USA > West Virginia > The West Virginia pulpit of the Methodist Episcopal church. Sermons from living ministers. With personal sketches of the authors > Part 14
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umph over all opposing systems, which shall be crushed before his triumphal car, as he rides forth in the greatness of his strength. " His dominion is an everasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." "The heathen," China, India, Hindoostan and all the islands of the sea, "shall be given to him for his in- heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of God and his Christ, and he shall reign a thousand years."
3. The Gospel will be universally proclaimed. "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." The general spread of the Gos- pel is beautifully suggested by Ezekiel's vision of the holy waters, when he speaks of their rise, extent, depth and healing virtues. The same idea is suggest- ed by the "little stone," cut out of the mountains without hands, which itself finally became a great mountain and filled the world. Already the Gospel has been preached to every nation under heaven ; but it must be so universally diffused everywhere, that there will not be a city, town, village, community or family which shall not have the Gospel of Christ. As the waters cover the bottoms and fill up the chan- nels of the sea, so must Gospel truth fill the whole earth. " When one man shall not say to another, know ye the Lord, but all shall know him from the least to the greatest."
4. Universal peace shall prevail. War has been one of the greatest curses of our world. Nations have met on the field, while thousands have rolled their gar- ments in blood, and gone down to soldiers' graves, often to simply gratify the proud ambition of design- ing men. There comes a time when the "sword shall be beaten into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and nations shall learn war no more." Now military academies are established with large propor- tions, where the science and art of war are taught and men are educated to wield the sword, but, “ nations
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shall learn war no more." Other, and more satisfac- tory, methods will be adopted to settle national diffi- culties. "Then peace on earth will hold her easy sway, and man forget his brother man to slay." Men will be so influenced by the Gospel, that the great law of love will prevail and cement all hearts, while the golden chain of friendship shall bind the world together.
5. The animosity of the animal tribes shall cease. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leop- ard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together ; and a little child shall lead them ; and the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shalle at straw like the ox." Thus the wolf, the most ferocious, and the lamb, the most innocent, will dwell in peace together. We see no reason why we may not accept the literal statement, and believe it will come to pass.
I am inclined to believe that this world will be ren- ovated and purified by fire, and be inhabited by the saints of God. That it will be connected with the Heavenly City, and there will be communication be- tween this world and that. It may be possible that we will travel in chariots of fire, drawn by horses of fire, and thus make the journey back and forth as rap- idly as Elijah went in the whirl-wind to Heaven.
Considering the foregoing facts and many others that might be noticed, which will characterize that period, what a grand spectacle this world will pre- sent ! " Almost like to Heaven, a place where gods might dwell and wander with delight !"
IV. THE MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN BRINGING ABOUT THIS HAPPY STATE.
1. The Church. God established his Church on earth, Jesus Christ being the chief Corner Stone. She is to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Speaking of the final triumph of the Church, the prophet says : "The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established upon the top of the mountains, and shall be elevated above the hills, and all nations
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shall flow unto it." But how can these things be ? Suppose we stand in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico-we inquire, whence came this vast body of water ? To determine this question, we go back until we stand amid the mountain scenery of our own West Virginia; the wealth and grandeur of which are scarcely excelled on the face of the globe. Here from the crevices of the moss-covered rocks and deep moun- tain gorges, break forth streams of water, which go leaping and smiling down the mountain sides, and soon are lost in the broad and mighty rivers flowing into the great reservoir. Now, the question is an- swered and the mystery comprehended. So we may represent the Church as being established on the summit of the highest mountain on the earth. There is a moving among the nations, and men and women are coming from every quarter of the globe seeking a spiritual home in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. "A nation shall be born to God in a day." In accomplishing this work, it is the prerogative of the Church :
(1.) To send out her Gospel heralds. Christ calls men into the work of the ministry, and endows them with the Holy Ghost, but it is left for the Church to send them into the vineyard, judge of their qualifica- tions, guard their moral and religious character, as well as control their labor. God has raised up men adapt- ed to every condition of human society ; men of edu- cation, thought and reasoning powers; men of elo- quent lips, calling into requisition the sublime truths of God's Word, and everything in nature; men of . zeal, whose hearts are burdened with love for the sal- vation of souls, crying out, "Oh, that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night over the slain of the daughters of my people." Such are the men whom God has sent into the world to cultivate Immanuel's land. Of all branches of the Christian Church, no class of Chris- tian ministers have done more for the conversion of the world than those of the great Methodist family. They have traced our streams, crossed our mountains, and penetrated our forests, preaching the unsearcha- ble riches of Christ, wherever the people would hear,
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whether in the log cabin, school house, Church or open air, on the mountain, hill-top, or in the valley.
