T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
1219 really believe th a t if I were preaching in a barrel, you’d p u t th e bung in !” The devil, in more senses th a n one, is “ th e prince of the power of th e a ir! ” The g reatest fear of some sextons is th e atmosphere.— E. P. T. G ravity and Levity Did you ever see th e pilot ta k e a ship through a perilous passage? He is grave. I have seen th e surgeon’s knife drawn round the limb where an erro r of an inch would have been a terrib le m istake. He was grave. I have heard a conscientious judge weigh and set out in. th e utm ost fullness the evidence in a m urder case, as earnestly bent on pu t ting everything . fairly as if his own life depended on th e issue. Any levity here would be ou t of place; and on the same principle, by th e average of man kind, gravity will be looked for in us who deal w ith m atters of life and death, and speak for God.—John Hall. Eloquence “And th e Lord said unto him, ‘Who h ath made m an’s m outh?’ ” Ex. 4:11. How sublime is th e rebuke of God! Cannot th e m aker of man’s mouth touch w ith eloquence the lips which He has fashioned? W hat is hum an eloquence b u t th e expression .of divine music? P edantic rhetoricians may fashion rules of th eir own for th e refinement of hu man speech, b u t he who w aits diligently upon God, and whose purpose is to know th e will of God th a t he may- speak it to men, will be en tru sted w ith an eloquence as rhythm ic as th e sea, and sta rtlin g as th e thunder. Rhetoric is th e gift of God. Eloquence is no t a merely hum an attainm en t. The secret pf convincing and persuasive speech is p u t into th e h ea rt of those who forget themselves in th e ir homage to God’s tru th .— Joseph P arker.
How to Vail It was John Angel Jam es who said, “We are weak in the pulpit because we are weak in th e closet.” Edward Pay- son thu s w rites to a b ro th er m inister, “P ray er is the first thing, th e second th ing and the th ird th ing necessary for a m inister, especially if he have revivals. P ray, then, my dear bro th er, pray, pray, pray.” -Young gentlemen, don’t make a m istake a t th is point. To fail h ere is to fail altogether.— Biederwolf. Rhetorical Skyscrapers Don’t try to be a rh eto rical sky scraper. A little aeroplaning now and then may be perm issible, bu t don’t stay .up too long. Your crowd will miss you. Give th e go-by to th e lengthy and in volved sentences and heavy style and te ll the people w hat you w ant them to know in plain, simple, direct Anglo- Saxon. In doing so you w ill find th a t you will compel atten tion . And the preacher who does no t compel atten tion ought to stop preaching and go to mending umbrellas.— Biederwolf. B ehind th e Cross 2 Cor. 4:5. One of my elders said in p rayer-m eeting ,-^“ As I came along the stree t I saw a crowd a t a shop-door, and I had th e curiosity to look in. There I saw an auctioneer holding up a grand picture so th a t all could see it; and when he got it in position, he stayed behind it, and said to th e crowd, ‘Now look a t th is side of the picture, and now a t th a t side,’ and so on, describing each p a rt of it.” “Now,” said th is good man, “ th e whole tim e I never saw th e speaker; it was ju s t th e picture he was show ing;” and tu rn ing to us he said,— “ th a t is the way to work for Christ.”— Bonar. The “A tmos-Fear” “ In some churches,” says a Brooklyn p asto r, “ th e air is an atmospheric hash of w hat was left over from la st Sun day.” A Boston pastor said, “ B rethren, I
H E L P A LIFE— Send th e “K. B .” to som eone fo r Christm as.
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