The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-02-18
NEW RECTOR IF
 ADVENT BREACHES Rev. pr. Evans Begins Pastoral
 Work Here A LARGE CONGREGATION Earnest Discourse on Christ the Good Shepherd With Practical Applica- tion Regarding the Province of
 the Under-shepherd.
A LARGE CONGREGATION

Advent Sunday at II o'clock, and preached to large and attentive congregation. He announced his Lenten services to be as follows: Evening prayer on Sunday, Mon day. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday after moons at 4;3O o'clock. and on Wednesday at D. m In giving out the notice for 4:30 Sunday afternoon, he stated that that service would be in the nature of an ex- pertinent, which he hoped would in every way prove successful. He said that the service would be a brief one, not lasting over fifty minutes or an hour. and that he would do all in his power 10 make 1t as attractive as possible.
 He spoke of his pleasure at being called to Birmingham, and stated that 1t was his earnest prayer that he and his people should so work together as to prove a blessing all the way through. The ser mon delivered by pr. Evans at the Il o'clock service follows
 In the gospel of our Lord, according to St. John. the tenth chapter and the third verse, occur these familiar words:
 "To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.''
 The fnsistency of the Divine Master S discourses were always full of power. They attracted the attention of those among whom He labored, and insti1led many great truths and lessons which would otherwise have been incomprehen- sible to the simple folk that hung upon His words that heard the music of His voice. His custom was to refer to the homely habits and the customs, the mem ories and vacations of His hearers, in or der to make tangible His instructions. He refers to the sparrow; to the leaven in the meal; to the lost lamb and, in tho text, to the shepherd and his flock. For these things all had some likeness to some great spiritual truth which He taught. And so He let Himself down in His simplicity and in His naturalness to the very depths of those that heard Him.
 Tennyson in his ode to Wellington has said, "The greatest in simplicity are sub lime" With most preeminent conspicu- ousness we may apply those words to the greatest of teachers in His simplicity. I have selected a part of His simple dis course for our use this morning. The reference primarily Is to the Master FIlm- self, prominently the Good Shepherd. which the people understood so well. since they were the children of pastoral an- cestry. It wonderfully applies to Ghrists s sheph erdship and His ministry, It Is stat cd in this discourse. as recorded in the verse that I have read, that the porter openeth, and the Holy Ghost is He who is constantly opening fountains of grace. and opportunities of usefulness to His ministers and to the flock of His peo- pie This is true of the sacraments of the church; it is true of the sa,red services in which we engage; and on all these oc- casions that present themselves to the minister it is God the Holy Ghost that is over them,
 The Holy Spirit.
 The Master promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples to be with them in their work. and on t1he day of Penteeost they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost And so this ancient and apostolic church of ours in her beautiful ordna- ton service. says to those ordained to the sacred order of priests, Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of priest in the church of God, now com mitted unto you by the imposition of our hands"
 In an important and an essential sense then. the Holy Ghost is the personality that overloobeth the church, through the ministry, and to the members of the church as individuals, at the throne oi mercy. and gives the peace of God. As the Holy Ghost gives His grace to the minister, so does He sanetify the means to those who are of His flock. In order, then to enjoy the graciousness of God g favor. it is necessary for the people and the minister to plead and pray constant ly and fervently for the Spirits pres ence How beautifully the prayer illus trates this truth; how through the long ages the saints of God have been praying, "Talle not Thy Holy Spirit from us" The beautiful and dignlhed services of this church. are often misunderstood by those. without questioning the vitality of the tic that binds us to the heart of Jesus Christ: yet the church Is ever praying, "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from us" Thus we ought ever to have our hearts in that state of reclpieney for our lives and minds to carry the personality of the Holy Ghost the influence of God.
 The Preacher.
 Notice in the next place that the sheep hear His voice Chrst's minister is to be heard; he is to declare the holy coun- sel of God We are sometimes prone to grumble at the preaching heard in the church. we think our forms and eere- 1 monies constitute the most beautiful ser vice of worship ever devised, and some | of us. in view of the beauty and dignity | of these services, are apt to speak dis paragingly of the preacher Now, l do not depreclate the service, but I do not discount the value of preaching the gos- pei of Jesus Christ, and In this. your sheph is to be heard. I do not say l that the sheep are under obligation to | him if he so far forgets himself as to preach anything contrary to the gospel, l for standing in this holy place as | Christ's ambassador, he is not to be a | sensationallst. nor an expounder of poli- | tics, but he has a right to be heard, for | he is the messenger of God. He. is Christ's under-shepherd, and is to speak of the holy things of God, and of the holy things that strengthen the falterlng and point sinful souls to their one and to their sufficient Savior. The pulpit Is the place of power when its real coun- sel is recognized. but its strength its dignity and it's sanity are lost when the gospel is killed. You are to hear your cl.a h ard. fn Aa1 hl4f vii Ia