The Gospel Messenger 10
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THE GOSPEL MESSENGER: a rtDontblE /B>aaa3lne, EDITED BY W. T. P. WOLSTON. VOL. x. 1896. EDINBURGH: GOSPEL MESSENGER OFFICE, 5 BRISTO PLACE. LONDON: G. MORRISH, 20 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. PAGE A Desperate Struggle, or Satan Defeated . J. M. 197 A Fatal Delusion I . E. A. 132 A Painful Review J. R. M. F. 83 A Preacher of the Old School . C. A. C. 1 " A Remedy for your Disease " .... Anon. 264 "A Saviour, and a Great One " , . W. T. P. W. 234 A Triumphant Home-Going . J. W. S. 214 A Worshipper and a Workman . C. H. M. 42 A Wrong Race J. W. S. 21 "Accepted"and "Acceptable". C. H. M. 78 An Acrostic Anon. 251 Are there Few that be Saved ? . W. G. B. 107 Arrested G. F. E. 11 *' But Jesus is a Great Saviour " . E. A. 29 Cain and Abel, or the Two Ways . W. M. 205 Dead Works C. H. M. 252 Decide for David J. W. S. 300 Do you Believe God ? E. H. C. 242 For Ever W. B. D. 269 Four Things Worth Knowing . W. T. P. W. 113 From the Jaws of Hell E. A. 229 Fragment W. T. P. W. 24 Fragment C. H. M. 168 Fragment W. T. P. W. 196 Gone! E. A. 74 Guilty—Justified—Condemned . E. A. 259 " I'll Run my Chances" . J. T. M. 241 "I Will Come Again" . W. T. P. W. 330 Is "Christ my Judge"? E. W. 55 Lose No Time W. T. P. W. 307 Lost; Half Saved ; Saved; Saved after God's own Heart E. H. C. 178 Mary's Exhortation ... E. A. 25 Meet God you must: but how ? . .P. W. 309 "Peter'N"O"Ono nAtonemen eth Sinnerse Nellievery "t Edge i"n ... Sorro" ... w .. .. .CJ .. WJ. ..W S. 282515167193 PAGE Poetry—A New Song M. S. S. 188 „ "A Ransom for all" . W. T. P. W. 177 „ " A Saviour, Christ the Lord " . W. T. P. W. 156 „ A Song of Praise . M. S. S. 82 „ Glad Tidings E. E. N. 308 „ " God is Light, and Love " . ' . W. T. P. W. 54 „ Jesus Saves W. T. P. W. 131 ,, The Muster Roll Anon. 166 ,, Precious is the Name of Jesus . W. T. P. W. 72 „ Thee and Me .... W. T. P. W. 93 Politics and Christ A. J. P. 49 Rescued D. J. 318 Self-Deceived, or Divinely Delivered . P. W. 189 Take off the Bonnet M. M. 57 "Tell My Bairns about their Mother's Saviour" . Y. Z. 326 The Act of Decision for Christ . D. A. M. 137 The Artist and the Gipsy Anon. 85 " The Blood " A. J. P. 287 The Elixir of Life E. E. N. 305 The Fatal Resolution W. H. S. 15 "The Great Divide" A. J. P. 219 The Heavy Load, or the Light Burden . Y. Z. 276 The Judgment J. T. M. 248 The Lord Himself shall Descend . E. H. C. 322 " The Man that Died for Me " . L. J. M. 184 The Pale Horse and his Rider . W. H. S. 494 " The Sting of Death" Gone . J. M. 127 " The Wages of Sin " .... E. E. N. 279 The Wisdom of the Wise .... J. B—D. 34 " There's Time Plenty" . J. T. M. 95 " They that were Ready went in" . W. T. P. W. 141 Throw out the Life-Line . T. R. D. 152 " Time and Tide Stay for no Man" . J. N. 160 To-Day W. T. P. W. 97 TwWherWhWarninoo Houseear igts ThoVoiceBoastins uin sthaJerich gt theReplieson ? t .. agains.. t God.. ? ... EJ.. WB—DE.. KNS... 22161065463 ERRATUM. By a printer's error the folios 57-84 have been duplicated. This does not affect the Contents of the Volume. XTbe Gospel flDessenger. i r- A PREACHER OP THE OLD SCHOOL. ANT preachers are giving up the old ideas about the fall and total de pravity of man. People are not often plainly told now that they are guilty sinners before a holy God. The sermons of our forefathers— who used to press this so constantly upon their hearers—are looked upon in many quarters as relics of the dark ages, only fit for the old curiosity shop. There is, however, one preacher left of the old school, and he speaks to-day as loudly and as clearly as ever. He is not a popular preacher, though the world is his parish, and he travels over every part of the globe, and speaks in every language under the sun. He visits the poor; he calls upon the rich; you may meet him in the workhouse, or find him moving in the very highest circles of society. He preaches to both churchmen and dissenters, to people of every religion and of no religion, and, whatever text he may have, the substance of his sermon is always the same. He is an eloquent preacher; he often stirs feelings which no other preacher could reach, and brings tears A 