99       99       99       99       99  
----------------------------------------
-------------------      ,transcriber's 
,note3                                  
,inconsistent hyphenation in the        
original document has           been    
preserved4                              
,obvious typographical errors have been 
corrected4 ,for           a complete    
list1 please see the end of this        
document4                               
----------------------------------------
-------------------         99       99 
99       99       99     ,,the          
,,preacher ,,and ,,his ,,models         
,,the ,,preacher ,,and ,,his ,,models   
,,the ,,yale ,,lectures ,,on            
,,preaching1 #ahia   ,,by ,,the ,,rev4  
,,james ,,stalker1 ,d4,d4  ,,author ,,of
  ,,imago ,,christi1 ,,the ,,life ,,of  
,,jesus ,,christ1 ,,the ,,life ,,of     
,,st4 ,,paul1 ,,etc4    ,quis facit ut  
quid oportet et quemadmodum oportet     
dicatur nisi in ,cujus manu sunt nos et 
nostri sermones8           ,,st4        

,,augustine1 ,de ,doctrina ,christiana1 
iv4 #ae  ,,hodder  ,,stoughton ,,london 
3 3 ,,mcmxix     ,,copyright1 #ahia1    
,,by ,a4,c4 ,,armstrong  ,,son4     ,,to
 ,,the ,rev4 ,alexander ,whyte1 ,d4,d4  
,,divinity ,,school ,,of ,,yale         
,,university1                    ,,new  
,,haven1 ,,conn41 ,,april #be1 #ahia4   
,,rev4 ,,james ,,stalker1 ,d4,d41       
,,glasgow1 ,,scotland4  ,,rev4 ,,and    
,,dear ,,sir3  ,at the close of your    
instructive and stimulating lectures in 
the ,lyman ,beecher ,course before the  
members of this ,theological ,school1 we
 desire to express to you the           
satisfaction with which they have been  
listened to1 and we are glad to know    
that1 by their publication in the       
,united ,states and ,great ,britain1 the
 pleasure and profit which we have all  
derived from their delivery will be     
enjoyed by a wider circle4              
,,timothy ,,dwight1          ,president4
       ,,george ,e4 ,,day1              
,professor of ,hebrew4       ,,samuel   

,,harris1          ,professor of        
,systematic ,theology4       ,,george   
,p4 ,,fisher1          ,professor of    
,ecclesiastical ,history4       ,,lewis 
,o4 ,,brastow1          ,professor of   
,practical ,theology4       ,,george ,b4
 ,,stevens1          ,professor of ,new 
,testament ,criticism and               
,interpretation4       ,,frank ,c4      
,,porter1          ,instructor in       
,biblical ,theology4     ,,preface      
,these nine ,lectures on ,preaching were
 delivered1 on the ,lyman ,beecher      
,foundation1 to the divinity students of
 ,yale ,university in the spring of this
 year4 ,with the kind concurrence of the
 ,senate of ,yale1 five of them were    
redelivered1 on the ,merrick            
,foundation1 to the students of ,ohio   
,wesleyan ,university at ,delaware1     
,ohio4  ,in the ,appendix an ,ordination
 ,address is reproduced1 which ,i wrote 
when ,i had been only four or five years
 in the ministry1 and which ,i have been
 requested to reprint4 ,my friend1 the  

,rev4 ,dr4 ,walker1 who was present when
 it was delivered1 having published it  
in ,the ,family ,treasury1 another      
friend1 noticing it there1 had it       
printed as a pamphlet at his own expense
 and distributed to all the ministers of
 the ,church to which he and ,i belong4 
,it was a very characteristic act2 and  
,i have ventured1 as a memorial of it1  
to dedicate this volume to him4 ,i do   
so1 however1 not for this reason only1  
but also because there has been no one  
in this generation who has done more    
than he has done1 by the example of his 
own impressive ministry and by his      
generous encouragement of younger       
ministers1 to promote the interests of  
preaching in his native land4  ,my      
thanks are due to the ,rev4 ,charles    
,shaw1 who on this as on former         
occasions has kindly assisted me in     
correcting the press4  ,,glasgow1       
,october #ast1 #ahia4     ,,contents4   
,,lecture ,i4                           
,,page  ,,introductory                  

#a   ,,lecture ,,ii4  ,,the ,,preacher  
,,as ,a ,,man ,,of ,,god                
#bi   ,,lecture ,,iii4  ,,the ,,preacher
 ,,as ,a ,,patriot                      
#ei   ,,lecture ,,iv4  ,,the ,,preacher 
,,as ,a ,,man ,,of ,,the ,,word         
#ia   ,,lecture ,v4  ,,the ,,preacher   
,,as ,a ,,false ,,prophet               
#abe   ,,lecture ,,vi4  ,,the ,,preacher
 ,,as ,a ,,man                          
#adi   ,,lecture ,,vii4  ,,the          
,,preacher ,,as ,a ,,christian          
#agi   ,,lecture ,,viii4  ,,the         
,,preacher ,,as ,,an ,,apostle          
#bje   ,,lecture ,,ix4  ,,the ,,preacher
 ,,as ,a ,,thinker                      
#bcg   ,,appendix4  ,,an ,,ordination   
,,charge                                
#bfe     ,,lecture ,i4  ,,introductory  
,gentlemen1 it would be impossible to   
begin this course of lectures without   
expressing my acknowledgments to the    
,theological ,faculty of this           
,university for the great honour they   
have done me by inviting me to occupy   

this position4 ,when ,i look over the   
list of my predecessors and observe that
 it includes such names as ,bishop      
,simpson1 ,henry ,ward ,beecher1 ,dr4   
,john ,hall1 ,dr4 ,w4,m4 ,taylor1 ,dr4  
,phillips ,brooks1 ,dr4 ,a4,j4,f4       
,behrends1 and ,dr4 ,dale--to mention   
only those with which it opens--,i      
cannot help feeling that it is perhaps a
 greater honour than ,i was entitled to 
accept2 and ,i cannot but wish that the 
preaching of the old country were to be 
represented on this occasion by some one
 of the many ministers who would have   
been abler than ,i to do it justice4 ,it
 is with no sense of having attained    
that ,i am to speak to you2 for ,i      
always seem to myself to be only        
beginning to learn my trade2 and the    
furthest ,i ever get in the way of      
confidence is to believe that ,i shall  
preach well next time4 ,however1 there  
may be some advantages in hearing one   
who is not too far away from the        
difficulties with which you will soon be

 contending yourselves2 and the keenness
 with which ,i have felt these          
difficulties may have made me reflect1  
more than others to whom the path of    
excellence has been easier1 on the means
 of overcoming them4  ,i warmly         
reciprocate the sentiments which have   
led the ,faculty to come across the     
,atlantic the second time for a         
lecturer1 and the liberality of mind    
with which they are wont to overstep the
 boundaries of their own denomination   
and select their lecturers from all the 
evangelical ,churches4 ,it is the first 
time ,i have set foot on your continent1
 but ,i have long entertained a warm    
admiration for the ,american people and 
a firm faith in their destiny2 and ,i   
welcome an opportunity which may serve1 
in any degree1 to demonstrate the unity 
which underlies the variety of our      
evangelical communions1 and to show how 
great are the things in which we agree  
in comparison with those on which we    
differ4         99       99       99    

99       99  ,the aim of this           
lectureship1 if ,i have apprehended it  
aright1 is that men who are out on the  
sea of practical life1 feeling the force
 and strain of the winds and currents of
 the time1 and who therefore occupy1 to 
some extent1 a different point of view  
from either students or professors1     
should come and tell you1 who are still 
standing on the terra firma of college  
life1 but will soon also have to launch 
forth on the same element1 how it feels 
out there on the deep4  ,well1 there is 
a considerable difference4  ,the        
professorial theory of college life is1 
that the faculties are being exercised  
and the resources collected with which  
the battles of life are subsequently to 
be fought and its victories won4 ,and   
there is1 no doubt1 a great deal of     
truth in this theory4 ,the acquisitions 
of the class-room will all be found     
useful in future1 and your only regret  
will be that they have not been more    
extensive and thorough4 ,the gymnastic  

of study is suppling faculties which    
will be indispensable hereafter4 ,yet   
there is room amidst your studies1 and  
without the slightest disparagement to  
them1 for a message more directly from  
life1 to hint to you1 that more may be  
needed in the career to which you are   
looking forward than a college can give1
 and that the powers on which success in
 practical life depends may be somewhat 
different from those which avail most at
 your present stage4  ,there are two    
very marked types of intellect to be    
observed amongst men1 which we may call 
the receptive and the creative4         
,receptive intellect has the power of   
taking fully in what is addressed to it 
by others4 ,it separates its            
acquisitions and distributes them among 
the pigeon-holes of the memory4 ,out of 
these again it can reproduce them1 as   
occasion requires1 and even make what   
may be called permutations and          
combinations among its materials with   
skill and facility4 ,the creative       

intellect1 on the contrary1 is sometimes
 anything but apt to receive that which 
people attempt to put into it4 ,instead 
of being an open1 roomy vessel for      
holding things1 it may be awkwardly     
shaped1 and sometimes difficult to open 
at all4 ,nor do things pour out of it in
 a stream1 as water does from a pitcher2
 they rather flash out of it1 like      
sparks from the anvil4 ,instead of      
possessing its own knowledge1 it is     
possessed by it2 it burns as it emits   
it1 and its fire is contagious4  ,the   
former is the serviceable intellect at  
college1 but it is the latter which     
makes the preacher4 ,there may1 indeed1 
here and there1 be miraculous professors
 who attach more importance1 and give   
higher marks1 to the indications of the 
creative intellect than to the          
achievements of the receptive intellect4
 ,but few can resist the appeal made by 
the clear1 correct and copious          
reproduction of what they have          
themselves supplied4 ,indeed1 they would

 not1 as a rule1 be justified in doing  
so2 for the first indications of        
originality are often crude and         
irritating1 and they may come to        
nothing4 ,the creative intellect is     
frequently slow in maturing2 it is like 
those seeds which take more than one    
season to blossom4 ,but at a flower show
 it would not be fair to withhold the   
prize from the flower which has         
blossomed already1 and reserve it for   
one which may possibly do so next year4 
,of my fellow-students in the class to  
which ,i belonged at college1 the two   
who have since been most successful did 
not then seem destined for first places4
 ,they were known to be able men1 but   
they were not excessively laborious1 and
 they kept themselves irritatingly      
detached from the interests of the      
college4 ,but the one has since unfolded
 a remarkable originality1 which was1 no
 doubt1 even then organizing itself in  
the inner depths2 and the other1 as soon
 as he entered the pulpit1 turned out to

 have the power of casting a spell over 
the minds of men4 ,both had a spark of  
nature's fire2 and this is the          
possession which outshines all others   
when college is over and practical life 
begun4#a  ,but1 if the viewpoint of     
practical life is different even from   
the professorial1 it is still more      
different from that of students2 and    
this may again justify the bringing of a
 message from the outside world4 ,the   
difference might be put in many ways2   
but perhaps it may be best expressed by 
saying that1 while you are among the    
critics1 we are among the criticized4   
,in the history of nearly all minds of  
the better sort there is an epoch of    
criticism4 ,the young soul1 as it begins
 to observe1 discovers that things      
around it are not all as they ought to  
be1 and that the world is not so perfect
 a place as might naturally be expected 
or as it may have been represented to   
be4 ,the critical faculty awakes and1   
having once tasted blood1 rushes forth  

to judge all men and things with cruel  
ability4 ,this is the stage at which we 
agree with ,carlyle in thinking mankind 
to be mostly fools and pronounce every  
man over five-and-forty who does not    
happen to agree with our opinions an old
 fogey4 ,it is the time when we are     
confident that we could1 if we chose1   
single-handed and with ease1 accomplish 
tasks which generations of men have     
struggled with in vain4 ,only in the    
meantime we1 for our part1 are not      
disposed to commit ourselves to any     
creed or to champion any cause1 because 
we are engaged in contemplating all4    
,this period occurs1 ,i say1 in the     
history of all men of the abler sort2   
but in students1 on account of their    
peculiar opportunities1 the symptoms are
 generally exceptionally pronounced4    
,students are the chartered libertines  
of criticism4 ,what a life professors   
would lead1 if they only knew what is   
said about them every day of their      
lives6 ,i often think that three-fourths

 of every faculty in the country would  
disappear some morning by a simultaneous
 act of self-effacement4 ,of course     
ministers do not escape2 ecclesiastics  
and ,church courts are quite beyond     
redemption2 and principalities and      
powers in general are in the same       
condemnation4  ,such is the delightful  
prerogative of the position in which you
 now stand4 ,but1 gentlemen1 the moment 
you leave these college gates behind1   
you have to pass from your place among  
the critics and take your place among   
the criticized4 ,that is1 you will have 
to quit the well-cushioned benches1     
where the spectators sit enjoying the   
spectacle1 and take your place among the
 gladiators in the arena4 ,the          
binoculars of the community will be     
turned upon you1 and five hundred or a  
thousand people will be entitled to say 
twice or thrice every week what they    
think of your performances4 ,you will   
have to put your shoulder under the huge
 mass of your ,church's policy and try  

to keep step with some thousands whose  
shoulders are under it too2 and the     
reproaches cast by the public and the   
press at the awkwardness of the whole   
squad and the unsteadiness of the ark   
will fall on you along with the rest4   
,seriously1 this is a tremendous        
difference4 ,criticism1 however         
brilliant1 is a comparatively easy      
thing4 ,it is easier to criticize the   
greatest things superbly than to do even
 small things fairly well4 ,a brief     
experience of practical life gives one a
 great respect for some men whom one    
would not at one time have considered   
very brilliant1 and for work which one  
would have pronounced very imperfect4   
,there is a famous passage in           
,lucretius1 in which he speaks of the   
joy of the mariner who has escaped to   
dry land1 when he sees his shipwrecked  
companions still struggling in the      
waves4 ,this is too heathenish a        
sentiment2 but ,i confess ,i have       
sometimes experienced a touch of it1    

when ,i have beheld one who has         
distinguished himself by his            
incisiveness1 while still on the terra  
firma of criticism1 suddenly dropped    
into the bottomless sea of actual life  
and learning1 amidst his first struggles
 in the waves1 not without gulps of     
salt-water1 the difference between      
intention and performance4         99   
99       99       99       99  ,but do  
not suppose that ,i am persuading you to
 give up criticism4 ,on the contrary1   
this is the natural function of the     
stage at which you are2 and probably    
those who throw themselves most         
vigorously into it now may also         
discharge most successfully the         
functions of the stages yet to come4    
,the world reaps not a little advantage 
from criticism4 ,it is a very imperfect 
world2 no generation of its inhabitants 
does its work as well as it ought to be 
done1 and it is the undoubted right of  
the next generation to detect its       
defects2 for in this lies the only      

chance of improvement4 ,there is        
something awe-inspiring in the first    
glance cast by the young on the world in
 which they find themselves4 ,it is so  
clear and unbiassed2 they distinguish so
 instantaneously between the right and  
the wrong1 the noble and the base2 and  
they blurt out so frankly what they see4
 ,as we grow older1 we train ourselves  
unawares not to see straight or1 if we  
see1 we hold our peace4 ,the first open 
look of young eyes on the condition of  
the world is one of the principal       
regenerative forces of humanity4  ,to   
begin with1 therefore1 at all events ,i 
will rather come to your standpoint than
 ask you to come to mine4 ,indeed1      
although ,i have for some time been     
among the criticized1 and my sympathies 
are with the practical workers1 my sense
 of how imperfectly the work is done1   
and of how inadequate our efforts are to
 the magnitude of the task1 grows       
stronger instead of weaker4 ,and it is  
from this point of view that ,i mean to 

enter into our subject4 ,i will make use
 of the facts of my own country1 with   
which ,i am familiar2 but ,i do not     
suppose that the state of things among  
you is substantially different2 and you 
will not have much difficulty in        
correcting the picture1 to make it      
correspond with your circumstances1     
whilst ,i speak4         99       99    
99       99       99  ,in the present   
century there has certainly been an     
unparalleled multiplication of the      
instrumentalities for doing the work4   
,the machine of religion1 so to speak1  
has been perfected4 ,the population has 
been increasing fast2 but churches have 
multiplied at least twice as fast4 ,even
 in a great city like ,glasgow we have a
 ,protestant church to every two        
thousand of the population4#b ,and1     
inside the churches1 the multiplication 
of agencies has been even more          
surprising4 ,formerly the minister did  
almost all the work2 and it comprehended
 little more than the two services on   

,sunday and the visitation of the       
congregation2 the elders helping him to 
a small extent in financing the         
congregation and in a few other matters 
largely secular4 ,but now every         
congregation is a perfect hive of       
,christian activity4 ,in a large        
congregation the workers are counted by 
hundreds4 ,every imaginable form of     
philanthropic and religious appliance is
 in operation4 ,buildings for ,sabbath  
,schools and ,mission ,work are added to
 the church2 and nearly every day of the
 week has its meeting4  ,the machine of 
religion is large and complicated1 and  
it is manned by so many workers that    
they get in each other's way2 but1 with 
all this bustling activity1 is the work 
done8 ,this is the question which gives 
us pause4 ,has the amount of practical  
,christianity increased in proportion to
 the multiplication of agencies8 ,are   
the prospects of religion as much       
brighter than they used to be as might  
have been expected after all this       

expenditure of labour8 ,is ,christianity
 deepening as well as spreading8  ,in   
,glasgow1 where the proportion of       
churches to population is so high1 they 
speak of two hundred thousand           
non-church-goers1 that is1 a third of   
the inhabitants2 and1 if you go into one
 of our villages with two or three      
thousand of a population1 you in may    
find three or four churches1 belonging  
to different denominations2 but you will
 usually find even there a considerable 
body of non-church-goers4 ,not long ago 
,i heard a ,london clergyman state1     
that1 if1 any ,sunday morning1 you went 
through the congregations belonging to  
the ,church of ,england in the district 
of a hundred and fifty thousand         
inhabitants in which he labours1 you    
would not1 in all of them put together1 
find one man present for every thousand 
of the population4 ,one of the ,english 
bishops recently admitted that in ,south
 ,london his ,church is not in          
possession2 and certainly no other      

denomination is4 ,thus1 with all our    
appliances1 we have failed even to bring
 the population within the sound of the 
,gospel4  ,inside the churches1 what is 
to be said8 ,is the proportion large of 
those who have received the ,gospel in  
such a way that their hearts have       
manifestly been changed by it and their 
lives brought under its sway8 ,we should
 utterly deceive ourselves if we        
imagined that real ,christianity is     
coextensive with the profession of      
,christianity4 ,many who bear the       
,christian name have neither ,christian 
experience nor ,christian character1 but
 in their spirit and pursuits are       
thoroughly worldly4 ,even where religion
 has taken real hold1 is the type very  
often beautiful and impressive8 ,who can
 think without shame of the long delay  
of the ,church even to attempt the work 
of converting the heathen8 ,and even yet
 the sacrifices made for this object are
 ludicrously small in proportion either 
to the magnitude of the problem or the  

wealth of the ,christian community4 ,the
 annual expenditure of the ,united      
,kingdom on drink is said to be a       
hundred times as great as that on       
foreign missions4  ,religion does not   
permeate life4 ,the ,church is one of   
the great institutions of the country1  
and gets its own place4 ,but it is a    
thing apart from the common life1 which 
goes on beside it4 ,business1 politics1 
literature1 amusements1 are only faintly
 coloured by it4 ,yet the mission of    
,christianity is not to occupy a        
respectable place apart1 but to leaven  
life through and through4  ,vice        
flourishes side by side with religion4  
,we build the school and the church1 and
 then we open beside them the           
public-house4 ,the ,christian community 
has the power of controlling this       
traffic2 but it allows it to go on with 
all its unspeakable horrors4 ,thus its  
own work is systematically undone1 and  
faster than the victims can be saved new
 ones are manufactured to occupy their  

places4 ,of vices which are still more  
degrading ,i need not speak4 ,their     
prevalence is too patent everywhere4 ,if
 there is any law of ,christianity which
 is obvious and inexorable1 it is the   
law of purity4 ,but go where you will in
 the ,christian countries1 and you will 
learn that by large sections of their   
manhood this law is treated as if it did
 not exist4 ,the truth is that1 in spite
 of the nations being baptized in the   
name of ,christ1 heathenism has still   
the control of much of their life2 and  
it would hardly be too much to say that 
the mission of ,christianity is still   
only beginning4  ,in what direction does
 hope lie8 ,it seems to me that there   
can be no more important factor in the  
solution of the problem than the kind of
 men who fill the office of the         
ministry4 ,we must have men of more     
power1 more concentration on the aims of
 the ministry1 more wisdom1 but1 above  
all1 more willingness to sacrifice their
 lives to their vocation4 ,we have too  

tame and conventional a way of thinking 
about our career4 ,men are not even     
ambitious of doing more than settling in
 a comfortable position and getting     
through its duties in a respectable way4
 ,we need to have men penetrated with   
the problem as a whole1 and labouring   
with the new developments which the     
times require4 ,the prizes of the       
ministry ought to be its posts of       
greatest difficulty4 ,when a student or 
young minister proves to have the       
genuine gift1 his natural goal should   
not be a highly paid place in a ,west   
,end church1 but a position where he    
would be in the forefront of the battle 
with sin and misery4 ,nowhere else are  
the great lines of ,chapman more        
applicable than in our calling3--       
,give me a spirit that on this life's   
rough sea     ,loves to have his sails  
filled with a lusty wind1     ,even till
 his sailyards tremble1 his masts crack1
     ,and his rapt ship runs on her side
 so low     ,that she drinks water and  

her keel ploughs air4  ,i am well aware 
that men of this stamp cannot be made to
 order4 ,they must1 as ,i have suggested
 already1 have a spark of nature's fire1
 and1 besides that1 the ,spirit of ,god 
must descend on them4 ,yet ,i have      
thought that it might be helpful towards
 this end to go back to the origins of  
preaching1 and to study those in whom   
its primitive spirit was embodied4      
,perhaps that which we are desiderating 
could not be better expressed than by   
saying that we need a ministry prophetic
 and apostolic4 ,and ,i am going to     
invite you to study the prophets and    
apostles as our models4  ,though we may 
not believe in apostolic succession in  
the churchly sense1 we are the          
successors of the apostles in this      
sense1 that the apostles filled the     
office which we hold1 or hope to hold1  
and illustrated the manner in which its 
duties should be discharged in such a   
way as to be an example and an          
inspiration to all its subsequent       

occupants4 ,the air they breathed was   
still charged with the spirit poured    
into it by ,christ2 they were made great
 by the influence of ,his teaching and  
companionship2 the power of the ,holy   
,ghost1 freshly descended1 burned on    
their hearts2 and they went forth on    
their mission with a force of conviction
 and a mastery of their task which      
nothing could resist4  ,one among them  
embodied in himself1 above all others1  
the spirit of that epoch of creative    
energy4 ,st4 ,paul is perhaps1 after our
 ,lord ,himself1 the most complete      
embodiment of the ministerial life on   
all its sides which the world has ever  
seen4 ,and1 fortunately1 he embodied    
this spirit not only in deeds1 but also 
in words4 ,circumstances made him a     
writer of letters1 the most             
autobiographical form of literature4    
,his friends1 such as ,timothy and      
,titus1 drew out of him lengthy         
expressions of the convictions wrought  
into his mind by the experiences of a   

lifetime4 ,his enemies1 by their        
accusations1 struck out of him still    
ampler and more heartfelt statements of 
his feelings and motives4 ,st4 ,paul has
 painted his own portrait at full       
length1 and in every line it is the     
portrait of a minister4 ,there is more  
in his writings which touches the very  
quick of our life as ministers than in  
all other writings in existence4 ,it is 
my desire to reproduce this straight    
from the sources4 ,i have no intention  
of going over the outward life of ,st4  
,paul4 ,this you can find in a hundred  
books4 ,but ,i desire to exhibit the    
very soul of the man1 as he himself has 
revealed it to us in his writings4  ,if 
we are the successors of the apostles1  
the apostles were the successors of the 
prophets1 who did for the ,church of the
 ,old ,testament what the apostles did  
for that of the ,new4 ,in outward aspect
 and detail1 indeed1 the life of the    
prophets differed much from that of the 
apostles4 ,in force of manhood and in   

variety and brilliance of genius they   
far excelled them4 ,but their aim was   
the same4 ,it was to make the kingdom of
 ,god come by announcing and enforcing  
the mind and will of ,god4 ,and this is 
our aim too4  ,the writings of the      
prophets are very difficult1 and their  
period is less popularly known than any 
other period of ,scripture history1     
either before or after it4 ,but it is   
beginning to attract more attention1 and
 in the near future it will do so much  
more1 because it is beginning to be     
perceived that in it lies the key to the
 whole ,old ,testament history and      
literature4#c ,the writings of ,isaiah  
especially have of late attracted       
attention4 ,commentary after commentary 
on them has appeared2#d till now the    
reader can see his way pretty clearly   
through the tangled but enchanting mazes
 of his writings4 ,with such helps as   
have been available to me ,i have       
endeavoured through the writings to get 
at the man2 and ,i will take ,isaiah as 

the representative of the prophetic     
spirit in the same way as ,st4 ,paul is 
to represent for us the apostles4 ,but  
here again my aim is neither that of the
 commentator nor that of the biographer4
 ,it is the soul of the man ,i wish to  
depict and the spirit of his work4  ,it 
may be thought that1 by taking up the   
subject in this way1 ,i am missing the  
opportunity of dealing with the         
practical work of to-day4 ,but ,i do not
 think so4 ,there are1 indeed1 some     
details nearly always discussed in      
lectures on preaching which ,i do not   
care to touch4 ,there is1 for instance1 
the question of the delivery of         
sermons--whether the preacher should    
read1 or speak memoriter1 or preach     
extempore4 ,this can be discussed       
endlessly1 and the discussion is always 
interesting2 but1 if it were discussed  
every year for a century1 it would be as
 far from being settled as ever4        
,besides1 it is my duty to remember what
 others have handled exhaustively here  

