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THE KING’S BUSINESS
OUR CHIEF TEXT BOOK. Now it means if we are to preach like that, that we are to be men that have as our chief text-book, God’s Book. I have one pain at my heart as I go up and down this country hère and there, to find some preachers who are not at all studying the Bible for their messages, as it ought to be studied. Our message is undoubted ly higher than mere human ethics ; our message is undoubtedly deeper than the exalting of poor bruised hu man nature. Ours is a definite mes sage and we are to come to that Book, and get from that Book our message and then come from that secret place and speak what our souls have seen and known and felt and tasted and followed of the Word of God. O, that is necessary now that the doubt is abroad, and even glorified some times. Think of a man glorifying doubt. You might as well glorify palsy. Think of a man coming in that door with his arm bound up with palsy and having people glorify the palsy. How much more should we hesitate to applaud if a man is guilty of moral palsy. The preacher of God’s Gospel is to come with a message clothed with positiveness, simplicity and definite ness and without that offensive, un certain sound that sometimes comes. Ah me, but the Bible is a positive Book, and its prophets and preachers and apostles were prophets and preachers and apostles with a positive message. Eisten to it—nothing un certain ; nothing gelatinous about God’s Book— “T here is none other name under H eaven given among MEN WHEREBY we must be saved .” That is positive! That is positive! And listen to John: “Who is a liar,” ( the Greek is wonderfully strong— W ho is the boss L iar ) “but he that flenieth that Tesus is the Christ.” And listen to Paul : . “If any man preach
tianity. You must satisfy that relig ious longing in man with the right kind of food. In this country there is a man who has been doing some writing and has unsettled the faith of many people. I need not call his name, for the preacher should not be offensively personal. What a gentle man the preacher ought to be—he ought to be the gentleman of the town. This man who has been writ ing, whose writings have unsettled the simple faith of not a few, is now in deep trouble physical and domestic. One of my dear friends, a friend of this great writer of his unbelief, asked him a bit ago,; “How are you coming out?” This writer of unbe lief, this man who has laughed at our simple faith in Jesus as the All- sufficient and atoning Saviour—my friend asked him, “How are you com ing out?” He had just buried a daughter with consumption, swift in its terrible work, and a son had just been drowned, and his wife was in the thrall of a compjete nervous break-down, and my friend asked him, “How are you coming out?” “Oh, man needs a God to pray to, a God to pray to for rain.” That was his language, poor soul. Our preaching is to have through it forevermore the positive note. The reason why certain religious cults and fads are flourishing, one reason, is that they are proclaimed with a posi tiveness that has in it no hesitation. The reason why certain political fads in the earth are applauded by un counted tens of thousands is, because they are uttered by men with tremen dous positiveness, and the people fol low. O, the preacher of the glories of the grace of God is to come with a message unhesitatingly positive and sound it in men’s ears. If the trum pet give an uncertain sound, alas! for the issues of the battle.
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