The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-04-16

ceptance or the o1fer pressed upon lheIn Dy
the most gracious and the most awfulconsid.
erations. Still they refuse. They laugh and
talk as II they were not heirs OF eternal perul'
ton, and as IL Gods favor was thing UNI
worthy OF their consideration.
The Indifference with which The gospel ofler
| Is treated by corrupt and condemned sinners
must fill the holy intelligences of heaven with
amazement. How hard must be the human
and how stubborn the human will. Our Say
iour exclaimed. "How oft would have gath
cred you as hen gathers her chickens under
| her wings, but ye would not
1t Is wonderful thing-a miracle-that God
offers pardon and acceptance TO any OF Ad.
ans race, but IL Is. If possible. when viewed
humanity, intensified when we learn that the
gospel is preached tn the poor. In this world,
and by the standard of thls world, men are es.
timated not by what they are, but by what
they have. Among mcn-men OF this worid
I'm every nation. the poor occupy the de-
grnded position of menials or slaves TO be
born poor Is, In the eyes or the men OF This
world, nearly the same, If not the same as to
| be base born. No prince, except Tie Prince OF
the hand and bids him dwell in the land and
promises TO share with him the 6onnties oi
hls own table. No king, except the King oi
Glory. says to his poor subject. "lear not, you
love aud bliss" No earthly prince ever offe-.
et,to crown his poor uhjrcts. but Jesus Christ
promises To give TO each Of his poor followers
Il crown, not Of gold studded with diamonds.
1t IL Il remarkable fact that the first disci-
Piles OF our Saviour were oil selected from the
poorer class In society-not the squalidly
poor, but from those who occupied humble
apostle of the Gcntlles, was tent maker.
The apostles and early disciples OF Jesus, fol-
lowed his example, preached the gospel to the
poor. In every land the church of God Is
largely nude up OF the poor. aye see your
ca fing, BRETHREN" said Paul TO the Corln.
thians, chow that not many wise men after
the flesh. not many mighty, not many noble
are called; but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world 10 cnnfound the wise; and
God hath chosen the weak things OF the world
to confOund the things which are mighty land
base things of the world. and things which
are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to nought things that
are: that no flesh SHOULD glory in his pres
Not only Is ihe gospel preached to the poor,
but 1t is prenched Ia them, not In the 'echni-
cal language OF the schools OF human philolo-
gy, but In the simple language or common
people. The language Of four our sayioIr' ana a,t M OF
marvelOusly exnct. There ISL power IN the
ungrammatical sentences OF Peter that is not
In the polished periods the great Roman ora
tor. Cicero.
Ministers Of the gospel may learn an imnor-
taut lesson from the fact that it IL the will OF
the King and head OF the Church that the gos-
pe! be preached TO the moor md preached In
Wyckliffe. and after him of Martin Luther,
and still later OF John Knox lay In the fact
that they preached to the poor, not In Latin,
the language OF the learned at that time. but
In The vernacular dialect OF those whom they
addressed. Wycklitfe spoke in old English, Lu:
ther spoke in the German OF the masses. and
John Knox poured forth the grand truths Of
the Bible In the broad Scotch Of the peasants
Of his native land.
Brethren, let us never forget to preach the
gospel TO the poor II is from this class In 80
ciety that we are mainly TO find tho jewels
which shall be In our crown of rejoicing. Let
manner, or in such language, that the poor
sons and daughters of toll can understand
what we preach. The pulpit Is the most inap..
proprlate place to select for the purpose Of
making display of mere human learning.