The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1898-01-16
1.-THE PREACHING FOR THE TIMES. ),

1.-THE PREACHING FOR THE TIMES"
To the Editor of The Times Truth is
the most startling thing in the world,
when expressed. The preacher is per.
soniiied truth. A voice not only in thu
wilderness, but in the busy haunts of
men. Christ came to destroy the works
CT the devil. Every pulpit must be
force against the powers of darkness
wherever 1t exists, or it is a..fe lure. before
God aud man. What is the preacher TO
do! 1t is quite impossible to answer that
question wrong at the risk of offending
the nineteenth century Phsrisee. The
preacher must point out the wrong, and
with pungent denunciation urge on the
part of those to whom he is to influence
non-complicity Herewith. The pulpit
that presents only the wooing and loving
Christ is wanting in success, as we'll as
the pulpit that breaches only Christ of
warning. The rapid young men of the
day cry in contempt, "The pulpit has
lost it's power TIE sickly, sentimental
sermon arouses the laughter of fools and
jeers of wise men. They ridicule it as
thing OF truism and platitude. There is
something terribly wrong just now. We
live in i,umbrouS times. Who is to
wake the individual, the city, the State,
the nation, if not the preacherf The cry,
Awaken thou TINT sleepest" comes in
thunderous tones to the preacher of the
day. What evils shall be condem ned.
Here we have sin raging all .around us,
an unclaimed devil seeking whom he
may devour. Here is the saloon, prize
fights, gambling, corrupt politicians,
municipal mistule, the social evil, dis
honest business, stock gambling, monop.
oily, young and old being destroyed by
the painted enchantress, sin, and the
prophets of God appear before their peo-
PIE muzzled with convictions, deadened
by fear. The gospel should touch So
ciety at every point The gospel is APP
piled truth, and applies equally to the
home, the work shop, the political eau
Gus, the affairs of government. whether
village, city or State, Or nation. Sen
sationalism is only relative term. The
preacher who will not voice the truth
of the gospel for fear of being called a
'sensationalist" is n coward, not fit for
his high calling. John the Baptiss was
NEST stirring preacher. He came from
the wilderness crying, Repent ye, for
the Kingdom of heaven Is at hand" To
the aristocrat Pharisee he said: "Gener-
alton of -Sipers, who hath warned you to
flee from the wrath to Gomez" He re-
buked the city oflicisls of Jerusalem; the
Roman soldiers came in for their share,
and even Herod, king of the Jews, could
| by this courageous preacher. He warned,
rebuked, threatened, denounced all sin
| anu sinners.
| Chr st came after him, even more sensa
| tiona. He declared ''woe'' on the
Scribes aud Pharisees, called them,
"hypocrites;" the twenty third of Mat
| thew is the finest piece of invective that
ever fell from human lips. Dr. Park
hurst calls it. "Christ's Philippe against
the brown stone fronts" In contrast is
the Masters dealing with the woman
taken in adultery, as her accusers SUNK
away He said, Neither do I accuse thee;
go and sin no more"
Paul touched life at every point. lie
discussed everything that concerned hui.
mainly. He told tho women how to
dress. and wear their hail.. ind act in
the home. He was learned in sociology,
advised men how TO run their business,
rulers how tt govern, citizens how to
conduct the mseives toward their rulers
He did this without fear OF his elder. dea.
con, or rich member; served God and
made apologies to no one. These are the
inspired models given us from God 3
word. Measure the modern preacher by
these models and see how far short he
falls of men, "who were on fire With a
moral purpose, and working for the glory
CT God" The only way in which wrong
and faisehood can be chased ont of indi-
viduals singly or collectively is by truth
Chrysostom, the golden mouthed, the
greatest orator of the early church, vas
said to have been terrible in rebuke, call
ing things by their right names; was eX.
lied for denonncing the sins CT the i'm.
perial courts. Savonarola was burned.
John Knox. of whom Bloody Mary said
she feared him more than IN army of
ten thousand men, we're all prea hers
and have made AN Impression on the
world AS lasting S time itself. 4 mod
ern example is DI. Parkhurst, who pur-
med great city and is Il model for every
preacher in the land. "a
Preaching for the times must contain
two essential principles First, it must
testify against wrong; this must be done
fearlessly. Every form of venality and
right way made plain. This can onIy
come from a robust, unninching pulpit
depending on the power of the Lord God.
| There must be no Intolerance, no dog.
matism for that Is dead, but an insis.
| tence on Christ and the Christ-life lt
must arouse the conscience and lift hui
mainly to higher, n ore God.like STAN
dard. II ISIS calamity for preacher
to be behind Jhe.times; in harmony with
Gods plan he must realize
"There's fon: about to stream:
There's light about to CLEAN;
There's midnight darkness changing
into day.
Men of thought and men of action, clear
the way"
testimony against evil must be uumis-
fa Wi hn