The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-14
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
T.4E REV. w. H. MINISTER.
Theme: The Gospel.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-The Rev. w. A.
McMaster, pastor of Embury Memo
rial M. E. Church, has been holding
special evangelistic services for some
time, which have been most success
full. In connection with these services
he preached, Sunday morning, on
The Gospel as the Philosophy of
History" The text was from Acts
1926: ITO you is the word of this
salvation sent" Mr.. McMaster said:
This direct announcement is from
the first recorded missionary address
of St. Paul. He and Barnabas had
only recently started from Antioch in
Syria, upon their first missionary
tour. Barnabas. perhaps a convert
of Pentecost, had been sent to take
charge of the great revival in Anti
och, which had broken out simulta-
neously with Peters opening the door
of Christianity at Cae5area, and ad-
hitting, by baptism, Cornelius and
his family, the first Gentle converts
to Christianity. This action of Peter
was a great and significant innova-
ton. He certainly was using the
keys which our Lord had given him.
This revival at Antioch was a revival
among the Gentiles, and the work
was growing to such an extent that
Barnabas must have help, and he
thought of Paul, a man he had met
in. Jerusalem some eight years be-
fore, and though the Jews made it
so hot for Paul that Barnabas had
known him but two weeks, he be-
lieved that Paul was the man of the
hour. He went to Tarsus, where Paul
had been o~bscurely working and
waiting for eight years-how long
God makes some Of His servants wait
but now the man vas ready and
the times were ripe, and when the
Church of Antioch, here for the first
time called "Christian," decided in
true missionary spirit to send mes
sengers of the. great salvation to the
Gentiles, Paul stands at last face to
face with the world he is to conquer.
To show you the elements which
make up this world which Paul faces,
I take you to the Isle of Cyprus, their
first hating place, and which, strange
to say, presents in miniature the
great world with which Christianity
must cope. Paphos, the chief town,
twas the seat of the worship Of
Venus, the goddess of love, who was
said to have been born Of the foam
of the sea at this very spot, and her
worship was carried on with the wild
est RIGHTEOUSNESS. 1t was a picture
in miniature of Greece sunk in moral
decay" Beauty divorced from NOR
atty was the outcome of Greek art
and culture. "Paphos was also the
seat of the Roman Government, and
in the proconsular chair sat a man,
Sergius Paulus, whose noble charac-
ter but utter lack of faith formed a
companion picture of the inability
of Rome at that epoch to meet the
deepest necessities of her best sons"
In this same court was a Jewish sor-
cerer and quack, named Elymas,
whose playing by his arts upon the
inquirer's credulity was a picture of
the depths to which the Jewish char
acter' could sink.
Paul, representing the Gospel Of
Christ, entered this situation. He
covered the Jewish magician with
disgrace, converted the Roman gov
ernor, and founded in the town a
Christian church in opposition to the
Greek shrine. Leaving Cyprus, let
us now hasten to Antioch in Pisidia,
their first hating place in the in
terrier of Asia Minor, where a typical
Eel occur which, because it is typ
ical, we shall describe. In the light
of history the coming of Paul and
Barnabas to a town was the most sig
nifcant event and worthy to be
marked by professions and a gorg-
eous reception; but how different the
reality. These two walk into Anti
och as any two strangers would come
into Brooklyn. First they find a
lodging, and then they look for work.
Imagine Paul going from door to door
Of tentmakers inquiring for work.
On the Sabbath Day they go to the
synagogue and join in the psalms
and prayers and listen to the law
(perhaps the first chapter of Deuter-
onomy), and to the prophets (per-
haps the first Of Isaiah)- Then the
ruler Of the synagogue turns to the
strangers and asks them if they have
any word of e%xhortation to the peo-
pie. This is Paul's opportunity. He
arises, and, reckoning attention with
his hand, launches upon the sea of
Hebrew history, suggested by the
law, and explains the fulfllment of
Isaiah in Jesus Christ, and declares
ITO you is the word of this salvation
sent" The people gather about him
after the assembly is dismissed and
beg him to come back next Sunday.
He explains the gospel to inquirers
as he works through the week, and
on the next Sabbath almost the whole
city assemblies to hear him; but when
he declares that this salvation is for
the Gentiles,, the Jews grow jealous
and soon stir up persecution and
compel them to leave the town. Thus,
while his great mission was to preach
the gospel, his great barrier was
Jewish eXclusiveness and his chief
and immediate work took the form
Of championing the of Gentle
freedom and propping open. so that
no man could shut it, the door which
Peter was privileged to open.
The greatest battles of human his
tory have been battles for freedom,
and each struggle has had its hero.
Battles for national freedom-Moses
for enslaved Israel, Washington for
the oppressed colonies. Battles for
freedom of conscience-Luther and
Knox. Battles for human rights
Wherefore and Garrison. Battles,
battles for catholic thought and a uni
versal gospel-Paul, the apostle to
the Gentiles! The rest of my sermon
shall be an elaboration of three great
points which l gather from this great,
tyDical missionary speech of St. Paul.
/. How the history of the world
is TRANSPORTED in the light of the
gospel into the history of the King