Newspapers / Southwide Baptist News and … / Dec. 2, 1921, edition 1 / Page 6
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Page 6 SOUTHWIDE BAFTI8T Sou t h s i d e Pulpit The Gospel Of Power By J. E. Dillard “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to^ every one that belie- veth.” Rom-1:16. In this connection the apostle uses three ams”; 1 am debtor, I am ready. I am not ashamed. That is to say: I have received something to pass on to others and lam in debt until that obligation is discharged; 1 am ready to deliver the goods; I have no apologies to olier, for 1 have confidence in my message and lam not ashamed of my job. Raul had been in Jeru salem. the religious center of the world; he had preached in Athens, the intelectual center of the world; m,w he is ambitious to proclaim the gospel in Rome, thii^olitieal cen ter of the world. I'or, whatever appearances might sa-y lo the con trary, he believed this gospel to be the power of God. Here we have Paul’s mature con viction, tire theme of his epistle, and the secret of his success as a preacher. 1 have chosen the.se words L a text under the profound con viction that the gospel is an ade- qua te power, and the only power, ^~r the salvation of both the indi vidual and society. This power has worked historically, is working evidentially and may be known ex periinentally. We need to catch the infection of courageous confi dence that fired Paul’s enthusiasm lor the gospel. ' The Gospel In History If any man ever was ashamed of the gospel he ought to be asham ed of himself. The gospel has been Se gulf stream of history. Every "reat religion has produced a civi !iz*tion. Those things that most vitally distinguish our civilization are directly traceable to the influ ence of the gospel. _ Greece attained a civilization of culture uncqualed in ancient or modern times; Eome was the best governed, best fed and best washed city in the world, ^et- neither of these civilizations is worthy to be compared with our own m any of those humanitarian ideals and phil anthropic movements that are our 'pride and joy. Greece teaches the inadequacy of culture, Rome the impotcncy of soup and soap to save either socially or spiritually. It was the gospel that gave us our ideas of the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man and the worth of the individual: the gospel that emphasizes the equality of woman. Sights of a child and the dignity S labor. The gospel h^ softened ouHaws, taught care and sympathy ?or the unfortunate, and inspired every kind of reform, social service Sd philanthropy. The gospel gives tfemes to our poets, models to oi r artdsts and inspiration to our musicians. Our educational system, our democratic institutions, our missionary enterimses, and our movements toward universal peace Se all monuments to its heneficient i^nQucncc. Whatever we may think of its future, the gospel has been the power in history. Things were different in Paul’s day. The rich associations and brilliant conquests of the gospel all lay in the future. Its adherents then were few' in number and these were mostly unlearned and poorr— “Not many wise afier the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble” w'ere called. Its doctrines were stumbling blocks to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. Its author had been rejected by his own countrymen, and ended his brief and pathetic career on a cross, the symbol of ignomimy and shame. But seeds will grow. Paul knew there was divine power here. He anticipated the future ana was not disappointed. The proof of the gospel is not logical but dynamic j it docs the bnsircss “T What is This Gospel of Power. We cannot aflord to make a mis take here' We are told to preach the gospel to every creature. It is said that Jesus went preaching the gospel, and that he preached it to the poor. He said this gospel should he preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all tlie nations. Paul exclaims: “Woe to me if I preach not the gospel.” He w'arned the Galatians against any peiverted gospel saying, “Though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel, other than that which w'e preached unto you, let him be anathema.” The gospel is sometimes spoken of as the gospel of God, having reference to its origin: as the gospel of the grace of God beqause it mani-, fests his favor; as the gospel of’ Christ, because he is peculairly its subject matter; as the gospel of “I and the Father are one.” Our God, the Father-King is a loving Savior who suffers for us. Thus the King becomes the atoning God, and God in Christ recon ciles the wofld unto himself. KltsgFuHBMeaning^ We may sum up the ‘teaching of Christ concerning the^ gos pel under three heads: The in clusiveness and.spirituality of the kingdom; the fatherly nature of God; and deliverance from sin through his own meditation. The apostles developed these ideas laying chief emphasis upon the last, and adding thereto the doctrine of the resurrection as evidence of its genuineness and its acceptance with the Father. So in its fullness, the gospel stands, for Christ; all the doc trines Jie taught, all the graces he revealed, all the ordinances he established, ali the duties he enjoined, all the promises, he made, and all the work he ac complished and is accomplishing. “Preach Christ” and “preach the gospel” are synonymous terms in the New Testament The gospel is the pow'er of God because Christ is the power and wisdom of God. The Heart of the Gospel As all revelation culminated in /.Tesus Christ, so the earthly