(2.) Again, It is the prerogative of the Church to place the Bible in the hands of her ministers. The Church authorizes her heralds to read the Holy Script- ures in the congregations, and to preach the same. While a dispensation of the Gospel has been commit- ted to the minister, and he holds forth, as a teacher, the oracles of God, they are to be committed to the hands of all the people, that they may read for them- selves, and seek for its golden treasures, assured that here they will find the pearl of great price.
The Bible is God's book, inspired and designed to make men wise unto salvation. Although there are locked up in this Divine book mysteries that may never be fully comprehended by men nor angels, yet, so far as man's personal salvation is concerned, the teachings of this book are easily understood, and its sublime truths so plain and simple that the " way- faring man, though a fool, shall not err therein." The Bible is the torch of eternity, lit at Heaven's own fires. This book "God threw from his sacred palace down to earth to guide his wandering children home." Jesus said to the Jews, "Search the Scriptures." The Bible, read as an open book, and correctly expounded by its teachers, its truths impressed upon human hearts by the Divine Spirit, must ultimately bring the race to God.
2. In carrying out God's designs, the Church must employ contributions of worldly goods. When the Temple was to be built at Jerusalem, men were sent to Lebanon for cedars and to Ophir for gold. God makes the oaks and cedars grow, and has hidden the precious metals in the rocks and mountains of this earth, which are to be developed and utilized in con- veying the gospel to all the inhabitants of the world. It matters not who may discover the mines, nor who may dig the shining ore, God will use all hands in furnishing the means to carry on the grand enter- prises of his cause and kingdom in the world. The people holding the gold and silver of this world, be they saints or sinners, should regard themselves as
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God's stewards, and cultivate a spirit of large benevo- lence, "Giving as the Lord hath prospered them."
Thus we conclude, that with a holy ministry, a Holy Bible, and consecrated means, the Church will be able to take the world for God. Praise the name of Jesus ! The ministers are working, the gold and silver are working; the press is working, and through all these God-appointed means the Holy Ghost is working, so that the time must come when the cry will go up from every land, and kindred, and tongue, and people, on the face of the whole earth. "Hallelujah ! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
This will be a season of great peace and prosperity to the Church. True, much is yet to be done, but when we survey the past three-score years, we are as- tounded at the rapid march of the arts and sciences, and the grand success of the Gospel, the building of Churches, and the planting of institutions of learn- ing, we may well conclude that the coming century will far exceed anything the world has ever wit- nessed. During the past half century the earth has been begirted with iron bands; rivers have been bridged; mountains tunneled; valleys raised ; and now the iron horse goes sweeping through our moun- tains and forests with wonderful speed, while intelli- gence is communicated from one part of this continent, and of the world, to the other, as on wings of light- ning ; but nothing has been more rapid in its brilliant career than the glorious Gospel of the Son of God; and men have been hearing Messiah's name from the rising to the going down of the sun. We may not live to see the light of the Millenial day, but our children's children may live when the Jews will ac- knowledge the Messiah ; when Jerusalem shall be re- built, and salvation shall be heard in her streets ; when the whole earth shall be the garden of the Lord, and
" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Does his successive journeys run ; His kingdom spread from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
PERSONAL SKETCH.
