The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-12-14
PREACHING TIE GOSPEL.

sa..cHEiff1E I re G1S' HS'
The Southern -hurchman is doing
.ae caS,sc Of religion good service IN
urrinr preachers to eschew secular
topics and to preach the Gospel and 'iie
GOSPEL only from their puipits.
From the standpoint OF the iaEn'an
,-c have always thought that more ha'fh
than good was accomplished by the DIS
c,:ssfon of purely secular topics from
the sacred desk, and We have been sur
7,-ised that sensible preachers ana sooo
preachers should have made inns "e-
rar,,,re We, are not surprised at any
.hfnr TIM, the sensational preachers co,
for their object seems to he to "a"
crowds and 10 make stir SUI mat
,onsecrated preachers whose sole ann Is
90 promote the cause of religion should
,,,r, aside from Gospel preaching to 'iie
discussion of questions Of the Gay
,,o,i,icsl and otherwise is TO us mex
,iiicable. First of all, Il preacher Is on
perfectly safe ground when he confines
his preaching To Bihls questisns 10
Questions of religion. Hts commission
IS ,aain and unmistakap!c, ard he can
have no Doubt that he is discha~sins
lis sacred duty when he breaches the
Gospel. 1t is at least questionable vic
.her or not he is authorized BY the lord
10 discuss outside topics.
Again. the preacher IS on safe ground
when he breaches the Gospel, because
,,,ere can be 10 two opinions among
christians as to the Fundamental rrin-
..in!es Of Christianity. and there can be
M doubts raised and nc discussions ana
no disse,5sions in his congregation Wi'sn
he confines himself TO these 'l5ut when
he undertakes 10 discuss worldly topics
lie necessarily raises disputes, and while
some will agree with him others will
disagree. while some viii be 6Tawn 10
him others will be turned away.
Moreover. as the Southern Church
ma, well says. preachers are not sup
posed 10 speak with authority on cur
,.e,t topics which confront the. na.ion
Thev cannot study The Bible as they
should and attend to the arduoUs duties
Of pastor and Yet hnd tine 70 study and
comprehend complicated questions anont
which the most astute students OF pill
,:cs and political economy are disagreed
l,;;t ;, preacher who IN -e~takes 10 DIS
,.,,s. such questions without thorough
knowledge 7gfIis necessarily shake The
confidence Of his hearers who do not
;,arsa wi,n him in his good Judgment
A preacher. should always speak as one
in authority. as one who knows the COG
triae wnich he breaches as one vino
represents tie great God of the uni
verse lie can speak with such auth-r-
itv and as the mou;ll-picce Of the true
and living God when he breaches the
truths OF the Bible.
There was once in the city Of Rich
uond a great preacher who was famed
Tor his knowledge Of the Bible and his
knowledge of theology. When he spoke
an these subjects he spoke as an oracle
He was thoroughly Informed. he was
thoroughly careful as 10 the statements
es fact which he made, and those who
I,,2ew him knew that when he made
statement it was a fact and could be
absolutely relied upon. But on GER
tain occasion this preacher announced
mat he would deliver q series of SER
mons on secular topics. and great
crowd vent to hear him lie had not
proceeded far in the discourse. however,
when men who were Informed realized
,ha, the preacher was not Informed,
and that they knew more than he about
The topic which the preacher had I'M
de-takea TO discuss. The sermon vas
fat failure. and the preacher real
izing that he had made a mistake, soon
abandoned the whole wretched business
and went back, to the preaching Of the
GOSPEL. to which he confined himself
10 his dying day.
Finally. we remark that the great
nurpose Of a preacher should lie to make
men and women fall in love with tne
Csospel. with the church, and with the
preaching of Gods ministers. It is his
duty to give men and women q taste for
religious topics and to bring them to
churc.. in. q religious frame of mind.
Put II he discusses secular topics. es-
sscially in an engaging and fascinating
and sensational way, he vii! necessarily
Urn the thoughts OF his people away
from religion and give them taste for
SECULAR prea ching rather than for Gospel
preaching. 1t is just here. we believe.
that the greatest harm is done in dis
cussing other than purely Bible to- ics
from the pulpit.