The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-05-27

IL ice conferred on the disciples at
present day Christians and viii be con-
ferred on those who fulfill It's conditions
is the contention of the preacher in this
sermon on the text Luke XIV 49, Until
We be endued with power from on high.
While I was bordering on this text
like a flash this sentence rose to my
lips: How many men and women there
are who have all the mighty elements
for gospel power except the one fact that
they are not developed What service
they might render as gospel evanselists
If they would only follow the leadings OF
Jesus Christ and plead with him that
they might be baptlsed with the power OF
the Holy Ghost" These men and women
are like the disciples of Jesus Christ be-
fore the day Of Pentecost. They believe
in Jesus. In one sense they have been
followers of Christ, but in another sense
they have not had their souls fired with
the living Goals from off his affairs. These
men and women are in exactly the same
position as was Dwight l.. Moody during
the first years of his ministry in the city
of Chicago.
Let me show you what that condition
|
ence in his own words: when I was
preaching in Farwell hall, in Chicago
1 never worked harder to prepare my
sermons than Ibid then. Iepreached and
preached, but it was beating against the
air. A good woman said to me, Mr..
| Mr.. Moody, you don't seem to have power
in your preaching. My desire was that
1 might have fresh amounting. l re-
! quested this woman and a few others to
come and pray with me every FRIDAY
afternoon at o'clock Oh. how piteously
l prayed that God might fill the empty
vessel! After the fire in Chicago was
in New York city, and. going into
bank on Wall street, it seemed as II l
felt a strange and mighty power COM
! ing over me. l went up to the hotel
| and there in my room L wept before
| God and cried, o my God, stay tiny
| handr
He gave me such fullness that 1t seemed
more than | could contain. May God Tor
! give me If | speak in boastful way,
but I do not know that l have preached
a sermon since but that God has given
me some soul. Oh, l would not be PACK
where | was four years ago for all the
wealth of this world. II you Would roll
! it at my feet l would kick 1t away IKE
| q football. ] seem wonder TO some OF
| you, but I am a greater wonder TO my
| self than to any one else. These are the
| very same sermons l preached In chi
| cago word for word. 1t is not new SER
mons, but the power of God IL Is not
new gospel, but the old gospel with the
Holy Ghost of power This Is the tesu-
mony of the greatest winner of Souls IN
the evangelistic field of the last century.
Brethren we desire this higher power.
AS ministers we want it. Some of us, IKE
| Mr. Moody, have spent the last ounce Oh
energy in the preparation oil serllo o,.l,.
but like him, I'VE have peeh peatlnS
against the air" As Sunday school
teachers as members of the churches,
we all want this higher power. How can
we get the higher power of the gospelE
| know of no better way to learn now
to get it than to study the events OIL the
days preceding the first Christian fente-
| cost when the disciples, according To the
command of Jesus Christ, tarried in Jeru-
| salem until they were "endued with
mower on hioh" God. give to us tho
higher power Of gospel life as thou didst
give that power to thy disciples OF old
and art willing to give 1t to thy disciples
of the present day.
Believed In Christs Power.
These disciples, in the first place be-
lieved in a supernatural Saviour. Ihey
believed that he had power over human
souls. Just as a matchmaker is greater
Than his own watch and can make watch
and then take it apart and put it to-
cether again, so they believed that Christ
who created the world and created me-
could take that life away from human
body and then put that life back again
into the same human body They saw
Him raise Lazarus from the tomb Ihey
believed that just as shpbuilder could
knock out a rotten plank from the hull
of the boat he had once built and put
a new plank in it's place, so Jesus Christ,
who had created the body, could put in a
new eve in the place of a blind eye. lie
actually performed this miracle in the
physical body again and again before
their own eyes. They believed in His in
spring power. Just as man can today
take the currents of electricity which he
has produced and carry those currents
over a wire and store them up in an cleo
trio machine called an automobile they be-
lieved that this Jesus who is a super
natural Christ, could transmit his power
into the lives of His disciples if He wished
so TO do. In other words. they looked
upon Christ as supernatural being,
able to give supernatural gifts to those
to whom He wished to give those gifts.
DO you believe that Christ is a super
natural being and able to do this as the
disciples of old believed it on the days
preceding Petecost?
WELL" you answer, ito tell the truth, I
have not thought about it." You say, II
have not been worrying so much about
what believe as about what | do You
say: Theorists never amount to much.
1t is the practical fellow who brings re-
suits to pass" When James A. Garfield
was elected president of the United States,
one day he said to his secretary of state.
Blaine, all my life l have been studying
the theories OF government, but since 1
have been elected president instead of
thinking about theories l have had to
spend most of my time listening to the
pleas of canuIuates for Office. Who is
to be postmaster of Springfield or district
attorney of Chicago or judge of Ohio has
monopolized all my attention" So you
i say Il have not had time to think or
whether he can give me supernatural
power or not. l have been using up my
time in service and not in theories.
have been trying to obey the voice of
God, who tells me to visit the sick and
feed the hungry and be a guide for the
blind. / truly try to live right. | do
all the good / can to as many people as
| can in as many different ways as l can.
Therefore l let hair splitting theological
/, questions alone. Whether Christ is di-
vine or not, whether He can give to His
disciples a supernatural gift, rarely en-
ters my mind. To tell the truth, | do but
little else than try to help my fellow
men, and guess God does not care much
what | think about Christ as long as
try to serve Him as faithfully and earn
estly as I can" All, my friends you are
wrong 1t does make a good deal of diff
ference in reference to your gospel work