IN 1866, a call was published by the Christian Advocate for young ministers to labor in West Virginia. Among those who respodn- ed to this call was the Rev. Samuel B. D. Prickitt. He was born at Columbus, Georgia, in 1840-his parents having resided there for a few years. Shortly after the birth of the subject of this sketch, they returned to their former New Jersey home, where Samuel grew up, and was liberally educated in Burlington county, of that State.
When he arrived in West Virginia, he was employed by the Rev. Thomas H. Monroe, then Presiding Elder of the Parkers- burg District, and was placed in charge of the M. E. Church at Elizabeth, and Burning Springs, Wirt county. The following year, 1867, he was admitted into the West Virginia Conference on trial; and from that time till the present, he has steadily risen until he occupies a high rank among his brethren. He has filled a number of important stations, including Zane Street Church, Wheeling, and State Street Church, Charleston; and at this time is Presiding Elder of the Guyandotte District, with residence at Huntington.
He was, for a long time, Treasurer of the Conference Aid So- ciety, and for several years past, he has officiated as Statistical Secretary of the Conference, a position his carefulness and meth- odical habits specially qualify him to fill.
Brother Prickitt is a superior preacher. He has read a great deal, and digested what he has read. He is a close thinker, and always writes his sermons with care. His mind is naturally log- ical, and his sermons, therefore, are always clear and incisive. He is industrious, and is at once a fine preacher, a diligent pas- tor, and a thorough business man.
SERMON XV.
BY
REV. S. B. D. PRICKITT, P. E.
THEME-PREACHING THE GOSPEL .*
TEXT .- "And there they preached the Gospel .- Acts xiv: 7.
In this chapter we are introduced to two men in the midst of a remarkable career. They are engaged in a work the design of which, when properly understood, must have commended itself to all. Their purpose was not merely to make men acquainted with, but to bring them back to, God. Starting from Antioch, where they had been separated for the work by direc- tion of the Holy Ghost, they had sailed to Cyprus; from thence through Perga and Antioch in Pisidia, they came unto Iconium, where, being threatened with an assault both by Jews and Gentiles, "they fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about, and there they preached the Gospel."
There was nothing new in their design, which was, as we have said, to bring men to the knowledge and love of God. This was the problem which had puzzled the wisest of philosophers and the best of men. And although, even at that early period of the world's his- tory, the triumphs of human genius had been marvel- ous, resulting in achievements which challenge our admiration, there is one achievement to which it had
* Preached before the West Virginia Conference at Morgantown, Octo- ber 1, 1879.
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never been adequate, one feat which it has always failed to accomplish. It has never been able to climb to the throne of Jehovah and find out God. It has never been able to discover a way of deliverance from sin. Although there was nothing new in their design, there was, however, something new in their plan and mode of procedure. Their theory was God's, and their mode of procedure was divinely appointed. God gave the world ample time and a fair field in which to make the experiment, and for four thousand years men had been groping in darkness, and falling into one super- stition after another, in vain attempts to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Then, when the fullness of time had come, God appears, revealing himself in the person of Christ, and opening a way of deliverance for man. Our text presents this way-this plan, which is the Gospel; and the agency for publishing it, which is the living ministry. Let us examine these.
I. THE GOSPEL.
In noticing this plan, we will find that it has every qualification requisite to success. It not only con- tains everything necessary to the salvation of those who accept it, but everything necessary to attract the attention, to convince the judgment, and to win the affections of those who listen to it.
1. It contains nothing contrary to what man accepts as truth; and it takes his faint conceptions, and throws upon them additional light. There are certain truths which are universally acknowledged-which have been held by man everywhere; certain truths which, being clothed according to the peculiar taste or traits of mind of each nation and tribe, if not, indeed, of each individual, thus took on a different form or coloring, but which, stripped of these, always exhibit the same features. There is, for instance, the idea of God; the awful fact of sin; the terrible truth that God is offend- ed; and, perhaps, a faint idea that God is willing to be reconciled.
Take the first of these; the idea of God. Whether we believe, with some, that the presence of this truth rested upon tradition alone, or, with others, that it is
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connatural to the human mind, we may, as a matter of fact, affirm the universality of the idea. There has not been found a race of men who were utterly desti- tute of some knowledge of a Supreme Being.
