THE brethren know that men cannot devote their lives to the work of evangelizing without support, and they will give the support, and do it much more freely where they can see the work done, than where they can see no work done. The preachers in the field doing the work are receiving the main support given, and ought to receive it. The men not in the field, and that will not go into the field, ought not to receive the support. The brethren are not in the way of sending it to them.
We hope the preachers generally will see what is being done by those in the work, go out and participate in the heavenly work, that they, too, when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, may have a crown of glory that fades not away. How can men with the love of God in them see their fellow-creatures perishing, and not be inspired with a zeal to go forth and gather them into the kingdom of God? Look at the tremendous cloud of darkness over the minds of the people, and then inquire can a man who has the light be excusable unless he uses the means the Lord has put in his power for the enlightenment of the world. No, we can not be excusable; the love of Christ constrains us; the value of the souls of men urges, and the example of all the ancient worthies impels us to go into the great harvest and help to reap it down.
RECKLESS TWADDLE.
THE following purports to be taken from one of Moody’s sermons, and is reported in the Baptist Union:
If I thought that baptism was God’s way of saving men, I’d give up preaching, borrow a pail and go round the streets baptizing every one I met, and if they wouldn’t let me do it, I’d catch them asleep and baptize any way. He says, “Ye must be born again.”
It is a wonderful humiliation to be compelled to admit that this undignified, irreverent and reckless language is from the lips of a man probably at this time attracting as much attention as any man in the world, as a preacher, or it may be more. It is mortifying in a high degree to be convinced that the state of the public mind is such that a man like this is caressed, lauded and admired by the multitude.
It is no small work to enlighten the people of the world. We have gained the right of private judgment, private interpretation of the Scriptures, the liberty of speech and of the press; and we have the Bible, translated into our own language, in almost every house; and we have our system of free schools and universal education. But still there is a premium for ignorance.
Moody with his commonplace talks, and Sankey with his songs, call out greater crowds and have more admirers than the most profound Bible instructor in the world. What reverence has he for the Lord, who ordained baptism and submitted to it himself, “was baptized of John in Jordan,” after saying, “Thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness,” and over whom the heavens parted as he rose from his baptism, and on whom the Spirit descended, and to whom the Almighty Father said, “Thou art my Son, the beloved in whom I am well pleased?” What appreciation has he, or what respect for our Lord’s commission, in which he has the preaching of the gospel, the belief of it, the repentance, the baptism and salvation all connected together, when he talks of giving up preaching and borrowing a pail and going round the streets baptizing every one he met? What does he know or care about what baptism is? He may find the untaught multitudes who will gaze at him and admire such irreverent manifestations of ignorance, want of piety and dignity, mingled with such low slang as we find in the language quoted above, and he may find plenty of thoughtless people who will be pleased with such unworthy flings at things which he does not understand, and which he perverts and misapplies. But there are many people in this country who can not be gulled in any such style. Low slang is not preaching Jesus nor his gospel, nor is misrepresentation or perverting Scripture preaching Jesus.
If he has our Lord’s commission, and ever reads it, he knows or ought to know, that the same commission has in it the preaching of the gospel, the believing, repenting, baptism and salvation. The preaching, believing, repentance, baptism and salvation all go together; and if he has intelligence enough to preach at all acceptably to the Lord, he knows that no people in this country think that baptizing is of any value, without being preceded by the preaching of the gospel and the faith, unless among those who profess to baptize infants. They did not understand him to make this fling at them, or they would soon have depleted his audience.
Moody and Sankey have the clear Scriptures before them, giving an account of inquiring persons coming to the apostles inquiring the way of salvation, and the plain answers giving the apostolic way, and they ignore these instructions—keep them out of sight. They have the answers of the apostles showing them the way, and they have refused to even read these Scriptures, or to let the people know what the way was, as set forth by the apostles. For this they will give an account. They ignored it, evaded it, and avoided it. They neither enter the kingdom themselves nor will they permit those who would enter.
Before we lay down our pen, we must refer Moody and Sankey, with some others, to a lesson Paul once taught a man, in view of a transaction no worse than the uttering the words quoted from Moody, at the beginning of this article. The man with whom Paul dealt, was simply trying to turn the deputy away from the faith. The deputy was by name, Sergius Paulus. When he did this, Saul (who is called Paul) filled with the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him, and said, “O full of all subtlety and all mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some one to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord”. Acts xiii. 9–12.
It is a most fearful thing to pervert the right ways of the Lord—to try to turn any one away from the faith, or to put asunder that which God has joined together, and which he forbids man to put asunder.
In the last commission, the only authority for all gospel preaching, the Lord has joined together, preaching the gospel, believing the gospel, repentance, baptism and salvation, or pardon of sins, and no man can part these asunder, except at the peril of his soul. Is it possible that any man can fail to see that no man can be, in the true sense, a preacher of Jesus and ignore any part of this commission, or any part of the way of salvation, as set forth by the apostles under this commission?
THE KIND OF PREACHING REQUIRED.
IN the same way, insipid preaching about sweet birds and sweet flowers, plants and stars, etc., etc., appears to have streaks of light in it, but after it is over, the darkness appears greater than before. No gospel light is shed forth, no truth of weight and importance in the salvation of man brought forth or enforced; no obedience is enjoined and no hope is inspired. No Felix trembles. Nothing is said about the preaching, unless it be that “it was splendid,” and “I do love to hear him so much;” “It was very fine,” etc. But, put the question, What did you learn? and silence would reign. This kind of thing may please people who do not intend to hear the gospel, or who, in the language of Scripture, “Turn away their ears from the truth;” but we must have something different from this, something more tangible, intelligible and impressive to save men. We must have something more than mere vaporing.
We must have “first principles,” as they are now styling the gospel, and