THE GOSPEL ITS OWN ATTRACTION.
By William N. Glenn
THE numerous worldly attractions attached to and thrown around the popular church and popular preaching at the present time, would lead one to suppose that there were no attractions in the gospel itself. The house of worship is constructed on an aristocratic basis, with everything necessary to make it a center of fashion—no matter what a burden of debt it may entail—on the plea of attracting men "under the sound of the gospel." All manner of worldly entertainments are put upon the tapis by professors, to show that "Christianity is not all gloominess," and that Christians may enjoy themselves as others do. The children of the Sunday-schools are much of the time kept under the excitement of drilling for public attraction at the Christmas entertainment, benefit concerts, or the May-day festival. All this is supposed to be the attraction of the gospel. The fact is, all these things only tend to allure the mind away from the gospel, and to inculcate the idea that without these additions it has no attraction; that of itself it is a gloomy, monotonous proclamation, needing the skillful manipulations of the architect, the painter, upholsterer, musician, and dramatist, to make it at all presentable to the refined sensibilities of proud humanity. These worldly follies produce far more of spiritual dearth in the church than of spiritual life out of it. It is "giving the trumpet an uncertain sound." Men, women, and children, attracted by means of such devices, are generally interested only to the extent of the attraction. But can the teaching surrounded and overhung by such trimmings be properly styled the gospel? Can those who sanction such things preach a pure gospel in the midst of them? Is not their preaching, to a great extent, like the paraphernalia and religious revelings, executed with a view to pleasing the multitude? Do they, who think the gospel needs these worldly additions to make it attractive, really appreciate it or understand what it is? Do they honor the Saviour with their lives, who still "count reveling for a day, pleasure"? Let the Scriptures answer: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections [passions] and lusts." "All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." I cannot see wherein is the Christian's self-denial, if he is to live on in fellowship with the world, and if pomp and gayety are to be the attractive features of the gospel. Let the gospel stand on its own footing. "What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" I cannot imagine anything more attractive to man under sentence of death than the proclamation of life—eternal life. What is the gospel? It is simply the glad tidings of life for a race of creatures doomed to die. The plain publication of the fact of eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is God's appointed way of converting men to him, and we have no assurance that they can be converted through any other means. The principle laid down in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus,—they have Moses and the prophets; if they will not hear them they will not believe though one rose from the dead,—holds good to this day. Men are not convinced of sin by means of architecture and drapery, nor by fashion and popular music, nor by creeds and litanies, nor by religious theaters and social revelings, nor by any other man-made schemes. "By grace ye are saved, through faith." "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." All Judea followed John the Baptist into the wilderness, attracted by the simple truth, although he continually confronted them with rehearsals of their sins. The multitudes followed Jesus from place to place, attracted by the plain tidings of salvation, without any modern embellishments whatever. Peter spoke but a few words of plain truth on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand were turned to the Lord. Paul entirely ignored "vain philosophy" and the "enticing words of man's wisdom," as well as every species of ostentation and worldly folly, yet his preaching proved to be "the power of God unto salvation." Yes, the gospel is brilliant with attraction when presented in its purity, untrammeled by human improvements and substitutes. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isa. 52:7.