So with the second of these: the awful fact of sin. The presence of evil in the world is a fact which has always been recognized by man. It is a fact just as distinctly marked in the experience of the human heart, and in the history of the race, as any fact in the physical universe around us. Sin meets us at ev- ery step in life; and if there is a fact anywhere record- ed upon the pages of history, or written upon the ex- perience of the race, it is the fact that sin, with its ter- rific consequences, is abroad everywhere in our world. It is not merely a doctrine taught in the book of rev- elation; it is not simply a truth presented by divine inspiration for our acceptance, but it is a stern fact that meets us everywhere, where the Bible has been and where the Bible has never been. Where men have never heard of this blessed Gospel, sin is there just as certainly as in this land of Bibles. And being thus universally present, it has been universally recog- nized by man.
So, too, with the third of these truths: the terrible truth that God was offended with man. The univer- sal prevalence of this truth is seen in the fact that wherever man has attempted worship (and you find him nowhere except as a worshipper-he is a religious being), whenever he has attempted to approach God, the prevailing attitude is that of fear; he seems ever conscious that the anger of Jehovah is upon him. And coupled with this is the faint idea that God is willing to be reconciled-that, in some way, it is possible to propitiate the Majesty of heaven. Not only is there found resting upon the heart of universal humanity a deep and abiding conviction that something must be done to expiate the guilt of sin, some restitution must be made, some suffering must be endured, some sacri- fice offered, to atone for past misdeeds; but in connec- tion with this is the idea, the hope, that God will be propitious. Hence, men in all ages have had recourse to penances and prayers, to self-inflicted tortures and
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costly sacrifices, to appease a righteous anger which their sins had excited, and avert an impending pun- ishment. Sacrificial offerings have prevailed in every nation and in every age.
Now, the universal prevalence of these truths not only prepared the way for the acceptance of the Gospel, but the fact that the Gospel not only contained noth- ing contrary to these ideas, but gave additional light on these points, proves its divine origin and rendered the work of the apostles comparatively easy.
Starting with the first of these, the idea of God, the Gospel gives additional light. The world was with- out any knowledge of God as a merciful and divine Father. The universe was full of God. Everywhere the demonstration of God is complete and perfect ; but without revelation there is no other knowledge of God than that of great and inexorable Power that has originated this universe and set it going. But this Gospel reveals the additional and glorious fact of the Fatherhood of God-reveals the gracious truth that he is a compassionate, tender, loving Father, and that we are his children. And then, as to the fact of sin : The Gospel, carrying with it the Old Testament rev- elation, gives the only satisfactory explanation as to how sin came into the world; not why God per- mitted it to enter, but how it came. And no matter how you interpret the account in Genesis, whether you give it a literal or a figurative interpretation, it is there clearly shown that God is not the author of our misery and woe, but that by inan's disobedience, by man's choice, sin entered the world, and death by sin. And God is shown to be offended because of our sin. And then, as to the possibility of reconciliation, the Gospel alone shows the way and provides the sac- rifice. It shows that all the sacrifices of the Mosaic dispensation, and all the offerings of the heathen, which must have come down to them from primitive revelation, are insufficient and unmeaning, save as they point to Christ as the Lamb of God, who died to take away the sins of the world. In examining this plan further, we notice :
2. Its conditions are simple and suited to all. It
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not only provides a universal salvation, but the con- ditions upon which its blessings are to be bestowed, its privileges enjoyed, are such that man everywhere is found capable of meeting them : repentance and faith-repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Offering, as it does, salvation to all on the ground of faith, it goes to every man, and calls upon him to exercise that which arises within him naturally and necessarily on its appropriate occasions. All men have faith. They have faith in something, though they may not have faith in God. Man can- not help believing. The state of mind which we term faith, exists in us by our very nature. It is not only there, but, by the very constitution of our nature, it must remain there while man is what he is. And the Gospel, by presenting Christ as the object of faith, and offering to man spiritual restoration on the ground of faith, not only rendered its acceptance possible to all, but placed it upon the only principle in our nature which constitutes the true bond of union between God and man. Faith is the tie which binds us to our Ma- ker ; and no other principle, standing first, and stand- ing alone, can take its place. And then :
