The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-02-26

ing the hours which succeeded on,
yielding to heinous sin that Chris,
! appeared unto us. We can rememhe,
1t as yesterday. Jesus rose up before
us as he came to paul, saying. Il An
Jesus whom thou hast prosecuted
And so realistic was the divine reveIa
ton that no argument could ever prove
to us that Jesus himself did not appear
unto us rs he appeared unto Paul on
the Damascus road
Paul Not the Only One.
Nor is Paul the only man who has
mad this revelation of Jesus Christ
Scores and scores Of eminent Chris
tians have had it, Luther had it, and
Wesley had it, and Finney had it, and
Thomas Chalmers had it, and John
Bunyah had it, and John Newton had
It, They have had it the same as
many of us have had it. The greatest
trouble with many Of us in Christian
work Is that we are not obedient to
the heavenly vision. We do not say
with Paul, God forbid that | should
glory, save in the cross Of Jesus
Christ We are trying to teach men
lessons for this life, but we do not
emphasize and keep re-emphasiZing the
essential doctrine that through the
blood of Jesus and in no other way
can We be truly cleansed of our sins
We have had this revelation come to
us. but We have been pushing it more
and more into the background of our
| lives
| A young minister once said to Mr.
Moody: What makes the difference
between your success and mine? Ell
Their you are right and l am wrong. or
L am right and YOU are wrong"
WELL said Mr. Moody. Il do not
you tell me. for l have never heard
you preach" The minister replied:
You make great deal out of the death
of Christ, and l do not make anything
out of 1t. dc not think it has anything
to do with the gospel. | preach about
the life and not about the death Of
Jesus" Well" said Mr.. Moody,
what do you do with this: He hath
borne our sins upon the tree" What
do you do with this: He was wounded
for our transgressions. he was bruised
for our iniquities. and with his stripes
We're we healed:' What do you do
with this: Without shedding of blood
there Is no remission"" oh" an
swered the minister, Il do not preach
ON those passages" What do you
preach" Well" he answered, my
sermons are moral essays" Then Mr..
Moody replied. "My friend. if you take
the blood out of the Bible 1t is all
myth to me- But" answered the
man, Il think that the doctrine Is un-
true" Then" said Mr. Moody, Il adj
wise you to get out of the ministry
very quick. | would not preach a
sham. If the Bible is untrue, let us
stop preaching aud come out ut once
and attack it. But IL these things are
true, and Jesus left heaven and came
into the world to save sinners, then let
us lay hold Of it and preach 1t in sea
son and out Of season. So say all
true ministers of Jesus Christ.
Fitness In All Things.
But there was another fact besides |
that revelation on the Damascus road |
which was driving Paul forward as Il |
minister of Jesus Christ. All men who
are converted to Jesus Christ are not |
expected to enter theological semina- |
ries. There Is q fitness in all things. |
Many good cobbler has been spoiled |
to make very poor preacher. Many |
men who wear the black cloth of the |
clergy would make far better sue |
cess in building brick wall than they |
do In expounding the word of God from |
pulpit. l have great deal of sym
pathy with that shrewd father who, |
when his son came to him and said:
Father. had divine revelation last
night God wants me to be minister
of Jesus Christ for everywhere about
me kept seeing the two letters blaz-
ing at me-'P. c., p. c., p. C.'-'Preach
Christi" ''Oh. no." said the father
''Those two letters. p. c. which you
saw do not mean Preach Christ They
meant for you Pillow corn God meant
you to be farmer. He never cut you
out to be minister"
AhEtC 10 III ptSACoSfVh, NS HCh |
know, about which so many mistakes
are made as about the ministry. Young
men, full Of zeal, full of the desire to
save souls, full of ambition to serve
God, all of which aspirations are laud-
able, rush into the ministry without
whether they have the tai
ents needed for success in that sphere.
Many q man who would have made an
excellent lawyer or physician or stock
broker becomes an inefficient minister.
and, as a humorous professor once said,
'trushes against the pulpit and stuns
himself for life" But there never could
have been any doubt of Paul's voca
ton. He had all the gifts and qualities
that are needed to make man sue
cessful In winning souls
Paul was more than silver tongued.
What he said was just as marvellous
rs the way he said 1t. Jean Baptiste
Massillon was the greatest preacher
France ever produced. The proud King
Louis XIV. paid him the greatest COM
Dliment that can be given to any mes
souoar nf Jpsus Christ He said II |