Daily Republican., 1882-09-25
GOnRNl Preaching. (.

! preached TWO platD, simple, DuI power
full gospel sermons at the church of the
Household of Faith on Sunday, Sept
18th. Mr.. Wendell is by no means an
amateur in gospel work; to hear him,
is to be convinced, that he Is "a wise
master builder of the Chusra of Christ. "
Primitive simplicity is the distinctive
characteristic Of his' preaching, while
his familiarity with all Scriptural
subjects renders him "a workman that
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word Of truth" His gos.
pei is of the Old Jerusalem type: Sal
walton complete and entire, at the
Second coming of our dear Lord, and
the resurrection of his Saints, those
W ho are determined to know nothing
but Jesus and him crucified, and, also,
"the power of his resurrection" and
are willing "to be made conformable
unto his death, If By any means they
may attain unto the resurrection from
the dead" would be greatly helped. by
committing prejudicial suicide, and
boldly asserting their moral fire. dom
"to prove all things, and hold fast thst
which is good"
And allow us to say just here, that
this suicidal crucifXion of prejudice iS
the imperative duty of the hour, aye, it
involves our moral and spiritual free
dom. And our delivorance from 1t
and our induction "into the glorious
liberty of the Sons of God," is the sub
iect of deepest interest to the angels.
"who are miuistering spirits, sent
rth to minister unto them who are
bot r,fr IL - Illp Ia
morning subject was, (which things
the angels desire to look into," 1st Pet
or I, IL Read the chapter carefully
and just see what angels are Interested
in. They are deeply interested in the
redemption from death and the grave,
q race of beings who are to be equal"
unto themselves in that "they cannot
die any moe, and they are the children
of God, being the children of the resur-
rection." Is it not strange that
angels should manifest such a
deep interest," In men. and yet the sub.
Jscts OF their intense desire, should
remain so Indifferent. What has pro-
duced this apathy, this indifference ?
We answer, a sad departure from u
simple gospel, to that which is not the
gospel, but that of only ''strife and
envy" Why not then abandon this
"strife about words which are Of no
profit" and return to the original sim-
plicity of the gospel" "from which men
have turned away"
The Gospel has never changed, 1t Is
still "the glad tidings of good things" )"
the joyful proclamation of coming
king, whose kingdom on the earth ami
whose will on the earth will como and
be done as it is in Heaven. The resur-
rectIon of his sleeping saints and tie
translation of the living ones, and their
glorious "reign with him on the earth"
is the Joyful sound" and "blessed are
the people that know the joyful sound. !"
Mr.. Wendell's evening discourse was
based on the Acts of the Apostles, Y, 80
and included thorough delineation
of all the events as set forth in the pre-
Ceding portion Of the chapter, promi-
nent among these was the deep devO'
tion of Cornelius, with all his house;
also that of his aims giving, his vision
aud direction 10 send men to G0ppa for
Peter, not the Rev. Peter, but Peter
! late Uf fishing notoriety. This Peter
| was to tell Cornelius what he ought 10
| do. Peter s vision of the sheet, his re-
tusal to "stay and eat" its repetition,
his doubts and final decision, has de-
parture with the servants of Cornelius.
The forthwith promptness of Cornelius,
Peters arrival, and his message.
The company assembled at the house
of Cornelius, their waiting attitude, and
sneedy baptism of the Holy Spirit of
all that heard the word. This was the
result of a company anxiously waiting
70 hear the word, from man obedienJ-
ly preaching the word of God, as he
had commanded him, and careful
study of this chapter will reveal the
true secret of gospel preaching. When
a congregation can trulhfully say to a
minister, after careful preparation by
prayer and aims giving, Now, there
fore, we are all here present before God,
to hear all things that are commanded
thee of God" If something is not done
which has not taken place for centuries
then his credentials ne0d to be critical-
lily examined. He may stand very
much in need of what Peter had (DOW-
or to speak with other tongues, aS the
spirit gave him utteranCe) Ot the con-
gregation may need the divine instruc-
tiors to send for ust slCh man. In
either case failure can only ensue. There
is then necessity that the prepara-
tion of the heart in man, as well as The
answer of the tongue, be from the Lord -
to the minister. A lso the "ready mind,
the hearing ear, the understanding
heart, must be obtained by the congre.
CATION. And as like causes. always
produce like effects, these effects can
only be seen by return to the original
simplicity and power of Apostolic
preaching, and gospel living. Nothing
can serve as an apology for this, moth
ing can be substituted in its place. No
amount of will worship" eau secure
these desired results. Here, the hi CHEST
human wisdom stands utterly power
less. 1t must be openly acknowledged,
and humbly confessed, "that the excel
lency of this power" is not of man, but
of God" And no NAL is more sensi-
BILE of these facts than Mr.. Wendell
himself, hence his deep devotion to the
simplicity Of pure gospel, Just as the
apostles preached it, and his intense
desire to have others see the same. 1t
would greatly surprise some who Vene-
rate the scriptures and prize them very
highly indeed, if they could summon
the moral courage to do so, just to hear
the grand simplicity of the gospel, as he
portrays it in his loving spirit of Christ
like teaching. 1t was SAID of our dear
ELord: "The common people heard him
gladly" So they would to-day If they
will hear and understand. S.
st. Peters Cathedral, Rome