2 THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. into eyes that are little used to weep. He addresses himself to the intellect, the conscience, and the heart of his hearers. His arguments none have been able to refute; there is no conscience on earth that has not at some time quailed in his presence; nor is there any heart that has remained wholly unmoved by the force of his weighty appeals. Most people hate him, but in one way or another he makes everybody hear him. He is neither refined nor polite. Indeed, he often interrupts the public arrangements, and breaks in rudely upon the private enjoyments of life. He lurks about the doors of the theatre and the ball room ; his shadow falls sometimes on the card table; he is often in the neighbourhood of the public-house; he frequents the shop, the office, and the mill; he has a master-key which gives him access to the most secluded chamber; he appears in the midst of legislators and of fashionable religious assemblies; neither the villa, the mansion, or the palace daunt him by their greatness ; and no court or alley is mean enough to escape his notice. His name is Death. You have heard many sermons from the old preacher. You cannot take up a newspaper with out finding that he has a corner in it. Every tombstone serves him for a pulpit. You often see his congregations passing to and from the grave-yard. Every scrap of mourning is a memento of one of his visits. Nay, he has often addressed himself to you personally. The sudden departure of that A PREACHER OF THE OLD SCHOOL. 3 neighbour—the solemn parting with that dear parent—the loss of that valued friend—the awful gap that was left, in your heart when that fondly loved wife, that idolised child, was taken—have all been loud and solemn appeais from the old preacher. Some day very soon he may have you for his text, and in your bereaved family circle, and by your grave side he may be preaching to others. Let your heart turn to God this moment to thank Him that you are still in the land of the living—that you have not ere now died in your sins! You may get rid of the Bible. You may disprove —to your own satisfaction—its histories; you may ridicule its teachings; you may despise its warn ings; you may reject the Saviour of whom it Bpeaks. Yes! the day may come when the rising tide of infidelity will cover Great Britain to such an extent that it will be as difficult to find a house with a Bible, as it is to-day, through God's great mercy to us, to find a house without one. You can get away from the preachers of the Gospel. You are not compelled to go to either church, chapel, or mission room; and you can cross over to the other side of the street if there is an open-air meeting. It is in your power to burn this, and every other such tract that comes, into your possession. Yea! the time rnay come when infi delity and priestcraft will combine to make the preaching of Christ by lip or pen a criminal offence. But if you get rid of God's Word and of God's servants, what will you do with the old preacher 4 THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. of whom I have spoken ? Have you some plan to superannuate him—to put him on the retired list ? Will you compel him by force to suspend his itinerations ? Or do you hope that a few more years of scientific culture and modern thought will have such an effect upon him that his doctrines and practice will be quite changed ? It is true that most preachers are more or less affected by the spirit and opinions of the age they live in, but this old preacher has gone on in perfect indifference to the changing events and opinions of the whole world for nearly six thousand years. All histories —both sacred and profane—give the same account of him, and all experience confirms it, so that it is against reason to expect that he will change in his old age. Dying men and women, consider the prospect that is before you. Your little day will soon be passed. Your pleasures will have an end. Your occupations will be laid aside. Your wealth and honours will be worthless to you in the solemn hour when your body is reduced to a few handfuls of dust. After all, you " must needs die." Consider this matter, I pray you.