The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-12-22
Preachers Must Deliver Gods Message.

Some recent events have led TO a reviv.
al of the "broad Church" plea that a
preacher should speak out ali that he be.
lieves to be the truth, without fear Of the
congregation, and unfettered by. ortho'
doxy or heterodoxy. This frankness is
supposed to be warranted by Paups word,
''as of sincerity we speak" The
whole emphasis is put upon, sincerity" !"
But the first emphasis should mot be
placed there. Sincerity is, of course, an
absolutely essential thing in a preacher,
but fidelity is prime essential. A man
may be sincerely mistaken, and his mis-
take may have far-reaching consequences
of Ill for others.
The first business of a Christian teacher
is to receive His message, and then, SIN
cerely, to transmit it. The fundamentals
of that message are permanently 1lxed-
they are historicai-and no plea of sin
cerity' must be allowed to interfere with
them. If the chief emphasis be placed
upon subjective sincerity, the door IS eas'
lily opened to every heresy and every TAD.
This, in fact, is what has happened times
without number. =,
It is sometimes asserted that the
"churches are empty" because people will
not believe in the miraculous. We are
bound to object to the statement; IL IS
not true. But it is, unfortunately, true
that many occupants of the naves" are
in state Of amaZement at the fragrant
contradiction between the truths an:
nounced week by week in the Creed, and
the derials OF these truths, or the watering
down of them by many who live by
them.
The crux of the whole question is not
in any detail concerning miracle, but IN
this: IS God Master in His own world, or
is He not? And has He intertered or
not with it's order for the purpose OF say
ing men? If the answer is mo-" Is a
man entitled to call himself a believer at
all? But if God has intervened in the
Person of Jesus Christ to save. the world
if Jesus really came from Him to reveal
Him, then something out of the ordinary
must have happened.
Our Lord either commenced His exls'
tence for the first time at Bethlehem, or
He came from ''the other side" into our
world. ii the former, then He was simp-
" one member Of our race, and there was
no true incarnation. If the latter, then
miracle" is not simply possible, 1t IS I'M
pcratively demanded. 4 true incarnation.
demands an exceptional entrance into and
an exceptional exit from our world. so
the whole matter comes to this: Bave We
Saviour or not? Yes or no? Comprom-
ise here is both Illogical and impossible.
One further thing, since the matter is
so vital. We hear of preachers who
would have the stories OF the virgin birth,
the resurrection and the ascension. either
eliminated from the Gospel record. or so
ethereaiized as to be denuded Of all their
historic significance.
They have no reasons save their dislike
for the supernatural. But their nearest
approach to reason is the fact of the
silence of the Gospels concerning these
great things. Our Lord, it is said, never
mentions His own miraculous birth. some
evangeiists omit the story. st. Paul nev-
er mentioned it, and this is SAID to be
.:erideuce to the contrary" Evidence!
It is playing with words. They testified
to the ultimate truth which included it:
And that is the great thing after all. Did
not our Lord say repeatedly that He had
come down from heaven: Did not John
speak of Him as come from the bosom OF
the Father, and as being in the beginning
with God? Did not Paul speak of His
pre-existencc with God! It is not Just to
omit reference to these things. What.
then, becomes of this vaunted argument
from ?"-London Christian.