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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S of the Person of Christ in all th e glory of His redemptive grace. I t is only too possible to preach tru th in th e most orthodox way and yet to fail of accom plishing the ta sk of w inning men to Christ. Christianity has its tru th , its doctrines, its philosophy, its ethics, but all these need to be associated w ith and concentrated in th e living, Divine P er son of Christ. “Whom we preach,” said the Apostle, no t “what we preach.” And when a man w itnesses to Christ as He is revealed in th e Bible th e resu lt is certain and convincing. An orthodox preacher, able and in tel lectual, bu t too ap t to give his people th e doctrines of Christianity ra th e r th an the Person in Whom the doctrines be come vital, one Sunday morning saw a piece of paper in his pulpit, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” The man was wise enough to feel th e force of th è criticism, and a t once altered th e accent and em phasis of his preaching and made it centre on th e Person of Christ as the One who would “ draw all mdn” unto Him. The resu lt was immediate and undoubted, and it was no t long before ano th er note was seen in th e pulpit. “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.”
PULPIT POINTERS HE following from th e pen of a layman appeared In th e To ronto Daily Globe: W hat constitutes tru e preach
ing? W hat are th e elements of th a t presentation of Christian tru th which will inevitably and constantly lead to th e satisfaction and inspiration of congregations? There are three, and perhaps only three, elements' in genuine and successful preaching: The first of these is a strong convic tion of th e supreme au tho rity of the Bible as th e Word of God. A preacher cannot deliver his message effectively unless he is fully assured th a t it comes from God and is the message of God fpr His people. Much of th e ineffect iveness of modern preaching is due to th e absence of th is conviction. Men do not and cannot make a proper appeal to th e ir congregations unless they are convinced th a t what they preach is a veritable word from on high. “ I have a message from God unto thee” sums up the attitu d e of th e real preacher. Old- fashioned language used to refer to the p reach er’s “passion for souls,” and this is impossible ap a rt from his u n falter ing faith in the au tho rity ond obligation of th e Word of God. Another essential element of tru e preaching is the accent of personal ex perience. H earers recognize th e pres ence or absence of th is w ith startling rapidity and ease. They know almost infallibly w hether or not a preacher is able to say, “We speak th a t we do know and testify th a t we haye seen.” ■ Deep answers to deep, and th e man who knows by experience and enjoys in his own life th e tru th s he proclaims will elicit a response from his hearers which will gratify and satisfy both him and them . • | One more featu re of v ital preaching is th e delivery of th e gospel message
MONTHLY ILLUSTRATIONS Gaining th e World—Losing th e Soul There is th e story of a man in New York state who comm itted a crime against the government and escaped arrest and went to the California gold fields, accumulated a fortune, m arried a beautiful woman, and reared a fam ily of beautiful girls. A fter tw enty years he moved back to New York City. One day an officer of th e law came into his bank and said, “You are my prisoner.” He was arrested and tried, and the judge pronounced on him a sentence which sent him to spend the re st of his life in Sing Sing. When th e sentence was pro nounced he said, “I have only one re- ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND COPIES NEW
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