation by which livelihood can
be gained. The preacher is ranked with the
lawyer and physician. Such notion ignores
the fact that the church and all it's officers and
ordinances are heaven appointed. Boys are
picked up on the public highways, and because
they may he sedate and possessed Of fair
amount of intellect they are put under course
of training that in due time they may be sent
out to preach the gospel. Again, young men
of fair intellectual endowments, moderate Pc
cunary ability and but little energy Of char
acter, hurry themselves into the office of a
preacher that they may enjoy it's honors and
ease. 1t is to be hoped that such instances
are very rare, for it is a most daring under
taking for any man to enter the sacred desk
with no other motives. Such preachers as
these young men would make, or rather do
make, do the church no good.
Since Jesus Christ has reserved to himself
the sole and exclusive right of appointing and
selecting his own officers for his own churches
he who undertakes to preach the gospel must
first be called of God. Not every individual
who is pious and who is gifted as speaker is
to conclude because of these gifts he is called
to preach the gospel. There are some persons
who, because they can throw few words to-
gether making the syllables at the end of the
lines rhyme, conclude that they are poets
Such, however, is not the case. No amount of
learning can make man a poet. This being
the case, no man should ever attempt to write
poetry but he who can not help it. In the
same way we may say that no man should ever
undertake to discharge the duties of preach
er who does not feel "woe is me if preach
not the gospel" The sum of the whole mat
ter is Jesus Christ calls men to preach the gos-
pei and only those called by him are owned
us his ambassadors.
The duties of preacher are all specified.
lie is sent forth into the world as Jonah was
sent to Nineveh, to preach the preaching that
God bids him. Just at this point, both preach
Ell and people often make sad mistake. The
people are anxious to be entertained every Sab
bath with fine rhetorical speeches, learned
scientific discussions, or bold and reckless
speculations on some subject about which God
has made no revelation. TO this morbid, or
rather goddess taste, preachers too often pam
der To the preacher the Bible must be a
text book. He must teach what it teaches,
approve what it approves, censure what it cen-
sures, praise whom it praises, and rebuke with
all long-suffering all whom it rebukes. To
the preacher all truth is important, but only as
it serves to illustrate and enforce the truth of
the Bible.
The theme of every sermon in order to be
called a gospel sermon must be Christ and him
crucifed. No matter how much science or
how much poetry there may he in sermon, or
how well it may be delivered, if its beginning,
end and middle is not Christ, it is not entitled
to be called preaching. Every congregation
should demand of their preacher proof for