before me4 ,indeed1 the ,senate         
mentioned to me that it was desirable   
that the subject should be taken up from
 a new point of view4 ,they have been   
good enough to express their approbation
 of the way in which ,i mean to treat   
it2 but it is not in deference to their 
instructions that ,i take it up in this 
way1 but in accordance with the bent of 
my own mind2 and ,i think ,i see my way 
to bring to bear on it all the practical
 experience which ,i may be in          
possession of2 for ,i quite recognise   
that the value of such a course of      
lectures largely depends on its being1  
from beginning to end1 what in          
literature is called a ,confession1 that
 is1 a record of experiences4 ,although 
,i am to go back to the ages of the     
apostles and the prophets1 ,i do not    
intend to stay there4 ,my wish is to    
bring down from thence fire which will  
kindle your hearts1 as you face the     
world and the tasks of to-day4  ,there  
is another objection1 which may have    

already occurred to some of you1 and    
would doubtless occur to many1 as ,i    
went along1 if ,i did not anticipate it4
 ,it may be felt1 that both apostles and
 prophets were so differently situated  
from us1 especially through the         
possession of the gift of inspiration1  
that they can be no example for us to   
follow4 ,to this ,i will not reply by   
seeking in any way to minimise their    
inspiration4 ,it is1 indeed1 difficult  
to say exactly how their inspiration    
differed from that which is accessible  
and indispensable to us2 for we also are
 entirely dependent for the power and   
success of our work on the same ,spirit 
as spoke through them4 ,but1 however    
difficult it may be to define it1 ,i am 
one of those who believe that there is a
 difference1 and that it is a great     
difference4 ,the mind and will of ,god  
expressed themselves through the        
prophets and apostles with a directness 
and authority which we cannot claim4    
,but the difference is not such as to   

remove them beyond our imitation4       
,although in some1 or even many1        
respects they may be beyond us1 this is 
no reason why we may not in others      
imitate them with the greatest          
advantage4 ,it will be seen at a glance 
how little there is in this objection1  
if it be considered that our ,lord      
,himself is the great pattern of the    
ministry4 ,in some respects ,he is of   
course much farther away from us than   
either prophets or apostles2 yet ,he is 
near us as a model in every detail of   
our duty4 ,no mode of treating my       
subject would have been so congenial to 
me as to set ,him forth in this         
character4 ,but1 having attempted to do 
so elsewhere1 ,i have chosen the method 
now announced under the conviction1 that
 the nearest approach to the study of   
how ,christ fulfilled the duties of the 
ministry is to study how prophets and   
apostles fulfilled them4         99     
99       99       99       99  ,there is
 one thing more which ,i should like to 

say before closing this somewhat        
miscellaneous introductory lecture4 ,i  
would not have come to lecture to you on
 this subject if ,i were not a firm     
believer in preaching4 ,if in what has  
been already said ,i have seemed to     
depreciate its results1 this is only    
because my ideal is so high of what the 
pulpit ought to do1 and might do4#e ,i  
do not1 indeed1 separate preaching from 
the other parts of a minister's life1   
such as the conducting of the service of
 the sanctuary1 the visitation of the   
congregation1 and taking part in more   
general public work4 ,as ,i go on1 it   
will be seen1 that1 so far from         
undervaluing these1 ,i hold them to be  
all required even to produce a healthy  
pulpit power4 ,yet preaching is the     
central thing in our work4 ,i believe in
 it1 because ,christ ,himself set ,his  
stamp on it4 ,read ,his sayings1 and you
 will see that this was what ,he sent   
forth the servants of ,his kingdom to   
do4 ,christ1 says ,st4 ,paul1 sent me   

not to baptize1 but to preach the       
,gospel2 not1 ,i think1 thereby ignoring
 baptism1 but putting it and all other  
ceremonies in their proper place of     
subordination to the preaching of the   
,word4  ,it is often charged against the
 evangelical1 and especially the free1  
,churches at the present day1 that they 
give preaching a position of too great  
prominence in public worship2 and we are
 counselled to yield the central place  
to something else4 ,it is put to us1 for
 example1 whether our people should not 
be taught to come to church for the     
purpose of speaking to ,god rather than 
in order to be spoken to by man4 ,this  
has a pious sound2 but there is a       
fallacy in it4 ,preaching is not merely 
the speaking of a man4 ,if it is1 then  
it is certainly not worth coming to     
church for4 ,preaching1 if it is of the 
right kind1 is the voice of ,god4 ,this 
we venture to say while well aware of   
its imperfections4 ,in the best of      
preaching there is a large human element

 beset with infirmity2 yet in all       
genuine preaching there is conveyed a   
message from ,heaven4 ,and1 while it is 
good for people to go to church that    
they may speak to ,god1 it is still     
better to go that ,he may speak to them4
 ,nor1 where ,god is authentically heard
 speaking to the heart1 will the        
response of the heart in the other      
elements of worship be lacking4 ,it is  
the reception of ,god's message of free 
grace and redeeming love which inspires 
the true service of praise and prayer2  
and without this the service of the     
,church is soulless ceremonial4#f  ,from
 another side disparagement is          
frequently cast upon preaching in our   
day4 ,it is said that the printing-press
 has superseded the preacher1 and must  
more and more supersede him4 ,formerly1 
when people could not read1 and         
literature was written only for         
scholars1 the pulpit was a power1       
because it was the only purveyor of     
ideas to the multitude2 but now the     

common man has other resources3 he has  
books1 magazines1 the newspaper3 and he 
can dispense with the preacher4 ,to this
 it might be answered1 that the sermon  
is not the only thing which brings      
people to church4 ,where two or three   
are met together1 there are influences  
generated of a spiritual and social kind
 which answer to deep and permanent     
wants of human nature4 ,but there is an 
answer more direct and conclusive4 ,the 
multiplication of the products of the   
printing-press and the possession by the
 multitude of the power of reading them 
are certainly among the most wonderful  
facts of modern times1 and1 ,i will add 
without hesitation1 among the most      
gratifying4 ,but what do they mean for  
the great majority8 ,in the days before 
the age of the press arrived people only
 knew the gossip of their own town1 and 
this absorbed their thoughts and        
conversation4 ,now they hear every      
morning the gossip of a thousand cities 
from ,china to ,peru4 ,the world has    

become for the modern man immensely     
larger and more interesting than it was 
to his predecessors2 and facts about it 
are accumulated on his mind in          
overwhelming quantity and bewildering   
variety4 ,but does this make preaching  
less necessary to him8 ,it surely makes 
it far more necessary4 ,he has more need
 than his fathers had of those          
supersensible principles which give     
order and meaning to sensible facts4    
,the larger and more wonderful the world
 becomes1 the more urgent becomes the   
question of the cause which has produced
 it2 and1 the more the figures multiply 
which the spectators have to watch on   
the theatre of history1 the more        
indispensable becomes the knowledge of  
the argument of the drama4 ,if the      
pulpit has an authentic message to      
deliver about ,him whose thought is the 
ground of all existence1 and whose will 
of love is the explanation of the pain  
and mystery of life1 the more cultivated
 and eager the mind of man becomes1 then

 the more indispensable will the voice  
of the pulpit be felt to be2 and a real 
decay of the power of the pulpit can    
only be due either to preachers         
themselves1 when1 losing touch with the 
mysteries of revelation1 they let       
themselves down to the level of vendors 
of passing opinion1 or to such a        
shallowing of the general mind as will  
render it incapable of taking an earnest
 interest in the profounder problems of 
existence4  ,,footnotes3  #a      ,a set
 o' dull1 conceited hashes     ,confuse 
their brains in college classes1        
,they gang in stirks1 and come out      
asses1                 ,plain truth to  
speak1     ,an' syne they hope to speel 
,parnassus                 ,by dint o'  
,greek4      ,gi'e me a'e spark o'      
nature's fire1     ,that's a' the       
learnin' ,i desire1     ,then1 though ,i
 trudge through dub an' mire1           
,at pleuch or cart1     ,my muse1 though
 homely in attire1                 ,may 
touch the heart4--,,burns4  #b ,in #ahhj

 there was in the ,united ,states one   
,evangelical ,church organization to    
every #eaf of the population4 ,in       
,boston there is #a church to every     
#a1fjj of the population2 in ,chicago #a
 to #b1jha2 in ,new ,york #a to #b1dfh2 
in ,st4 ,louis #a to #b1hjj4--,our      
,country1 by ,rev4 ,josiah ,strong1     
,d4,d4  #c ,see ,duhm3 ,die ,theologie  
der ,propheten--preface4  #d ,cheyne1   
,smith1 ,delitzsch1 von ,orelli1        
,dillmann1 etc4  #e ,after eleven years 
of active preaching ,i have spent five  
of hardly less active hearing4 ,i have  
listened carefully to preachers of all  
degrees and denominations1 and some     
convictions have been burned in upon my 
mind4 ,far above all1 ,i have learned to
 believe in the great importance of     
preaching--the effect it has on men's   
lives and thoughts2 their need of it2   
their pain and loss when it does not    
help and reach them4 ,i used to think   
that1 if it did men good1 they would    
speak more of it4 ,but they pay no      

compliments to their daily bread2 yet it
 is the staff of their life4 ,if        
ministers knew the silent appreciation  
of helpful preaching1 they would work1  
if not harder1 at least more brightly   
and hopefully4444 ,preachers should     
remember that the large silent part of  
their flock is only reached by          
preaching1 and1 therefore1 they should  
give their strength to it1 and not to   
little meetings4 ,suppose an average    
instance3 ,sunday morning attendance1   
#bej4 ,the minister does not preach     
well2 but he works hard during the week1
 and has1 ,monday1 ,literary ,society1  
#ae2 ,tuesday1 ,young ,ladies' ,bible   
,class1 #ab2 ,wednesday1 ,prayer        
,meeting1 #cj2 ,thursday1 ,class for    
,servants1 #h2 ,friday1 ,class for      
,children1 #ae4 ,all told1 these do not 
represent more than #ej1 leaving #bjj   
reached only by preaching1 and more or  
less dissatisfied4--,ex sapientis       
manuscripto penes me4  #f ,new          
,testament preaching dates from the day 

of ,pentecost4 ,tongues of fire rested  
on the assembled ,church2 and they began
 to speak with other tongues1 as the    
,spirit gave them utterance4 ,the word  
of ,god1 the testimony of ,jesus1 the   
gospel of our salvation1 preached in    
tongues of men of every race1 was to be 
the form of power by which the kingdom  
of ,god1 in our dispensation1 should    
spread abroad and prevail4 ,but the     
tongues were tongues of fire4 ,this fire
 is1 first of all1 the ,holy ,spirit1   
whose quick1 pure and living presence it
 denotes4 ,but then it is intimated that
 the ,holy ,spirit was to prove ,himself
 fire in the speech of men4 ,it is      
intimated that human minds1 as they     
uttered themselves to their fellows1 and
 human speech in that utterance1 were to
 prove capable of taking fire1 so as to 
brighten and burn with the truth and    
power of ,god's ,spirit4 ,such was the  
kind of preaching that was set a-going  
at ,pentecost1 and by it the world was  
to be won4 ,other forms of influence    

were not to be excluded1 but this was to
 have the chief place4 ,the word of     
power1 coming burning-hot out of the    
living mouth of a believing man1 is the 
leading form in which the ,spirit's     
presence is evermore to make head in the
 ,church against the world1 and is to   
carry the ,church on in her mission in  
the world4 ,this gives us the           
fundamental view of our work as         
preachers2 and nothing more is needed in
 order to illustrate its dignity and    
glory4--,,principal ,,rainy4            
,,lecture ,,ii4  ,,the ,,preacher ,,as  
,a ,,man ,,of ,,god4   ,in accordance   
with the plan announced yesterday1 ,i am
 to turn your attention in the next four
 lectures to the prophets of the ,old   
,testament as patterns for modern       
preachers2 and the special subject for  
to-day is ,the ,preacher as a ,man of   
,god4  ,to earnest minds at the stage at
 which you stand at present no question 
could be more interesting than this3    
,how does a right ministry begin8 what  

are the experiences which justify or    
compel a man to turn his back on all    
other careers and devote himself to this
 one8 ,on the minds of some of you this 
question may be pressing at the present 
moment with great urgency4 ,it is a     
question of supreme importance4 ,in most
 things a good deal depends on beginning
 well2 but nowhere is the commencement  
more momentous than here4  ,this is a   
point on which the greatest emphasis is 
laid in the history of the prophets4 ,we
 are told how they became prophets4     
,their ministry commenced with a        
spiritual experience usually denominated
 the ,prophetic ,call4  ,such           
experiences are narrated of the greatest
 prophets4 ,the call of ,moses was the  
scene of the ,burning ,bush1 which is   
detailed at great length in his         
biography4 ,the next outstanding prophet
 was ,samuel1 and there is no better    
known story in ,scripture than the      
touching account of how the ,lord called
 him to be the reformer of an evil age4 

,each of the three great literary       
prophets--,isaiah1 ,jeremiah and        
,ezekiel--has left an account of his own
 call2 that of ,ezekiel covering nearly 
three whole chapters4 ,if the smaller   
prophets do not1 as a rule1 commemorate 
similar experiences of their own1 it is 
not to be inferred that they did not    
pass through them4 ,the brief compass of
 their writings is sufficient to account
 for the omission2 although perhaps a   
subjective element may also enter into  
the explanation4 ,among ourselves there 
are men who are able to confide to the  
public their own most sacred            
experiences1 and habitually make use of 
them to illustrate and enforce the      
truth4 ,to others nothing would be more 
unnatural3 they shrink from the most    
distant allusion to the most sacred     
moments of their spiritual history4 ,yet
 these may be worth the whole world to  
themselves4 ,both modes of procedure    
have ,scriptural warrant3 for some of   
the prophets narrate their calls1 and   

others do not4  ,if these calls of      
distinguished men to ,god's service be  
noted one by one1 they will be found to 
include many of the grandest scenes of  
,scripture4#g ,there could be no more   
splendid subject--if ,i may give the    
hint in passing--for a course of        
lectures in the congregation1 or even   
for a course1 like the present1 to      
students of divinity4  ,they exhibit    
astonishing variety4 ,moses1 for        
example1 was called in the maturity of  
his powers1 but ,samuel when he was     
still a child4 ,jeremiah's call bears a 
certain resemblance to that of ,moses1  
because both resisted the ,divine will  
through inability to speak2 but in other
 respects they are totally dissimilar4  
,ezekiel's stands altogether by itself1 
and is extremely difficult to unravel2  
but it is thoroughly characteristic of  
his sublime and intricate genius4       
,nowhere else could there be found a    
more telling illustration of the        
diversity of operation in which the     

,spirit of ,god delights1 when ,he is   
touching the spirit of man1 even if ,he 
is aiming at identical results4  ,for in
 all cases the effect was the same4 ,the
 man who was called to be a prophet was 
separated by this summons from all other
 occupations which could interfere with 
the service for which ,god had          
designated him4 ,his whole being was    
taken possession of for the ,divine     
purposes and subjected to the sway of   
the ,divine inspiration4 ,one of the    
commonest names of a prophet in the ,old
 ,testament is a man of ,god4 ,through  
constant use this term has lost its     
meaning for us4 ,but it meant exactly   
what it said3 that the prophet was not  
his own1 but ,god's man2 he belonged to 
,god1 who could send him wherever ,he   
wished and do with him whatever ,he     
would4 ,it was the same idea that ,st4  
,paul expressed1 when he called himself1
 as he loved to do1 the slave of ,jesus 
,christ4  ,it has sometimes been        
attempted to explain these scenes away1 

as if they were not records of actual   
experience1 but only poetic             
representations which the prophets      
prefixed to their writings1 to afford   
their readers a dramatic prefigurement  
of the general scope of their           
prophecies1 ideas being freely put into 
them which the prophets did not         
themselves possess at the commencement  
of their career1 but only acquired by   
degrees as their life proceeded4#h ,they
 are compared to such efforts of the    
poet as the ,vision of ,robert ,burns1  
in which he tells how the muse of       
,caledonia appeared to him at the       
plough1 and1 casting her mantle round   
him and claiming him as her own1        
consecrated him the poet of his native  
land2 or the ,zueignung of ,goethe1 in  
which he feigns a similar experience    
which befell him on the moonlight       
heights of the ,german forest4 ,but1    
though there is a poetic element in     
prophecy1 the prophetic spirit was too  
much in earnest for such figments of the

 imagination1 which are alien to the    
severity of the ,hebrew genius4         
,besides1 such scenes are not confined  
to the ,hebrew prophets3 they belong to 
the true religion in all generations4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,any of the prophetic calls would bring 
suggestively before us the topic with   
which we are occupied to-day2 and it is 
not without regret that ,i turn away    
from the ,burning ,bush1 with its       
dramatic dialogue between ,jehovah and  
,moses touching many points which are   
the very same as still perplex those who
 are standing on the threshold of a     
ministerial career2 from the chamber of 
the tabernacle1 with its startling      
voice1 in which ,god opened the heart of
 ,samuel to take in the purpose of life2
 and from the wonderfully instructive   
scene in which the shrinking spirit of  
,jeremiah met the ,divine summons with  
the humble cry of deprecation1 ,behold1 
,i cannot speak2 for ,i am a child1 till
 the ,divine sympathy and wisdom        

answered his arguments and lifted him   
above his fears4 ,but we have agreed to 
take ,isaiah as the representative of   
the prophets2 and1 in spite of these    
other attractions1 we need not repent of
 this2 for there is nothing in ,holy    
,writ more unique and sublime than the  
call of ,isaiah1 and it is pregnant in  
every line with instruction4 ,it is1    
indeed1 far away from us1 and it will   
require a strong effort to transport    
ourselves back over so many centuries   
and enter sympathetically into the      
experience of one who lived in such a   
widely different world4 ,but it is a    
real chapter of human experience4 ,as   
,isaiah prophesied for fifty or perhaps 
even sixty years after this1 he must at 
the time have been in the prime of his  
days4 ,in short1 he was at the very     
stage of life at which you are now1 and 
this is an account of how a young man of
 three thousand years ago became a      
public servant of ,god4         99      
99       99       99       99  ,there   

are two or three points worth noting    
before we go on to describe the scene   
itself4  #a4 ,it is reported in the     
sixth chapter of the prophecies of      
,isaiah4 ,we should naturally have      
expected it to stand at the beginning of
 the whole book1 as do the corresponding
 scenes in the books of ,jeremiah and   
,ezekiel2 and it is not easy to say why 
it is not found in this position4 ,we   
are perhaps too ready to think of the   
prophecies of a prophet as a continuous 
book1 written1 in one prolonged effort1 
on a single theme1 as books are written 
in modern times4 ,but this is a         
misconception4 ,they came together more 
like the pieces of a lyric poet4 ,a     
lyric poet composes his pieces at       
uncertain intervals of inspiration2 they
 range over a great variety of subjects2
 and it may only be late in life that he
 thinks of collecting them in a volume4 
,so the prophecies of the prophet came  
to him at uncertain and often lengthy   
intervals2 they were sometimes very     

brief1 no longer than short lyrics2 and 
we know that he sometimes did not think 
of any literary publication of them till
 long after their oral delivery4 ,a     
lyric poet1 when collecting his pieces1 
may adopt any one of several different  
principles of arrangement4 ,the simplest
 way is to insert them in chronological 
order2 but he may follow some subtle    
psychological arrangement1 as           
,wordsworth1 for instance1 did when his 
collected works were published2 or he   
may throw them together at random1      
according to the fancy of the moment2   
and this is perhaps the commonest case4 
,there seems to be the same variety in  
the prophets4 ,the prophecies of        
,ezekiel1 for example1 are arranged on  
the chronological principle1 but those  
of ,isaiah and ,jeremiah are not2 and it
 is one of the most difficult tasks of  
interpretation to assign the different  
pieces to their original dates4 ,it is  
doubtful whether there is any rigid     
principle at all in ,isaiah's           

prophecies4 ,it is even doubtful whether
 the order in which they stand is due to
 him or to a disciple or editor1 who    
arranged them after he was dead4 ,we    
need hardly1 therefore1 inquire very    
strictly why any particular chapter     
occurs in its particular place4 ,but it 
is somewhat awkward that the sixth      
chapter stands where it does1 in the    
body of the book1 instead of at the head
 of it2 because this hides its          
significance from the general reader4   
,scholars are agreed1 however1 that it  
is an account of ,isaiah's call to be a 
prophet2 and1 when this is recognised1  
every detail of the scene which it      
records is invested with new meaning4   
#b4 ,it is worthy of note that the event
 is precisely dated4 ,the chapter begins
 with the words1 ,in the year that ,king
 ,uzziah died4 ,there are forms of      
religious experience which are          
dateless--processes of slow and unmarked
 growth1 which may spread themselves    
over years2 but there are also crises1  

when experience crystallizes into events
 so remarkable that they become standing
 dates in the lives of those who have   
enjoyed them1 from which they reckon1 as
 other people do from birth or marriage 
or the turning-points of their domestic 
and commercial history4  ,whether this  
was the first of such events in the     
history of ,isaiah ,i have often        
wondered4 ,there is nothing unlikely in 
the suggestion4 ,in other cases the call
 to enter into ,god's work synchronized 
with the first real encounter with ,god 
,himself4 ,samuel's call to be a prophet
 coincided with his first personal      
introduction to acquaintance with       
,jehovah1 whom1 it is distinctly stated1
 he did not previously know2 and ,st4   
,paul's call to the apostolate happened 
at the same time as his conversion4 ,as 
we go on1 we shall come upon at least   
one circumstance which points pretty    
strongly to the conclusion that this was
 ,isaiah's first conscious transaction  
with ,god4  #c4 ,the place where the    

incident occurred is also worthy of     
note4 ,it was in the temple4 ,ewald and 
other able commentators interpret this  
to mean the heavenly temple1 and suppose
 that the future prophet was transported
 to some imaginary place which he called
 by this name4 ,but this is quite a     
gratuitous suggestion1 and it very much 
weakens the impressiveness of the whole 
scene1 the very point of which lies in  
the fact that it took place on familiar 
ground4 ,isaiah was a ,jerusalemite1 and
 the temple was the most familiar of all
 haunts to him4 ,he had witnessed there 
a thousand times the external ritual of 
religion--the worshipping multitudes1   
the priests1 and the paraphernalia of   
sacrifice4 ,but now1 on the same spot1  
he was to see a sight in whose glory all
 these things would disappear4 ,this is 
what the critical moments of religious  
experience are always meant to do3 they 
obliterate the familiar externals of    
religion and reveal the reality which is
 hidden behind them2 they convert common

 spots of every-day experience into the 
house of ,god and the gate of heaven4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,such were the circumstances of time and
 place in which the crisis of ,isaiah's 
history occurred4 ,one day1 in the year 
that ,king ,uzziah died1 he wended his  
way1 as he had done hundreds of times   
before1 to the temple2 and there that   
took place which altered the whole      
course of his life4 ,whether in the body
 or out of the body1 we cannot tell1 he 
saw three successive visions1 or rather 
a threefold vision--a vision of ,god1 a 
vision of sin1 and a vision of grace4   
#a4 ,it began with a ,vision of ,god4   
,the chapter opens with these sublime   
words1 ,in the year that ,king ,uzziah  
died ,i saw the ,lord4 ,it is an        
astounding statement to come from a     
prophet of that religion whose          
fundamental principle was the           
spirituality of ,god1 ,no man hath seen 
,god at any time2 and1 indeed1 there is 
an old rabbinical tradition1 that ,king 

