The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-07-02
THE WORD OF THE
 MESSAGE OF GOD
Rev. Dr. A. J. Dickinson Ex-
 plains Meaning of Phrase
DIFFICULT 10 CONSTRUE
Says God Has Chosen Men as Chan. nels of Communication Through Which He Will Communi-
 cate Himself to Men.

The Rev. Dr. A J. Dickinson preached yesterday morning at the First Baptist church on "The Word of the Message of God" taking his text from the first eplstle of Paul the Apostle to the Thes- salonians, the second chapter, thirteenth verse: When ye received of us the word of the message of God, ye accepted 1t, not as the word of men, but as it is In truth, the word of God which worketh in you that believe
 The preacher spoke as follows
 The pharse the word of the message of God' you will find translated literally on the margin of your Bible the word of the hearing of God" The phrase is exceedingly difficult to construe. Does 1t mean .'the word in the hearing of which one hears God or "the word of God which one hears" Is 1t God who speaks in the word or the word which speaks God?
 Does Paul mean to say that God made himself audible to these Thessalonians In the word he preached: or that he made God audible to them in that preaching 2 Since they heard that word not as the word of man. but as 1t Is in truth the word of God" it must must be the word which God used to communicate with men through their ears. Yet the differ ence is not very great under either con- struction. That preaching which voices God may well be called the voice of God to those who hear it.
 If we make God the subject matter of our preaching we may well consider God as doing that preaching. The word, which conveys to me the Divine Being, may well be said to be his speaking in and through that word. When Paul was speaking God, we may be sure God was speaking through Paul. The message which has God for its subject also has God for it's author. He who listens to hear God preached will also hear him preach in the same words, and may well say that not only had he been spoken to about God, but also that God had spoken to him. So whenever we hear the preacher preaching God, we also hear God preach ing through the preacher.
 Ten Channels of Communication.
 Here is a great truth. God has chosen men as the channels through which he will communicate himself to men. Not that they are exclusive channels of divine communications; for "the invisible things of God are clearly seen since the crea- tion of the world, being perceived through the things that are made, even his ever lasting power and divinity that they may be without excuse" But this Is only what we call natural religion. It Is knowledge of God through the eye as it were; and 1t sufficed only to re- veal "the wrath of God against tll un- truth in unrighteousness."
 But religion of the love and praca of God needs to be communicated to men through men. as social beings speaking one with another. Such a religion needs to be voiced in human speech, and so it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Did you ever think why it was that those types of Christianity which make much of the doctrines of grace in their cul- ture of religious life, also make much of preaching as the most effective instru- ment of that work? There is a reason for that, and it may be found in the adaptablity of such an agency to the conveying of such religion to men Grace and love are social virtues whether in God or man; and must be imparted though the social agency of human speech. Just as the power and divinity or God may be clearly seen in the ma terial universe, revealing Gods anger against the sins of men, truth of na- tural religion so the grace and love of God may be heard in the spiritual social world, calling them back to fellowship and communion with men. There are therefore clements of the Divine which can only come to us through the social world and It's agencies. The material world may portray the power and divin- ity of God, but the social world must voice his grace and love. It Is the pur- pose of Christianity to make the socia world resound with the goodness anc grace and love of God. So we must leaven society with the word of the message of God, so that 1t shall be voiced from per. son to person.
 We say that our religion Is one that works through person, not through things it's channels are spiritual, not material; its lines of communication are those of social converse, not material transporta- tion. Its means of grace are physical
 
 material possessions or power or magic Even it's sacraments have value only in the truths they express to those who ob- serve them. It Is a religion of preaching not of ceremonies and sacrifices It Is a religion of social converse, of gracious experience flowing in a sacred fellowship; of leaven received from God and passed on to others: it is the devotion of our persons as channels of divine grace, so that unto us is the grace given that we might preach unto the Gentiles the un- searchable riches of Christ. There is nc other religion like 1t in the world in this regard. religion propagating itself by preaching the grace of God
 Nor would I have you understand the term preaching as extending only to the messages of what we call professional preachers No set Of men have a mon- opoly of any privilege in the Kingdom of God It is the privilege of every Christian and his most sacred duty to voice what he knows of God to his fellow men when ever and wherever he has opportunity To teach in the Sunday school, to con verse in the home or on the street, to sing and tos exhort in the prayer-meet. ing is to preach God to your fellow men If we only would wake up to what this means and all turn preachers of the word of the message of God. how the very earth would ring with the gospel of his grace and love; and this is what we are here for as disciples of his Son. Let us consider this work somewhat in detail
 Mans Work.
 If the world ever hears God in the