The Daily Missoulian., 1913-01-12

Pastor Russell spoke in Lancaster
Pa, The text for the occasion was.
1T pleased God by the foolishness OF
preaching to save them that believe
/ Cor. 1:21.
There is a wide difference between
foolish preaching and the foolishness
of preaching that our text declares
is of Divine arrangement The many
topics of interest and profit TO lu-
manity all have their time and place
But the preaching of the gospel has
an exclusive right of way in the
church of Christ. If some claim that
the people will no longer attend d.
vine service to hear gospel preaching,
we reply that there are three reasons
for this.
% The church lost the real gospel
during the dark ages, and few Chris
tian people have yet recovered it. The
word gospel, as all agree, signifies
good tidings, a message of joy; but
the message handed down to human
ity from the dark ages has been the
reverse of this-bad tidings of great
misery for nearly all of our race. Is it
any wonder that the great majority
are disgusted with the horrible mis-
representations of the creeds? Mans
kind have trials and difficulties
enough in the present life, and need
encouragement to hope for better
things in the life to come.
(2) Responding to the growing sem
timent of intelligence, the ministers OF
the various denominations of Chris
tendon have ceased to preach bad
tidings of great misery for all bu.
the very elect Nearly all ministers,
graduated within the last 20 years.
lost all their faith in the Bible as the
inspired word of God, in the theologi-
cal seminaries where they We're
taught unbelief. under the name of
higher criticism: where they also
We're taught to consider it honorable
to stutfy their manhood by accept
ing ordination and salary for serving
a denomination whose published creed
they dsowif and despise In the same
seminaries they acquired the thought
that it is right and honorable to re-
ceive title. honor and salary from the
church, ostensibly as a Christian min
lister and Bible exponent, and then to
use the opportunity to undermine the
faith of the church and to destroy
confidence in the Bible as the in
spired word of God
Under these conditions, what shall
these ministers preach instead of the
gospel of Christ, which they no longer
believe? Is it any wonder that they
preach those things that they ought
not to preach, and leave unpreached
those things they ought to preach :.
Not many of their hearers care for
scientific disquisitions; not many OF
them care to hear commonplace es-
says on good morals. SO how can
such ministers avoid foolish preach :
ing?
(3) Not content with undermining
the faith of the people who trust and
honor and obey them, these ministers
mix their higher critical views and
evolutionary views with diluted mo-
rality, and serve this as instead of the
gospel of Christ. He who thinks that
such message will convert mind
from sin to righteousness, from un>
belief to faith in God, deceives him,
self. He who thinks that such mes
sages will have a sancttying power in
the hearts of Gods people, equally de-
ludes himself.
No Gospel Without Redemption.
The essence of the gospel of Christ
is that He died for sinners. the just
for the unjust, that He might bring
mankind back to God. But the false
gospels deny that man ever fell from
the likeness of God, and equally deny
therefore that he needed a Redeem er
and that he has a Redeemer. Such
spurious gospels, which leave out the