The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-08-10
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. w. G. M'CREADY.
Theme: Christ's Supremacy.

OIL OC. feLeI ) CIulCu, Lhc NV III
William George McCready. successor
to the Rev. DR.. Lindsay Parker, began
his pulpit. duties Sunday morning. He
was greeted by a large audience. DR..
McCready preached astraight, simple.
yet forceful gospel sermon and made
a fine impression. His subject was
"Christ's SUPREMACY" He took his
text from I. Corinthians 2:1-5:
"And I, brethren. when I came to
you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom. declaring unto
you the testimony of God.
"For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus
Christ, and Him crucifed.
"And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear, and in much trembling.
"And NV speech and My preaching
was not with enticing words Of mans
wisdom, but in demonstration Of the
spirit and of power;
THAT your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the pow
er Of Cod"
DR.. McCready said: It was a cus-
tom among the Romans to go up once
a year to Rome, and to renew the
oath which they took as soldiers Of
the empire, to Caesar. So we come
to-day to take our sacramentum. and
to proclaim afresh our declaration of
a purpose to believe, and to follow
Jesus Christ.
In correspondence with that idea,
and also in correspondence with the
practice which I have preserved
through the years of my ministry,
always preach my first sermon from
this text, because I feel that n of
the things which the congregation de-
sires is that the man who stands in
the pulpit and who offers the spiritual
sacrifice of Gods table, shall, without
any ambiguity, make declaration of
his faith in Jesus Christ, that in this
religious distraction, men want some
harbor Of safety, men want some an
Choir of hope. men want some secu-
rity, that in the evening of life, when
the body is weary, they may lay their
heads on that hope. And so, as year
succeeds year of my ministry I feel
constrained to ~reiterate these state
ments of my faith, first Of all, with
the simplicity of the scheme Of re-
demption. with the simplicity OF the
great work of Jesus Christ.
Men to-day care nothing about the
te~chnicalities of ones creed. Mems
creed to-day Is Jesus Christ and Him
cruicihed; that in Him-not in some
theory or speculation about Him. but
in Him-men may find their hope and
security. What matters it to me that
men in their speculation shall discov-
er in the confines of this book of God
the doctrine of election? That they
find there that God fixed the number
to be saved or to be lost? What mat
tiers it If men find that those that are
Of the elect Of God car never fall
away? What matters 1t il in these
sIeculations men find that I have a
warrant of Jesus Christ, who calls me
personally to come unto Him, not
calls me in some aggregation, but
calls me personally to come unto Him
and be at rest.
Here, friends, here Is a warrant for
my hope. I find warrant also in the
conversation between Christ and Mic
odemus, who comes to Him by night
to ask Him certain question, and the
answer is that God SO loved the
world that He sent His only begotten
Son. that whosoever believes in Him
shall not perish, but shall have ever
lasting life"
Let men speculate inthe cool. damp
prison of Calvinism, and l shall put
the sunshine of 'whosoever" opposite
1t, to say, it matters not how dis.
tracted men are, T shall point them to
these placid words Of Jesus Christ,
and so take Him and find peace in
Him.
I feel in coming here this morning
that it is a great privilege to stand in
this pulpit. 1t requires but little in
formation> about this church to find
how matters have gone in the parish,
how men and women have gone home
to God so thoroughly equipped and
provided for that blessed heritage
which God has promised. It has been
a privilege for you men and women to
live in this blessed atmosphere, it Is a
great privilege to feel that mystic
union, that spiritual relationship be-
tween those on earth and those In
IlldI I dl duloO "IClS Nul ohtii W.
up His kingdom, and His children Will
be with Him. And I want to main
tain the prestige of this pulpit. You
say that Is a difficult thing to do. II
is not difficult, if I obtain the prayers
and sympathy of those who worship
here. Christ's process is a heavenly
process, and so the process Of reju-
venation is a heavenly process. ]
cannot explain to you the coming to-
gether of the people Of a congrega-
ton. I cannot explain to you how in
the taking of this blessed sacrament
of the body and blood of Jesus Christ,
God iavested the blessed recipient
with heavenly grace. I cannot e x
plain to you when you are asking a
special blessing on the rector who is
ministering to you day after day.
That is a spirit-it may seem old
fashioned, but that is a spirit of aban-
don which I possess when it comes to
the things pertaining to God. Moth
ing is paradoxical, nothing is incom-
p%rehensible to me in the scheme of
God. I take the Bible from lid to lid.
I take the miracles set forth in the
Bible without question. I accept them
in the fitness of my heart, because
God is not God unless He puts into
these works His own power. His own
spirit, His own love.
I have seen men sent from the
transcendent heightsof splendid man
hood down to the dismal depths of
degradation. I have e e a face
married with the marks of sin. and the
body heavy with the weight of sin.
And I have seen this same individual