3. The Gospel meets the yearnings-the longings -of our race for an incarnation. Humanity, in all ages, anterior to the incarnation, has evinced this longing for some such provision as the Gospel makes for its moral and spiritual necessities in the incarna- tion, death and ascension of Jesus. All its mythol- ogies and speculations were but so many unconscious prophecies and longings of humanity for a divine- human prophet, priest and king. This Gospel of ours claims, indeed, to be the " great mystery of godliness -God manifest in the flesh," and to be foolishness to the wisdom of this world; yet it by no means claims to be out of analogy with all that men had ever thought or felt before. It represents all creation as groaning and travailing in pain until now, and it represents Jesus as the stiller of creation's groans, himself at once the eternal Son of God, and the leader of humanity in its final march to victory and the re- alization of its unspeakable desires. And it was this
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Deity in human form, walking among men, leaning on their bosoms, weeping over their graves, slumber- ing in the manger, and bleeding on the Cross-this Divine man presented to us in the Gospel, that, de- spite the prejudices of the synagogue and the doubts of the academy, found, and still finds, his way to the hearts of the masses.
But, perhaps, the crowning excellence of the Gos- pel is in this:
4. It submits its claims to the test of actual and individual experiment, and thus offers to each a demonstration of its truth. It suspends its claims to human acceptance upon the spiritual miracles of the new creation-upon certain inward emotions or ex- periences. It said, and still says, If you will try it, you shall know ; if you will do his will, you shall know whether it is of God or of man. If you will believe in Jesus, if you will take Christ into your heart, you shall have the witness in yourself. The whole scheme is submitted to actual human experiment, and if it is not from God, you will know it; but if it is from God, you will feel it, for it will accompany itself by its own witness. Christ says, "Come unto me, and ye shall find rest." And this pivotal promise is given to man : " If any man will do, he shall know." It does not say, if the man is a scholar-if he is scientific ; but what it says comes right to each and all : " If ary man will do his will, he shall know." And containing this promise, the Gospel carried with it a demonstration -a demonstration that came, not before, but after, be- lief; a demonstration of the spirit; a gracious and soul-satisfying conviction, not created by science, not begotten of the logical understanding, but welling up from the innermost depths of the soul, which is to the trusting one " as a well of water springing up to ever- lasting life." Glory be to God for this, which seems to me to be its crowning excellence-that if we will
13
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do, we shall know; if we will accept, if we will be- lieve,
"The spirit answers to the blood, And tells me I am born of God."
Now let us notice,
II. THE AGENTS.
The agents were the living ministers, not angels, but men-ordinary men, the average man. As Paul said to these Lycaonians, " Men of like passions with you." If you look at the earlier apostles, and espe- cially the original twelve, I think it will be seen that the Master, in selecting them, had reference to some- thing else, something better, than intellectual strength or extra learning. I think it can be shown that, as they were selected from the common, the or- dinary walks of life, that, while they were not ignor- ant men in the objectionable sense of that term, yet they were not, as a whole, above the average. Says Paul *: " But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." And as Christ did not select angels for this work, because they would have been attended by a celestial glory that might have obscured the di- vine; and as God will have his glory only shining forth, so he passed by all the shining hosts of heaven, and chose men-men like ourselves, with the same depraved natures, with the same proneness to sin ; so, in order that the results might not be attributed to extra talent, nor to learning acquired in the schools, he selected the average man, and sent him forth, de- pending upon nothing but the presence and power of the truth. True, there were exceptions to this rule. Now and then a master mind appears, such as Saul of Tarsus; but still it was true that the work was car- ried forward by the earnest and persistent labors of the "average " man. So it has always been in the history of the Church and in the history of Method- ism. Though Methodism had its birth in an institu- tion of learning, and Wesley, its great leader, was a
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