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4 g|SggSS|p j I j B6>fMMM » ® * H 9& JSHMH ®; url IHw 0 1 Irt Mi |m| IsnSl HHI 11 Jesus And the Common People. Text:— ‘ 1 And the common people heard him glad ly.” Mark 12-37. Sermon preached by Dr. Broughton, in the Bap tist Tabernacle June 10th. Dr. Broughton produced a letter which he had received from a lady in Texas, stating that her husband had been converted through reading a recent sermon of his in The Gold en Age. The congregation was then asked to join with him in prayer that God would pour out his blessing upon the printed pages, and the other vari ous avenues of the Tabernacle work in the salvation of lost souls. I purpose this morning talking to you on the common people. It does seem to me from a careful study of the Scriptures that Jesus Christ was es pecially partial to the common people. You see this illustrated in all the life of Christ. He chose to be born among the common people. His early work was among the common people, and in a line of work carried on by them. And when He went to select His disciples, those upon whom He could rely, He selected the common people—humble fishermen, unlettered, untaught, unknown except to Him. And I think, there w r as abundant reason why Jesus se lected the common people to be His most intimate frends, and the pillars of His religion. The Question of Salvation. I think first of all, that He did it because He knew that the common people were the only people who would at first hand appreciate His teaching. For example, take His teaching on the great ques tion of salvation. Jesus knew that the better class of people would not tolerate His teaching on the plan of salvation. They looked upon salvation as consisting in the observance of certain types and forms and sacrifices; they thought that the observ ance of the law, at least so far as they were able to observe it, would constitute salvation; whereas Jesus came to teach that salvation was from above; that to be saved one must be born again, or born from above. The better class of people resented that kind of teaching. He knew that they would resent it. They were men who w’ere proud of their first birth, their ancestors, their blood; and to them, such thought as a new birth was a reflection upon the blood that coursed through their veins, and they resented it. The Equality of the Race. And then take the teaching of Christ concerning the equality of the race of man in matters of salva tion. Nothing could have been more distasteful to those of the upper-class than that kind of talk. You remember how Christ said to them ‘‘Except ing to a great multitude upon the streets, and some women brought their children to Jesus, and there was objection raised even upon the part of the dis ciples themselves, that these children were brought in and allowed to take the time of Jesus that should have been given to the great surging multitude of people. You remember how Christ said to them “Except ye become as litle children, ye shall never see the kingdom of Heaven.” And immediately after that, there came running to Jesus a rich young ruler, a man of the upper class of society, as society is re- f a)W a guarded, and he came to Jesus desiring his salvation. He said as he came, “Master, What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” “What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” This young man was desirous of having salvation, but he did not have the slightest idea that he would have to obtain salvation upon the same plan of the common people of the street. He was present and heard Jesus when He said “Ye must become as lit the children, or else ye can never see the Kingdom of God,” but it never entered into his mind that Jesus meant to include in that statement such men as he himself was. He was a rich man, 'he had his title, he occupied a high place in society, and he thought that there was something special for him. You are aware how Jesus dealt with that question. Jesus said to him first of all, “Why callest thou me gccd? None is good, save one, that is, God.” As much as to say, “Do you understand what you say? Do you mean what you say when you call me good, and therefore God? If so, the first thing in salva tion you have done. You have accepted my deity; for if I am good, and only God is good, then I am God; and if I am God to you, the first step is taken in salvation.” He made no answer to that question. Then Jesus carried him into the ethics of salvation. He said, “Thou knowest the commandments,” and then He repeated the majority of them to him, and the young man said, I have kept all these from my youth. He did not answer the first question, which was the most important one, the one which dealt with the deity.of Christ. He did answer the question con cerning the ethics of salvation. He was just like thousands of men today. There are thousands of men that are square on the question of ethics that are all off on the question of doctrine. And so this young man said, “I have kept all these from my youth.” Then Jesus said, “there is one thing lack ing. Sell what thou hast and give it to the poor.” What was in the mind of Jesus here? Jesus was not after his money; He had all the money He wanted, let that once and