Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1880-08-16
&eliaieMs department.
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL.

lnere Is perhaps no aspect OF tnelr
work so discouraging to the ministry as
the indisputable fact that the majority
of congregations are not what they ought
to be in point of numbers. Of all the
trials the ministry are called to endure,
preaching to empty pews is the most
severe; yet it is one that is common to
nearly all who preach. Published fig
ures show that an astonishingly small
portion of the people, especially in our
cities, hear preaching, and that, though
the number of church sittings is far less
than the population, yet those sittings
are not nearly filed. The great prob
lem of the average pastor is to remedy
this state of things, and in some way
awaken an interest in his ministry of
the word. Besides his proper work he
feels burdened with the infinitely more
difficult task of securing hearers from
among those who feel no interest in him
or his message. The failure, in many
cases, is not only source of discour-
agement, but the occasion of strong
temptations to resort to clap-trap, ques-
tionable methods of advertisement,
sensational style of preaching, and. gra-
vest of all, the temptation to modify the
truth to suit the taste of the multitude
to ''preach another gospel" than that
of Jesus Christ. These temptations are
increased by the fact that some who
yeild to them succeed in securing larger
audiences than those who adhere to the
apostolic methods. Under such circum-
stances the preacher must revert to the
terms of his commission, and remember
that his only sure guarantee of success
in the ministry is the power of the gos-
pei. That guarantee is the power of
God, and does all that Omnipotence can
| do to save men. 1t is Gods chosen
agency for the salvation of the world,
and he stands pledged to give it eficien-
cy wherever 1t is preached in its purity,
saying, at shall not return unto me
void, utaccomplish that which please,
and 1t shall prosper in the thing whereto
| sent it. The term of every preachers
commission limit him to the one work
of preaching the gospel of Christ. This
he is bound to do whether men "will
bear or forbear." He has no right to
do anything else, and is pronounced
"accursed" if he venture to "preach any
other gospel" He is not called to pro-
vide hearers for himself by resorting to
the arts Of the demagogue or the rhetor-
ician, and catering to the low tastes and
preferences of men. He is not response
BILE for the results of his preaching, or
for the number of his hearers. He is
only responsible for being personally
imbued with the spirit of the gospel
and for preaching it in all fullness by
his life and in his pulpit. If he is con.
scious that he breaches and lives ga
whole gospel" he may confidently ex
pect fruit, and has right to exoneratt
| b;DoeoIf frovo oil bloo,o &c MAN ,of,,,o k<
hear. He can say with the apostle
"lf our gospel be hid, it is hid to then
that are lost; Lp whom the god Of this
world hath blinded the minds Of then
which believed not, lest the light of th,
glorious gospel of Christ, who is tn,
image of God, should shine unto them
For we preach not ourselves, but Chris
Jesus the Lord" If the gospel of pow
er does not save men, they cannot b
saved by any other means. And if tn
faithful proclamation of the gospel doe
not secure hearing, it is not the faul
of the preacher, but of those who refus
to hear. The time foretold by st. Pau
has come, 'when they will not endur
sound doctrine; but after their owl
lusts shall they heap to themselve
teachers, having itching ears: and the
shall turn away their ears from the truth
: and shall be turned unto fables" Tn
faithful minister need not blame him
self for the refusal of such people t
hear him, or be tempted to adapt hi
message to their perverted taste. Their
is no conceivable substitute for the plat
and simple gospel of Christ, and it
gross in6delity to his high calling. an
utterly useless, for any minister to a
tempt to win and save men by any otht
means.-NOrthaOeStern Christian Adv,