,manasseh1 who is said to have caused   
,isaiah to be sawn asunder1 made the    
alleged impiety of these words the      
excuse for his cruelty4 ,but it was a   
mere excuse2 for the difficulty only    
serves to prove the transcendent        
spiritual tact and literary skill of the
 prophet1 who manages the scene in such 
a way as to preserve quite intact the   
principle of the ,divine spirituality4  
,though he says that he saw ,god1 he    
gives no description of ,him2 only the  
sights and sounds round about ,him are  
so described as in the most vivid way to
 suggest the ,presence which remains    
unseen4 ,it is as if a historical scene 
of ruin and conflagration were          
represented on canvas1 without showing  
the burning materials1 by painting the  
glare of light and the emotions of      
terror and dismay on the faces of the   
spectators4  ,first1 the throne on which
 ,god sits is described3 it is erected  
in the temple1 and it is high and lifted
 up1 for ,he is a great ,king4 ,but no  

description is given of the figure      
seated on it2 only ,his train--the      
billowing folds of ,his robes--filled   
the temple4 ,above the throne1 or rather
 round it1 like the courtiers           
surrounding the throne of an ,eastern   
monarch1 stand the seraphim4 ,these     
beings are mentioned only here in ,holy 
,writ4 ,their name signifies the shining
 or fiery ones4 ,they are attendants of 
the ,divine ,king1 bright and swift as  
fire in their intelligence and activity4
 ,each has six wings3 with twain he     
covers his face1 and with twain he      
covers his feet1 evidently to protect   
his eyes and person from the consuming  
glory of the ,divine presence1 which is 
thus indicated again without being      
described2 and with the remaining two he
 flies1 or rather poises himself in his 
place ready for flight at the ,divine   
signal4  ,then1 amidst these sublime    
sights break in sounds equally sublime4 
,by our translation the impression is   
produced that they come from the        

seraphim4 ,but the original is more     
vague1 and the meaning probably is1 that
 the responsive voices which are heard  
come from unseen choirs in opposite     
quarters of the temple4 ,unceasingly the
 strain rises from one side1 unceasingly
 the answer comes from the other2 in the
 centre the voices meet and mingle in   
loud harmony4  ,their burden is1 ,holy1 
holy1 holy is the ,lord of hosts2 the   
whole earth is full of ,his glory4 ,that
 is1 they are celebrating the two       
attributes of the ,divine character     
which always most impressed a ,jewish   
mind--,his holiness and ,his            
omnipotence4 ,the one is ,god as ,he is 
in ,himself1 turned inwards1 so to      
speak4 ,he is absolutely holy1          
unapproachable1 a consuming fire        
scorching away impurity1 falsehood1 and 
sin of every kind4 ,the other is ,god as
 ,he is in the world1 turned outwards1  
so to speak2 the world's fulness--suns  
and systems1 mountains and oceans1      
earthquake and storm1 summer's abundance

 and winter's terror--all this is ,his  
glory1 the garment by which ,he makes   
,himself visible4#i  ,the voices swell  
till the temple rocks1 or seems to rock 
to the reeling senses of the prophet1   
and the house is filled with smoke1 or  
seems to be so1 as a mist envelops the  
swooning spirit of the spectator4 ,but  
still1 through the mist1 there peal1    
falling like the strokes of a hammer on 
the listening heart1 the notes of the   
dread song1 ,holy1 holy1 holy4  #b4     
,next ensued a ,vision of ,sin4 ,the    
vision of ,god could not but unseal a   
rushing stream of feeling of some kind  
in ,isaiah4 ,but of what kind would it  
be8 ,surely of joyful adoration3 the    
soul1 inspired with the sublimity of    
these sights and thrilled with these    
sounds1 will rise to the majesty of the 
occasion1 and the human voice will      
strike in with all its force among the  
angelic voices1 crying1 ,holy1 holy1    
holy4  ,so one might have expected4 ,but
 the human mind is a strange thing2 and 

it is difficult to know where and how to
 touch its delicate and complex         
mechanism so as to produce any desired  
effect4 ,you wish to produce a flow of  
tender feeling1 and you tell a pathetic 
tale1 which ought1 you think1 to move   
the heart4 ,but at every sentence the   
features of the listeners harden into   
more and more rigidity1 or even relax   
into mocking laughter2 whereas the      
suggestion of a noble thought1 which    
seems to have nothing to do with pathos1
 may instantaneously melt the soul and  
unseal the fountain of tears4 ,or is it 
the conscience which is to be affected8 
,the clumsy operator begins to assail it
 straight with denunciations of sin1    
but1 instead of producing penitence1 he 
only rouses the whole man into proud and
 angry self-defence2 whereas a single   
touch1 no heavier than an infant's      
finger1 applied away up somewhere1      
remote from conscience1 in the region of
 the imagination1 may send an electric  
shock down through the whole being and  

shake the conscience from centre to     
circumference4  ,isaiah's mind was one  
of the most sensitive and complicated   
ever bestowed on a human being2 but it  
was now in the hands of its ,maker1 who 
knew how to touch it to fine issues4    
,the ,maker's design on this occasion   
was to produce in it an overpowering    
sense of sin2 and what ,he did was to   
confront it with infinite holiness and  
majesty4 ,these were brought so near    
that there was no escape4 ,the poor1    
finite1 sinful man was held at arm's    
length1 so to speak1 in the grasp of the
 ,infinite and ,most ,holy2 and the     
result was a total collapse of the human
 spirit4 ,isaiah's eye turned away from 
the sight of ,god's glory back upon     
himself1 and back on his past life2 and1
 in this light1 all appeared foul and   
hideous4 ,there was sin everywhere--sin 
in himself and sin in his environment4  
,he was utterly confounded and swallowed
 up of shame and terror4 ,woe is me1 he 
groaned1 for ,i am undone2 because ,i am

 a man of unclean lips1 and ,i dwell in 
the midst of a people of unclean lips4  
,why he felt the taint specially on his 
lips it might not be easy to tell4      
,perhaps it was because the angelic song
 was a challenge to join in the praise  
of ,god1 but he felt that the lips of   
one like him were not worthy to join in 
their song4 ,perhaps--who can tell8--the
 besetting sin of his previous life may 
have been profanity of speech1 as it was
 evidently a crying sin of his time4    
,this suggestion gives a shock to the   
ideas which we associate with ,isaiah1  
and it is hard to think that the lips   
which afterwards spoke like angels can  
ever have defiled themselves with such a
 sin4 ,but this is the most natural     
meaning of the words1 and it is not     
against the analogy of other lives4     
,great saints1 and even great preachers1
 are made out of great sinners2 and the 
memory of an odious and conspicuous sin 
like this may sometimes lend a          
passionate force to subsequent devotion 

and keep alive for a lifetime the sense 
of personal unworthiness4  #c4 ,the last
 scene in the evolution of this vision1 
which was surely more than a vision1 was
 the ,vision of ,grace4 ,one of the     
fiery attendants1 who hovered on        
quivering wing ready to execute the     
orders of the ,divine ,king1 receiving a
 command by some unexplained mode of    
communication1 flew to the altar1 and1  
taking up the tongs1 seized with them a 
stone from the altar fire4 ,it was      
neither a coal1 as our rendering gives  
it1 nor a brand1 but a heated stone1    
such as was used1 and is used at the    
present day1 in the ,east1 for conveying
 heat to a distance for any purpose for 
which it might be required4 ,it came    
from the altar3 it contained ,god's     
fire1 and ,god sent it4  ,the purpose   
for which it was required on this       
occasion was cleansing4 ,of cleansing   
there are in ,scripture three symbols4  
,the simplest is water2 and water can   
purify many things2 but there are some  

things which water cannot cleanse4 ,a   
stronger agent is required1 and this is 
found in fire4 ,you must fling the ore1 
for example1 into the fire1 if you wish 
to extract from it the pure gold4 ,there
 is a third symbol1 which appears in the
 ,new ,testament as well as the ,old1   
and it is the most sacred of all4 ,it is
 blood4 ,water1 fire1 blood--these three
 mean the same in ,scripture4 ,in this  
case it was fire4  ,the seraph flew with
 the hot stone and laid it on the lips  
of the future prophet4 ,why did he lay  
it there8 ,because it was there that    
,isaiah felt his sin to be lying4 ,he   
had said1 ,i am a man of unclean lips4  
,the fire burned the sin away4 ,so the  
seraph said1 speaking in ,god's name1   
,lo1 this hath touched thy lips1 and    
thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin
 purged4 ,it was the assurance of the   
,divine forgiveness1 which had come     
swift as a seraph's flight in answer to 
,isaiah's confession4#aj  ,isaiah's     
preparation was completed in these three

 successive phases of experience2 and   
now the purpose was disclosed for which 
he had been prepared4 ,from aloft--from 
the throne high and lifted up--came the 
question1 ,whom shall ,i send1 and who  
will go for us8 ,the ,king needed a     
messenger to bear a message and         
represent ,himself4 ,he had chosen      
,isaiah to bear it2 yet ,he did not     
thrust the commission on him4#aa ,he did
 not need to do so2 for ,isaiah had     
passed through a preparation which made 
him not only thoroughly able1 but       
thoroughly willing4 ,he had been lifted 
out of time into eternity2 and in this  
one hour of concentrated experience he  
had both died and been born again4 ,his 
life had been undone and forfeited2 but 
,god had given it back to him1 and he   
felt that now it was not his own4 ,he   
was thrilling with the power of         
forgiveness1 and the impulses towards   
,god--to be near ,him1 to serve ,him1 to
 do anything for ,him--were now far     
stronger than his shrinking from ,him   

had been a little before4 ,therefore of 
his own free will and choice he answered
 the ,divine question with1 ,here am ,i1
 send me4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,gentlemen1 ,i have gone   
minutely into the details of this scene 
in the life of a representative preacher
 of the ,old ,testament1 because every  
line of it speaks to the deep and subtle
 movements of our own experience4 ,what 
is the inference to be drawn from it8   
,is it that at the commencement of a    
preacher's career there must be a call  
to the ministry distinct from the       
experience of personal salvation8 ,this 
inference has often been drawn2 but ,i  
prefer1 in the meantime at least1 to    
draw a wider but1 ,i believe1 a sounder 
and more useful inference4 ,it is this3 
that the outer must be preceded by the  
inner2 public life for ,god must be     
preceded by private life with ,god2     
unless ,god has first spoken to a man1  
it is vain for a man to attempt to speak
 for ,god4  ,this principle has an      

extensive and varied application4  ,it  
applies to the beginnings of the        
religious life4 ,i should like to be    
allowed to say to you1 gentlemen1 with  
all the earnestness of which ,i am      
capable1 that the prime qualification of
 a minister is that he be himself a     
religious man--that1 before he begins to
 make ,god known1 he should first       
himself know ,god4 ,how this comes to   
pass1 this is not the place to explain4 
,only let me say1 that it is more than  
the play upon us of religious influences
 from the outside4 ,there must be a     
reaction on our own part--an opening of 
our nature to take in and assimilate    
what is brought to bear on us by others4
 ,there must be an uprising of our own  
will and a deliberate choice of ,god4   
,of course in the history of many there 
are1 at this stage1 experiences almost  
as dramatic and memorable as this scene 
in the life of ,isaiah2 and they may be 
composed of nearly identical elements4  
,in some haunt of ordinary life--perhaps

 in the church of one's childhood or in 
the room consecrated by the prayers of  
early years--there comes a sudden       
revelation of ,god1 which transfigures  
everything4 ,in this great light the man
 feels himself to be like an unclean    
thing1 ready to be condemned and        
annihilated by the presence of the      
,thrice ,holy4 ,but then ensues the     
wonderful revelation of grace1 when ,god
 takes up the soul in despair and draws 
it to ,his heart1 penetrating it with   
the sense of forgiveness and the        
confidence of childhood4 ,it is not     
surprising that this new-born life      
should feel itself at once dedicated to 
the service of ,god4 ,i heard one of our
 most rising ministers say a short time 
ago1 that he knew he was to be a        
minister on the very day of his         
conversion1 though at the time he was   
engaged in a totally different pursuit4 
,but this may come later2 and it may be 
the burden of another great moment of   
revelation4 ,for1 as ,i have hinted     

already in this lecture1 the true       
,christian life is not all a silent1    
unmarked growth2 it has its crises also1
 when it rises at a bound to new levels1
 where new prospects unfold themselves  
before it and alter everything4 ,there  
are moments in life more precious than  
days1 and there are days which we would 
not exchange for years4 ,swept along    
with other materials into the common    
receptacle of memory1 they shine like   
gold1 silver1 precious stones among the 
wood1 hay1 stubble of ordinary          
experience4 ,it is impossible to say how
 much one such experience may do to     
direct and to inspire a life4 ,i believe
 that many a humble minister has such an
 experience hidden in his memory1 which 
he may never have disclosed to anyone1  
but which is invested for himself with  
unfading splendor and authority1 and    
binds him to the service of ,god till   
his dying day4#ab  ,but this principle1 
which we have drawn for our own use from
 ,isaiah's call1 applies not only to the

 initial act1 but to every subsequent   
detail of our life4 ,it is true of every
 appearance which a minister makes      
before a congregation4 ,unless he has   
spent the week with ,god and received   
,divine communications1 it would be     
better not to enter the pulpit or open  
his mouth on ,sunday at all4 ,there     
ought to be on the spirit1 and even on  
the face of a minister1 as he comes     
forth before men1 a ray of the glory    
which was seen on the face of ,moses    
when he came down among the people with 
,god's message from the mount4  ,it     
applies1 too1 on a larger scale1 to the 
ministerial life as a whole4 ,valuable  
as an initial call may be1 it will not  
do to trade too long on such a memory4  
,a ministry of growing power must be one
 of growing experience4 ,the soul must  
be in touch with ,god and enjoy golden  
hours of fresh revelation4 ,the truth   
must come to the minister as the        
satisfaction of his own needs and the   
answer to his perplexities2 and he must 

be able to use the language of religion1
 not as the nearest equivalent he can   
find for that which he believes others  
to be passing through1 but as the exact 
equivalent of that which he has passed  
through himself4 ,there are many rules  
for praying in public1 and a competent  
minister will not neglect them2 but     
there is one rule worth all the rest put
 together1 and it is this3 ,be a man of 
prayer yourself2 and then the           
congregation will feel1 as you open your
 lips to lead their devotions1 that you 
are entering an accustomed presence and 
speaking to a well-known ,friend4 ,there
 are arts of study by which the contents
 of the ,bible can be made available for
 the edification of others2 but this is 
the best rule3 ,study ,god's ,word      
diligently for your own edification2 and
 then1 when it has become more to you   
than your necessary food and sweeter    
than honey or the honey-comb1 it will be
 impossible for you to speak of it to   
others without a glow passing into your 

words which will betray the delight with
 which it has inspired yourself4#ac     
,perhaps of all causes of ministerial   
failure the commonest lies here2 and of 
all ministerial qualifications1 this1   
although the simplest1 is the most      
trying4 ,either we have never had a     
spiritual experience deep and thorough  
enough to lay bare to us the mysteries  
of the soul2 or our experience is too   
old1 and we have repeated it so often   
that it has become stale to ourselves2  
or we have made reading a substitute for
 thinking2 or we have allowed the number
 and the pressure of the duties of our  
office to curtail our prayers and shut  
us out of our studies2 or we have       
learned the professional tone in which  
things ought to be said1 and we can fall
 into it without present feeling4 ,power
 for work like ours is only to be       
acquired in secret2 it is only the man  
who has a large1 varied and original    
life with ,god who can go on speaking   
about the things of ,god with fresh     

interest2 but a thousand things happen  
to interfere with such a prayerful and  
meditative life4 ,it is not because our 
arguments for religion are not strong   
enough that we fail to convince1 but    
because the argument is wanting which   
never fails to tell2 and this is        
religion itself4 ,people everywhere can 
appreciate this1 and nothing can supply 
the lack of it4 ,the hearers may not    
know why their minister1 with all his   
gifts1 does not make a religious        
impression on them2 but it is because he
 is not himself a spiritual power4#ad   
,there comes to my mind a reminiscence  
from college days1 which grows more     
significant to me the longer ,i live4   
,one ,saturday morning at our           
,missionary ,society there came1 at our 
invitation1 to talk to us about our     
future life1 the professor who was the  
idol of the students and reputed the    
most severely scientific of the whole   
staff4 ,we used to think him keen1 too1 
and cynical2 and what we expected was   

perhaps a scathing exposure of the      
weaknesses of ministers or a severe     
exhortation to study4 ,it turned out1 on
 the contrary1 to be a strange piece1   
steeped in emotion and full of almost   
lyrical tenderness2 and ,i can still    
remember the kind of awe which fell on  
us1 as1 from this reserved nature1 we   
heard a conception of the ministry which
 had scarcely occurred to any of us     
before2 for he said1 that the great     
purpose for which a minister is settled 
in a parish is not to cultivate         
scholarship1 or to visit the people     
during the week1 or even to preach to   
them on ,sunday1 but it is to live among
 them as a good man1 whose mere presence
 is a demonstration which cannot be     
gainsaid that there is a life possible  
on earth which is fed from no earthly   
source1 and that the things spoken of in
 church on ,sabbath are realities4      
,side by side with this reminiscence    
there lives in my memory another1 which 
also grows more beautiful the more ,i   

learn of life4 ,it was my happiness1    
when ,i was ordained1 to be settled next
 neighbour to an aged and saintly       
minister4 ,he was a man of competent    
scholarship1 and had the reputation of  
having been in early life a powerful and
 popular preacher4 ,but it was not to   
these gifts that he owned his unique    
influence4 ,he moved through the town1  
with his white hair and somewhat staid  
and dignified demeanour1 as a hallowing 
presence4 ,his very passing in the      
street was a kind of benediction1 and   
the people1 as they looked after him1   
spoke of him to each other with         
affectionate veneration4 ,children were 
proud when he laid his hand on their    
heads1 and they treasured the kindly    
words which he spoke to them4 ,at       
funerals and other seasons of domestic  
solemnity his presence was sought by    
people of all denominations4 ,we who    
laboured along with him in the ministry 
felt that his mere existence in the     
community was an irresistible           

demonstration of ,christianity and a    
tower of strength to every good cause4  
,yet he had not gained this position of 
influence by brilliant talents or great 
achievements or the pushing of ambition2
 for he was singularly modest1 and would
 have been the last to credit himself   
with half the good he did4 ,the whole   
mystery lay in this1 that he had lived  
in the town for forty years a blameless 
life1 and was known by everybody to be a
 godly and prayerful man4 ,he was good  
enough to honour me with his friendship2
 and his example wrote deeply upon my   
mind these two convictions--that it may 
sometimes be of immense advantage to    
spend a whole lifetime in a single      
pastorate1 and that the prime           
qualification for the ministry is       
goodness4#ae  ,,footnotes3  #g ,one     
great part of the history of the ,bible 
is the history of ,calls4--,,dean       
,,church4  #h ,i am sorry to observe    
that even ,mr4 ,g4,a4 ,smith1 whose     
,commentary on ,isaiah is distinguished 

not only by thorough scholarship but by 
what is far rarer in works of the       
kind--a profusion of just and inspiring 
ideas--at this point1 following bad     
examples1 says that there are ideas     
imported into the account of ,isaiah's  
call which belonged to a later period of
 his life4 ,not only is this wrong      
psychologically1 because it minimises   
the divinatory power of the human spirit
 in the great moments of experience2 but
 surely it is utterly wrong             
artistically1 because1 if the ideas are 
historically out of place1 ,isaiah      
himself ought to have felt that1 by     
placing them there1 he was breaking the 
spell of verisimilitude1 on which the   
effect of such a picture depends4  #i   
,this is the literal translation1 ,the  
fulness of the whole world is ,his      
glory4  #aj ,the lips of ,jeremiah were 
also touched in his call by the hand of 
,god4 ,but the meaning appears to have  
been different4 ,he had complained that 
he could not speak--that he was         

tongue-tied4 ,the touch of the ,divine  
hand may have meant that the restraining
 cord was loosed1 and a free passage    
made for the utterance of what he had to
 say4 ,the words which accompanied the  
touch suggest1 however1 a slightly      
different idea--,behold1 ,i have put ,my
 words in thy mouth4 ,the difficulty of 
,jeremiah was not exactly that of       
,moses1 who1 when he complained that he 
could not speak1 meant that1 never      
having acquired the art of expressing   
himself1 he could not utter what he had 
to say1 even though he was full of      
matter4 ,this was the natural difficulty
 of an elderly man2 for the art of      
expression has to be acquired in youth4 
,but the difficulty of a young man like 
,jeremiah is not so much to express what
 he has to say as to get something worth
 saying4 ,this was what ,jeremiah       
complained of2 and the touching of his  
lips meant that ,god was putting ,his   
own words into his mouth4 ,it was a     
promise that the well of ideas in his   

mind should not run dry1 but that ,god  
would give him such a revelation of ,his
 mind and will as would supply him with 
an ample message to his age4 ,all three 
cases are full of instruction and       
encouragement4  #aa ,after passing      
through the fundamental religious       
experiences of forgiveness and          
cleansing1 which are in every case the  
indispensable premises of life with     
,god1 ,isaiah was left to himself4 ,no  
direct summons was addressed to him1 no 
compulsion was laid on him2 but he heard
 the voice of ,god asking generally for 
messengers1 and he1 on his own          
responsibility1 answered it for himself 
in particular4 ,he heard from the       
,divine lips of the ,divine need for    
messengers1 and he was immediately full 
of the mind that he was the man for the 
mission1 and of the heart to give       
himself to it4 ,so great an example     
cannot be too closely studied by        
candidates for the ministry in our own  
day4 ,sacrifice is not the half-sleepy1 

half-reluctant submission to the force  
of circumstance or opinion1 in which    
shape it is so often travestied among   
us1 but the resolute self-surrender and 
willing resignation of a free and       
reasonable soul4 ,there are many in our 
day who look for an irresistible        
compulsion into the ministry of the     
,church2 sensitive as they are to the   
material bias by which men roll off into
 other professions1 they pray for       
something of a similar kind to prevail  
with them in this direction also4 ,there
 are men who pass into the ministry by  
social pressure or the opinion of the   
circles they belong to1 and there are   
men who adopt the profession simply     
because it is on the line of least      
resistance4 ,from which false beginnings
 rise the spent force1 the premature    
stoppages1 the stagnancy1 the           
aimlessness and heartlessness1 which are
 the scandals of the professional       
ministry and the weakness of the        
,christian ,church in our day4 ,men who 

drift into the ministry1 as it is       
certain so many do1 become mere         
ecclesiastical flotsam and jetsam1      
incapable of giving carriage to any soul
 across the waters of this life1        
uncertain of their own arrival anywhere1
 and of all the waste of their          
generation1 the most patent and         
disgraceful4 ,god will have no driftwood
 for ,his sacrifices1 no drift-men for  
,his ministers4 ,self-consecration is   
the beginning of ,his service1 and a    
sense of our own freedom and our own    
responsibility is an indispensable      
element in the act of                   
self-consecration4--,g4,a4 ,,smith3     
,isaiah4  #ab ,i do not know that ,i    
have ever seen an entirely satisfactory 
statement of what constitutes a call to 
the ministry4 ,probably it is one of    
those things of the ,spirit which cannot
 be mathematically defined4 ,the variety
 of the calls in ,scripture warns us    
against laying down any scheme to which 
the experience of every one must        

conform4 ,it is the same as with the    
commencement of the spiritual life1     
where also the work of the ,spirit of   
,god overflows our definitions4 ,while  
some can remember and describe the whole
 process through which they have passed1
 others who exhibit as undeniably the   
marks of the ,divine handiwork can give 
comparatively little account of how it  
took place4 ,the test of the reality of 
the change is not its power of being    
made into a good story4 ,in the one     
case1 however1 as in the other1 a       
conscientious man will give all         
diligence to make his calling and       
election sure4 ,excellent chapters on   
the subject will be found in ,spurgeon's
 ,lectures to ,my ,students and         
,blaikie's ,for the ,work of the        
,ministry4  #ac ,you have to be busy    
men1 with many distractions1 with time  
not your own3 and yet1 if you are to be 
anything1 there is one thing you must   
secure4 ,you must have time to enter    
into your own heart and be quiet1 you   

must learn to collect yourselves1 to be 
alone with yourselves1 alone with your  
own thoughts1 alone with eternal        
realities which are behind the rush and 
confusion of moral things1 alone with   
,god4 ,you must learn to shut your door 
on all your energy1 on all your         
interests1 on your hopes and fears and  
cares1 and in the silence of your       
chamber to 'possess your souls4' ,you   
must learn to look below the surface2 to
 sow the seed which you will never reap2
 to hear loud voices against you or     
seductive ones1 and to find in your own 
heart the assurance and the spell which 
makes them vain4 ,whatever you do1 part 
not with the inner sacred life of the   
soul whereby we live within to 'things  
not seen1' to ,christ1 and truth and    
immortality4 ,your work1 your activity1 
belong to earth2 no real human interest1
 nothing that stirs or attracts or that 
troubles men in this scene of life1     
ought to be too great or too little for 
you4 ,but your thoughts belong to       

heaven2 and it is to that height that   
they must rise1 it is there that in     
solitude and silence they must be       
rekindled1 and enlarged1 and calmed1 if 
even activity and public spirit are not 
to degenerate into a fatal forgetfulness
 of the true purpose of your calling--a 
forgetfulness of the infinite tenderness
 and delicacy1 of the unspeakable       
sacredness1 of the mysterious issues1   
which belong to the ministry of         
souls4--,,dean ,,church4  #ad ,habet    
autem ut obedienter audiatur            
quantacunque granditate dictionis majus 
pondus vita dicentis4--,,st4            
,,augustine4  #ae ,as he has been dead  
for several years1 ,i need not hesitate 
to give the name of my dear and honoured
 friend--the ,rev4 ,james ,black1 of    
,dunnikier4     ,,lecture ,,iii4  ,,the 
,,preacher ,,as ,a ,,patriot4   ,we have
 committed ourselves1 in our mode of    
dealing with the subject of these       
lectures1 to the guidance of ,scripture2
 and ,i have already1 in the opening    

lecture1 alluded to the doubt1 which    
might arise in some minds that this     
method might carry us away from the     
living questions of the present age4    
,but long experience has taught me to be
 very confident in this method of study4
 ,it is astonishing how directly1 when  
trusting to the leading hand of         
,scripture1 one is conducted to the     
heart of almost any subject1 and how    
frequently one is thus compelled to take
 up delicate aspects of present         
questions which one would otherwise     
timidly avoid2 while there is1 besides1 
this other great advantage1 that one can
 always go forward with a firm step1    
having at one's back a ,divine warrant  
and authority4 ,to-day we shall have an 
illustration of this2 for the method    
which we are obeying will carry us      
straight into the midst of the burning  
questions of the hour2 and the example  
of the prophets will press on our       
attention an aspect of ministerial duty 
which the times are urgently clamouring 

for1 but which it is by no means easy to
 face4 ,in our last lecture we were     
occupied with the call of the prophet to
 the service of ,god2 to-day we have to 
study wherein consisted this service    
itself4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,here we are at once       
confronted with a contrast between the  
work of ,old ,testament prophets and    
that of modern ministers1 to which it is
 by no means easy to adjust the mind4   
,our message in modern times is         
addressed to the individual2 but the    
message of the prophets was addressed to
 the nation4 ,the unit in our minds is  
always the soul2 we warn every man to   
flee from the wrath to come2 we reason  
and wrestle with him in the name of     
,heaven2 we watch over the growth of his
 character2 and we estimate our success 
by the number of individuals brought    
into the kingdom4 ,in the prophets there
 is a complete absence of all this4     
,they are no less in earnest2 their aim 
is equally clear before them2 but the   

unit in their minds is different3 it is 
the ,jewish state1 or at least the city 
of ,jerusalem1 as a whole4 ,a recent    
commentator#af on ,isaiah has raised the
 question1 whether ,isaiah has a gospel 
for the individual4 ,he makes out that  
he has2 but it is in a somewhat         
round-about way2 and it is not done     
without1 to some extent1 attributing to 
,isaiah a point of view which was not   
his4 ,it was ,christ who introduced the 
modern point of view4 ,he was the       
discoverer of the individual4 ,it was   
,he who taught the world to believe in  
the dignity and destiny of the single   
soul2 and ,he trained ,his ministers to 
seek and save it4  ,isaiah's position1  
however1 is well worth studying1 and has
 its own lesson for us4 ,only we must   
acknowledge it to be what it really is1 
and endeavour to place ourselves on his 
standpoint4 ,to him the ,new ,testament 
position was no more possible than the  
modern view of ethics was to the ancient
 philosophers2 and the student of       

philosophy saturated from birth with the
 modern ideas of freedom and            
individuality1 has an exactly similar   
difficulty to overcome1 as he reads1 for
 example1 the ,republic of ,plato1 where
 the state is everything and the        
individual nothing4  ,while a message to
 any individual is rare in the          
prophetical books1 that which we come   
upon wherever we open them is a         
patriotic and statesman-like appeal on  
the condition of the country4 ,the      
prophets addressed themselves by        
preference to the heads and             
representatives of the people1 such as  
kings1 princes and priests2 because the 
power to effect changes in the situation
 of the country rested in their hands4  
,but they also took advantage of large  
popular gatherings1 and in some         
conspicuous place1 such as the city-gate
 or the court of the temple1 delivered  
their message1 which thus might reach   
every corner of the land4 ,a name which 
they delight to apply to themselves is  