forever be settled. God is not poor because He asks us to give. God tells us to give that we, ourselves, may get the blessing from the gift. It is mercy that God extends to us when He tells us to give for He knows that as we give, it shall be given back to us. That is the fun damental law of giving. What God was after here was this young man’s salvation; and He knew that he was relying upon his works, his position, his standing, in the country. The fact that he was rich, and the fact that riches gave him prominence was the thing that Jesus was trying to knock out from him. Oh, my brethren, let it never, never escape you,— money, intelligence, culture, refinement, social posi tion, all these and everything else count not one iota for the mercy of God. The Church and the Common People. Now just as this has (been true in history, it has been true in the church. Take one example: The time was when the Church of England was the greatest church on earth. It had the greatest op portunity in many respects. It had the greatest minds that have ever been given to a church. The Church of England had it in its power to become the church of the world. But what about it? The Church of England lost its prestige in the world. Even in England among the people, it has lost its position. The Church of England forgot that it had an obligation to the common people, and God in His Mysterious wisdom and providence laid His hand upon William Booth, a humble local Methodist preacher, a man without any influence, not even enough to have a station; a man unknown to the world, but a man who had a heart to feel, a man ing. The Golden Age for June 28, 1906. Le n G . Broughton who could cry with the needy and sympathize with them in their needs. Upon that man’s shoulders God laid the burden of the up-lifting of the common people. And what about that movement? Though it has many difficulties to contend with, and many things to criticize, within the short space of a few years that movement has gone on and on with the speed of magic until today the noise of drum and fife is heard around the globe. What more shall follow since all this is true? First of all, let me say that the church that would be the church of Jesus Christ must stand for the common people. First, It must stand for their tastes. The church that does not regard the tastes of mankind is a church that will never grip the hearts of mankind. Somebody said to me “Why do you have that boy up there beating that drum? Do you like it? I answer: It is not a question of whether I like it or not, the people like it. “Well” said he, ‘ ‘ Don’t you think the church ought to teach the people up to the plane where they would have not what they like, but what is best? Well, said I take you upon your own argument, take for granted that the drum is not best in the church, do you think you can ever teach people by preaching to benches ? The taste of people is the one thing that the church has failed to appreciate in its method of work; and it is the one thing that has accounted for the slow progress of the church more than any thing else I know anything about. I had rather have a one man church that I posi tively knew had hold of the chords of God’s bat tery than all the wealth of the world without it. I tell you, we can do great things by holding on to God. The common people have got to see this else there is no encouragement for them. They have no money, no social position, no standing; they can never hope to take places of prominence and use fulness and leadership in the church unless this fact is recognized. But if the church puts its emphasis where it belongs, there is at once scatered universal hope and inspiration to them, for all classes come in and have a right to that kind of promise. Where do the great preachers of today come from, who were they? Where did the great philosophers of this day come from, who were they? Where did the great college professors and presidents come from, who were they? Where did the men of wealth for the most part in our churches come from, who were they? For the most part, all these classes have come from the common people. I know a man now, the largest missionary giver I know, who was once an humble factory boy. A missionary went into the factory and held a meeting, and this boy was the only boy converted, and when he was carried by the missionary of the church to the church to be given the righth and of fellowship, church to be given the right hand of fellowship, “well only a litle factory boy.” Only a little fac tory boy! That is nothing. If he had been the son of some rich man in town, it would have been, “Ah, the son of so and so came today.” Oh, the devil take that kind of a church. Only a little factory boy, but ook at him today! In the early days of our Tabernacle a young man felt inclined to preach, and he wanted to join this church, but his mother said “you can’t join that church, it is not socially your equal.” He begged any they refused, and to-day he is gone. I tell you, my brethren, you set up society or wealth as an ideal for your children, and if you do not reap hell and destruction, you are the first one I have seen that fails. Oh, God help us to love the people. Jesus died to save them and let us do likewise.