The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-04-16
THE GOSPEL FOR qHg POOR.
Unbelief is Not Only an Unrea-
sonable Thing, but it is an
Impudent Thing.
THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL TO THE
PooR-THE MOST WONDERFUL MIR
AcLE EVER WITNESSED BY ANY
CREATED BEING.

AcLE EVER WITNESSED BY ANY
CREATED BEING.
sermon by Rev. Robert Latham. d.
~. Retiring Moderator, before
the Associate Reformed Presby.
terian Presbytery, at Troy. =. Co.
Friday. April 1Ith. 1890.
To the poor the Gospel is preached. Luke
The text constitutes n part of one of the
most rem arSabe paragraphs In the whole
Bible. John the Baptist had been thrust into
prison aud had no doubt become Respondent.
Nothing In the Scriptures or in the nature OF
! things forbids us coming 10 the conclusion
that John had really began 10 doubt respect
Ing the Messiahship Of Jesus OF Nazareth.
TO satisfy himself and his followers WIN re.
ga ard To this impOr ant matter. he sent two OF
| his disciples to Jesus for the purpose or ob
tanning definite answer 10 the question "hrt
thou he thut should Gomez or look we for
lanother" To John at that particular time the
question was one Of vita! Importance. Moth.
Ing can be more apparent than that 1t was the
avowed purpose OF God to send redeemer
into the world. This was made known at a
very early period In the history OF the human
family. On the very day OH which man fell
| from his primeval state. saviour was prom
Used. That promise is contained In the curse
! which the Lord God pronunced upon the SER
pent, because of the part 1t had taken IN de-
reiving man. "He," says the Lord God refer
ring to the seed OF the woman, ''shall hruise
as these words may be, Eve manifestiy under
stood them to contain promise OF q iuture
delivercr. Hence when Cain was born she
wrongly interpreting the promise aS TO the
gotten the man Jehovah" Evidently she
thought her first horn, TO whom she gnve the
name Cain, was the promised seed Whoshonid T,Ia
bruise the head Of the great adversary. The
promise of a Savior was, as time rolled on,
frequently repeated and In language free
from all ambiguity. or this Saviour proph.
With regard to the fact that God had prom
ised n Saviour John did not doubt This he
could not do without calling In question all
that is written IN the law, end the prophcts,
| Elijah OF prophecy whose office was to pre-
pare the way Of the Lord, and make bis
paths straight, he was only man. Confined
in prison without anything upon which TO
base hope that he would ever be released,
lie began 10 be overwhelmed with anxiety.
With his appreciation. rather In accordance
with his his dseRlfs hs owsrs naa De ef
Jesus Of Nazareth. Such was the intense
anxiety of his mind that he could neither
live nor die cnntented until he had further
evidence of him whom he had pointed out rs
"the Lamb OF God which taketh away the
sins OF the world" that he was the promised
Messiah. Evidence that Jesus OF Nazareth
was the seed Of the woman who would crush
the head of the serpent was not wanting: II
is not wanting to any one who has Bible,
but faith ls often very weak. Because OF this
the people of God sometimes appear to be
very different from what they are at other
times. Abraham promrily obeyed the com.
mand OF God md left his native land. With
out q moments hesitation he withdrew from
the Lord said he would show him.
In this Abraham showed that he had I'm
plicit condolences In God; When; however,
L,r ,ion nnt6 b M n
wife Sarah To prevent this he resorted TO
species of prevaricatlon which shows thut
while his faith was sometimes strong IT was
at other times weak. The course pursued by
John is @ rtainly worthy of imitation by MI
the professed followers OF the Saviour. He
sent two Of his disciples to the Saviour him.
self that ali his doubts might be settled, and
When Johns disciples came TO the Saviour
they found him In or near Capernaum curing
many of their infirmities and plaques and OF
were blind. John, while In prison, had heard
of the works Of Jesus. Still he seems to have
desired to have direct answer TO tho ques-
tion "Art thou he that should come, or
look we for another?" The miracles which
Jesus had performed, some Of which no doubt
John bad witnessed, ought to have placed
him high above the region Of doubt and con-
vlnoed him that no man could do the mira
ces which Jesus did except be was from God.
Our Saviour did rot crafty John by sendlng
him direct answer TO his question go
your way" suid he 10 Johns disciples, sand
tell John what things ye have seen and
heard" Unbellef, like the two daughters Of
the horseleech, continually cries give, give"
Hezekiah was not satisfied with the positive
as the accredited messenger OF God With re:
gard to his recovery. but asked what shall
be the sign that the Lord will heal me-" The
prophet had plainly and positively, and md with,
Lord God OF his father David had heard his
prayer and determined to heal his sickness
This ought to have been enough to satisfy
reasonable thing, When the Lord on one oc-
eptitled the father of the faithful. "fear not
Ing greut reward" Abraham asked the qucs.
| tion "what wilt thou give me, seeing l 60
chlldless, and the steward Of my house Is this
Eliezer Of Damascus" Unbellef Is not only
an unreasonable thing but II Is an impudent
| thing.
But unbelef serves 10 exhibit the longsuf
fering and forDearance OF our God, who often
condesccndS 10 crafty our unreasonable de-
| lnands. God told Abraham that Eliezer Of
Damascus shonld not be his heir, but verit.
able son should be his heir. When doubling
ask the unnecessary question "Art thou he
that should come, or look we for another
unnecessary because II had oflon boen an.
swered by unmislakable sigos.on5 Savonr
John what you have seen and heard"
| Viewed from human standpoint both
John and his two disciples were deserving OF
Il severe rebuke, but our Saviour did not re.
buke them, or If he did, 1T was by way OF re-
nembrance as he did afterwards, when he
turned and looked upon Peter, and Peter re:
membered the word Of his master and went
out and wept bitterly.
The things which :he disciples OF John had
seen and heard and specifically mentioned.
Tho blind were made To see, the lame were
| made TO walk, The lepers were oleansed. the
deaf were made to hear, the dead were re.
stored to life, and TO the poor the Gospel was
preached. In this we have an apparent gra-
dation from the less impression TO the most
Impression. They had seen deeds pefOrfncd
any one of which demonstrated 10 their
senses that the performer OF them was verit-
ably divine. God only can give sight to the
blind and TO Il @ lunie the ability TO walk
able disease, or restore hearing to the deaf.
He who is nble 10 do either one Of these
things is able to create q world and people IT,
But tho disciples OF John saw, II possible, a
more con vipoing evidence Of the Messiahship
Of Jesus of Nazareth than this: They saw
US US to ask "had those dead who were were raised ap' m
been long dead or had they but recently gone
the way OF all the EARTH" or some Of those
dead no doubt their friends thought, as doubt
tomb Of her brother Lazarus, rLord by this
time he stnketh." What a convincing ev-
idence Of the all.lmportant truth that Jesus
the Nazarene Is the promised Messiah.
But wonderful as were all the miracles
wrought by ourSnviour In the presence OF the
two disciples OF John, the most wonderful OF
all of them was the preaching of the gospel to
the poor. We may ask, what greater exhibit
ing OF life to dead men? Did not Jesus dem.
onstrate with unquestionable certainty the
| fact OF his divinity when he touched the bier
on which was borne the eess b9ay Of the
man sat up and began TO speak, and when at
his command Lazarus, who had been dead