Do the Rich Have the Gospel?
This is a startling question recently put by Rev. Dr. Haygood, one of the most clear-headed men in the Methodist Church, South. It has been generally thought that if there was a lack of the gospel, and of the influencing spirit of the gospel anywhere, it was especially among the poor. But not long since he saw a man worth $100,000 subscribe $10 to the missionary cause, and the question came up very naturally as to whether that man had ever heard the gospel. If so, the preaching, in his case at least, had been to little purpose. "How St. Paul," he exclaims, "would preach the gospel to the rich of our times! With what warnings, and rebukes, and entreaties, and encouragements—that they might save their own souls and glorify the Lord that redeemed them." It is one thing to hear the gospel, and it is quite another thing to catch its sublime, self-sacrificing spirit; and it is only the latter, be they poor or rich, who really have the gospel.—Christian at Work.