life of the God-man culminated on Calvary This became the great central theme with the disciples Soon the cross became the sym bol for the gospel. This to them was the very heart of it, viz: Christ died for us This central truth was expressed in various subject matter; as the gospel oil""" "heart"of the mes- salvation because it bnngs the good, alwavs the same. news of salvation. It is called the. glorious gospel, because it is glorious, good jiews; and the everlasting; gospel because its message never' grows old and its power endures forever. The word occurs more than one hundred times in the New Testament. The Origin and Growth of The Idea. The source for the Christian usage of the word is found, in Isaiah. The prophet uses these words; “The spirit is upon me, be cause Jehovah hath annointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” Christ adopted the word and gave it content, raying, “This day is the scripture fulfilled.” John the Baptist preached a mess^e that was good news coupled with stirring command, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ” Jesus took up- .the same mes.sage, he preached the gospel of the king dom; he taught its inclusivcness and spirituality. He tells us that the king is a father who loves his subjects and w'ants them to be sons and daughters. “Wlien ye pray, say “Our Father.” This Father- King is like Jesus. “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” The good news is getting better. He says further. “I lay down my life for the- sheep;” “I give ray life a ransom for many;” Sage was always the same We are justly reminded that there were at least three systems of,teaching in the New Testament; the Pauline, the Petrine, and the Johannine. While these differ in many regards, they fundamentall3' agree. Paul says, ‘T make anown unto you ,the gospel which I preach ed unto you—I delivered unto you first of all that w’hieh I received, that Christ died for our sins ac cording to the scriptures. Peter speaks of being “redeemed with the preciou-s blood of Christ,” and again “who his own self bear our sins in his omi body on the tree.” John speaks of the heavenly throng who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb,” and ascribed praise “un to him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” John the Baptist pointed to the Master as “the Lamb of God that taketh away the"sin of the world.” Jesus himself said, “The Son of man came—to give his life a ransom for many” and again “If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me.” These all express the same truth from various view points, namely-^'“The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me,” In a .scholarly w’ork on the Atone ment, by Drs. Bruton, Smith and Smith, 1 find this summing up of conciusiohs: “It (the Atonement) is the doctrine of practically all the books of the New Testament. The New Testament writers agree that there is a relation between the re conciliation of the sinner with God and the sufltering and death of Jesus.” D r . William Newton Clarke saj’s: One conception of salvation has been held alwaj's, every where and by all.’’ • Dr. Shailer Mathews says: “The aton ing work of Christ is made real to the believers by the use of figures, all of them clearly possess the same sgnificance: the death of Christ was necessarj'. He died in behalf of sinners.” Facts vs Theory There is no use of preaching the Gospel unless we have a Gos pel to preach. I would rather be a small man with a big message than a oig man with asmall mes sage. 1 lay no stress upon the theory, but J insist upon the preaching of the fact that Clirist Jesus died for our sins. The New Testament writers Tiad no theory, and the apostolic church had no theory, but they preached this same gospel, and found it to possess power. In time, men began to specu late as to how the death of Christ sayes and various theories arose,' each interpreting this fact accord ing to the s.vstpm of thought then in vogue. There is doubtless some truth and some error in all these theories. I Was recently talking with two eminent scholars. The one said, “I believe all of the theor ies of the atoemem;” and the other said, “I believe none of the theories of the atonement.” The one was thinking of the element truth that was common to them all, which truth was v'ariously ex pressed in the terminology and according to the e-xperience of the authors; the other was laying stress upon the errors in each theory. That they are imperfect is evident, for the atonement is larger than any theory of it. But the,truth that the Son of God loved me and gave himself, for me persists and must be preached. What The Masters Say Dr. Jowett says “Christ aud him crucified; it was the only message for the apostolic day, it is the only gospel for our own day.” At tfie'PIdinbnrg Confer ence, tbe question was asked; “What is the message that has proven most effective in bringing men to Christ? The answer wag “Tbe story of the Son of God giving his life that men might live.” Theodore Cuyler said, “If I could deliver but one discourse to a congregation composed of all the nations of the earth, this should be my ne.xt text; “Christ Jesus died for our sins.” This gospel always has bad power. It was the keynote of Paul’s preac’n- ing; Luther preached it and sium- beriiig Euro 1)6 was^aroused: Wes- (Continued on page 11). ‘
Southwide Baptist News and Ridgecrest Reporter (Marshall, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 2, 1921, edition 1
6
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