(Because of the wretched state of Red Deer’s
pulpit space, it is now, as predicted by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3, the time to
‘pluck up that which is planted…a time to break down…a time to weep…a time to
cast away stones’ and even ‘a time to refrain from embracing.’ And it is
certainly more ‘a time to speak’ than ‘a time to keep silence.’ Be that as it
may, the wrecking ball of negative criticism should be followed by the laying
down of truth. To this end, we introduce the sermon sketch as an intermittent
blog feature. As the term ‘sketch’ implies, this kind of post, in distinction
from the usually lengthy analysis, will be pithy. The source for each sketch
will be indicated at the bottom of each post.)
PREACHING FOR THE POOR
“The poor have the
gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11.5.)
Introduction. The disciples of John the Baptist came to some doubts
about whether Jesus was the Messiah. Then Jesus answered, “Go and show John
again those things which ye do hear and see…the poor have the gospel preached
to them.” The Jews had forgotten Old Testament prophecies too much; they only
looked for a Messiah clothed in worldly majesty and dignity. “The poor have the
gospel preached to them” will endure three translations.
(1) The Authorized Version. Almost every impostor has aimed his
doctrine principally at the rich and the respectable and the princes and
nobles. Christ aims first at the poor. He begins at the lowest rank, that the
fire may burn upward. The gospel should be preached where the poor will come,
or we should take it to them. The only reason I do not take it to the street in
London is
because this would disturb the peace. My heart is for preaching in the open
air. The last time I did it twelve thousand souls surrounded me—and I trembled.
Now we should preach attractively. The
Puritans were popular because they were not dry. Instead of fancy language, we
need the gospel of Christ, complete with parables and true stories. Look at the
preaching style of Jesus. People just had
to hear such a Preacher! Some gnashed their teeth—but multitudes crowded
around him. He was too zealous and earnest to be dull and boring; too humane to
be incomprehensible. And the gospel must be preached simply. Latin will do no good. There is a type of preacher, he goes
down so deep into the subject that he stirs the mud at the bottom, and cannot
find his way up again. John Bunyan, a surpassing genius, became the apostle of
Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire because he spoke plainly. And we must preach
the gospel: sinfulness and
restoration, the blood of Christ and the pardon from guilt. Controversy and
logic, science and philosophy, these will not do. And the gospel must be preached. The battle must be fought in
the pulpit mainly, not the news-press. God will bless preaching.
(2) The Genevan Version. Calvin and Cranmer used this version much. The
meaning at our verse is that the poor are ‘gospelized.’ The cheat is made
honest, the harlot modest, etc. To gospelize a man is to save him from hell, to
blot out his sins, to make him heavenly, etc. It is the greatest miracle in the
world, greater than raising the dead. O! we love godliness anywhere! But what
is more moving than a poor girl, for instance, in an upper room, with a lean-to
roof, with nothing but a bed, a table, and a chair in there, and a candle and a
Bible? There she is on her aching knees, wrestling with God! It is an honor to
the gospel that those who want it most receive it!
(3) Wyckliffe’s Version. ‘Poor men are taking to the preaching of the
gospel.’ But—“Ah!” say some, “they had better be minding their plows or
blacksmith’s hammers.” Bunyan was a pot-mender; Whitefield, a pot-washer. And
the Reformation in England
was more promoted by the poor than by the rich. What an honor to the gospel!
Their names are forgotten—but not in eternity. I do not undervalue high
learning. The more the better. But it is not absolutely necessary.
Selection from Conclusion. “And now, beloved, I have opened my
mouth for the dumb, and pleaded the cause of the poor, let me end by entreating
the poor of the flock to consider the poor man’s Christ; let me urge them to
give him their thoughts, and may the Lord enable them to yield him their
hearts. ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned.’ May God bless the high and low, the rich and
poor…for his name’s sake.”
{This sermon by C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) is sketched
by M. H. Gaboury.}
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