The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-12-30
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
1.-THE CHRISTIANS MISSION"

/
The Rev. r. j. Villers, One of the Most
Popular Clergymen in Indiana, De-
hvers q Strong Sermon, the Theme of
Which is Evangelism.
INDIANAPOLIS Ind.-The Rev. Thomas
j. Villers, pastor of the First Baptist
Church, Of this city, preached Sunday
morning strong, sermon, the theme OF
| which was evangelism. His subject was
"The Christians Mission to the World"
The text was chosen from John xvii:lS:
"As Thou hast sent Me into the world,
| even so have sent them into therworld."
Mr.. Villers said:
The farewell discourses to the disciples
were ended. Gethsemane with its mental
| in the distance. The shadows flung from
the cross were deepening and darkening;
| Jesus knew that before another sun should
| set His work on earth would be done. In
:. ,se last moments He betook Himself to
prayer. Dying words are undying words.
| We embalm them in fragrant memories.
With eyes uplifted toward the Father, the
divine Suppliant first reviewed His own
ministry. IT have glori6ed Thee on the
Thou gavest Me to do" Then His mind
turned toward His disciples; He prayed
for them, declaring their mission to be
continuation of His own. This thought He
emphasized before His death, on the earth
ward side of Calvary, while standing in
the deep shade and gloom. Gas Thou mast
sent Me into the world, even SO have l
also sent them into the world" The same
thought emerged with Him from the tomb,
and dropped from His lips on the heaven
ward side of the cross, while standing in
the light reflected from the crown. Then
s,id Jesus to them again, Peace be with.
you; as My Father hath sent Me, even 80
send I YOU" Thus with the emphasis OF
repetition our Lord announces the Chr's-
tian's mission to the world.
Jesus is called the apostle OF our confes-
SION. He is Gods sent one, whom we coI-
fess. He repeatedly laid emphasis on this
fact, declaring Himself to be the one whom
the Father sanctifed and sent into the
world. In Johns Gospel alone he speaks
O.; Himself thirty-six times as being. sent
of God. He was sent to preach good It'd
ings to the poor, to proclaim release to the
captives and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised, to proclaim the acceptable. year OF
the Lord. Having finished the work which
God gave Him to do, He formed new
apostolate, dignifying all disciples as HIS
apostles; for while His commission. "even
so'send you" may have primary reference
to the twelve, it applies with equal force
to all who have obtained like precious
the Acts we read that when Stephen suf-
fered martyrdom there arose that day,
great persecution against the church at Je-
rusalem. And they were ali scatter ed
throughout the regions Of Judea and Sa-
maria except the twelve. They, therefore,
that were scattered abroad - not the
twelve, for they stayed at Jerusalem, but
the laymen, the rank and tlie OF the cnnrca
| they that were scattered abroad went
about preaching the word
Do you plead your lack o: eloquence,, at.
firming that you are slow CT speech and OF
a slow tongue? Listen! The gospel is good
newc and good news does not need orna-
menting, it needs telling. Listen! One
night at Corinth, after day of depressing
toll, when there had been little to cheer
Paul's soul, Jesus appeared to him IN 2,
vision, saying: "Be not afraid, but speak"
The word which Christ used is Significant.
1t is not the term for formal set dis.
course. It suggests the simplest torn or
| human language. 1t means merely to talk.
Our Lord did not want Paul to sugarcoat
his message with poetic, rhetorical descrip-
tions of the glory of Corinth's two seas,
hecked with white sails FROM many lands,
did not want him to wax eloquent amIt;
that pageant of islands and mountains and
groves Of cypress and pine 6athed 9 IN nine tne
Paul lust to talk the gospel. At the apos-
ties feet lay the blue waters. or the
Aegean. Jesus did not want Paul to. pre-
pare learned disqusitions, whose protund'
ity would equal the unplumbed sea, like
the preacher who was said to be invisible
six days in the week and incompre rehensIble
ON the seventh. Christ only wanted Paul,
to talk the gospel. In the. distance
| nf
whose muses. had inspired Hesiod and his
school of writers. Jesus did not want Paul,
with head as cold and vocabulary as
lev as Helicon's summit, to show the rhet-
5ric loving Corinthians that he was as eul-
cured as themselves. He wanted Paul just
to talk the gospel. Towering within sight
stood two-peaked Parnassrs, whose SIDE
poets had climbed for inspiration. Jesus
did not want Paul to give the impression
That his inspiration had been klndled on
Parnassus, lest, coming with the enticlng
words of mans wisdom his message should
BE- made of none effect. He dnted faui
simply to talk the gospel.
| d Beloved, Ibis Is what the church and
the ;.7orld need to-day-not more clergy
men to expound the gospel. put more men
and women to talk the gospel: talk 1t IN
shop, talk it in the factory. talk 1t IN the
store, talk it on the farm, talk 1t on the
streets, talk it on the trains-talk it every
where. Suppose people call us bab6lers.
That is what the Athenians called Paul:
Jesus says: "Be not afraid; keep talking.
Suppose they say that our spesch is CON
temptible. That is what the Corinthians
said Of Paul jesus says: Be rna neS afraha tbai
the old gospel will not do in these modern
days, that it must be refined and inte!ec;,
tualized, trimmed and Topped and polished
and perfumed, Jesus says: "Be not AFRAID;
keep talking"
It is profoundly significant that when the
Holy Ghost came on the day OF Pentecos1
| He appeared in the shape OF tongue,
which sat not only on the twelve, but on
each member of the church, and when that
tongue of fire touched them they began to
speak as the Spirit gave them utterance.
It is by the tongues OF Gods people @ Una!
try to excuse our silence by saying that
actions speak. louder than words. and SO
| if our life is right, speech is unnecessary.
It is true that the life may be eloquent,
and ought to be. 1t is true that words
without works are like faith without WORKS
dead. But no excuse that we can frame
will satisfy Christ for our dumbness. More
than once He healed men who were pos
sessed by dumb devils, and it must grieve
| Him that so many of His people in our
day are similarly afflicted Ny brother, il
you have dumb spirit, let Christ cast IT
out that the string Of your tongue oens
word.
A commercial traveller recently stood in
NV study and gave me chapter in his his
tory. Ten years ago he had fallen so low
through sin that he was utterly forsaken,
cast out even by his own wife: One night
he wandered into Chicago mission, where