THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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privilege of g etting men saved? Had they rath er save souls or save th eir sermons? Are th eir sermons simply means for an end —the salvation of men — or are they efforts to exalt themselves and prove th eir talents? Where th e preacher makes prayer the first thing in his life he will have special help from Heaven in winning souls and but little help or success w ithout it.— Christian Witness. Confidence in th e M essage The messenger must have absolute confi dence in th e tru th . The thing most promi nent in the teaching of the Apostles was th eir unshakable fa ith in Jesus Christ. L et people know you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and th a t you believe every word of the Bible, and as people see your confidence in the Scriptures they in tu rn w ill have confidence in you and your message. I f you d o n ’t have confi dence, d o n ’t preach.—Fidler. T ru e Id e a l o f th e Serm on “ The C ontinent’’ makes a plea fo r pointed sermons. H ere are some sugges tiv e paragraphs:, “ Any atten tiv e hearer of much preach ing must realize th a t the average sermon of the day is a sort of film-picture suc cession of sparkling phrases—not, prepared w ith any aim of producing a cumulative effect on the 'hearer’s will, bu t framed mostly on th e idea of pleasing the ear momentarily w ith each polished sentence. “ Of course, as is tru e of th e pictures reeled off so rapidly in the ‘movies,’ this sw ift, tumbling current of pleasant words carried on a pleasing voice appeals im mensely to modern audiences. Hundreds of preachers have a fine repute for elo quence in th eir communities when in actual fa c t they have scarcely le ft w ith their congregations one idea per sermon in years past. “ The tru e ideal of the sermon is iden tical w ith the ideal of a law y er’s plea before a ju ry—assuming an honest lawyer w ith a ju st case. “ The law yer has a ju ry to convince. The preacher has a congregation to per-
5. Christ calls for Conservation. Mark 8:34-35. 6. Calls for us to receive Commission. M att. 28:19-20. 7. Calls for Co-operation. Luke 9:49-50. 8. Christ calls for Compassion. Luke 9:55-56. ,—Joseph T. Larsen, 1920. F IV E TESTS IN 1 JOHN H ow W e M ay K now T h a t W e A re “B om o f God”
Ch. 5 :l& F a ith . Ch. 4:7—Love. Ch. 3:9—New nature. Ch. 2:29—Bighteousness. Ch. 5:4—Overcoming the world. ¿Me. m É è PU L P IT PO INTERS A P re a c h e r “ Would I describe a preacher, .
—-C. E. Paxson.
1 would express him simple, grave, sincere, And plain in m anners; decent, solemn, chaste; In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain, And n atu ral in gesture; much impressed H imself as conscious of his noble charge, And anxious m ainly th a t the flock he feeds May feel it too; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A message of grace to guilty m en.’’ —Cowper. S erm on W indow s I knock my sermons full of holes and in each hole pu t a pane of th e clearest glass I can find. P o r I remember th e words of dear old Moody, th a t “ A sermon w ithout illustrations is like a house w ithout w in dows. ’’—Biederwolf. P ra y e r, th e F ir s t T h in g Where thè preacher makes prayer the first thing in his life he acquires passion for souls as he can not do otherwise, and th a t longing for souls is th e chief lack of th e m inistry today. We have heard preachers say th a t they had rath er preach th an eat. T hat may be. They may enjoy preaching. They may be intoxicated w ith th eir own brilliancy and the compliment of th eir hearers, bu t do they ehjoy it fo r the
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