,watchmen4 ,as the watchman1 stationed  
on his tower over the city-gate1 kept   
guard over the safety of the place1     
giving notice when danger was           
approaching and summoning the citizens  
to defend themselves1 so the prophets   
from their watch-tower--that is1 the    
position of elevation and observation   
which inspiration gave them--watched    
over the weal of the state1 observing   
narrowly its condition within1 keeping  
their eye on the influences to which it 
was exposed from without1 and1 when     
danger threatened1 giving the alarm4    
,their acquaintance is extraordinary    
with the state of every part of the     
country2 and still more astonishing is  
their knowledge of surrounding          
countries4 ,when they have to speak of  
,moab or ,edom1 they seem as familiar   
with the towns and rivers1 the customs  
and history of these countries1 as with 
those of ,judah2 and they appear to be  
as well acquainted with what is going on
 in the cities on the ,nile or the      

,euphrates as with what is happening in 
,jerusalem4 ,no home secretary is as    
well acquainted with the internal       
affairs of his own country1 and no      
foreign secretary with the affairs of   
foreign countries4 ,it was their        
vocation to be sensitively alive to all 
the influences1 near or remote1 by which
 their native land could be affected4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,the contents of the prophetic writings1
 notwithstanding their variety1 easily  
fall into a few great masses4 ,the chief
 are these three--,criticism1           
,denunciation and ,comfort4  #a4 ,there 
is a great mass of what may be called   
,criticism4 ,standing on their          
watch-tower and turning their           
observation on the internal condition of
 the state1 the prophets could nearly   
always discern diseased symptoms in the 
body corporate1 and it was their duty to
 point them out4 ,so ,isaiah commences  
his prophecies3 ,the whole head is sick1
 and the whole heart faint4 ,from the   

sole of the foot even unto the head     
there is no soundness in it2 but wounds1
 and bruises1 and putrifying sores3 they
 have not been closed1 neither bound up1
 neither mollified with ointment4 ,and  
he thus gives expression to the         
obligation which was laid on him to make
 these discoveries known3 ,cry aloud1   
spare not1 lift up thy voice like a     
trumpet1 and show ,my people their      
transgression1 and the house of ,jacob  
their sins4  ,the sins which the        
prophets had to reprehend were pretty   
uniform all through the prophetic       
period2 and it is interesting to compare
 them with those by which our own age is
 afflicted4 ,there is no school in which
 the conscience can be so well educated 
to a sense of public sin as in the      
writings of the prophets4  ,the root    
evil was always ,idolatry4 ,the nation  
was continually falling away from the   
worship of the true ,god to idols1 or at
 least the worship of other deities was 
incorporated with that of ,jehovah4     

,this was always both a symptom of      
advanced degradation and the head and   
fountain of other evils of the worst    
kind4 ,all the prophets attack it with  
all the weapons in their armoury--with  
hot indignation and close argument and  
scalding tears4 ,isaiah is remarkable   
for attacking it with raillery and      
sarcasm4 ,he takes his readers into the 
idol workshop and details the process of
 their manufacture4 ,he shows us the    
workmen1 surrounded with their plates of
 metal and logs of wood1 out of which   
the god is to be fashioned1 and busy    
with their files and planes1 their axes 
and hammers1 putting together the       
helpless thing4 ,the idolmaker1 he says1
 has a fine ash or oak or cedar-tree1   
and makes a pretty idol with it2 but    
with the same wood he lights his fire   
and cooks his dinner--,he burneth part  
thereof in the fire2 with part thereof  
he eateth flesh2 he roasteth roast and  
is satisfied2 yea1 he warmeth himself   
and saith1 ,aha1 aha1 ,i am warm1 ,i    

have seen the fire2 and the residue     
thereof he maketh a god1 even his graven
 image2 he falleth down unto it and     
worshippeth it and prayeth unto it1 and 
saith1 ,deliver me1 for thou art my god4
  ,closely associated with idolatry was 
,luxury4 ,so successful to our minds is 
the polemic of a prophet like ,isaiah   
against idolatry that the wonder to us  
is that it was ever necessary2 and1     
indeed1 there are few things more       
puzzling to the ordinary reader of      
,scripture than the constant lapses of  
the people of ,god into idolatry4 ,how  
could they1 knowing the true ,god1      
exchange a worship so rational and      
elevated for the worship of stocks and  
stones8 ,the explanation is a simple but
 a humiliating one4 ,the worship of     
these foreign deities was accompanied   
with sensual excesses1 which appealed to
 the strongest elementary passions of   
human nature4 ,feasts1 dances and       
drunken orgies formed part of the       
worship of ,baal and the other          

,canaanite divinities4 ,idolatry in     
,israel was never due to theoretic      
changes of opinion2 it was only the way 
in which an outbreak of laxity and      
luxury manifested itself4 ,its          
equivalent in our day would be an       
excessive development of the passion for
 amusement and excitement1 destroying   
the dignity and seriousness of life4    
,the wealthy and fashionable classes led
 the way1 as they generally do in       
periods of moral retrogression2 and the 
worst symptom of all was when the       
womanhood of the country surrendered    
itself to the prevailing tendencies4    
,this last feature of degradation had   
developed itself in ,isaiah's day2 and  
he attacks it with a strange combination
 of humour and moral indignation3       
,because the daughters of ,jerusalem are
 haughty1 and walk with outstretched    
neck and wanton eyes1 walking and       
mincing as they go1 making a tinkling   
with their feet1 therefore 444 the ,lord
 will take away the bravery of their    

tinkling ornaments about their feet1 and
 their cauls and their round tires like 
the moon1 the chains and the bracelets  
and the mufflers1 the bonnets and the   
ornaments of the legs and the headbands1
 the tablets and the earrings1 the rings
 and nose jewels1 the changeable suits  
of apparel and the mantles and the      
wimples and the crisping pins1 the      
glasses and the fine linen1 and the     
hoods and the veils2 and it shall come  
to pass that instead of sweet smell     
there shall be stink1 and instead of a  
girdle a rent1 and instead of well-set  
hair baldness1 and instead of a         
stomacher a girdle of sackcloth1 and    
burning instead of beauty4  ,then there 
was ,oppression4 ,excessive luxury in   
the upper classes is usually accompanied
 with misery among those at the opposite
 end of the social scale2 because the   
rich in such a state of society are     
heartless1 and not only neglect the     
poor1 but oppress them4 ,the prophets   
are full of the wrongs inflicted on the 

weak by the powerful4 ,the wealthy      
landowners took advantage of the        
difficulties of their less prosperous   
neighbours to rob them of their holdings
 and remove the ancient landmarks2 and  
the courts of law were so corrupt that  
those who could not bribe the occupants 
of the chair of justice had no chance of
 redress4 ,the spirit of the            
constitution was so far violated that   
the rich held their own                 
fellow-countrymen in slavery1 and did   
not even give them the advantage of the 
year of jubilee4 ,many a page of the    
writings of the prophets looks like a   
programme for the reform of abuses with 
which we are too familiar in our own    
civilisation4 ,woe1 says ,jeremiah1 to  
him that buildeth his house by          
unrighteousness and his chambers by     
wrong2 that useth his neighbour's       
services without wages and giveth him   
not for his work4  ,last of all there   
was ,hypocrisy4 ,in spite of these sins1
 crying to ,heaven1 there was seldom any

 lack of religiosity or the outward     
forms of religion4 ,religion was        
divorced from morality1 and ritual was  
substituted for righteousness4 ,there is
 no commoner or weightier burden in the 
prophets than this4 ,it is on this      
subject that ,isaiah lets loose the     
whole force of his prophetic soul in his
 very first chapter1 where there is a   
truly appalling picture of the          
combination of religious rites the most 
multiplied with moral abuses the most   
clamant3 ,to what purpose is the        
multitude of your sacrifices to ,me8    
saith the ,lord4 ,i am full of the      
burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of  
fed beasts2 and ,i delight not in the   
blood of bullocks or of rams or of      
he-goats4 ,when ye come to appear before
 ,me1 who hath required this at your    
hands1 to tread ,my courts8 ,bring no   
more vain oblations2 incense is an      
abomination unto ,me2 the new moons and 
,sabbaths1 the calling of assemblies1 ,i
 cannot away with2 it is iniquity1 even 

the solemn meeting4 ,your new moons and 
your appointed feasts ,my soul hateth2  
they are a trouble unto ,me2 ,i am weary
 to bear them4 ,and1 when ye spread     
forth your hands1 ,i will hide ,mine    
eyes from you2 yea1 when ye make many   
prayers1 ,i will not hear4 ,your hands  
are full of blood4 ,wash you2 make you  
clean2 put away the evil of your doings 
from before ,mine eyes2 cease to do     
evil2 learn to do well2 seek judgment2  
relieve the oppressed2 judge the        
fatherless2 plead for the widow4  ,thus 
did these watchmen search out the moral 
and religious condition of the people to
 the very bottom and1 in the most       
expressive language1 bring home to their
 fellow-countrymen how they stood in the
 eyes of ,god4  #b4 ,a second large mass
 of the prophetic writings is occupied  
with ,denunciation1 or the prediction of
 calamities about to come as the        
punishment of sin4 ,as sure as the      
prophets were that the ,god of the      
universe was a righteous ,god1 so       

certain were they that the public sins  
which they exposed would bring down the 
wrath of ,heaven2 for though hand join  
in hand1 the wicked shall not be        
unpunished4  ,the instruments of        
punishment were not far to seek4 ,israel
 was surrounded by nations which        
entertained towards her feelings of     
bitter hostility and needed only the    
slightest provocation to attack her4    
,such were ,edom and ,moab1 ,philistia  
and ,syria4 ,but1 above all1 she was    
hemmed in on both sides by great and    
warlike powers--,egypt on the one hand  
and ,assyria or ,babylonia on the other4
 ,these were incessantly watching each  
other1 and1 in doing so1 they had to    
look across ,israel4 ,she lay in the way
 which the one had to take in order to  
get at the other4 ,the secular historian
 would say that she could not but fall  
sooner or later into the hands of the   
one or the other1 and that she would    
probably pass frequently from hand to   
hand4 ,but to the prophets these warlike

 powers were the scourges in ,god's hand
 to punish the sins of ,his people2 and1
 looking outwards from their            
watch-tower1 after exposing the sins    
within the state1 they announced that   
the storm-cloud of calamity was rising  
from this quarter or that long before   
any suspicion of it had dawned on the   
citizens themselves4 ,jehovah turns the 
hearts of kings and peoples as the      
rivers of water1 and ,he stirred up     
these hostile nations when ,his people  
were in need of chastisement2 ,he could 
wield their power as the axe which      
assails a tree is wielded by the        
woodman2 ,he could call the mightiest   
conqueror to serve ,his secret purposes1
 as a man calls a dog to his foot4#ag   
,they did not know that they were being 
thus used4 ,they had their own designs1 
and their hatred and cruelty towards    
,god's people were real enough4 ,they   
were even1 after doing ,god's work on   
,his people1 to be punished in turn for 
the animosity and violence with which   

they performed it4 ,but in the meantime 
the will of ,jehovah was accomplished1  
and the discipline of ,his providence   
wreaked on the sins of the nation4  #c4 
,the third great element in these books 
is ,comfort4 ,not unfrequently1 in      
delivering these predictions of         
approaching calamity1 the prophets had  
to put themselves into opposition to    
popular forms of patriotism and incur   
the danger of being regarded as enemies 
of their country4 ,this was especially  
the case with ,jeremiah1 who was        
burdened all his life with the sad task 
of proclaiming that the time for        
repentance was past1 and the ,jewish    
state1 with its capital1 must be        
destroyed4 ,when the enemy was before   
the walls of ,jerusalem1 and the heads  
of the state were rallying the citizens 
to the last and most sacred duty of     
defending their hearths and altars1 he  
had still to predict that resistance was
 useless2 and he was imprisoned as a    
traitor1 because his words were         

disheartening the soldiers4 ,when at    
last the city fell into the hands of the
 enemy1 he was set free from            
imprisonment and loaded with honours by 
the conqueror as one who had been a     
valuable ally4 ,never was a position    
more equivocal occupied by a patriot4   
,yet never has there beaten in a human  
breast a heart more patriotic than      
,jeremiah's4 ,patriotism1 strong as a   
man's passion and tender as a woman's   
love1 is the keynote of every chapter of
 his prophecies4 ,this is characteristic
 of all the prophets4 ,they loved       
,israel1 and especially the city of     
,jerusalem1 with an ardour of affection 
such as has rarely1 if ever1 been       
bestowed on any other country or city on
 earth4 ,there was something natural in 
this passion2 for ,palestine was a      
lovely country1 whose fruitful plains   
and picturesque valleys and vine-clad   
hills easily captivated the hearts of   
its inhabitants2 and ,jerusalem was a   
city beautiful for situation4 ,but this 

natural attachment was transfigured into
 a higher sentiment4 ,jerusalem was the 
hearth and sanctuary of the true        
religion4 ,the country was dear to the  
hearts of the prophets1 because it had  
been specially chosen by ,jehovah as a  
home for ,his people1 in which they     
might work out their destiny4 ,the      
people who inhabited this country were  
to be married to ,jehovah2 ,he was to   
penetrate them with ,his spirit and     
character2 and in them and their seed   
all nations of the earth were to be     
blessed4  ,to this sublime conception of
 the nation the hearts of all the       
prophets clung4 ,however unworthy of it 
their own generation might be1 they     
believed in the inexhaustible resources 
of their race1 which was immortal till  
its destiny was accomplished4 ,it was   
this faith1 inspiring ,isaiah1 which    
enabled him to rally his                
fellow-countrymen to the defence of     
,jerusalem1 when1 according to all human
 probabilities1 extinction stared it in 

the face4 ,and even ,jeremiah1 though he
 had to predict the ruin of the city of 
his heart1 never dreamed for a moment   
that its career was at an end2 but1     
looking beyond the calamities of the    
immediate future1 he predicted that ,god
 would restore the captivity of ,his    
people and yet make ,zion a praise in   
the earth4 ,it was1 indeed1 in times of 
calamity and suffering that the         
patriotism of the prophets burned most  
ardently4 ,it was then that1 speaking in
 ,god's name1 they poured out on the    
stricken city the affection which       
breathes in such wonderful words of     
,isaiah as these3 ,can a mother forget  
her sucking child that she should not   
have compassion on the son of her womb8 
,yea1 they may forget3 yet will ,i not  
forget thee4 ,behold1 ,i have graven    
thee upon the palms of ,my hands2 thy   
walls are continually before ,me4 ,the  
second half of ,isaiah1#ah addressed to 
the exiles in ,babylon1 overflows with  
such outbursts of tenderness2 and1      

although there is obviously a love in   
them which is more than human1 yet the  
,divine love could not have found an    
outlet and a voice for itself except    
through a human heart of the most       
exquisite sensibility and passionate    
patriotism4#ai ,the prophets1 who could 
scourge the people in the height of     
their prosperity and wantonness with    
words which smote like swords1 became in
 the days of calamity the assiduous     
ministers of comfort1 pouring balm into 
the wounds of their country and never   
allowing the daughter of ,zion to       
despair of her future4  ,it was then    
especially that they cultivated the most
 remarkable of all the elements of      
prophecy--the hope of the ,messiah4     
,tragic as was the failure of the       
prophets themselves to raise the nation 
to the elevation which they saw so      
clearly to be her destiny1 they all     
believed that what they had failed to do
 would yet be done1 and that there would
 yet be a ,jerusalem bright and glorious

 as a star1 and serving as the star of  
hope to all the peoples of the earth4   
,their confidence in this did not rest  
solely on the will and power of ,god in 
general2 it was guaranteed to them by   
the belief1 which1 under different      
forms1 they all cherished1 and taught   
their countrymen to cherish1 that in the
 womb of the nation there lay ,one1 to  
be born in due time1 endowed with powers
 far greater than their own1 who would  
take up the task which each of them had 
had in his turn to lay by               
unaccomplished1 and carry it forward to 
its fulfilment--a ,child of the nation  
who would unite in ,his character all   
the attributes in their fullest         
perfection which the nation herself     
ought to have possessed1 and who1 though
 standing high above ,his               
fellow-countrymen1 would yet be         
thoroughly incorporated with them1 and1 
taking on ,his shoulders the            
responsibility of their destiny1 would  
never fail to be discouraged under it1  

but bear it victoriously to the goal4   
,unto us a ,child is born1 unto us a    
,son is given2 and the government shall 
be upon ,his shoulder2 and ,his name    
shall be called ,wonderful1 ,counsellor1
 the ,mighty ,god1 the ,everlasting     
,father1 the ,prince of ,peace4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,now1 gentlemen1 the question is1 ,how  
far the aspect of the prophetic activity
 which we have considered to-day is a   
model to us8  ,it might be argued that  
this is a stage of preaching which has  
been superseded1 and that the message of
 ministers ought now to be addressed    
entirely to individuals4 ,this is the   
theory of preaching on which many act1  
without perhaps considering how widely  
it differs from the procedure of the    
prophets4 ,and no doubt much might be   
said in its defence4 ,it was a vast step
 in the development of religion when    
,jesus turned from the nation to the    
individual and taught the world the     
value of the soul4 ,here must ever now  

lie the stress of ,christian preaching2 
the preacher is not worthy of the       
,christian name who does not know what  
it is to hunger and thirst for the      
salvation of individuals1 and who does  
not esteem the salvation of even one    
soul well worth the labour of a         
lifetime4  ,still it may be doubted     
whether any stage through which         
preaching has passed can ever be        
entirely superseded2 and we may well    
hesitate to believe that the work of an 
,isaiah or a ,jeremiah is not still work
 for us4  ,this doubt is further        
strengthened when we turn to the record 
of ,christ's own preaching4 ,he is the  
final standard and incomparable model4  
,but1 though ,he discovered the soul and
 taught the world the value of the      
individual1 ,his preaching was not      
exclusively directed to individuals4 ,it
 had a public and national side4 ,he    
cast ,his protection over publicans and 
sinners1 not only because they were the 
children of men1 but also because they  

were the seed of ,abraham2 ,he submitted
 ,his claims to the ecclesiastical      
authorities of the nation1 and1 when    
they rejected them1 ,he directed against
 the religious parties the thunderbolts 
of ,his invective4 ,the tears and words 
of indescribable tenderness which ,he   
poured out upon the city where ,he was  
about to be martyred proved that the    
patriotism of ,isaiah and ,jeremiah     
still burned in ,his heart2 and ,he     
charged ,his apostles1 when sending them
 forth to evangelize the world1 to begin
 at ,jerusalem4#bj  ,if this did not    
settle the question1 the nature of the  
case would demonstrate that the         
preacher's vocation includes a message  
to the community as well as to the      
individual4 ,it will be conceded by all 
that the preacher exists for the        
promotion of righteousness and the      
diminution of sin in the world4 ,but sin
 is not only lodged in the heart of the 
individual3 it is embodied also in evil 
customs and unjust laws1 for which the  

community is responsible4 ,the          
individual is largely moulded by his    
environment2 but this may either be so  
favourable to goodness that his evil    
tendencies are restrained and everything
 encourages him to do well1 or so evil  
that the worst vices are easily         
contracted1 while every step in the     
right direction meets with a storm of   
opposition4 ,no one would contend that  
the chances of a soul are the same      
whether it lives among those who watch  
carefully over its development and guide
 its footsteps in the paths of peace1 or
 among those whose word and example are 
encouragements to every kind of sin4    
,society ought to be a kindly matrix in 
which incipient life is nurtured into   
health and beauty2 but it may be a      
malignant nurse1 by whom the stream of  
life is poisoned at its very source4 ,if
 this be so1 then it is as reprehensible
 in those whose vocation is to watch    
over the moral and spiritual development
 of their fellow-men to be indifferent  

to the conditions by which life is      
surrounded as it would be discreditable 
to the physicians of a city swept year  
after year by pestilence1 if they took  
no interest in the insanitary conditions
 to which the epidemic was due1 but     
lazily contented themselves with curing 
their own patients4  ,we seem to have   
arrived at precisely the point in the   
,church's history when her mind and     
conscience are to awake to this aspect  
of her duty4 ,one of the most eminent   
members of the ,english bench of bishops
 said recently1 that the social question
 is the question which the ,christianity
 of the present day has to solve2 and   
this sentiment is being echoed in every 
quarter4 ,strange it is how age after   
age one word of the message of          
,christianity after another lays hold of
 the ,christian mind and becomes for a  
time the watchword of progress4 ,there  
can be little doubt that this is the    
word for our age4 ,the extraordinary    
response given throughout the civilised 

world to ,general ,booth's ,in ,darkest 
,england proves how deeply the          
conscience of the world is being stirred
 by the misery and degradation of the   
outcasts of society4  ,general ,booth's 
book1 and other books and pamphlets like
 it1 have brought home to us the fact1  
that at the base of our civilisation    
there is sweltering a mass of sin and   
misery1 which is not less a reproach to 
,christianity than were the publicans   
and sinners to the religion of the      
contemporaries of ,christ2 because1     
though the ,church may not1 like the    
,scribes and ,pharisees1 despise and    
hate these outcasts1 it has not yet     
coped effectually with the problem of   
their condition2 and perhaps their      
numbers are increasing rather than      
diminishing4 ,there are sections of the 
community in which the conditions of    
existence are so evil that childhood is 
plunged1 almost as soon as it is born1  
into an element of vice and crime1 the  
bloom of modesty is rudely rubbed off   

the soul of womanhood1 and manhood is so
 beset with temptation that escape is   
well-nigh impossible4 ,can anyone doubt 
that an ,isaiah or a ,jeremiah would1 in
 such a state of society1 have lifted up
 his voice like a trumpet and cast the  
condition of these lost children of our 
people in the face of the luxurious     
rich1 and especially of the professors  
of religion8 ,and is it less obvious    
that this is still the duty of the      
modern pulpit8  ,it cannot1 indeed1 be  
said with truth1 that the ,church has   
not faced the problem4 ,there is one of 
the causes of social misery1 and that   
the very chief1 against which the       
,church1 especially in your country1 has
 nobly asserted herself4 ,drink is the  
cause to which magistrates and judges1  
and all who are brought directly into   
contact with the fallen and criminal    
classes1 attribute three-fourths of the 
evils of society4 ,drink is the despair 
of every ,christian worker who has      
ventured down among the pariahs of our  

civilisation4 ,against this the         
,churches have not been inactive4 ,but  
we are just beginning to acknowledge    
that1 though drunkenness is the great   
cause of misery1 there are other causes 
behind it which must likewise be coped  
with4 ,why do the people drink8 ,this   
question1 when it is impartially        
considered1 will bring many abuses of   
our social system into view1 which must 
be put out of the way before the evils  
of drunkenness can be stopped4          
,excessively prolonged labour exhausts  
the system and makes it crave for       
artificial stimulus4 ,excessively low   
wages1 with no prospect of rising in the
 world1 beget a spirit of recklessness1 
which makes men ready to turn to        
anything that promises to bring a gleam 
of sunshine into their monotonous lot4  
,ill-furnished and insanitary abodes    
drive forth their inmates to seek the   
brightness and comfort of the saloon4   
,these are specimens of the new         
questions which demand the attention of 

those who feel the reproach of our      
defective civilisation4  ,there is one  
type of remedy which the ,church has    
liberally supplied4 ,to those already   
fallen she has extended a helping hand4 
,the ,evangelical ,revival produced a   
spirit of philanthropy which has        
invented schemes for the relief of every
 form of human woe2 and these have      
multiplied to almost unmanageable       
numbers4 ,but we are beginning to see   
that1 multiply them as we may1 they must
 be totally insufficient as long as the 
causes of misery are undealt with4 ,if  
the causes remain as strong as ever1 new
 victims will be manufactured as fast as
 philanthropy can rescue those already  
made4 ,the time has come to ascend      
higher up the stream than has hitherto  
been done1 and cut it off at its source4
 ,in other words1 we must direct the    
whole force of ,christian philanthropy  
to the stopping of the causes of social 
misery4  ,for this work new weapons will
 be required2 and perhaps the principal 

of these will be legislation4 ,the      
prophets appealed1 as ,i have said1 to  
kings and princes1 because in their     
hands lay at that time the force of     
government4 ,but this power has now     
passed1 and is daily more completely    
passing1 into the hands of the people1  
on whom lies the responsibility which   
formerly lay elsewhere4 ,and1 if we are 
to follow in the footsteps of ,isaiah   
and ,jeremiah1 we must teach the people 
to rise to their responsibility and make
 use of the weapon which time has put   
into their hands for altering the       
conditions of life4 ,they must send to  
the seats of authority1 both in the     
municipality and in the state1 men of   
public spirit1 who will act not for     
their own interest or for the interest  
of factions1 but for the good of the    
whole community2 and they must see to   
it1 that the laws and their             
administration are such as will make    
evil-doing difficult and well-doing     
easy4  ,of course this will involve     

conflict with those interests which are 
vested in abuses2 for there are trades  
which flourish in the poverty of the    
poor and even the vices of the vicious4 
,these enjoy1 in many cases1 the        
advantage of high social standing2 and  
many of the organs of public opinion    
will rally to their support4 ,but the   
,church must appeal to the ,christian   
conscience and summon forth the         
resources of ,christian virtue1 to meet 
this new phase of the task which has    
been appointed her4 ,christianity has   
always1 and especially during the last  
hundred years1 had the open hand of     
charity2 but she will need1 during the  
next hundred years1 to have also a hand 
which can close itself firmly over the  
instrument of government1 and make use  
of it as a lever for lifting out of the 
way many great obstacles which are      
keeping back the ,kingdom of ,god4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,i am quite aware of the dangers of this
 new departure which ,i am advocating4  

,there is the great danger of           
undervaluing the work of saving         
individual souls4 ,there is the danger  
of forsaking the ,word of ,god and      
converting the pulpit into an organ of  
secular discussion2 although1 on the    
other hand1 there are numerous portions 
of the ,bible which directly raise the  
discussion of social problems and1 when 
otherwise applied1 can only be          
interpreted in a more or less unnatural 
sense4 ,there is the danger of making   
the minister the mouthpiece of a party4 
,christian tact and discretion will be  
necessary at every step4 ,but surely    
this is no reason for declining our     
duty1 but only a reason for bringing out
 all our resources4  ,one consideration 
which simplifies the problem is1 that it
 is not so much the place of the        
minister to intervene in special        
questions as to beget in his people a   
public and patriotic spirit1 and to     
teach them to look upon the discharge of
 the duties of citizenship as a part of 

,christianity4 ,when our people have    
been brought to recognise that the      
public weal is their concern1 and that  
they are responsible for the state of   
society and the conditions of life1 they
 can be left to themselves to choose the
 right men to support the right         
measures4#ba  ,here we can build on a   
natural foundation4 ,it is natural for a
 man to be attached to the place of his 
birth or the town in which he lives4    
,the roots of his life are in its soil2 
his interests bind him to it2 and1 if he
 be at all divinely-souled1 its         
traditions and notable names cannot fail
 to lay hold upon his heart4 ,the       
chances which a city has of getting its 
affairs well attended to are measured by
 the number of its inhabitants who are  
animated with such sentiments4 ,in the  
same way1 it is natural for a man to    
love his country4 ,some countries       
especially have the power of casting    
such a spell over the hearts of their   
children as binds them to their service4

 ,of my country this might be said4     
,small as it is1 its beauty1 its history
 and its romantic associations wield    
over the hearts of its inhabitants an   
extraordinary attraction4 ,perhaps part 
of the secret may lie in its very       
smallness2 for feeling contracts a      
passionate force within narrow limits1  
as our ,highland rivers become torrents 
within their rocky beds4 ,of your       
country also it might be said for       
different reasons4 ,america stirs       
patriotic sentiment1 not by its         
smallness1 but by its largeness and     
wonderful variety2 not by the memories  
of the past1 but by the boundless       
possibilities of the future4  ,these    
sentiments exist in the minds of our    
people already2 and we only need to     
foster them and impregnate them with a  
,christian element1 in order to produce 
convictions about public duty which     
would have the most blessed results4 ,we
 might train our people to feel keenly  
the woe of mankind and especially the   

moral blots on the fair fame of their   
own city or country4 ,we might get them 
to cherish a high ideal of what the     
place of their abode should be1 morally 
and spiritually1 and of what their      
country might do in the world4 ,in      
,scotland there was such an ideal once3 
the eye of the dying ,covenanter saw1   
painted on the mist of the moorland1 the
 vision of a consecrated land ruled by a
 covenanted king4#bb ,in ,england it    
existed once1 in the ,puritan days1     
when1 as ,richard ,baxter says1 ,england
 was like to become a land of saints1 a 
pattern of holiness to the world1 and   
the unmatchable paradise of the earth4  
,you had it in ,america once3 when your 
fathers landed in the ,mayflower1 they  
were seeking not merely meat and drink1 
or even wealth and plenty1 but a home in
 which their descendants might grow up  
in freedom1 virtue and religion4 ,we    
must get that ideal back again1 if1 in  
spite of railroads and industrial armies
 and wealth beyond the dreams of        

avarice1 we are not to become corrupt   
and ready to be swept away with the     
besom of destruction4 ,we might train   
every man on whom our message lays hold 
to live with the conviction that it is  
his duty1 before he dies1 to do         
something to make his own town more     
beautiful1 his country happier1 and the 
world better4  ,as ,i am addressing some
 who may before long be wielding a great
 influence1 let me add one suggestion4  
,in matters such as ,i have been        
speaking of to-day success comes to the 
man who has a programme4 ,now is the    
time1 when you are looking out on the   
world with the keen eyes of youth1 to   
note the abuses which need correction   
and to picture with the eye of the      
imagination the improvements which are  
required to wipe out the reproach or to 
elevate the reputation of your country4 
,fix the vision in the centre of your   
mind2 keep it ever before you2 and your 
dream may change to a reality which will
 modify the conditions of life for whole

 generations of your fellow-men4 ,what  
could be worthier of your manhood at its
 present stage than to be revolving some
 plan for the benefit and honour of your
 country8 ,even if it should never come 
to anything1 it will be good that it has
 been in your heart4 ,but there is      
nothing else which is more likely to    
come to something4 ,what1 says ,alfred  
de ,vigny1 is a great life8 ,it is a    
thought conceived in the fervent mind of
 youth and executed with the solid force
 of manhood4  ,,footnotes3  #af ,rev4   
,g4,a4 ,smith4  #ag ,these are ,isaiah's
 images4  #ah ,for our purpose in these 
lectures it is of no consequence whether
 there were two ,isaiahs or only one4   
,we are seeking to ascertain the leading
 features of the prophets2 and1 if we   
attribute to one person qualities which 
were distributed among two1 this will   
matter little1 as long as they are      
typical qualities of the prophet4  #ai  
,the tale of the ,divine ,pity was never
 yet believed from lips that were not   

felt to be moved by human               
pity4--,,george ,,eliot4  #bj ,not to   
mention the social element in ,his      
preaching comprehended in the doctrine  
of the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,the           
comparative absence of the patriotic    
element from apostolic preaching is     
chiefly due to the fact that the        
apostles were missionaries in cities and
 countries where they were strangers4   
,in some respects modern ministers in   
settled charges are liker the prophets  
than the apostles4  #ba ,for example1   
there will rarely be any delicacy at the
 time of an election in urging on the   
people that it is their duty to go to   
the poll1 but it will nearly always be  
an indiscretion to indicate from the    
pulpit for whom they should vote4 ,very 
often good causes are lost or long      
delayed1 not because the sentiment of   
the electorate is opposed to them1 but  
because large numbers are too apathetic 
to vote at all4  #bb ,when ,i would cast
 my mind back to what we have earned and

 reaped from these men1 it strikes me   
perhaps more than anything which ,i have
 yet named1 that we should thank them   
for the passionate quest of a glorious  
ideal4 ,it is such ideals1 even when    
they are unattainable1 which lift up the
 character of men and nations4 ,i think 
that no worthy historian has yet been   
found to tell1 as it ought to be told1  
how much ,scotland owes to this splendid
 vision which these men sought1 the     
vision of a consecrated land of saints  
ruled by a covenanted king1 loyal to    
,christ4 ,it hovered before the rapt    
eyes of these saints of ,scotland until 
it well-nigh turned them into seers1 it 
elevated them until it made them heroes1
 and though the picture seemed to fade  
before the eyes of their children1 as   
though it had been painted by the       
morning light on the mist of their own  
moorland1 still1 it has done its work1  
for it has contributed mightily to      
educate the hearts of ,scotchmen4 ,but  
has it so faded8 ,or is it not simply   

thrown forward1 as the old ,jew learned 
to throw his ,messianic hopes forward1  
from one anticipated ,christ to another1
 better and greater yet to come8--,j4   
,,oswald ,,dykes1 ,d4,d4     ,,lecture  
,,iv4  ,,the ,,preacher ,,as ,a ,,man   
,,of ,,the ,,word4   ,gentlemen1 in the 
lecture before last ,i spoke of the     
prophet's call to the service of ,god1  
and in the last lecture of the work     
itself which he had to do4 ,to-day ,i am
 to speak of the instrument with which  
he did it4  ,this was the ,word2 the    
prophet was a ,man of the ,word4 ,in    
accomplishing his great and difficult   
work he wielded no other weapon4 ,it    
seems the frailest of all weapons2 for  
what is a word8 ,it is only a puff of   
air1 a vibration trembling in the       
atmosphere for a moment and then        
disappearing4 ,but so might one speak of
 the cloud whose rolling coils of       
vapour1 changing every moment1 seem the 
least substantial of all things2 yet out
 of it breaks the forked lightning1     

which rives the giant of the forest1 and
 overturns the tower which has defied   
ten thousand assailants1 and1 loosening 
the crag1 sends it thundering down the  
mountain-side4 ,though it be only a     
weapon of air1 the word is stronger than
 the sword of the warrior4 ,words have  
overturned dynasties and revolutionised 
kingdoms4 ,when the right virtue is in  
them1 they outlast every other work of  
man4 ,where are the cities which were   
flourishing when ,david sang8 where are 
the empires whose armies were making the
 world tremble when ,isaiah wrote8      
,nineveh and ,babylon1 ,tyre and        
,memphis--where are they8 ,but the      
,psalms of ,david still delight1 and the
 wisdom of ,isaiah still instructs1 the 
world4  ,the prophets were well aware of
 the temper and force of this weapon    
which they wielded4 ,jeremiah refers    
with especial frequency to the power of 
the word4 ,is not ,my word1 he asks1    
like a fire1 saith the ,lord1 and like a
 hammer that breaketh the rock in       

pieces8 ,when putting this weapon into  
his hand1 the ,lord said to him1 ,see1  
,i have set thee over the nations and   
over the kingdoms1 to root out and pull 
down1 and to destroy and throw down1 and
 to build and to plant4 ,how was one man
 to be able to throw down and build up  
kingdoms8 ,he speaks as if he were at   
the head of irresistible legions and    
equipped with all the enginery of war4  
,but so he was2 for all these and more  
are in the word4 ,such military notions 
seem to have occurred naturally to the  
wielders of it4 ,another of them says1  
,the weapons of our warfare are not     
carnal1 but mighty through ,god to the  
pulling down of strongholds1 casting    
down imaginations and every high thing  
that exalteth itself against the        
knowledge of ,god1 and bringing into    
captivity every thought to the obedience
 of ,christ4 ,yet another of them says1 
,the word of ,god is quick and powerful1
 and sharper than any two-edged sword4  
,and ,isaiah says1 in the name of the   

,servant of the ,lord1 ,he hath made my 
mouth like a sharp sword2 in the shadow 
of ,his hand hath ,he hid me1 and made  
me a polished shaft2 in ,his quiver hath
 ,he hid me4#bc         99       99     
99       99       99  ,the word of the  
prophets has two aspects3 it is1 on the 
one side1 a ,message from ,god1 and1 on 
the other1 a ,message to ,men4  #a4 ,the
 word which the prophets wielded was the
 word of ,god4 ,herein lay the secret of
 its power4 ,for the word of ,god is the
 thought of ,god2 and this is more      
ancient than the stars and lies more    
deeply embedded in the constitution of  
things than the roots of the mountains2 
it is the prop by which the universe is 
sustained4 ,god's word is before all    
things1 for it created them2 and his    
thoughts are the rails on which the     
course of the world runs4  ,it was the  
privilege of the prophets to approach so
 near to ,god1 to enter so completely   
into sympathy and fellowship with ,him1 
and to know so clearly what were ,his   

purposes1 that their own thoughts became
 identical with ,his2 and1 therefore1   
when they spoke1 their words were ,god's
 words4 ,not only do they preface many  
of their utterances with ,thus saith the
 ,lord1 but--what is far more           
strange--they often begin1 without any  
preface1 and go on speaking in the first
 person singular1 when not the prophet  
but ,jehovah is the speaker2 as if their
 personality were so enveloped in ,his  
as to disappear altogether4#bd  ,but    
this remarkable knowledge of the        
thoughts of ,god was not given to the   
prophets for themselves4 ,the           
philosopher may shut himself up in      
secret to study the laws of the universe
 and keep his conclusions to himself2   
and even the poet perhaps may be so     
happy in his own vision of beauty that  
he does not care to utter his song to   
the world2 but not so the prophet4 ,he1 
indeed1 was also1 in the strictest      
sense1 an original thinker1 and the new 
conceptions of ,god which he was        

privileged to convey to the world dawned
 upon his own mind with that secret     
delight which makes the creative thinker
 feel himself to be          ,like some 
watcher of the skies     ,when a new    
planet swims into his ken4  ,one of the 
prophets gives expression to this secret
 joy when he says1 ,thy words were found
 and ,i did eat them1 and ,thy words    
were unto me the joy and the rejoicing  
of my heart2 and1 after a night spent in
 receiving revelations1 he says1 ,on    
this ,i awaked and beheld1 and my sleep 
was sweet unto me4 ,but the knowledge of
 ,god's mind and will which the prophets
 obtained was not for themselves1 but   
for others4 ,it was not abstract        
knowledge1 but a knowledge of ,god's    
will about the course of history--about 
what ,israel ought to do4 ,it was1 in   
short1 not only a revelation1 but a     
message4  ,hence1 one of the most       
outstanding characteristics of the      
prophets was the sense of being         
ambassadors charged with a communication

 which they were bound to deliver4 ,if  
those to whom they were sent with it    
welcomed them1 good and well2 but1 if   
not1 they were not absolved from their  
duty4 ,the man who speaks to men for his
 own ends--to obtain influence in the   
management of their affairs or to       
display his talents and win a name--will
 go on speaking as long as they are     
inclined to listen2 but1 if they do not 
appreciate his efforts or if he wearies 
of the employment1 he can betake himself
 to retirement and be heard no more4    
,but a prophet could not act thus4 ,his 
message might arouse bitter opposition1 
and often did so3 ,woe is me1 my mother1
 exclaims ,jeremiah1 that thou hast     
borne me a man of strife and a man of   
contention to the whole earth4 ,gladly  
would he have withdrawn from the        
contest1 if he could1 and sought a lodge
 in some vast wilderness4 ,but the sense
 of being a messenger drove him on3     
,then ,i said1 ,i will not make mention 
of ,him nor speak any more in ,his name2

 but ,his word was in mine heart as a   
burning fire shut up in my bones2 and ,i
 was weary of forbearing1 and ,i could  
not stay4  ,this was what lent the      
prophets the wonderful courage which    
characterized them4 ,they forgot        
themselves in their message4 ,the fire  
of ,god in their bones would not permit 
them to hesitate4 ,whether it was a     
frowning king or an infuriated mob the  
prophet had to brave1 he set his face   
like a flint4 ,comfort1 reputation1 life
 itself might be at stake2 but he had to
 speak out all that ,god had told him1  
whether men might bear or whether they  
might forbear4  #b4 ,the other aspect of
 the prophets' word was that it was a   
,message to ,men4 ,if1 on the one hand1 
the word of the prophets was a power    
because it was the word or thought of   
,god1 it depended1 on the other hand1   
for its effect on becoming a word which 
those to whom it was communicated could 
repeat in their own vocabulary and      
thereby turn into a thought of their    

own2 for it was only when men's minds   
were so modified by the prophets' words 
that they began1 in their degree1 to    
think the thoughts of ,god1 that the    
prophetic message became an influence in
 their life4 ,the prophet had1          
therefore1 to stand in a double         
attitude1 and a double process had to be
 performed in his mind4 ,he had1 in the 
first place1 to turn himself wholly     
round to ,god and away from the world1  
and clear his mind of everything else1  
that he might receive the message in its
 purity2 but then he had1 in the second 
place1 to turn himself round towards men
 and1 taking their circumstances into   
account1 deliver the message to them in 
the most effective way4 ,he had first to
 allow the ,divine message to master    
him2 but then he had to turn upon it and
 master it1 before he could be the      
medium by which it was conveyed to      
others4  ,the prophets had to go amongst
 men1 even if it were at the risk of    
life1 and deliver the ,divine message4  

,they had to use every device to make it
 telling1 striking in at every          
opportunity and giving line upon line1  
precept upon precept1 here a little and 
there a little4 ,they did not disdain   
the homeliest means1 if it served the   
purpose4 ,a prophet would go about in   
public carrying a yoke on his neck1 like
 a beast of burden1 or lie a whole year 
on his side1 to attract attention to    
some important truth4 ,more than once we
 find a prophet setting up a board in   
the market-place1 with only a few words 
written on it1 into which he had        
condensed his message1 that the         
passers-by might read it4  ,on the other
 hand1 when it was appropriate1 they did
 not spare themselves the trouble of    
cultivating the graces of style by which
 words are made attractive and          
impressive4#be ,the prophetic books are 
almost as artistic as poems4 ,their     
literary form is not exactly poetry1    
though now and then it crosses its own  
boundary and becomes poetical4 ,it is a 

kind of rhythmical prose1 governed by   
laws of its own1 which it carefully     
observes4 ,all the prophets are not1    
indeed1 equally careful4 ,some of them  
appear to have been too completely      
carried away with the message which they
 had to deliver to think much of the way
 of delivering it4 ,but these were not  
the strongest of the prophets2 and it is
 worth observing1 that those who took   
the most pains about the form in which  
what they had to say was couched have   
been the most successful prophets in    
this sense1 that they have been most    
read by subsequent generations4  ,at the
 head of them all1 in this respect1     
stands ,isaiah4 ,if the book of an      
ordinary reader of the ,bible were      
examined1 it would be found1 ,i imagine1
 that ,isaiah is thumbed far more than  
any other portion of the prophetical    
writings2 and this is due not only to   
the divinely evangelical character of   
his message1 but also to the nobly human
 style of his language4#bf ,all the     

resources of poetry and eloquence are at
 his command4 ,every realm of nature    
ministers to his stores of imagery2 and 
his language ranges through every mode  
of beauty and sublimity1 being sometimes
 like the pealing of silver bells1 and  
sometimes like the crashing of          
avalanches1 and sometimes like the songs
 of seraphim4 ,he is generally supposed 
to have been a native of ,jerusalem and 
to have spent his life within its walls4
 ,so identified1 indeed1 is he with it1 
that he is coming to be called ,isaiah  
of ,jerusalem2 and a recent expounder of
 his prophecies says that ,jerusalem was
 more to him than ,athens to            
,demosthenes1 ,rome to ,juvenal1 or     
,florence to ,dante4 ,but1 at some      
period of his life1 he must have had    
ample experience also of a country life2
 because the aspects of the country are 
mirrored in his pages with incomparable 
charm4  ,he lets us see nature1 as it   
existed in his day1 both wild in the    
forest and wilderness1 and cultivated   

around the abodes of men2 and he paints 
for us the figures of the country people
 themselves and the labours they went   
forth to4 ,we see in his pages the trees
 of the wood moved by the wind2 the     
willows by the water-courses2 the fresh 
branches sprouting from the stock of the
 pollard oak or terebinth4 ,we hear the 
doves mourning from the depths of the   
thicket1 and see the roe1 chased by the 
hunter1 disappearing within its shelter1
 and even the schoolboy rifling the     
birds' nests so ruthlessly that there   
was none that moved the wing or opened  
the mouth or peeped4 ,we see the swarms 
of bees and flies resting on the        
branches in the summer heat2 the        
ploughshare lying in the furrow2 the tow
 and the distaff2 the ox turning its    
head to be patted by the hand of its    
owner1 and the ass trotting off at      
feeding-time to its master's crib4 ,the 
prophet looks with a specially observant
 and sympathetic eye on the toils of    
men--the woodman thinning the trees of  

the forest2 the carpenter1 with saw and 
axe1 turning to his own uses the        
sycamore and the cedar2 the builder     
among his bricks and stones2 and the    
farmer1 on the exposed height of the    
threshing-floor1 winnowing his corn with
 the shovel and the fan4 ,as is usual in
 the ,bible1 the shepherd is portrayed  
with special honour1 whether he calls   
out his neighbours to frighten away the 
lion from his flock or is seen gathering
 the lambs in his arms and carrying them
 in his bosom4 ,but most of all does the
 poet-prophet love to linger in the     
vineyard1 marking accurately all the    
operations of the vine-dresser and all  
the stages of the growth of the vines4  
,we see the tearing up of the hillside  
with the mattock1 the accumulation of   
soil1 the gathering out of the stones1  
the construction of the winepress and   
the watch-tower4 ,then we see the roots 
planted and growing from stage to       
stage--from that afore the harvest1 when
 the bud is perfect and the sour grape  

is ripening in the flower1 to that when 
the vineyard is ringing with the songs  
of the vintage and the gleaners are     
picking the last relics from the        
outermost branches4  ,at whatever period
 these pictures of nature were laid up  
in the memory of ,isaiah1 they came back
 to him when he was engaged in the work 
of a prophet1 and supplied the imagery  
by means of which the ,divine truths    
which he heralded were made impressive  
and attractive to his countrymen and    
acceptable to all subsequent            
generations2 for men are so made that   
they are never so won by the truth as   
when they see it reflected in a physical
 image4  ,these two sides of the        
prophet's activity nearly correspond to 
what we should call ,thought and        
,expression4 ,or1 to put it still more  
broadly1 the preacher must be a man who 
both has something to say and knows how 
to say it4 ,on these two apparently     
simple qualifications hang all the      
science and art of our vocation4  ,in   

reality they are not simple4 ,to have   
the right thing to say is a great       
commandment1 and to know the right way  
to say it is1 though second to it1      
hardly inferior4 ,but the problem of the
 ministry is to have both in perfect    
equipoise--to utter a word which is at  
the same time both a message from ,god  
and a message to men4  ,it would be     
possible to be so taken possession of by
 the message from ,god as to lose       
self-control and even reason itself4 ,in
 ,scripture we meet with manifestations 
of prophecy which are akin to madness4  
,just as the wind1 catching the sail1   
would1 if the ropes were not adjusted to
 relieve the strain1 overturn the boat1 
so the ,wind of ,god might sweep the    
mind off its balance1 the human         
personality being overborne by the      
inrushing inspiration4 ,thus religion   
may make a man a fanatic1 who has no    
control over his own spirit1 and no     
wisdom to choose the times at which to  
speak or the terms in which to address  

his fellow-men4 ,on the other hand1 the 
opposite excess is still more easy4 ,so 
much stress may be laid on the form of  
words1 and so much mastery obtained of  
the art of winning attention1 that the  
necessity of having a ,divine message to
 deliver or of depending on the power of
 the ,spirit of ,god is forgotten4 ,the 
windy master of words1 whose own spirit 
is not subdued either by the impression 
of great thoughts or the sense of a     
great responsibility1 but who can draw  
the eyes of men on his own performances 
and earn the incense of applause1 has   
always been too familiar a figure in    
religion4 ,it is to a man like ,isaiah  
we must look for the absolute balance of
 both sides4 ,there you have the blowing
 in all its degrees of the ,wind of     
,god1 from the gentlest whisper to the  
force of the tempest1 but1 at the same  
time1 the most perfect self-control and 
the adaptation of the word to the tastes
 and necessities of those to whom it was
 delivered4  ,there is a name sometimes 

applied by the prophets to themselves   
which admirably expresses the           
combination and balance of these two    
aspects of their activity4 ,they call   
themselves ,interpreters4 ,the process  
of interpretation is a most interesting 
one1 when it is well done4 ,i have heard
 a speaker address with the greatest    
fervour a multitude who did not         
understand a word he was saying2 but1 as
 fast as the sentences fell from his    
lips1 another speaker by his side caught
 them up and1 in tones as fervid and    
with gestures as dramatic as his own1   
rendered them to the hearers in their   
own tongue with such effect that the    
performance made all the impression of  
an original speech4 ,an interpreter is  
one who receives a message for people in
 a language which they do not understand
 and delivers it to them in their own   
tongue4 ,jehovah was incessantly        
speaking to ,his people in the          
vicissitudes of their history1 but they 
did not apprehend ,his meaning4 ,the    

prophet1 however1 understood2 he took   
the ,divine message into his own soul1  
and then he went and communicated it to 
the people in terms with which they were
 familiar4 ,an interpreter requires to  
know at least two languages--that in    
which the message comes and that in     
which it has to be delivered4 ,if he    
knows either imperfectly1 his           
interpretation will be proportionately  
imperfect4 ,no interpreter of ,god1     
perhaps1 knows both languages equally   
well4 ,some know the ,divine language   
imperfectly1 while they know thoroughly 
the language of men4 ,what they say is  
interesting1 fresh and human2 but there 
is not much of a ,divine message in it4 
,others have got far into the secret of 
,god and know the ,divine language well2
 but they are not sufficiently masters  
of the language of men4 ,these are      
saintly men and command reverence by    
their character1 but what they say does 
not find its way to men's business and  
bosoms4  ,i have seen the same truth put

 in another way4 ,tholuck1 one of the   
most gifted of modern preachers1 has    
made the remark that a sermon ought to  
have heaven for its father and the earth
 for its mother4 ,why1 he asks1 do one  
half of our sermons miss the mark8 ,it  
is because1 while they treat of the     
circumstances and relationships of life 
in an interesting way1 they do so only  
in the light which springs from below1  
not in that which streams from above2   
they have the earth for their mother1   
but not heaven for their father4 ,and   
why do the other half of our sermons    
fail to touch the heart8 ,it is because1
 while they display the heavenly things 
shining at a distance1 they do not bring
 them down to the homes and workshops1  
the highways and byways of ordinary     
life2 they have heaven for their father1
 but not the earth for their mother4#bg 
99       99       99       99       99  
,indeed1 gentlemen1 the definition of   
the preacher as a ,man of the ,word     
covers a very large area of our duty1   

and an analysis of its contents will    
furnish a kind of natural history of    
that which is the most important part of
 a minister's work from week to week4   
#a4 ,to be a ,man of the ,word is to be 
a master of the ,divine ,word4 ,in the  
pulpit not only must a man have         
something to say1 but it must be a      
message from ,god4 ,where is this to be 
found8 ,we do not now require to seek   
it1 as the prophets had to do1 in the   
empty void4 ,their work was not in vain4
 ,they were working for their own times1
 but they were also working for all     
time4 ,the prophets and apostles put    
into a permanent form the principles on 
which the world is governed1 and gave   
classical expression to the most        
important truths which man requires to  
know for salvation and for the conduct  
of his life4 ,thus they are still       
serving us1 and we can begin where they 
left off4 ,he who receives the message  
of ,god now finds it in the ,word of    
,god4  ,hence one of the primary        

qualifications of the ministry is an    
intimate familiarity with the           
,scriptures4 ,to this end a large       
proportion of the study required of you 
at college is directed2 and the         
subsequent habits of ministerial life   
have to be formed with the same object  
in view4 ,a large portion of our work is
 the searching of the ,scriptures1 and a
 preacher of the highest order will     
always be a man mighty in the           
,scriptures4 ,we chance at present to be
 living at a time when the questions    
about the ,bible are the most numerous  
and the most difficult in theology1 and 
many accepted opinions are cast into    
solution4 ,i dare say it is the         
experience of most students of divinity 
that they are more perplexed about      
inspiration and related questions than  
about any other subjects4 ,on the other 
hand1 the attention directed to the     
,bible was never so great as it is at   
present2 and the methods of studying it 
are daily improving4 ,and1 in spite of  

all the difficulties1 it is questionable
 if there ever was in the ,church an    
intenser conviction that the voice of   
,god is heard in ,his ,word4 ,the       
experience of the ministry deepens this 
conviction every year4 ,if ,i may give  
utterance to my own experience1 ,i have 
never come to the end of a close study  
of a book of ,scripture in the          
congregation without having both a fresh
 respect for its literary character and 
a profounder impression of its ,divine  
wisdom4 ,the more the ,bible is         
searched1 the more will it be loved2 and
 the stronger will the conviction grow  
that its deep truths are the ,divine    
answers to the deep wants of human      
nature4  ,yet to deliver the message of 
,god is not merely to read what prophets
 and apostles penned and to repeat it by
 rote4 ,the man who is to be ,god's     
messenger must himself draw near to ,god
 and abide in ,his secret1 as they did4 
,the word must detach itself from the   
book and become a living element of     

experience before it can profit even the
 reader himself2 and much more is this  
the case1 of course1 before it can      
profit others4#bh ,it is the truth which
 has become a personal conviction1 and  
is burning in a man's heart so that he  
cannot be silent1 which is his message4 
,the number of such truths which a man  
has appropriated from the ,bible and    
verified in his own experience is the   
measure of his power4#bi ,there is all  
the difference in the world between the 
man who thus speaks what he knows from  
an inner impulse and the man whose      
sermon is simply a literary exercise on 
a ,scripture theme1 and who speaks only 
because ,sunday has come round and the  
bell rung and he must do his duty4  ,the
 selection of the theme for preaching is
 to be determined chiefly by the power  
of the ,word to lay hold of the         
conviction of the preacher4 ,or1 if the 
subject is prescribed1 as when one is   
lecturing through a book of the ,bible1 
the points to be treated are to be      

determined in this way4 ,sometimes1 as a
 preacher reads the ,word1 a text will  
leap from the page1 so to speak1 and1   
fastening on the mind1 insist on being  
preached upon4 ,a sermon on such a text 
is nearly always successful2 and a wise 
man will1 therefore1 take care to garner
 such texts when they occur to him4 ,he 
will underline them in his ,bible1 or1  
better still1 enter them in a note-book 
kept for the purpose1 adding a few words
 perhaps to indicate the first lines of 
thought which have occurred to him4     
,these notes may be multiplied from time
 to time2 and1 when the minister turns  
to a page which has been thus filled1 he
 will often find his sermon nearly made 
to his hand4#cj ,dr4 ,wendell ,holmes   
tells of ,emerson that he kept such a   
note-book for subjects on which he might
 lecture1 and for suggestions of lines  
of thought which he might follow out4   
,he called it his ,savings ,bank1       
because1 though the payments into it    
were minute1 they gradually swelled to  

riches2 and passages which his hearers  
and readers supposed to be outbursts of 
sudden literary creation were really the
 results of slow accumulation4 ,if this 
was necessary for even a genius like    
,emerson it will be far more necessary  
for the ordinary man4 ,the gold of      
thought has generally to be collected as
 gold dust4  #b4 ,but this already      
brings me to the second stage of this   
natural history1 which is1 that the     
preacher must be a master of ,human     
,words4 ,the message from ,god which we 
carry is to become a message to men1 and
 therefore we must know how to introduce
 it successfully to their notice4       
,strong as our own conviction may be1   
yet it may be crude and formless2 and1  
before it can become the conviction of  
others1 it must take a shape which will 
arouse their attention4 ,it may belong  
to a region of thought with which they  
are unfamiliar1 and it has to be brought
 near1 until it enters the circle of    
their own ideas4  ,this is the problem  

of the composition of the sermon1       
whether this means the writing of it out
 or the arrangement of the materials in 
the memory in preparation for delivery4 
,and many rules might be given to help  
at this point4  ,one often recommended  
is to keep the audience in view to which
 the composition is to be addressed4 ,if
 by this is meant that the writer1 as he
 sits at his desk1 should try to conjure
 up in his imagination the benches of   
the church and their occupants1 ,i do   
not know whether it is a practicable    
rule or not4 ,but if it means that the  
preacher1 as he composes his sermon1    
should keep in view the circumstances of
 his hearers--their stage of culture1   
the subjects in which they are          
interested1 the ,scriptural attainments 
which they have already made1 and the   
like--it is one of the prime secrets of 
the preacher's art1 and ,i will return  
to speak of it more fully in a          
subsequent lecture4 ,i once heard ,mr4  
,spurgeon preach a characteristic sermon

 on an unusual text4 ,it was on these   
words in ,hosea3 ,i was unto them as    
they that take off the yoke on their    
jaws1 and ,i laid meat unto them4 ,to   
illustrate the first clause he drew a   
graphic picture of a ,london carter in  
,cornhill loosening the harness1 when   
his horse had surmounted the incline1   
taking the bit out of its mouth1 and    
fastening on the corn-bag2 and he       
applied the second clause with humorous 
wisdom to the behaviour of preachers4   
,as the carter in the stable lays the   
hay to his horse1 so the preacher has to
 lay the food to the congregation4 ,the 
carter must not put the food too high1  
where the horse cannot reach up to it1  
nor too low1 where it cannot get down to
 it1 but just where it can seize and    
devour it with comfort4 ,so the preacher
 must neither pitch his message too     
high1 where it will be above the        
comprehension of the congregation1 nor  
too low1 where it will not command their
 respect1 but just where they can reach 

it easily and comfortably4 ,this quaint 
illustration has often recurred to me in
 the study1 and made me anxiously       
consider whether ,i was putting the     
truth in such a way that the            
congregation could grasp it4  ,many     
rules have been proposed for winning the
 attention of the congregation4 ,some   
have laid stress on commencing the      
sermon with something striking4 ,mr4    
,moody1 the evangelist1 whose opinion on
 such a subject ought to be valuable1   
recommends the preacher to crowd in his 
best things at the beginning1 when the  
attention is still fresh4 ,others have  
favoured the opposite procedure4 ,during
 the first half of the discourse nearly 
every audience will give the speaker a  
chance4 ,at this point1 therefore1 the  
heavier and drier things which need to  
be said ought to occur4 ,but about the  
middle of the discourse the attention   
begins to waver4 ,here1 therefore1 the  
more picturesque and interesting things 
should begin to come2 and the very best 

should be reserved for the close1 so    
that the impression maybe strongest at  
the last4#ca ,st4 ,augustine says that a
 discourse should instruct1 delight and 
convince2#cb and perhaps these three    
impressions should1 upon the whole1     
follow this order4 ,the more instructive
 elements--the facts and                
explanations--should come first1        
appealing to the intellect2 then should 
follow the illustrative and pathetic    
elements1 which touch the feelings2 and 
then1 at the close1 should come those   
moving and over-awing considerations    
which stir the conscience and determine 
the will4 ,thus the impression would    
grow from the commencement to the       
close4#cc  ,to obtain command of        
language it is good to hear the best    
speakers and to read the best books4 ,it
 has been my fortune to be acquainted   
with a good many celebrated preachers2  
and ,i have observed that1 almost       
without exception1 they have had a      
thorough acquaintance with the whole    

range of the higher ,english literature4
 ,to have the music of ,shakespeare or  
,milton echoing in your memory1 or to   
have lingering in your ear the cadence  
and sweep of the sentences of ,thackeray
 and ,de ,quincey1 will almost unawares 
give you a good style4#cd ,in reading   
over an old sermon of my own1 ,i can    
almost tell whether or not1 in the week 
of its composition1 ,i was reading good 
literature4 ,in the former case the     
language is apt to be full and          
harmonious1 and sprinkled over with gay 
flowers of maxim and illustration1      
whereas in the latter the style of the  
performance is apt to be bald and       
jerky4#ce  ,let me mention one more rule
 for the composition of the sermon which
 appears to me to be the most important 
of all4 ,it is1 to take time4 ,begin in 
time and get done in time--this1 ,i     
often say to myself1 is the whole duty  
of a minister4 ,the reason why so many  
of our sermons are crude in thought1    
unbalanced in the arrangement of the    

materials1 destitute of literary beauty1
 and unimpressive in delivery1 is       
because they are begun too late and     
written too hurriedly4 ,the process of  
thinking especially should be prolonged2
 it is not so important that the process
 of writing should be slow4 ,it is when 
the subject has been long tossed about  
in thought that the mind begins to glow 
about it2 the subject itself gets hot   
and begins to melt and flash1 until at  
last it can be poured forth in a facile 
but glowing stream4 ,style is not       
something added to the thought from the 
outside4 ,it is simply the beauty of the
 truth itself1 when you have gone deep  
enough to find it2 and the worst        
condemnation of a careless and          
unattractive style is that it does the  
truth injustice4  #c4 ,the preacher     
ought to be master of the ,oral ,word4  
,there is a stage which the truth has to
 pass through after it has been prepared
 in the study for the consumption of the
 hearers4 ,this is the oral delivery2   

and it is a part of the natural history 
of the sermon which must not be         
overlooked4 ,a sermon may be well       
composed in the study and yet be a      
failure in the pulpit4 ,indeed1 this is 
one of the most critical stages of the  
entire process4 ,there are few things   
more disappointing than to have received
 a message to deliver and spent a       
laborious and happy week in composition1
 and yet on ,sunday1 as you descend the 
pulpit stair1 to know that you have     
missed the mark4 ,this1 however1 is far 
from an infrequent occurrence4 ,the same
 sermon may even be a success on one    
occasion1 and on another a partial or a 
total failure4  ,wherein a good delivery
 consists it is difficult to say4 ,it is
 the rekindling of the fire of          
composition in the presence of the      
congregation2 it is the power of        
thinking out the subject again on your  
feet4 ,this must not be a mere          
repetition of a byegone process1 but a  
new and original action of the mind on  

the spot4 ,tholuck1 to whom ,i have     
already alluded in this lecture1 says   
that a sermon needs to be born twice3 it
 must be born once in the study in the  
process of composition1 and it must be  
born again in the pulpit in the process 
of delivery4 ,many a sermon is a genuine
 birth of the mind in the study which in
 the pulpit is still-born4#cf  ,some    
preachers have an extraordinary facility
 of putting themselves at once1 and     
every time1 en rapport with the         
audience1 so that there is from first to
 last1 whilst they speak1 a commerce    
between the mind in the pulpit and the  
minds in the pews4 ,to others this is   
the most difficult part of preaching4   
,the difficulty is to get down amongst  
the people and to be actually dealing   
with them4 ,many a preacher has a       
thought1 and is putting it into good    
enough words1 but somehow the people are
 not listening1 and they cannot listen4 
,if the ,senate of this ,university were
 ever to try the experiment of asking a 

layman to deliver this course of        
,lectures on ,preaching1 ,i am certain  
he would lay more stress on this than we
 do1 and put a clear and effective--if  
possible1 a graceful and                
eloquent--delivery among the chief      
desiderata of the pulpit4 ,i do not know
 how it may be among you2 but1 when ,i  
was at college1 we used rather to       
despise delivery4 ,we were so confident 
in the power of ideas that we thought   
nothing of the manner of setting them   
forth4 ,only have good stuff1 we        
thought1 and it will preach itself4 ,we 
like to repeat1 with ,faust1      ,true 
sense and reason reach their aim        
,with little help from art and rule2    
,be earnest6 then what need to seek     
,the words that best your meaning speak8
  ,so we thought2 and many of us have   
since suffered for it4 ,we know how many
 sermons are preached in the churches of
 the country every ,sunday2 but does    
anyone know how many are listened to8   
,the newspapers supply us now and then  

with statistics of how many hearers are 
present in our congregations2 but who   
will tell us what proportion of these   
are listeners8 ,if we knew the exact    
percentage1 ,i suspect1 it would appal  
us4 ,yet it is not because there is not 
good matter in the sermons1 but because 
it is not properly spoken4 ,in the      
manufacture of steam-engines the problem
 is1 ,i believe1 to get as much work as 
possible out of the coal consumed4 ,in  
every engine which has ever yet been    
constructed there has been a greater or 
less waste of heat1 which is dispersed  
into the surrounding air or carried away
 by the adjacent portions of the        
machinery1 without doing work4          
,engineering skill has been gradually   
reducing the amount of this waste and   
getting a larger and larger proportion  
of work out of the fuel2 and a perfect  
engine would be one in which the whole  
of the coal consumed had its full       
equivalent in work done4 ,one of our    
problems1 it seems to me1 is a similar  

one4 ,there is an enormous disproportion
 between the amount of energy expended  
during the week in preparation and the  
amount of impression made on the hearers
 on ,sunday4 ,ministers do not get      
enough of result in the attention1      
satisfaction and delight of their       
hearers for the work they do2 and the   
failure is in the vehicle of            
communication between the study and the 
congregation--that is to say1 in the    
delivery of the sermon4 ,what ,i am     
pleading for is1 that there should be   
more work to show for the coal          
consumed4#cg  #d4 ,allow me1 gentlemen1 
in closing this lecture1 to emphasize   
another sense in which the prophets were
 men of the ,word1 and in which they are
 worthy of imitation4 ,they were masters
 of the ,written ,word4 ,they not only  
spoke the word of ,god1 but wrote it for
 publication1 in a form sometimes more  
diffuse and sometimes more compressed   
than their oral utterances2 and by this 
means they not only extended their      

influence in their own day1 but have    
enormously prolonged it since4  ,it is  
surprising how few of those who have    
spoken the word of ,god have cultivated 
this mode of delivering it2 and it is   
perhaps equally astonishing how few of  
those who have cultivated it have done  
so in earnest4 ,in the last century1    
promotion in the ,church of ,england was
 won by literary achievement2 but the   
would-be bishop did not generally think 
of religious literature3 he published a 
political pamphlet or edited a ,greek   
play4 ,among the ,scottish ,moderates   
there was a keen ambition for literary  
distinction2 but it was the more prized 
the more remote the fields in which it  
was won lay from a minister's peculiar  
work4 ,this led the ,evangelicals to    
discountenance literary productivity1   
which they regarded as springing from   
unholy motives and as likely to distract
 the mind from the true ends of the     
ministry4 ,but surely there is a juster 
point of view than either the ,moderate 

or the ,evangelical4 ,this work ought to
 be cultivated with precisely the same  
aims as preaching and with the same     
earnestness4 ,when a man is truly called
 to it1 it brings a vast audience within
 his range1 and there may rest on it a  
remarkable blessing4 ,here is a         
significant extract from the history of 
,british ,christianity3 ,richard ,baxter
 wrote ,a ,call to the ,unconverted1 and
 ,philip ,doddridge was converted by    
reading it2 ,philip ,doddridge wrote    
,the ,rise and ,progress of ,religion in
 the ,soul1 and ,william ,wilberforce   
was converted by reading it2            
,wilberforce wrote the ,practical ,view1
 and ,thomas ,chalmers was converted by 
reading it4 ,what a far-extending       
influence does each of these names      
represent6 ,the writing of books is     
perhaps the likeliest of all avenues by 
which to carry religious influence to   
the most select minds4  ,,footnotes3    
#bc ,the ,servant of the ,lord is a     
prophet2 and in the descriptions of him 

in this character we can perhaps best   
see what was ,isaiah's conception of a  
prophet4 ,see especially ch4 lxi4 #a-c4 
#bd ,see ,ewald's ,introduction to ,the 
,prophets4  #be ,bonorum ingeniorum     
insignis est indoles1 in verbis verum   
amare1 non verba4 ,quid enim prodest    
clavis aurea1 si aperire quod volumus   
non potest8 ,aut quid obest lignea1 si  
hoc potest1 quando nihil qurimus1 nisi  
parere quod clausum est8 ,sed quoniam   
inter se habent nonnullam similitudinem 
vescentes atque discentes1 propter      
fastidia plurimorum etiam ipsa sine     
quibus vivi non potest alimenta         
condienda sunt4--,,st4 ,,augustine4  #bf
 ,see the excellent chapter on ,isaiah's
 style in ,driver's ,isaiah4  #bg ,the  
same idea has long been helpful to me in
 a third form--in the following lines of
 ,platen--      ,was stets und aller    
,orten       ,sich ewig jung erweist    
,ist1 in gebundenen ,worten       ,ein  
ungebundener ,geist4  #bh ,into         
,ezekiel's hand there was put a roll    

written within and without with         
lamentation and mourning and woe1 an    
objective revelation which he himself   
had not written2 but1 before he could   
deliver it to others1 he had to eat it3 
all that was written on it had to become
 a part of himself1 had to be taken into
 his inmost experience and be digested  
by him1 and become his own very life's  
blood4--,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4  #bi    
,this is what our ,lord chiefly meant by
 a teacher's treasure--,every scribe    
which is instructed unto the kingdom of 
,god bringeth forth out of his treasure 
things new and old4 ,how much the       
treasures of different preachers differ 
in magnitude6 ,it is worthy of note that
 the ,saviour calls the preachers of the
 ,new ,testament scribes4 ,in spite of  
the evil associations of the name ,he   
retained it1 because it emphasizes the  
fact that the ,christian preacher is to 
be a student and an expounder of        
,scripture4  #cj ,some preachers keep an
 interleaved ,bible1 in which references

 to passages in their reading are       
entered opposite the texts which they   
illustrate--an excellent device4  #ca   
,the strongest part of all great sermons
 is the close4 ,more depends on the last
 two minutes than on the first          
ten4--,from a choice little tract on    
,preaching1 by ,prediger4  #cb ,he is   
quoting ,cicero4 ,dixit ergo quidam     
eloquens1 et verum dixit1 ita dicere    
debere eloquentem1 ut doceat1 ut        
delectet1 ut flectat4 ,deinde addidit3  
,docere necessitatis est1 delectare     
suavitatis1 flectere victoriae4444      
,oportet igitur eloquentem              
ecclesiasticum1 quando suadet aliquid   
quod agendum est1 non solum docere ut   
instruat1 et delectare ut teneat1 verum 
etiam flectere ut vincat4--,de ,doctrina
 ,christiana1 ,,iv4 #ac4  #cc ,an       
esteemed friend1 the ,rev4 ,john        
,mc,millan of ,ullapool1 some years ago 
repeated to me the following rhyme on   
the method of constructing a sermon1    
and1 although ,i have never succeeded in

 coming up to its standard1 yet it has  
often floated before me with advantage  
in the hours of composition--           
,begin low2     ,proceed slow2     ,rise
 higher2     ,take fire2     ,when most 
impressed     ,be self-possessed2       
,to spirit wed form2     ,sit down in a 
storm4  #cd ,it will be remembered that 
,john ,bright used regularly1 during the
 session of ,parliament1 to read aloud  
from one of the poets the last thing at 
night4  #ce ,tholuck gives another      
weighty reason why ministers should know
 the best literature3 ,in einer ,zeit wo
 ,shakespeare eine strkere ,autoritt fr 
,viele ist als ,paulus1 und ein         
,distichon ,goethes eine krftigere      
,belegstelle als der ganze ,rmer-und    
,galaterbrief1 darf der ,geistliche1    
welcher auf seine ,gemeinde wrken will1 
mit ihren ,gewhrsmnern nicht unbekannt  
seyn4 ,wenn irgendwo1 so gilt auch hier 
des ,apostels ,wort3 ,alles ist ,euer4  
#cf ,aber nicht bloss die ,erzeugung der
 ,predigt geschehe im heiligen ,geist1  

sondern auch ihr ,vortrag4 ,es lsst sich
 nicht aussprechen1 welch' ein          
,unterschied zwischen der ,wrkung einer 
,predigt1 welche bloss aus der          
,erinnerung von der ,kanzel             
herabgesprochen wird--wie trefflich sie 
auch brigens seyn mag--und welche dort  
zum zweitenmal geboren wird in          
lebendigem ,glauben4444 ,die ,predigt   
muss eine ,that des ,predigers auf      
seinem ,studirzimmer1 sie muss abermals 
eine ,that seyn auf der ,kanzel2 er     
muss1 wenn er herunter kommt1           
,mutterfreuden fhlen1 ,freuden der      
,mutter1 die unter ,gottes ,segen ein   
,kind geboren hat4  #cg ,adolphe ,monod1
 himself a distinguished master of the  
art of delivery1 gives some good hints  
on it in a paper on ,the ,eloquence of  
the ,pulpit1 translated and published as
 an article in ,the ,british and        
,foreign ,evangelical ,review1 ,january1
 #ahha3--     ,in general1 people recite
 too quickly1 far too quickly4 ,when a  
man speaks1 the thoughts and feelings do

 not come to him all at    once2 they   
take birth little by little in his mind4
 ,it is    necessary that this labour   
and this slowness appear in the         
reciting1 or it will always come short  
of nature4 ,take time to    reflect1 to 
feel1 and to allow ideas to come1 and   
hurry your    recitation only when      
constrained by some particular          
consideration4444     ,talk not in the  
pulpit4 ,an exaggerated familiarity     
would be a    mistake nearly as great as
 declamation3 it happens more seldom2   
it is1 nevertheless1 found in certain   
preachers1 those    especially who have 
not studied4 ,the tone of good          
conversation1    but that tone          
heightened and ennobled1 such appears to
 me the    ideal of pulpit delivery4444 
,in order to rise above the tone of     
conversation1 the majority    of        
preachers withdraw too far from it4     
,they swell their    delivery1 and      
declaim instead of speaking4 ,now1 when 
bombast    comes in1 nature goes out4   

,in regard to the first of these        
extracts ,i should say that many        
,scotch speakers fail through lack of   
pace in the delivery4    ,the interest  
is lost in the pauses between the       
sentences4 ,a    slow delivery is only  
effective when a thought is obviously   
being born1 for which the audience is   
kept intently waiting4  ,but the most   
remarkable thing in the article is the  
following quotation from ,talma1 the    
actor3--     ,we were rhetoricians and  
not characters4 ,what scores of         
academical discourses on the theatre1   
how few simple words6 ,but    by chance 
,i found myself one evening in a        
drawing-room with the    leaders of the 
party of the ,gironde4 ,their sombre    
countenance1    their anxious look1     
attracted my attention4 ,there were     
there1    written in visible letters1   
strong and powerful interests4 ,they    
were men of too much heart for those    
interests to be tarnished    by         
selfishness2 ,i saw in them the manifest

 proof of the danger    of my country4  
,all come to enjoy pleasure2 not one    
thinking of    it6 ,they began to       
discuss2 they touched on the most       
thrilling    questions of the day4 ,it  
was grand6 ,methought ,i was attending  
one of the secret councils of the       
,romans4 ',the ,romans must have        
spoken like these1' said ,i4 ',let the  
country be called ,france    or ,rome1  
it makes use of the same intonations1   
speaks the same    language3 therefore1 
if there is no declamation here before  
me1    there was no declamation down    
there1 in olden times2 that is          
evident6' ,these reflections rendered me
 more attentive4 ,my    impressions1    
though produced by a conversation       
thoroughly free    from bombast1        
deepened4 ',an apparent calm in men     
agitated stirs    the soul1' said ,i2   
'eloquence may then have strength1      
without    the body yielding to         
disordered movements4' ,i even perceived
    that the discourse1 when delivered  

without efforts or cries1    renders the
 gesture more powerful and gives the    
countenance    more expression4 ,all    
these deputies assembled before me by   
chance appear to me much more eloquent  
in their simplicity than    at the      
tribune1 where1 being in spectacle1 they
 think they must    deliver their       
harangue in the way of actors--and      
actors as we    were then--that is1     
declaimers1 full of bombast4 ,from that 
day    a new light flashed on me2 ,i    
foresaw my art regenerated4             
,,lecture ,v4  ,,the ,,preacher ,,as ,a 
,,false ,,prophet4   ,upon anyone who is
 studying the physiognomy of the age of 
the prophets there is one disagreeable  
feature which obtrudes itself so        
constantly that even in the briefest    
sketch it is impossible to pass it by4  
,this is the activity of the false      
prophets4#ch ,it culminated in the      
lifetime of ,jeremiah1 whose whole      
career might almost be described as a   
conflict with them4 ,again and again he 

and they came to open war2 and on at    
least one occasion the whole body       
combined to take away his life4 ,ezekiel
 was scarcely less afflicted by them4   
,they were perhaps not so prominent an  
element in the life of ,isaiah1 but he  
also refers to them frequently2 and1    
indeed1 their sinister figures haunt the
 pages of all the prophets4  ,it is a   
kind of humiliation to speak of them at 
all1 and ,i would gladly pass them by2  
but the figure of the true prophet will 
rise before our eyes more clearly by the
 contrast of the false3 and it is       
perhaps a duty to look also at the      
degradations to which our office is     
liable4 ,the higher the honour attaching
 to the ministerial profession1 when it 
is worthily filled1 the deeper is the   
abuse of which it is capable in         
comparison with other callings2 and its 
functions are so sacred that the man who
 discharges them must either be a man of
 ,god or a hypocrite4 ,yet there are    
plenty of motives of an inferior kind   

which may take the place of right       
ministerial aims4 ,though it is painful 
to speak of such things1 yet here again 
the method which we have adopted in     
these lectures1 of following the        
guidance of ,scripture1 may be leading  
us better than we could have chosen     
ourselves2 and it may be wholesome to   
have to look at an aspect of our subject
 which of our own accord we would avoid4
         99       99       99       99  
99  ,there are two things in ,scripture 
which ,i have never been able to think  
of without strong movements of fear and 
self-distrust4  ,one of them is that1   
when the ,son of ,god came to this      
earth1 ,he was persecuted and slain by  
the religious classes4 ,his deadly      
opponents were the ,scribes and         
,pharisees4 ,but who were the ,scribes  
and ,pharisees8 ,the ,scribes occupied  
almost exactly the position in the      
community which is held among us by the 
literary1 the scholastic and the        
clerical classes2 and the ,pharisees    

were simply what we should now call the 
leading religious laymen4 ,had they been
 adherents of a false religion1 there   
would have been nothing surprising in   
their resistance to the final revelation
 of the true ,god4 ,but the religion    
which they professed was the true       
religion2 the ,scribes were the         
expounders of the ,word of ,god1 and the
 ,pharisees occupied the foremost places
 in the house of ,god4 ,yet1 when the   
,son of ,jehovah1 whose name they were  
called by1 appeared amongst them1 they  
rejected ,him and took away ,his life4  
,many a time1 as ,i have followed ,jesus
 step by step through ,his lifelong     
conflict with their illwill and         
contradiction1 the question has pressed 
itself painfully upon my mind3 ,if ,he  
were to come to the earth now and       
intervene in our affairs1 how would the 
religious classes receive ,him8 and on  
which side would ,i be myself8 ,if to   
any this question may seem fantastic1   
let them change it into this other1     

which cannot appear idle1 though it     
means exactly the same thing3 ,what is  
the attitude of the religious classes to
 the manifestations of the spirit of    
,jesus in the life of to-day8 do they   
welcome them and back them up8 or have  
the new ideas and movements in which    
,christ is marching onward to the       
conquest of the world to reckon on      
opposition1 even from those who call    
themselves most loudly by ,his name8    
,the other circumstance which has often 
affected my mind in the same way is that
 which comes before us to-day--that the 
true prophets of the ,old ,testament had
 to face the opposition1 not of         
heathens1 and not of the openly         
irreligious among their own countrymen  
only1 but of those who had the name of  
,god in their mouths and were publicly  
recognised as ,his oracles4 ,to us these
 are now false prophets1 because time   
has found them out and the ,word of ,god
 has branded them with the title they   
deserve2 but in their own day they were 

regarded as true prophets2 and doubtless
 many of them never dreamed that they   
were not entitled to the name4  ,they   
must have been a numerous and powerful  
body4 ,jeremiah mentions them again and 
again along with the king1 the princes  
and the priests1 as if they formed a    
fourth estate in the realm2 and         
,zephaniah mentions them in the same way
 along with the princes1 the judges and 
the priests4 ,they evidently formed a   
separate and conspicuous class in the   
community4 ,they cannot have been       
equally bad in every generation2 and    
there may have been many degrees of     
deviation among them from the character 
of the true prophet2 but as a body they 
were false1 and the true servants of    
,god had to reckon them among the       
anti-religious forces which they had to 
overcome4  ,this is an appalling        
fact--that the public representatives of
 religion should ever have been the     
worst enemies of religion2 but it cannot
 be denied that even in ,christendom1   

and that not once or twice1 the same    
condition of things has existed4  ,at   
the time these men did not suppose that 
this was the position they held2 but    
history has judged them4 ,it is not easy
 for a man to admit the thought into his
 own mind that in him his office is     
being dishonoured and its aim           
frustrated2 and it is far more difficult
 to do so if he has the support of the  
prevailing sentiment and is going       
forward triumphantly as a member of the 
majority4 ,but there is enough in the   
history of our order to warn us to watch
 over ourselves with a jealous mind1    
lest we too1 while clad in the garb of a
 sacred profession and in the authority 
of an ecclesiastical position1 should be
 found fighting against ,god4 ,it will  
not do to think that1 merely because we 
sit in ,moses' seat and have the ,word  
of ,god in our mouths1 therefore we must
 be right4 ,nor must we be too confident
 because we are in the majority4 ,if we 
have faith in our own views1 it is quite

 right1 indeed1 that we should try to   
make them prevail2 and there is a       
legitimate joy in seeing a good cause   
carrying with it the sympathies and     
suffrages of men4 ,but we are all too   
easily persuaded that our cause is good 
simply because it can win votes4 ,in    
ecclesiastical affairs there is often as
 feverish a counting of heads as in     
party politics4 ,the majority have the  
same confidence that the case is finally
 decided in their favour2 and there is  
the same exultation over the defeated   
party1 as if their being in the minority
 were a clear proof that they were also 
in the wrong4 ,but this is no criterion1
 and time may sternly reverse the       
victory of the moment4 ,even in the     
,church the side of the false prophets  
may be the growing and the winning side1
 while ,jeremiah is left in a minority  
of one4  ,the false prophets were       
strong1 not only in their own numbers1  
but in their popularity with the people4
 ,this told heavily against the true    

prophets2 for the people could not      
believe that the one man1 who was       
standing alone1 was right1 and that his 
opponents1 who were many1 were wrong4   
,the seats and the trappings of office  
always affect the multitude1 who are    
slow to come to the conclusion that the 
teachers under whom they find themselves
 in providence can be misleading them4  
,this is1 to a certain extent1 an       
honourable sentiment2 but it throws upon
 public teachers a weighty              
responsibility4 ,if they are going      
wrong1 they will generally get the      
majority of the people to follow them4  
,so completely may this be the case1    
that by degrees the popular taste is    
vitiated and will not endure any other  
teaching than that to which it has been 
accustomed1 though it be false4 ,there  
is no sadder verse in all prophecy than 
the complaint of ,jeremiah1 ,the        
prophets prophesy falsely1 and my people
 love to have it so4 ,like prophet1 like
 people2 the public mind may be so      

habituated to what is false1 and        
satisfied with it1 that it has no taste 
or even tolerance for the true4#ci      
,jeremiah could not gain a hearing for  
his stern and weighty message from ears 
accustomed to the light and frivolous   
views of the false prophets2 and to     
,baruch1 his young coadjutor and        
amanuensis1 who was starting on the     
prophetic career with the high hopes of 
youth1 he had to deliver the chilling   
message1 ,seekest thou great things for 
thyself8 seek them not4 ,the path to    
popularity and eminence was not open to 
anyone who did not speak according to   
the prevailing fashion4  ,the false     
prophets won and kept their popularity  
by pandering to the opinions and        
prejudices of the people4 ,the times of 
,jeremiah were big with coming          
calamities1 and he had to predict that  
these calamities were sure to come2 for 
there were no signs of deep or genuine  
repentance1 and1 indeed1 the time for   
repentance was past4 ,the               

self-flattering1 ease-loving people     
hated to hear these disagreeable facts4 
,their frivolous minds were engrossed   
with the gossip and excitement of the   
passing day1 and it was too great an    
exertion to give their attention to the 
majestic views of the ,divine justice   
and the far-reaching sweep of the       
,divine providence to which ,jeremiah   
tried to direct their attention4 ,they  
wished to enjoy the present and to      
believe that all would come right       
somehow4 ,the false prophets flattered  
these wishes4 ,they said that the       
calamities which ,jeremiah was          
foretelling would not come to pass1 or  
that at least they would be much less   
formidable than he represented4 ,they   
were1 as ,jeremiah says1 like an        
unconscientious physician1 who is afraid
 to probe the wound to the bottom1      
though the life of the patient depends  
on it4 ,ezekiel accuses them of making  
nightcaps to draw over the eyes and ears
 of their countrymen1 lest they should  

see and hear the truth1 and of muffling 
with a glove the naked hand of ,god with
 which the sins of the people should    
have been smitten4 ,the constant refrain
 of their prophecies was1 ,peace1 peace1
 though the storm-clouds of retribution 
were ready to burst4 ,the people said to
 them1 ,prophesy to us smooth things2   
and the false prophets provided the     
supply according to the demand4  ,we    
cannot flatter ourselves that this is a 
danger which belongs entirely to the    
past4 ,there will always be a demand for
 smooth things1 and an appropriate      
reward for him who is willing to supply 
them in the name of ,god4 ,popularity is
 a thing which will always be coveted2  
and under certain conditions it is a    
thing to be thankful for4 ,if it means  
that the truth is prevailing and that   
men are yielding their minds to its     
sway1 it is a precious gift of heaven4  
,it is a good thing to see many coming  
out to hear the ,word of ,god1 and to   
both preacher and hearers there is a    

great deal of exhilaration and          
inspiration in a full church4 ,but      
popularity may be purchased at too dear 
a rate4 ,it may be bought by the        
suppression of the truth and the letting
 down of the demands of ,christianity4  
,there will always be a demand for a    
religion which does not agitate the mind
 too much or interfere with the pursuits
 of a worldly life4  ,i have seen a very
 trenchant article from an ,american pen
 on the power of the moneyed members of 
a church to dictate the tone of the     
pulpit2 and it is a common accusation   
against ministers1 that they flatter the
 prevailing classes in their            
congregations4 ,if their congregations  
are wealthy1 they are afraid1 it is     
said1 to speak up for the poor1 even    
when justice is calling out on their    
side2 and1 if their congregations are   
poor1 they take the side of the         
working-man1 right or wrong4 ,i should  
question whether temptations so gross as
 these are much felt4 ,far more         

dangerous are the subtler               
temptations--to truckle to the spirit of
 the age1 to keep at all hazards on the 
side of the cultivated and clever1 and  
to shun those truths the utterance of   
which might expose the teacher to the   
charge of being antiquated and bigoted4 
,let a preacher dwell always on the     
sunny side of the truth and conceal the 
shadows1 let him enlarge continually on 
what is simple and human in             
,christianity and pass lightly over what
 is mysterious and ,divine3 let him1 for
 example1 dwell on the human side of    
,christ but say nothing of ,his deity1  
let him enforce ,christ's example but   
say nothing of ,his atonement1 let him  
extol the better elements of human      
nature but say nothing of its depravity1
 let him preach frequently on the       
glories of the next world but never     
mention its terrors3 and very probably  
he may be popular and see his ,church   
crowded2 but he will be a false         
prophet4#dj  ,who were these false      

prophets1 and how did there come to be  
such numbers of them8 ,these are        
questions which an attentive reader of  
the ,bible cannot help asking2 but it is
 not by any means easy to answer them4  
,the prophets whose names have come down
 to us are not by any means numerous2   
but1 besides them1 there must have been 
many other true prophets4 ,there were   
times when the spirit of religion was   
breathing through the community1 and    
then men were not wanting who felt      
called to be its organs4 ,the spirit of 
inspiration might fall on anyone at any 
time2 no prescribed training was        
necessary to make a man a prophet4 ,it  
might come1 as it did to ,amos1 on the  
husbandman in his fields or the shepherd
 among his flock4 ,it might alight on   
the young noble amidst the opening      
pleasures of life1 as it did on ,isaiah 
and ,zephaniah2 or it might come1 as it 
did on ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel1 on the   
young priest preparing for his sacred   
functions4  ,but some of the more noted 

prophets endeavoured in a more          
systematic way to diffuse the spirit    
which rested upon themselves1 and thus  
to multiply the number of the prophets4 
,they founded schools in which promising
 young men were gathered and plied with 
the means of education available in that
 age1 cultivating music1 reading the    
writings of the older prophets1 and     
coming under the influence of the holy  
man who was at their head4 ,these were  
the ,schools of the ,prophets1 and their
 students were the ,sons of the         
,prophets4 ,samuel seems to have been   
the first founder of these schools4     
,they were flourishing in the times of  
,elijah and ,elisha1 and they probably  
continued to exist with varying fortunes
 in subsequent centuries4 ,perhaps all  
who went through these schools claimed1 
or could claim1 the prophetic name4     
,those who took up the profession wore  
the hairy mantle and leathern girdle    
made familiar to us by the figure of    
,john the ,baptist2 and they probably   

subsisted on the gifts of those who     
benefited from their oracles4 ,their    
numbers may have been very large2 we    
hear of hundreds of prophets even during
 an idolatrous reign1 when they were    
exposed to persecution4  ,in times when 
the spirit of inspiration was abroad or 
when the schools enjoyed the presence of
 a master spirit1 it is easy to         
understand how valuable such            
institutions may have been1 and how they
 may have been centres from which       
religious light and warmth were diffused
 through the whole country4 ,but they   
were liable to deterioration4 ,if the   
general tone of religion in the country 
declined1 they partook in the general   
decay2 an inspiring leader might be     
taken away and no like-minded successor 
arise to fill his place2 or men who had 
received no real call beforehand might  
join the school and pass through the    
curriculum without receiving it4 ,only  
they had learned the trick of speech and
 got by rote the language of religion4  

,they had no personal knowledge of ,god 
or message obtained directly from ,him2 
but it was not difficult to put on the  
prophet's mantle and talk in the        
traditional prophetic tones4 ,the       
fundamental charge against the false    
prophets is always this3 ,i have not    
sent these prophets1 yet they ran2 ,i   
have not spoken unto them1 yet they     
prophesy4  ,if ,i am right in tracing   
the origin of false prophecy to the     
schools of the prophets1 this gives a   
suggestive hint as to the point at which
 the same danger may beset ourselves4   
,it is obviously the duty of the        
authorities of the ,church to make      
provision for the training of those who 
are to be the future ministers of the   
,gospel2 and it is natural for those who
 have the honour of the ,church at heart
 to covet for her service the talents of
 the gifted4 ,parents1 too1 will often  
be found cherishing an intense desire   
that the choicest of their sons should  
become ministers4 ,these wishes of      

superiors have a legitimate influence in
 determining the choice of our          
life-work4 ,the wishes and prayers of   
pious parents are especially entitled to
 have very great weight4 ,yet there is a
 danger of an outward influence of this 
kind being substituted for genuine      
personal experience and an inward call4 
,when1 a generation ago1 in the rural   
parts of ,england1 the church in many a 
parish was looked upon as a living1 to  
be allocated to a junior member of the  
family1 who was educated for the        
position as a matter of course1 the     
custom1 whatever happy results it might 
produce in exceptional cases1 was not   
fitted to fill the pulpits of the land  
with men of prophetic character4 ,the   
pious wishes of parents1 however        
beautiful they may be1 require to be    
made absolutely conditional on a        
vocation of a higher kind2 otherwise we 
get a manufactured ministry1 without a  
message1 in place of men in whom the    
spirit of inspiration is stirring and   

who speak because they believe4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,having no message of their own1 what   
were the false prophets to do8 ,the best
 they could do was to repeat and imitate
 what had been said by their            
predecessors4 ,it is with this ,jeremiah
 reproaches them when he says1 ,behold1 
,i am against the prophets1 saith the   
,lord1 that steal ,my words everyone    
from his neighbour4 ,the older prophets 
used to begin their utterances with the 
phrase1 the burden of the ,lord2 and    
,jeremiah complains that this had become
 an odious cant term in the mouths of   
his contemporaries2 and in the same way 
,zechariah complains that in his day the
 great word comfort1 which from the lips
 of ,isaiah had descended like dew from 
heaven on the parched hearts of the     
people of ,god1 had become a dry and    
hackneyed phrase in the mouths of false 
prophets4 ,how dangerous this habit of  
stealing the words of others might      
become1 when practical issues were      

involved1 may be illustrated by a       
striking example4 ,the inviolability of 
,jerusalem had been a principle of the  
older prophets1 which was quite true for
 their times2 and ,isaiah had made use  
of it for rousing his fellow-citizens   
from despair1 when the army of          
,sennacherib stood before the gates4    
,but in ,jeremiah's time the change of  
circumstances had made it to be no      
longer true2 and yet the false prophets 
kept on repeating it2 and no doubt they 
seemed both to themselves and others to 
be occupying a strong position when1 in 
opposing him1 they could allege that    
they were standing on the same ground as
 ,isaiah4 ,all the time1 however1 they  
were betraying those who listened to    
them4  ,there is a sense in which the   
truth of ,god is unchangeable2 it is    
like ,himself--the same yesterday and   
to-day and forever4 ,but there is       
another sense in which it is continually
 changing4 ,like the manna1 it descends 
fresh every morning1 and1 if it is kept 

till to-morrow1 it breeds loathsome     
worms4 ,isaiah describes the true       
prophet as one who has the tongue of the
 learner--not of the learned1 as the    
,authorised ,version gives it--and whose
 ear is opened every morning to hear the
 message of the new day4 ,what was truth
 for yesterday may be falsehood for     
to-day2 and only he is a trustworthy    
interpreter of ,god who is sensitive to 
the indications of present providence4  
,it would1 however1 be a mistake to     
suppose that the only form which false  
prophecy can take is a dried-up         
orthodoxy1 mumbling over the shibboleths
 of yesterday4 ,if he who stands forward
 as a speaker for ,god is out of touch  
with ,god and has really no ,divine     
message1 he may make good the lack of a 
true ,divine word in many ways4 ,the    
easiest way is1 no doubt1 to fall back  
on some accepted word of yesterday2 but 
he may also strike out on the path of   
originality1 announcing a gospel for    
to-morrow1 constructed by his own fancy1

 which has no ,divine sanction4 ,neither
 orthodoxy nor heterodoxy is a          
guarantee3 the only guarantee is a      
humble mind living in the secret of the 
,lord4         99       99       99     
99       99  ,i have mentioned that the 
prophets subsisted on the contributions 
of those to whom their oracles were     
supposed to be valuable4 ,there is1     
indeed1 very little information on this 
head2 but they are accused of           
prophesying for bread1 and avarice and a
 greedy appetite for the good things of 
this life are reproaches frequently cast
 at them4 ,it is not likely that        
prophecy can ever have been a paying    
profession1 but it would appear to have 
been at least a means of livelihood2 and
 there are indications that those who   
enjoyed an exceptional popularity may   
have occupied a high social standing4   
,ezekiel1 whose characterizations of the
 false prophets are remarkably striking1
 uses about them a significant figure of
 speech4 ,he says that1 while a true    

prophet was like a wall of fire to his  
country1 standing in the breach when    
danger threatened and defending it with 
his life1 the false prophets were like  
the foxes that burrow among the ruins of
 fallen cities4 ,what mattered it to    
them that their country was degraded1 if
 only they had found comfortable places 
for themselves8  ,this also is a painful
 side of the subject4 ,it is inevitable 
that the ministry should become a means 
of livelihood1 and yet it is fatal to   
pursue it with this in view4 ,it is the 
least lucrative of the professions1 and 
yet1 in the pressure of modern life1 it 
may tempt men to join it merely as a    
profession4 ,even if it has been entered
 upon from higher motives1 the attrition
 of domestic necessities may dry up the 
nobler motives and convert the minister 
into a hireling who thinks chiefly of   
his wages4#da ,the commercial spirit is 
nearly omnipotent in our day2 and men   
who can buy everything for money think  
that ministers are procurable in the    

same way4 ,thus they tempt men away with
 bribes of money from work to which ,god
 has called them4 ,i am far from        
questioning the importance of the       
mission of the pulpit to the wealthier  
classes2 and we must have men of culture
 to preach to the cultivated4 ,i would  
no more think of setting up the poor    
against the rich1 as the exclusive      
objects of the ,church's attention1 than
 the rich against the poor4 ,but perhaps
 the most essential work of the ,church 
at the present time is to win and to    
hold the working classes4 ,i should like
 to see ministers coveting work among   
them2 and let him who has learned to    
wield such an audience1 where he can    
speak with the freedom and force of     
nature1 beware of being bribed away to a
 position where he will be tamed and    
domesticated1 and have his teeth drawn  
and his claws cut4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,so monotonous is 
the evil side of the false prophets that
 one longs for a gleam of something good

 in them4 ,can they not at least be     
pitied8 ,may they not have been weak    
men1 who were elevated to a position    
which proved too much for them8 ,the    
times were full of change and           
difficulty1 and it required a clear eye 
to see the indications of ,providence4  
,it is not everyone who has the genius  
of an ,isaiah or the magnificent moral  
courage of a ,jeremiah4 ,was it not     
possible to take a milder view of the   
world than ,jeremiah did and yet be a   
true man8 ,may they not at least have   
been mistaken1 when they ventured to    
emit prophecies which history falsified8
  ,such sentiments easily arise in us2  
but they are driven back by what we read
 of the personal character of these men4
 ,both prophet and priest1 says         
,jeremiah1 are profane2 yea1 in ,my     
house have ,i found their wickedness1   
saith the ,lord4 ,i have seen1 he says  
in ,god's name1 in the prophets of      
,jerusalem an horrible thing3 they      
commit adultery and walk in lies4       

,jeremiah's view of them might be       
thought to be coloured by his own       
melancholy temperament2 but ,isaiah's is
 not less severe3 ,the priest and the   
prophet1 he says1 have erred through    
wine1 they are swallowed up of wine1    
they are out of the way through strong  
drink4 ,and he gives this terrible      
picture of them3 ,his watchmen are      
blind1 they are ignorant2 they are all  
dumb dogs1 they cannot bark2 sleeping1  
lying down1 loving to slumber4 ,yea1    
they are greedy dogs which can never    
have enough1 and they are shepherds that
 cannot understand2 they all look to    
their own way1 everyone to his gain from
 his quarter4 ,come ye1 say they1 ,i    
will fetch wine1 and we will fill       
ourselves with strong drink2 and        
to-morrow shall be as this day and still
 more abundant4 ,the representations in 
the other prophets are to the same      
effect4 ,zephaniah passes on the whole  
class the sweeping judgment1 that they  
are light and treacherous persons4 ,but 

the lowest deep is reached in           
,zechariah1 who foresees a time1 close  
at hand1 when the very name of prophet  
will be a byword1 and the father and    
mother of anyone who pretends to        
prophesy will thrust him through1 to    
deliver themselves from the reproach of 
having any connection with him4#db  ,the
 influence of such a travesty of the    
sacred office as these passages describe
 must have been deplorable2 and without 
doubt it was one of the principal causes
 of the overthrow of the ,jewish ,state4
 ,jeremiah says expressly1 that from the
 prophets profaneness had gone out over 
the whole land4 ,they who1 from their   
position and profession1 ought to have  
been an example to their                
fellow-countrymen were the very reverse4
 ,they were the companions of the       
profane and licentious in their revels1 
and they joined with scorners in        
scoffing at those who led a strict and  
holy life4 ,so ,god charges them by the 
lips of ,ezekiel3 ,ye have made the     

hearts of the righteous sad1 whom ,i    
have not made sad1 and strengthened the 
hands of the wicked1 that he should not 
return from his wicked way4  ,this is a 
terrible picture4 ,yet there have been  
epochs in the history of the ,christian1
 and even of the ,protestant ,church1   
when its features have been reproduced  
with too faithful literality4 ,let us be
 thankful that we live in a happier     
time2 but let us also remember the      
maxim1 ,let him that thinketh he        
standeth take heed lest he fall4 ,if a  
,church lose the ,spirit of ,god1 there 
is no depth of corruption to which it   
may not rapidly descend2 and a degraded 
,church is the most potent factor of    
national decay4         99       99     
99       99       99  ,allow me1        
gentlemen1 to say1 in closing1 that ,i  
believe the question1 what is to be the 
type and the tone of the ministry in any
 generation1 is decided in the          
theological seminaries4 ,what the       
students are there1 the ministers of the

 country will be by-and-by4 ,and1 while 
the discipline of the authorities and   
the exhortations and example of         
professors may do something1 the tone of
 the college is determined by the       
students themselves4 ,the state of      
feeling in a theological seminary ought 
to be such1 that any man living a life  
inconsistent with his future profession 
should feel thoroughly uncomfortable1   
and have the conviction driven in upon  
his conscience every day1 that the      
ministry is no place for him4           
,,footnotes3  #ch ,as this subject is   
somewhat novel1 the following collection
 of texts may be acceptable2 but it is  
not given as exhaustive3--  ,isa4 ii4   
#f2 xxviii4 #g2 xxx4 #aj1 #aa2 xlvii4   
#ac2 lvi4 #aj-ab4  ,jer4 ii4 #h1 #bf2   
iv4 #i2 v4 #ca2 vi4 #ad2 xiv4 #ac-af2   
xviii4 #ah2 xxiii4 #i-dj 7locus         
classicus72 xxvi4 #h2 xxvii4 #i1 #af2   
xxviii4 xxix4 #h4  ,ezek4 xii4 #bd2     
xiii4 7locus classicus72 xiv4 #i2 xx4   
#be2 xxi4 #bc2 xxii4 #be1 #bh4  ,micah  

ii4 #aa2 iii4 #e1 #aa4  ,zeph4 iii4 #d4 
,zech4 x4 #b2 xiii4 #b-d4  #ci ,sicut   
autem cuius pulchrum corpus et deformis 
est animus1 magis dolendus est1 quam si 
deforme haberet et corpus1 ita qui      
eloquenter ea qu falsa sunt dicunt1     
magis miserandi sunt1 quam si talia     
deformiter dicerent4--,,st4 ,,augustine4
  #dj ,even popularity honestly won may 
be a great snare4 ,vanity1 it must be   
allowed1 is probably the commonest      
clerical weakness2 and1 when it is      
yielded to1 it deforms the whole        
character4 ,there are few things more   
touching or instructive than the entries
 in ,dr4 ,chalmers' journal1 which show 
with what earnestness he was praying    
against this1 in the height of his      
popularity1 as a besetting sin4 ,if this
 were common1 there would not be the    
slight accent of contempt attached to   
the name of the popular preacher which  
now belongs to it in the mouths of men4 
,the publicity which beats on the pulpit
 makes veracity1 down to the bottom of  

