THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S of these words and others, what the little girl said of the stars, when inform ing h er fath er what they were: ‘They are gimlet-holes in the floor of heaven, to let th e glory th rough .” P reach To a Lost World It is said th a t Daniel Webster, while spending the summer in New Hamp shire, attended service every Sabbath in the* little country church. His niece asked him why he went th e re when he paid little atten tion to far abler ser mons in Washington. He replied, “ In W ashington, they preach to Daniel Web ster, th e statesm an, bu t this man has been telling Daniel Webster, the sinner, of Jesus of Nazareth and has beei helping him .” The m inister who preaches Christ crucified on the cross of Calvary, dying for a lost world,, is helping to draw all men unto Him. Stingy Parsons The pastor who lives w ithin his in come will be in a b etter position to swell the Income of the church. Teach your people by example how to give as well as how to live. Let no member of your church outstrip you in proportion ate giving. Some may give more be cause they have more, but let no one give more because he is more generous. Of course, you will 'give liberally to all m issionary and benevolent objects, but th e pastor who does not contribute to cu rren t expenses because he does not w ant to seem to be helping pay his own salary,^ is really afraid of tak ing a lit tle from his salary. T ithing is a sane, satisfactory and S criptural method which will help to solve many church financial problems. P reach and prac tice it.— Baylor. HE LIVES! “I am he th a t liv eth , and was dead; and, behold, I am alive fo r evermore" (Rev. 1 :1 8 ). A well-known m inister was in his study w riting an E aster sermon when the thought gripped him th a t his Lord was living. He jumped up excitedly and paced the floor repeating to him self: “Why, Christ is alive. His ashes are warm. He is not th e g reat ‘I was’, He is the great ‘I am ’. • He is not only a fact, bu t a living fact. Glorious tru th .”
380 “Why, then, do you say it was poor? Did you not th ink my explanation, of the text to he accu rate?” “ Oh yes,” said the old preacher, “very correct in deed.” “Well, then, why do you say it was a poor sermon? Didn’t you th ink th e m etaphors were appropriate and the argum ents conclusive?” “Yes; they were very good as far as th a t goes; but still it was a very poor sermon.” “W ill you tell me why you th in k it was a poor serm on?” “Because,” said he, “th e re was no Christ in it.” A Good S tart Prof. L. T. Townsend said: “ In gen eral it may be said th a t most expe rienced w riters have expressed th e con viction th a t no p a rt of th e sermon more rigidly requires th e full exer cise of all the nice powers of literary discrim ination and criticism th an the introduction. “ One reason given is th a t the judg m ent of an audience is often made up by the tim e th e introduction ends. The opening sentence is sometimes th e knell of the sermon, as frequently it is also th e ground for undue commen dation. “He who has begun well,” says Horace, “ has half done his w ork.” P reach W ith Tears D. L. Moody used to say to his stu dents: “ If you do preach about hell, do it wiith tears in your eyes.” Moody was righj. A man can tell th e tru th about m an’s perdition in such a way as t o ' harden, em bitter, drive away sin ners, not w ith the tru th (which would be w ell), bu t as God di’d not intend. I remember a rem ark I heard made in an out-of-the-way place concerning a preacher who had been there. “B rother So-and-So showed us th a t we are all going to- hell,” th ey said, “ and it seemed to do him so much good to let us know.” The Old Expressive Words The late Rev. Joseph 'P ark er, of the City Temple, London, in preaching the F ree Church Council sermon a t Notting ham many years ago, referred to some modern preachers, who, in th eir desire to be original, did away w ith some of th e old and terse and expressive words of th e Bible. In a P ark er manner, he asked: “W hat words will take the place of such suggestive and p regnant ones as ‘Grace,’ ‘L ight,’, ‘Peace,’ ‘Love.’ ‘Blood,’ ‘T ru th ,’ -‘L ife,’ and ‘Christ’? These God-inspired monosyllables—who- can improve upon them? We may say
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