Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

have been led to the Cross, then, and only then, shall we preach Jesus. Without this, our preaching will be cold and lifeless; our teaching will be dull and heavy; we shall be mere automatons,-insensible pieces of machinery. I ask, can there be an object more pitiable to behold, than him who proclaimeth "ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;" and yet has himself never drank at the fountain head: how mournful to see the hand uplifted, the eye upturned, the lips labouring to convey a sentiment: but sad, sad the effort; for the heart is unmoved, untouched, is dead to the beauties of Jesus; and hence, there is heard but the "sounding brass or the "tinkling cymbal."

To know Jesus, is the secret of preaching Him; for "out of the fulness of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Oh, if our hearts condemn us, read in this our lack of effect.

4. "Hear ye Him." This sets forth our duties. Do our life and conversation agree with our message; are we living "as becometh

E

the Gospel?" are we

66

epistles known and

read of all men?" "does our profiting appear unto all?" have we the "mind that was also in Christ Jesus?" if not, we had better be silent: good for us were it, had we never entered the ministry. How much blood may be upon us, how many souls may have been destroyed by our want of conformity to the image of Christ? Brethren, we are slow to imagine how sensitive are our people, how quick to perceive the disagreement between our teaching and life: we may preach like angels; we may set forth a Saviour's love with the the power of an Apollos; we may range ourselves on the Lord's side, and take part with his people; but if we show not by our lives that we are indeed influenced by the love of Jesus, our preaching is in vain. Oh 'tis not only from the pulpit we must cry “Hear ye Him; " but by our consistent walk; in the detail of our every-day life; at home, in our families; in the steady carrying out our domestic duties; in our buying and selling; in

our promises and their fulfilment; in our going out and coming in; in these we must live Christ; and then shall men say of us, "now we know that these are Christ's disciples; " for not only "their speech," but their life and conversation" agree thereto."

5. And if we would have our message brought home; if we would see sinners moved; if the "Hear ye Him" shall be effectual; we must pray for it. He is the most effectual preacher who prays the most: the sermon that has resulted from much striving at the "throne of Grace" will the Holy Ghost bless most. Suffer me, then, in all humility, as a brother minister in the same temple, to " stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance"Aim at preaching Christ; living Christ; praying Christ: so shall you have many many souls for your hire.

We live in strange day's, seemingly at the end of the new dispensation; soon will our office be no more; soon will the Spirit's and the Bride's cry be hushed; and then may "he

that is filthy be filthy still, and he that is unjust be unjust still;" then "it is finished;" then shall the "beloved Son" receive no more into his body, the Church; for then is the New Temple complete, and He cometh to take vengeance. Rejoice Reverend Brethren that yet a little time is given you to proclaim "this is the beloved Son".

Strange indeed are the times, the nations are vexed and lashed into fury, "the kings of the earth stand up and take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed; "the people imagine a vain thing," longing for some ideal good, some panacea, which shall regenerate the world and heal its wounds:

but

you and I know that there is but "the leaf" of one "tree" which is for "the healing of the nations," and that, the "tree of life," the "beloved Son in whom God is well pleased."

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift. Thanks, Thanks to the Son for his amazing love. Thanks to the Holy Ghost for "taking of the things of Christ and shewing them to us."

Oh, let us with one heart exclaim, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

APPENDIX.

I am induced to add the following extracts from a Sermon, published by Rev. J. E. Riddle, M. A., author of "Christian Antiquities" and "Ecclesiastical Chronology," which goes far to remove an impression entertained by some, that The Temple at Jerusalem was, with its ceremonial, the model by which the Apostles framed the Christian Church.

"It was an erroneous idea which gained ground in the third century, that the Church was originally constructed and was designed to subsist, after the pattern of the Jewish Temple. And it agreed with that system of false teaching which long prevailed, to maintain the necessity of having altars, priests, and sacrifices within the walls of every Christian church, corresponding to the characteristics of that temple-service which was set forth as the proper and lawful model. But all this was contrary to truth. The fact remains, that the Christian church was constructed by the Apostles, or at least under their inspection, and with their approbation and consent, upon the model, not of the Temple, but of the Synagogue. Here was the pattern after which the Christian master-builders framed, here the very platform upon which they erected at

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »