11
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
January 1932
authority.” When the modern minister has fed on God’s Word and redeived the filling of the Spirit, he may do like wise. Then men will hear, and many heed. B ible E xposition W anted Serious minded church-goers are easijy interested in studious exposition of the Bible. Year in and year out, they will prefer expository sermons to topical sermons, al though, of course, many fine topical sermons are preached. Most people in the pews realize the limitations of their knowledge of the Bible, and they will follow with interest the preacher who is capable of leading them into a deeper appreciation of the Word of God. It is a sad awakening in any church when the congregation realizes that its minister lacks either the consecration or the information to do this work. It is a pretty well recognized fact that no man can be a successful expository preacher unless he has burned and is willing to continue to burn the midnight oil. With plenty of wind and assurance, some preachers “ get by” with topical sermons on very small capital, but he who would be an expository preacher cannot do this. The average church-goer cannot be permanently in terested in the presentation of Jesus Christ merely as a so cial reformer. He must be shown to be much more than that, or sooner or later, the church doors will be less and less darkehed. If men are not taught to look upon the Lord as the Saviour of the world, they will naturally gravitate more and more to the golf links on Sunday. Most people go to church because they have a more or less defined soul- hunger. The advice of a layman is that the preacher should beware of giving a stone instead of bread. Finally, I would say that the man who has been busy all the week with the problem of making a living, maintaining his job, or business, or profession, wishes to get into a wholly different atmosphere on Sunday. He can get all he wants about “world problems” from the newspapers and magazines. He has had enough of the spirit of big business. He is willing to hear about the Holy Spirit. He wants rest for his soul; he would like to hear about eternal things. Let the trumpet give forth no uncertain sound, and many will listen. About Revivals evivals do not come by accident. They are not man-made, but God-sent. While men cannot give revivals, they can hinder them; and in a very real sense, they may be instruments or channels of revivals. Revivals are the result of certain conditions which, when met, are as certain to bring revivals as seed sown into the ground is sure to bring a harvest. There are a few questions
miracles, ignoring the Holy Spirit, and quietly setting forth Jesus Christ as a mere teacher, like Buddha or Zoroaster. If we mean “ Christian education,” it is necessary to say so. It is pathetic to hear from the pulpit a re-echoing of certain modern shiboleths, apparently, without a clear understand ing of their import. O f course there are always people in the pews who are content to live in an intellectual fog, just as there are some whose chief object in going to church seems to be to enjoy a morning nap, set to music. The man who finds it worth while to spend his time preaching ought not to be satisfied to angle for dead fish. He may need to take the kinks out of his own thinking, and then reach out for those who go to/diurch with a serious purpose. One of the most disap pointing pulpiteers is the man who thinks he must mix the theory of evolution with his preaching. His motive evi dently is a desire to be thought up-to-date. I f he can wrap a few ideas from mechanistic or behavioristic psychology around his notions of evolution, he considers himself the last word and lives under the apprehension that some mod- - ern university may suddenly grab him from his pulpit and land him in a chair of philosophy. His safety might lie in getting back to the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. P erfecting the S aints But the Christian minister is not only at the head of a spiritual lighthouse, with the duty of warning dying men— and this ought to be his chief business—but he is the super intendent o f a spiritual repair shop. In Ephesians 4:11 to 13, we find these words: “ And he gave some to be apos tles ; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrdwn man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” The import of the Greek word rendered “ perfecting” in this passage is of great interest. Among its shades of meaning are the following: “ repairing,” “ restoring,” “mending,” “ adjusting.” Vincent, in his Word Studies in the New Testament , says that, in classical Greek, the word is used of refitting a ship or setting a bone. To say nothing of apostles and prophets, it appears that evangelists, pas tors, and teachers have the responsibility of repairing, re storing, mending, and adjusting more or less disabled saints, in order that they may worthily occupy their respec tive places in the body of Christ. If the preacher is willing to draw from the divinely provided source, the Bible, he will find all the material that he needs in this delicate work
of repair and adjustment. Will the average occupant of the pew welcome this corrective preach ing? The success of many fear less and faithful exponents of God’s Word shows that he will. All that seems to be necessary is that the preacher drink deep at the fountain of life, that he be Spirit- filled, and then that he give forth his message with earnestness and courage. His hearers must realize that they are being weighed in God’s scales, and not in the poor h u m a n balance of him who speaks. His Master spoke “ with
which may be asked, the answers to which will determine whether or not a revival may be expected. Do we believe in and need a re vival? Have we a serious, grip ping conviction that revivals are necessary, or is it merely a custom that we are following ? Sometimes we get into a rut, and just keep on doing because of habit. Do we at tempt to have revivals as a matter of competition? Here are ques tions which we will do well to ask ourselves, and demand an answer. —J. A. H uffman .
Is the world really concerned with our sec tarian disputes and theological controversies and personal jealousies? ‘‘The odium theologi- cum,’’ wrote a church historian of the eigh teenth century, ‘‘is the most exasperating and noisy thing in the world.’’ It is always with us! But we seem content to continue in the atmos phere o f futile conflict. And Christ, the ever- wonderful Saviour and Friend o f man, suffers renewed reproach, misunderstood by the world because misinterpreted in His power by lives that ought to be His witnesses. —G ordon B. W att .
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online