The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-20
Sunday Sermon
OF
JESUS CHRIST
WAS ELOQUENT
Fellowship of Gospel Was
Basis of Teachings
on Earth.
TEXT: MATT. 4:12 Is
BY WILLIAM E. GILROY, d. d.
Editor of The Congregationalist

BY WILLIAM E. GILROY, d. d.
Editor Of The COngregatiOnalist
The ministry of Jesus began. as
all great ministries have begun, with
preaching and the winning of dis
ciples.
Possibly 1t was not preaching in
our modern and conventional use of
the term, but it would be well If
all our modern preaching could be
like the simple, sincere, and earnest
proclamation Of truth in which
great prophets and teachers have
been impelled to speak forth their
message.
Every man Is a preacher who
voices the experiences of truth in
his own heart and life, and the
most effective preaching always
has been the simple witness to the
things of the spirit. Even when
such preaching has not been elo-
quent in language, it has been,
nevertheless, real.
Preaching Was Eloquent
We recall the reply of the man
who was asked under whose
preaching he had been converted.
Under nobody's preaching" he
said. but under my mothers prac-
tice."
The preaching Of Jesus was elo-
quent both in word and in example.
The men who were drawn to him
were drawn by his life and per-
Sonality. Even when they did not
understand his words and compre-
bend all his meaning, they realized
that new glory Of truth was in
all that he had to say.
They felt that they were in the
presence of great teacher and
prophet, who had something that
was vital and worth while, and 1T
was this that made them willing
to leave all and follow him.
The preaching of Jesus began,
again as all great preaching has
begun, in an emphasis upon right
.eousnesS and the subsection of men
to the disciplines of truth.
1t was a call to repentance that
Jesus uttered, and repentance does
not mean, necessarily, the turning
from gross sins and evil ways; it
is a return to the clear visions and
the high standards present in the
souls of men in their better expert
ences, but that are lost SO easily
in the midst of the temptations and
intricacieS of life.
Vision Better World
Whether man has wandered far
away from the path of moral rec
titude, or has allowed his soul to
become dull and undisciplined and
prey to less worthy motives and
ends, the call to repentance is one
that good men always have needed.
The vision of a better world, as
was the vision of this kingdom of
heaven to the disciples of Jesus,
takes it's rise first of all In the in~
dividual heart.
That is, apparently, what Jesus
meant when he said "the Kingdom
of God is within YOU"
The ministry of Jesus had its be-
ginning, again like all great min
istries, in the character of the men
whom he won. 1t is the quality Of
the true prophet and teacher tc
inspire confidence in other men, tC
win them to himself and to the
things that he upholds.
Lays Great Foundation
Whether through organization, OF
through spiritual influence, nc
prophet or teacher ever has accom-
plished anything who stood alone
The power of Jesus was manifested
in no higher way than in the win
ming to him of the men upon whom
he established his church and his
Kingdom in the world of reality.
When a man proclaimed the
truth, and has found some one who
will listen, he has laid the founda-
lions of something great and sig
nificant in the world.
1t was the pre-eminence of Jesus
to begin in that way the work Of
establishing the Kingdom of Goo
through the fellowship of the gospel
in which the church had its founda-