FOR THE S E R M O N , B I B L E R E A D I N G , GO S P E L ADDR ES S
H elps
H o m i l e t i c a l
Personality of the Preacher
difference between a great and a poor preacher lies in the manner o f life. To know the inner life o f Sjrargeon, Moody and Finney is to understand the secret o f their power. “ Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels o f the Lord.” No preacher can face his'people with confidence if he is conscious o f impure habits or secret vices in his life. God will openly rebuke him (2 Samuel 12 : 12 ). T he preacher must be truthful . He must not stretch the truth nor exag gerate. He should not use an illustration, suggesting tha:t it occurred in his own experience, if he is conscious. that it did not. He should not do evil that good may come from it. A lie in the pulpit is worse than a lie anywhere else. “All liars”—this includes, lying preachers—“shall haye their part in the lake which burneth,” etc. The preacher’s life may be a lie. Godliness in the pulpit should be accompanied by godli ness in the home. T he preacher should be a man of gravity . He is-God’s servant, and represents the court o f heaven. It is out o f place, there fore, for him to become a clerical jester. There should be a difference between a clown in the circus and an ambassador of heaven in the pulpit. The Holy Spirit is grieved by such conduct ( Ephesians 3 :29, 30; 4 :4 ). This is one of the ways by which the preacher’s strength departs from him and he wists it not.
r I ''RUTH and personality are the funda- mentals o f real preaching—the truth of God as revealed in Jesus Christ and the Bible, and expressed through the personal ity o f the preacher. It is pertinent then to inquire what kind o f \ man the preacher ought to be; what elements in his charac ter need to be cultivated and emphasized, if he is to be a successful minister o f the Word. H e should be himself , not an imitator . The average preacher is, in point of fact, almost anyone else except himself. One might think that he were ashamed o f the way God made him. The Creator has made no two faces or voices exactly alike. Each man has his own individuality which must be stamped upon all he says and does. More than one man has failed in the ministry who might otherwise have succeeded had he been willing to take himself as God made him. Imitators usually copy the faults and not fhe virtues o f those they imitate, and such imitation usually results in dis aster to the preacher. Shining in the light o f others may give popularity for a while, but in the end it means eclipse. Imitation may lead the people to canonize the preacher, but eventually he will find himself cannonaded. A man must be himself—his best self, his consecrated self, his highest self. H e should be a godly man . Paul in his letters to Timothy insists on purity and piety o f life. Ofttimes the only
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