171
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
May, 1940
often go to hear Rowland Hill because his ideas come red hot from the heart.” There is also a weighty paragraph bearing the advice of Phillips Brooks on the question of sincerity: “Never sacrifice -your reverence for truth to your desire for usefulness. Say nothing you do not believe to be true because you think it may be helpful.” And then, as W. Jones Davies points out in Pulpit Power, there can be an emotional insincerity or mock fervor, as well as mental falsity: “A man may appear to be in ear nest who is only excited by the magnetism of the moment; the emo tion is not the result of a deep- rooted conviction, nor is it born of God, but is simply a movement caused by those electric currents that pass between the speaker and hearer. The feeling may be suit able to the occasion, but is no more genuine than were the altar fires of Nadab and Abihu.” Gifted and eloquent we may not be. Power to sway multitudes may never be ours. Simple, sincere preachers of the Word, however, we can be. Preaching with Modesty One of the early Keswick speakers, C. A. Fox, once wrote, “The man who will preach Christ must be prepared to retire into the shadow of the door he has opened.” Modesty always marks the good de livery of the man who longs to be clothed with humility. Impressed with the condescension of God that He count ed us worthy» to represent Him in a world of need, and consumed with a burning passion to declare His saving, gospel, the preacher will be helped to cultivate that naturalness of manner and modesty that the message demands. “Earthen vessels, frail and slight, Yet the golden lamp we bear; Master, break us, that the light So may fire the murky air; Skill and wisdom, none we claim, Only seek to lift Thy name.” A special Prophecy Edition o f the New Testament has been published for the Jewish people. In this edition, the verses in the New Testament that are the fulfillment of I Old Testament prophe cies of the Messiah are in bold-face type with references to the Old Testa ment at the bottom of the pages. The book is beautifully printed,, and its at tractive appearance makes an instant appeal to a Jew to receive and to read it. Ministers, prayer groups, and individ ual Christians who have a love for the Jews are being given an oppor tunity to cooperate in the distribution of these New Testaments. The books
preacher’s possession of a foggy mind,” says J. Dodd Jackson. “If . . . the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness” (Matt. 6:23), said the greatest of all preachers, whom the common people heard gladly because He clearly understood. It is told of Father Taylor, the cele brated Boston preacher, that once he got so involved in a sentence, adding Clause to clause, that he was quite un able to extricate himself. But' he was a man of resource, and thus delivered himself from the mesh—“Brethren, I don’t know exactly when I went in with this sentence, and I don’t know in the least where I am coming out, but one thing I do know, I’m bound for the kingdom!” Flowers of rhetoric and glittering il lustrations may make great sermons, but the greatest sermons are those pos sessed of great simplicity. Messages, simply given, that send people to their knees and create resolve for nobler liv ing, áre greater in the sight of heaven than those sennons made up of swelling words and pretentious sentences, which carry the air of wisdom. A preacher must be not a mere word- man, but á workman. His constant prayer should be that of an ancient bishop: “Lord, send me learning enough, that I can be plain enough.” Because one of the most perilous gifts is that of fluency, the power of easy speech, a preacher possessing such must ever guard himself against dependence upon it. Pride and verbosity are the off spring of a glib tongue. Preaching with Sincerity The vital principle of all preaching is to preach nothing that has not the stamp of experience. Without experi ence, the finest orator is but a tinkling cymbal. What we have felt ever car ries the ring of sincerity as we declare it. Spurgeon said of F. B. Meyer: “Mey er preaches as a man who has seen the face of God.” Richard Sheridan once remarked, “I Right now is the crucial moment to give God’s Word to the Jews. Their hearts are torn by the persecution of the Jews in Europe. They are longing for comfort and consolation, and above all for real love. This is the supreme hour of opportunity to point them to the One who said, “ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” A coast-to-coast crusade has been in augurated by the Million Testaments Campaigns of Philadelphia to place New Testaments in the hands of Jews in the United States and Canada as quick ly as possible, to lead them to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
ARE YOU LISTENING? • Some boys were taunting a poor barefooted lad one day, mak ing fun of his Christian faith. They said to him, “If God really loves you, why doesn’t He take better care of you? Why doesn’t He tell some one to send you a pair of shoes?” The lad seemed puzzled for a moment, then replied: “I think He does tell somebody, but they are not listening.” Our desire at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles is to be always on the giving hand — giving free training to hundreds of young men and women yearly; giving a faithful witness throughout the state and nation to the truths of God’s Word; giving cheerful serv ice in many ways to the churches of California and other western states. We place our trust in our Lord who bade us “seek . . . first the kingdom of God, and his right eousness.” And we know that God will “tell,” In one way or another, His stewards who are appointed through Him to the supplying of Biola’s material needs. In the warfare in which we are engaged against principalities and powers of darkness, we have learned to expect difficulty and opposition. But from time to time we look ahead longingly at some new door of service for Christ, and find ourselves without the means of stepping through It. Your help will make it possible for us to continue serving others in the Master’s name. Will you ask God what part He would have you take in the great task we are attempting for Him? Write The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc., 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif. are not to be given out indiscriminately, but presented only to Jewish people who will agree to read them. They are not to be sent to Jews through the mail, but given to them personally, with love and prayer. Persons who are interested in form ing a prayer group, or in working and praying individually for the salvation of Jews through Scripture distribution, are invited to send for application blanks and free copies of the New Tes tament. Address: Million Testaments Campaigns, 1505 Race St., Philadelphia.
Winning Jews with GocTs Word
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs