THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Paul’s idea o f preaching was to persuade men to be reconciled to God. This seems to be a desirable end today. Let us have less firing o f blank cartridges, and more shooting to kill. 5 . D o N ot Choose a Theme That Is Not in Accord with Your Experience, and with Which You Have No Mental Sympathy. This does not mean that one shall never preach on a theme the fullness o f which he has not yet reached in his own experience. There will always be illimitable stretches in Christian experience o f which we must say, “ I have not yet attained,” but which “ I fol low after.” Nevertheless there are certain phases o f Christian life and character, even above that attained by thè average Chris tian, which a congregation has a right to expect from its minister. Do not preach holiness if you are ndt living a holy life. I f you are constantly sad, do not preach on the joy o f the Lord. Be joyfu l; then preach about it. Do not proclaim in loud pulpit tones the blessed ness o f a life o f victory over .sin if you are not enjoying a victorious life yourself. “ Physician, heal thyself.” No preacher can afford to falsely impersonate. An actor may play a role, a preacher should not. The result o f such inconsistent, unsym pathetic preaching will be a hardening o f the preacher’s heart, a blunting o f his pre- ceptions, and the cultivating o f a general tone o f insincerity. Hear the words o f the apostle : “ Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that makest thy boast o f the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God?”
Let Your Theme he Suitable to Time,
Place and Occasion. I f it is Easter, preach on the resurrec tion o f Christ; if Christmas, on the birth o f Christ; if Passion Week, on the death o f Christ. In so doing you are able to take advantage o f the sentiment already existing in the minds o f your people in favor of your theme. Ordinarily the preacher has to pour floods upon the dry ground o f the minds o f his hearers before the seed o f truth can find lodgment. Recognizing these festival Seasons the ground for the recep tion o f the truth has already to a very great extent been prepared. This conception is true also with refer ence to the adaptation o f the truth to the various kinds o f congregations to whom we may be called to minister. The truth itself does not need to be changed; merely the adaptation o f it to the particular congrega tion. The late Dr, John Hall, o f New York, is reported to have once said before a grad uating, class o f theological students, that he preached, precisely the same gospel truth to his rich and cultured congregation on Fifth venue, that he did to his first charge in a very rural district. O f course he pre sented the same truth in a form which his changed audiences could appreciate. He adopted the same truth, but adapted it to the varying conditions. The Apostle Paul presented the same truth to different audi tors in different ways. For example, when speaking to the Athenian philosophers, he refers to their “poets,” while in speaking to a rural audience he spoke o f the “ fruitful harvests” God had sent them. I. Consider the Invitation Itself. 1. It is an invitation to a feast, not a famine. Answer false conceptions o f the Gospel invitation. 2. It provides soul food: On its table are forgiveness, pardon, justifica tion, power, eternal life, future glory.
SERMON OUTLINES
Theme: The Great Invitation, T e x t : Luke 14:14-27. I ntroduction .
‘ Christ, invited by a leading Pharisee to dine, takes particular notice o f the scramble for the best seats, utters a rebuke and gives a warning with reference to the Marriage Supper o f the Lamb.
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