ENTHUSIASM FOR THE WORD OF GOD
By Edgar Whitaker Work, D. D. PASTOR FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN C HUR C H. NEW YORK
with its power until they shall not be able to let it alone, he has unconsciously opened the door into a new era of his ministry. It requires no prophetic gift to say that, given a body of men in the ministry who are enthusiasts for the Bible, we shall have a new type of life rising in the Christian church. The era of organization in the church has distinct values for progress. So also are the eras of missions and evangel ism accompanied with benefits which can not be estimated. But we are constrained to believe that there is a deeper need in the church—-the need of an era in pulpit and pew of enthusiasm for the Word of God. ALREADY AT HAND There are abundant signs that such an era is already at hand. The next decade will probably witness in the church, and in related organizations beyond the church, a widespread interest in the Bible. Having multiplied organizations and piled up machinery, having emphasized service and pressed our propaganda of missions and evangelism, what if, along with all these good works, the church should hear the call in the next ten years to take the Bible in hand and sit down as never before to intensive and productive study? What if
E have already suggested that the most important w /M problem in the life of the church at the present time
____ is the problem of bringing the people in close contact with the Word of God. There can be no question of the responsibility of the pulpit for the solution of this problem. The business of the pulpit is to devote itself to the Bible, for the purpose^ of bringing men under the spell of its divine contents. It goes without saying, that the preacher must always be confronting the question, How can I best lay the Book to- the hearts of the people? The range of this question is broad enough to allow very great flexibility in the answer, and also abundant individuality in method. What we have to insist upon, however, is that the preacher should constantly keep the question in mind. So doing, his ministry is certain to bring forth from year to year a more abundant harvest. The greatest desideratum in the church today is a pulpit that is enriched and adorned by the Word of God. When the preacher strikes this keynote, when he determines that he will omit no pains in learning how to unfold the Scripture, how to fascinate men with its eager message, how to dominate men
Made with FlippingBook Online document