King's Business - 1923-07

THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S

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seen a brass-bound clock upon th e sta ir­ case landing, w ith th e hands fixed at the m inute and hour when Washington died. The g rand fath er of th e present owner was a pall-bearer a t th e funeral of th e g reat republican* and set th e hands where they have ever since re ­ mained. Even so th e preacher’s finger must ever point th e m ultitude to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Self Exaltation Prof. Phelps once said— “ In sacred discourse, th e relation which a preacher sustains to his audi­ ence almost entirely forbids th e use of personal introductions. The preacher stands in the pulpit not to defend him ­ self. He stands th ere as an ambassador, of God, commissioned to proclaim sub­ lime and awful tru th s— tru th s in whose presence a regard for his own rep u ta­ tion ought wholly to disappear. He should not concern himself, nor appear solicitous about th e opinions which others may have of him, bu t should be so in te n t on fulfilling his mission as to lose all though t of self. But if, a t any time, a preacher’s repu tation would seem to call for a personal introduc­ tio n into the sermon, it is quite time for him to consider w hether th e cause of Christ would not be promoted by his perm anent retirem en t from th e pulpit.” T ry This on Your Sermon Scotland has produced many g reat preachers, bu t in th e estim ation of many, none g reater th an Dr. Thomas Guthrie, of Edinburgh. In one th ing he excelled; th e arresting the attention of his hearers, and holding it un til he would get through his quite lengthy dis­ courses. God cast his lot in th e no rth ­ ern p a rt of Scotland, and he had th ere a Sabbath afternoon class. P a rt of the exercises of th is class was to rep eat as much as each one could of th e sermon of th e morning. To th e amazement of th e preacher, and somewhat also to his reg ret, he discovered th a t those pas­

sages of his sermon which he, in his ignorance, though t th e most telling and th e most likely to be remembered, were not brought up a t all; but th is and th a t illu stration , and th e tru th s connected w ith them , were repeated. So g ath er­ ing wisdom from th e discovery, he be­ gan to try to make all his sermons con­ sist of such things as the congregation remembered, un til a t length they came to remember the sermon from the be­ ginning to the end. SERMON WINDOWS The A fterward “Nevertheless afterw ard” ; (Heb 12- 11 ). They tell us th a t the springs a t the base of- the Alpine mountains are full- *est and freshest when the summer sun has dried and parched the verdure in the valleys below. The h eat th a t has burned the arid plains has melted the mountain glacier and snow, and in­ creased th e volume of the mountain stream s, whose onward flow enriches the valley below. Rain, rain, Beating against th e pane! How endlessly it pours Out of doors From th e blackened sky— I wonder why!

Flowers, flowers, Upspringing afte r showers Blossoming fresh and fair, Everywhere! Ah, God has explained Why it rained!

You can always count on God to make the. “ afterw ard” of difficulties, if righ tly overcome, a thousand times richer and fairer th a n the foreward. “No chastening . . . seemeth joy­ ous, . . . nevertheless afterw ard . . .” W hat a yield!

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