the soul1 more necessary in the clerical
 than in any other calling4 ,a prime    
virtue in the pulpit is mental          
integrity4 ,the absence of it is a      
subtle source of moral impotence4 ,it   
concerns other things than the blunt    
antipodes represented by a truth and a  
lie4 ,argument which does not satisfy a 
preacher's logical instinct2            
illustration which does not commend     
itself to his sthetic taste2 a          
perspective of doctrine which is not    
true to the eye of his deepest insight2 
the use of borrowed materials which     
offend his sense of literary equity2 an 
emotive intensity which exaggerates his 
conscious sensibility2 an impetuosity of
 delivery which overworks his thought2  
gestures and looks put on for scenic    
effect2 an eccentric elocution1 which no
 human nature ever fashioned2 even a    
shrug of the shoulder1 thought of and   
planned for beforehand--these are causes
 of enervation in sermons which may be  
otherwise well framed and sound in      

stock4 ,they sap a preacher's           
personality and neutralise his          
magnetism4 ,they are not true1 and he   
knows it4 ,hearers may know nothing of  
them theoretically1 yet may feel the    
full brunt of their negative force      
practically4--,,austin ,,phelps1 ,d4,d41
 ,my ,note ,book4  #da ,that which in   
its idea is the divinest of earthy      
employments has necessarily come to be  
also a profession1 a line of life1 with 
its routine1 its commonplace1 its       
poverty and deterioration of motive1 its
 coarseness of feeling4 ,it cannot but  
be so4 ,it is part of the conditions of 
our mortality4 ,even earnest purpose1   
even zealous and laborious service1     
cannot alone save from the lowered tone 
and dulness of spirit which are our     
insensible but universal and inveterate 
enemies in all the business of real     
life4 ,and that torpor and insensibility
 and deadness to what is high and great 
is1 more than any other evil1 the       
natural foe of all that is              

characteristic and essential in the     
,christian ministry2 for that ministry  
is one of life and reality1 or it is    
nothing4--,,dean ,,church4  #db ,this   
may perhaps help to determine the age of
 the portion of ,zechariah to which this
 passage belongs4 ,is there any proof   
elsewhere that a degradation of the     
prophetic office as deep as this had    
taken place1 or was imminent1 at the    
period to which it is usually assigned8 
,,lecture ,,vi4  ,,the ,,preacher ,,as  
,a ,,man4   ,gentlemen1 in the foregoing
 lectures ,i have finished1 as far as   
time permitted1 what ,i had to say on   
the work of our office1 as it is        
illustrated by the example of the       
prophets2 and to-day we turn to the     
other branch of the subject--to study   
the modern work of the ministry in the  
light cast upon it by the example of the
 apostles4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,when we quit the ,old     
,testament and open the ,new1 we come   
upon another great line of preachers to 

whom we must look up as patterns4 ,the  
voice of prophecy1 after centuries of   
silence1 was heard again in ,john the   
,baptist1 and his ministry of repentance
 will always have its value as          
indicating a discipline by which the    
human spirit is prepared for            
comprehending and appreciating ,christ4 
,i have already given the reason why ,i 
am not at present to touch on the       
preaching of ,christ ,himself1 although 
the subject draws one's mind like a     
magnet4 ,after ,christ1 the first great 
,christian preacher was ,st4 ,peter2 and
 between him and ,st4 ,paul there are   
many subordinate figures1 such as       
,stephen1 ,philip the ,evangelist and   
,apollos1 beside whom it would be both  
pleasant and profitable to linger4 ,but 
we have agreed to take ,st4 ,paul as the
 representative of apostolic preaching1 
and ,i will do so more exclusively than 
,i took ,isaiah as the representative of
 the prophets4  ,it is1 ,i must confess1
 with regret that ,i pass ,st4 ,peter   

by4 ,there is a peculiar interest       
attaching to him as the first great     
,christian preacher2 and there is       
something wonderfully attractive in his 
rude1 but vigorous and lovable          
personality4 ,besides1 a study of the   
influences by which he was transmuted   
from the unstable and untrustworthy     
precipitancy of his earlier career into 
the rocklike firmness which made him fit
 to be a foundation-stone on which the  
,church was built would have taught us  
some of the most important truths which 
we require to learn2 because these      
influences were1 first1 his long and    
close intimacy with ,christ and1        
secondly1 the outpouring on him1 at     
,pentecost1 of the ,holy ,spirit2 and   
there are no influences more essential  
than these to the formation of the      
ministerial character4  ,but ,i have no 
hesitation in devoting to ,st4 ,paul the
 remainder of this course2 because1 as  
,i indicated in the opening lecture1    
there is no other figure in any age     

which so deserves to be set up as the   
model of ,christian ministers4 ,in him  
all the sides of the ministerial        
character were developed in almost      
supernatural maturity and harmony2 and1 
besides1 the materials for a full       
delineation are available4 ,it is my    
intention to speak of ,st4 ,paul1 first1
 as a ,man2 secondly1 as a ,christian2  
thirdly1 as an ,apostle2 and fourthly1  
as a ,thinker4         99       99      
99       99       99  ,to-day1 then1 we 
begin with ,st4 ,paul as a ,man4 ,if ,i 
had had time to set before you what ,st4
 ,peter's life has to teach us1 its     
great lesson would have been what       
,christianity can make of a nature      
without special gifts and culture1 and  
how the two influences which formed     
him--intimacy with ,christ and the      
outpouring of the ,spirit--can supply   
the place of talents and educational    
advantages2 for it is evident that1 but 
for ,christ1 ,peter would never have    
been anything more than an unknown      

fisherman4 ,but ,st4 ,paul's case       
teaches rather the opposite lesson--how 
,christianity can consecrate and use the
 gifts of nature1 and how talent and    
genius find their noblest exercise in   
the ministry of ,christ4 ,paul would1 in
 all probability1 have made a notable   
figure in history1 even if he had never 
become a ,christian2 and1 although he   
himself delighted to refer all that he  
became and did to ,christ1 it is evident
 that the big nature of the man entered 
also as a factor into his ,christian    
history4  ,once at least ,st4 ,paul     
recognises this point of view himself1  
when he says1 that ,god separated him to
 ,his service from his mother's womb4   
,in ,jeremiah's mind the same idea was  
awakened still more distinctly at the   
time of his call1 when ,jehovah said to 
him1 ,before ,i formed thee in the belly
 ,i knew thee1 and1 before thou camest  
forth out of the womb1 ,i sanctified    
thee1 and ,i ordained thee a prophet    
unto the nations4 ,this implies that1 in

 the original formation of his body and 
mind1 ,god conferred on him those gifts 
which made him capable of a great       
career4 ,here we touch on one of the    
deepest mysteries of existence4 ,there  
is nothing more mysterious than the     
behaviour of nature1 when in her secret 
laboratories she presides over the      
shaping of the rudiments of life and    
distributes those gifts1 which1         
according as they are bestowed with an  
affluent or a niggardly hand1 go so far 
to determine the station and degree     
which each shall occupy in the          
subsequent competitions of the world4   
,it is especially mysterious how into a 
soul here and there1 as it passes forth1
 she breathes an extra whiff of the     
breath of life1 and so confers on it the
 power of being and doing what others   
attempt to be and do in vain4           
,undoubtedly ,st4 ,paul was one of these
 favourites of fortune4 ,nature designed
 him in her largest and noblest mould1  
and hid in his composition a spark of   

celestial fire4 ,this showed itself in a
 certain tension of purpose and flame of
 energy which marked his whole career4  
,he was never one of those pulpy1       
shapeless beings who are always waiting 
on circumstances to determine their     
form2 he was rather the stamp itself1   
which impressed its image and           
superscription on circumstances4  #a4   
,he was a supremely ethical nature4     
,this perhaps was his fundamental       
peculiarity4 ,life could under no       
circumstances have seemed to him a      
trifle4 ,the sense of responsibility was
 strong in him from the beginning4 ,he  
was trained in a strict school2 for the 
law of life prescribed to the race of   
which he was a member was a severe one2 
but he responded to it1 and there never 
was a time when the deepest passion of  
his nature was not to receive the       
approval of ,god4 ,touching the         
righteousness which was in the law1 he  
was blameless4 ,after his conversion he 
laid bare unreservedly the sins of his  

past2 but there were none of those      
dalliances with the flesh to confess    
into which soft and self-indulgent      
natures easily fall4 ,he could never    
have allowed himself that which would   
have robbed him of his self-respect4    
,his sense of honour was keen4 ,when1 in
 his subsequent life1 he was accused of 
base things--lying1 hypocrisy1 avarice  
and darker sins--he felt intense pain1  
crying out like one wounded1 and he     
hurled the accusations from him with the
 energy of a self-respecting nature4 ,it
 was always his endeavour to keep a     
conscience void of offence not only     
towards ,god1 but also towards men2 and 
one of his most frequently reiterated   
injunctions to those who were in any way
 witnesses for ,christ was to seek to   
approve themselves as honest men even to
 those who were without4 ,he was        
speaking out of his own heart when he   
said to all1 ,whatsoever things are     
true1 whatsoever things are honest1     
whatsoever things are pure1 whatsoever  

things are lovely1 whatsoever things are
 of good report3 if there be any virtue1
 and if there be any praise1 think on   
these things4  ,i cannot help pausing   
here to say1 that he will never be a    
preacher who does not know how to get at
 the conscience2 but how should he know 
who has not himself a keen sense of     
honour and an awful reverence for moral 
purity8 ,we are making a great mistake  
about this4 ,we are preaching to the    
fancy1 to the imagination1 to intellect1
 to feeling1 to will2 and1 no doubt1 all
 these must be preached to2 but it is in
 the conscience that the battle is to be
 won or lost4#dc ,the great difficulty  
of missionary work is that in the       
heathen there is1 as a rule1 hardly any 
conscience3 it has almost to be created 
before they can be ,christianized4 ,in  
many parts of ,christendom it is dying  
out2 and1 where it is extinct1 the whole
 work of ,christianity has to be done   
over again4  #b4 ,st4 ,paul's           
intellectual gifts are so universally   

recognised that it is hardly worth while
 to refer to them4 ,they are most       
conspicuously displayed in his          
exposition of ,christianity1 on which ,i
 shall speak in the closing lecture4    
,but in the meantime ,i remark1 that his
 intellectual make was not at all that  
usually associated in our minds with the
 system-builder4  ,it was1 indeed1      
massive1 thorough and severe4 ,but it   
was not in the least degree stiff and   
pedantic4 ,it was1 on the contrary1 an  
intellect of marvelous flexibility4     
,there was no material to which it could
 not adapt itself and no feat which it  
could not perform4 ,you may observe     
this1 for example1 in the diverse ways  
in which he addresses different         
audiences4 ,in one town he has to       
address a congregation of ,jews2 in     
another a gathering of heathen rustics2 
in a third a crowd of philosophers4 ,to 
the ,jews he invariably speaks1 to begin
 with1 about the heroes of their        
national history2 to the ignorant       

heathen he talks about the weather and  
the crops2 and to the ,athenians he     
quotes their own poets and delivers a   
high-strung oration2 yet in every case  
he arrives naturally at his own subject 
and preaches the gospel to each audience
 in the language of its own familiar    
ideas4 ,even outside of his own peculiar
 sphere altogether1 ,st4 ,paul was equal
 to every occasion4 ,during his voyage  
to ,rome1 when the skill of the sailors 
was baffled and the courage of the      
soldiers worn out by the long-continued 
stress of weather1 he alone remained    
cheerful and clearheaded2 he virtually  
became captain of the ship1 and he saved
 the lives of his fellow-passengers over
 and over again4  ,we think of the      
intellect of the system-builder as cold4
 ,but there is never any coldness about 
,st4 ,paul's mind4 ,on the contrary1 it 
is always full of life and all on fire4 
,he can1 indeed1 reason closely and     
continuously2 but1 every now and then1  
his thought bursts up through the       

argument like a flaming geyser and falls
 in showers of sparks4 ,then the        
argument resumes its even tenor again2  
but these outbursts are the finest      
passages in ,st4 ,paul4 ,in the same    
way1 ,shakespeare1 ,i have observed1    
while moving habitually on a high level 
of thought and music1 will1 every now   
and then1 pause and1 spreading his      
wings1 go soaring and singing like a    
lark sheer up into the blue4 ,when the  
thought which has lifted him is         
exhausted1 he gracefully descends and   
resumes on the former level2 but these  
flights are the finest passages in      
,shakespeare4  #c4 ,the intellectual    
superiority of ,st4 ,paul is universally
 acknowledged2 and to those who only    
know him at a distance this is his      
outstanding peculiarity4 ,but the close 
student of his life and character knows1
 that1 great as he was in intellect1 he 
was equally great in heart1 perhaps even
 greater4 ,one of the subtlest students 
of his life1 the late ,adolphe ,monod1  

of the ,french ,church1 has fixed on    
this as the key to his character4 ,he   
calls him the ,man of ,tears1 and shows 
with great persuasiveness that herein   
lay the secret of his power4  ,it is    
certainly remarkable1 when you begin to 
look into the subject1 how often we see 
,st4 ,paul in the emotional mood1 and   
even in tears4 ,in his famous address to
 the ,ephesian elders he reminded them  
that he had served the ,lord among them 
with many tears1 and again1 that he had 
not ceased to warn everyone night and   
day with tears4 ,it is not what we      
should have expected in a man of such   
intellectual power4 ,but this makes his 
tears all the more impressive4 ,when a  
weak1 effeminate man weeps1 he only     
makes himself ridiculous2 but it is a   
different spectacle when a man like ,st4
 ,paul is seen weeping2 because we know 
that the strong nature could not have   
been bent except by a storm of feeling4 
,his affection for his converts is      
something extraordinary4 ,some have     

believed that there is evidence to prove
 that in youth his heart had suffered a 
terrible bereavement4 ,it is supposed   
that he had been married1 but lost his  
wife early4 ,he never sought to replace 
the loss1 and he never spoke of it4 ,but
 the affection of his great heart1 long 
pent up1 rushed forth into the channel  
of his work4 ,his converts were to him  
in place of wife and children4 ,his     
passion for them is like a strong       
natural affection4 ,his epistles to them
 are1 in many places1 as like as they   
can be to love-letters4 ,listen to the  
terms in which he addresses them3 ,ye   
are in our heart to die and live with   
you2 ,i will very gladly spend and be   
spent for you1 though1 the more         
abundantly ,i love you1 the less ,i be  
loved2 ,therefore1 my brethren1 dearly  
beloved and longed for1 so stand fast in
 the ,lord1 my dearly beloved4  ,to his 
fellow-labourers in the ,gospel         
especially1 his heart went out in       
unbounded affection4 ,the long lists of 

greetings at the close of his epistles1 
in which the characters and services of 
individuals are referred to with such   
overflowing generosity and yet with such
 fine discrimination1 are unconscious   
monuments to the largeness of his heart4
 ,he could hardly mention a             
fellow-worker without breaking forth    
into a glowing panegyric3 ,whether any  
do inquire of ,titus1 he is my partner  
and fellow-helper concerning you2 or our
 brethren be inquired of1 they are the  
messengers of the churches and the glory
 of ,christ4  ,there is no more         
conclusive proof of the depth and       
sincerity of ,st4 ,paul's heart than the
 affection which he inspired in others2 
for it is only the loving who are loved4
 ,none perhaps are more discriminating  
in this respect than young men4 ,a hard 
or pedantic nature cannot win them4 ,but
 ,st4 ,paul was constantly surrounded   
with troops of young men1 who1 attracted
 by his personality1 were willing to    
follow him through fire and water or to 

go on his messages wherever he might    
send them4 ,and that he could win mature
 minds in the same way is proved by the 
great scene at ,miletus1 already        
referred to1 where the elders of        
,ephesus1 at parting with him1 all wept 
sore1 and fell on ,paul's neck and      
kissed him1 sorrowing most of all for   
the word which he said1 that they should
 see his face no more4  ,the nature of  
,st4 ,paul's work no doubt immensely    
developed this side of his character1   
but1 before passing from the subject1 it
 is worth remembering how the           
circumstances of his birth and          
upbringing were providentially fitted to
 broaden his sympathies1 even before he 
became a ,christian4 ,he was not simply 
a ,jew1 but a ,hebrew of the ,hebrews2  
and he felt all the pride of a child of 
that race to which pertained the        
adoption and the glory and the covenant1
 and the giving of the law1 and the     
service of ,god1 and the promises4 ,he  
could always put himself in touch at    

once with a ,jewish audience by going   
back on associations which were as dear 
to himself as to them4 ,yet1 although so
 thoroughly a ,jew1 he belonged by birth
 to a larger world4 ,he was not born    
within the boundaries of ,palestine1    
where his sympathies would have been    
cramped and his horizon narrowed1 but in
 a ,gentile city1 famous for its beauty1
 its learning and its commerce2 and he  
was1 besides1 a freeborn citizen of     
,rome4 ,we know from his own lips that  
he was proud of both distinctions2 and  
he thus acquired a cosmopolitan spirit  
and learned to think of himself as a man
 amongst men4  ,nor ought we1 perhaps1  
to omit here to recall the fact1 that he
 learned in his youth the handicraft of 
tent-making4 ,this brought him into     
close contact with common men1 whose    
language he learned to speak and whose  
life he learned to know--acquirements   
which were to be of supreme utility in  
his subsequent career4         99       
99       99       99       99           

,gentlemen1 it is generally agreed that 
a certain modicum of natural gifts is   
necessary for those who think of        
entering the ministry4 ,here is         
,luther's list of the qualifications of 
a minister3 you will observe that most  
of them are gifts of nature3 #a4 ,he    
should be able to teach plainly and in  
order4 #b4 ,he should have a good head4 
#c4 ,good power of language4 #d4 ,a good
 voice4 #e4 ,a good memory4 #f4 ,he     
should know when to stop4 #g4 ,he should
 be sure of what he means to say4 #h4   
,and be ready to stake body and soul1   
goods and reputation1 on its truth4 #i4 
,he should study diligently4 #aj4 ,and  
suffer himself to be vexed and          
criticized by everyone4  ,the first     
consciousness of the possession of      
unusual powers is not unfrequently      
accompanied by an access of vanity and  
self-conceit4 ,the young soul glories in
 the sense1 probably vastly exaggerated1
 of its own pre-eminence and            
anticipates1 on an unlimited scale1 the 

triumphs of the future4 ,but there is   
another way in which this discovery may 
act4 ,the consciousness of unusual      
powers may be accompanied with a sense  
of unusual responsibility1 the soul     
inquiring anxiously about the intention 
of the ,giver of all gifts in conferring
 them4 ,it was in this way that         
,jeremiah was affected by the           
information that special gifts had been 
conferred on him in the scene to which  
,i have already referred in this        
lecture4 ,he concluded at once that he  
had been blessed with exceptional       
talents in order that he might serve his
 ,god and his country with them4 ,and   
surely in a gifted nature there could be
 no saner ambition than1 if ,god        
permitted it1 to devote its powers to   
the ministry of ,his ,son4  ,there is no
 other profession which is so able to   
absorb and utilise talents of every     
description4 ,this is manifest in regard
 to such talents as those mentioned by  
,luther--a good voice1 a good memory1   

etc4 ,but there is hardly a power or an 
attainment of any kind which a minister 
cannot use in his work4 ,how            
philosophical power can serve him may be
 seen in the preaching of ,dr4          
,chalmers1 whose sermons were always    
cast in a philosophical mould4 ,the     
philosophy was not very deep2 it was not
 too difficult for the common man2 but  
it gave the preaching a decided air of  
distinction4 ,how scientific            
acquirements may be utilised is shown in
 the sermons of some of our foremost    
living preachers1 who find an           
inexhaustible supply of illustrations in
 their scientific studies4 ,literary    
style may supply the feather to wing the
 arrow of truth to its mark4 ,that      
poetic power may serve the preacher it  
is not necessary to prove on the spot   
where ,ray ,palmer wrote ,my faith looks
 up to ,thee4 ,business capacity is     
needed in church courts and in the      
management of a congregation4 ,in some  
other professions men have to bury half 

their talents2 but in ours there is no  
talent which will not find appropriate  
and useful exercise4  ,we perhaps lay   
too much stress1 however1 on            
intellectual gifts and attainments4     
,these are the only ones which are      
tested by our examinations in college2  
yet there are moral qualities which are 
just as essential4  ,the polish given by
 education tells1 no doubt2 but the size
 of the primordial mass of manhood tells
 still more4 ,in a quaint book of       
,reminiscences recently published from  
the pen of a notable minister of the    
last generation in the ,highlands of    
,scotland1 ,mr4 ,sage of ,resolis1 there
 is a criticism recorded1 which was     
passed by a parishioner on three        
successive ministers of a certain       
parish3 ,our first minister1 said he1   
was a man1 but he was not a minister2   
our second was a minister1 but he was   
not a man2 and the one we have at       
present is neither a man nor a minister4
  ,there is no demand which people make 

more imperatively in our day than that  
their minister should be a man4 ,it is  
not long since a minister was certain of
 being honoured simply because he       
belonged to the clerical profession and 
wore the clerical garb4 ,people1 as the 
saying was1 respected his cloth4 ,but   
ours is a democratic age1 and that state
 of public feeling is passing away4     
,there is no lack of respect1 indeed1   
for ministers who are worthy of the     
name2 perhaps there is more of it than  
ever4 ,but it is not given now to       
clerical pretensions1 but only to proved
 merit4 ,people do not now respect the  
cloth1 unless they find a man inside it4
  ,perhaps the educational preparation  
through which we pass at college is not 
too favourable to this kind of power4   
,in the process of cutting and polishing
 the natural size of the diamond runs   
the risk of being reduced4 ,when we are 
all passed through the same mill1 we are
 apt to come out too much alike4 ,a man 
ought to be himself4 ,your ,emerson     

preached this doctrine with             
indefatigable eloquence4 ,perhaps he    
exaggerated it2 but it is a true        
doctrine2 and it is emphatically a      
doctrine for preachers4 ,what an        
audience looks for1 before everything   
else1 in the texture of a sermon is the 
bloodstreak of experience2 and truth is 
doubly and trebly true when it comes    
from a man who speaks as if he had      
learned it by his own work and          
suffering4  ,it will generally be       
noticed in any man who makes a distinct 
mark as a preacher that there is in his 
composition some peculiarity of         
endowment or attainment on which he has 
learned to rely4 ,it may be an emotional
 tenderness as in ,mc,cheyne1 or a moral
 intensity as in ,robertson of          
,brighton1 or intellectual subtlety as  
in ,candlish1 or psychological insight  
as in ,beecher4 ,but something          
distinctive there must be1 and1         
therefore1 one of the wisest of rules   
is1 ,cultivate your strong side4  ,but  

what tells most of all is the           
personality as a whole4 ,this is one of 
the prime elements in preaching4 ,the   
effect of a sermon depends1 first of    
all1 on what is said1 and next1 on how  
it is said2 but1 hardly less1 on who    
says it4 ,there are men1 says ,emerson1 
who are heard to the ends of the earth  
though they speak in a whisper4#dd ,we  
are so constituted that what we hear    
depends very much for its effect on how 
we are disposed towards him who speaks4 
,the regular hearers of a minister      
gradually form in their minds1 almost   
unawares1 an image of what he is1 into  
which they put everything which they    
themselves remember about him and       
everything which they have heard of his 
record2 and1 when he rises on ,sunday in
 the pulpit1 it is not the man visible  
there at the moment that they listen to1
 but this image1 which stands behind him
 and determines the precise weight and  
effect of every sentence which he       
utters4         99       99       99    

99       99  ,closely connected with the
 force of personality is the other      
power1 which ,st4 ,paul possessed in so 
supreme a degree1 of taking an interest 
in others4 ,it is the manhood in        
ourselves which enables us to understand
 the human nature of our hearers2 and we
 must have had experience of life1 if we
 are to preach to the life of men4      
,some ministers do this extremely       
little4 ,not once but many a time1 ,i   
have heard a minister on the ,sabbath   
morning1 when he rose up and began to   
pray1 plunging at once into a           
theological meditation2 and in all the  
prayers of the forenoon there would     
scarcely be a single sentence making    
reference to the life of the people     
during the week4 ,had you been a        
stranger alighted from another planet1  
you would never have dreamed that the   
human beings assembled there had been   
toiling1 rejoicing and sorrowing for six
 days2 that they had mercies to give    
thanks for and sins to be forgiven2 or  

that they had children at home to pray  
for and sons across the sea4  ,there is 
an unearthly style of preaching1 if ,i  
may use the term1 without the blood of  
human life in it3 the people with their 
burdens in the pews--the burden of home1
 the burden of business1 the burden of  
the problems of the day--whilst1 in the 
pulpit1 the minister is elaborating some
 nice point1 which has taken his fancy  
in the course of his studies1 but has no
 interest whatever for them4 ,only now  
and then a stray sentence may pull up   
their wandering attention4 ,perhaps he  
is saying1 ,now some of you may reply2  
and then follows an objection to what he
 has been stating which no actual human 
being would ever think of making4 ,but  
he proceeds elaborately to demolish it1 
while the hearer1 knowing it to be no   
objection of his1 retires into his own  
interior4  ,if what was said in a former
 lecture about the distinctive          
difference between the preaching of the 
,old ,testament and that of the new be  

considered1 it will at once be          
recognised how vital is this aspect of  
the matter4 ,the prophets of the ,old   
,testament1 in common with the thinkers 
of antiquity in general1 thought of men 
in masses and regarded the individual   
only as a fragment of a larger whole4   
,but ,christ introduced an entirely new 
way of thinking4 ,to ,him the individual
 was a whole in himself2 beneath the    
habiliments of even the humblest member 
of the human family there was hidden    
what was more precious than the entire  
material world2 and on the issues of    
every life was suspended an immortal    
destiny4 ,this faith may be said to have
 made ,jesus ,christ the ,saviour of the
 world2 for ,he saw in the lost children
 of men that which made ,him live to    
seek them and die to save them4 ,and it 
is by this same faith and vision that   
anyone is qualified to be a             
fellow-worker with ,christ4 ,no one will
 ever be able to engage with any success
 in the work of human salvation who does

 not see men to be infinitely the most  
interesting objects in the world1 and   
who does not stand in awe before the    
solemn destiny and the sublime          
possibilities of the soul4 ,it is by the
 growth and the glow of this faith that 
the worth of all ministerial work is    
measured4  ,it is far easier1 however1  
to acknowledge this view in the abstract
 than to cherish it habitually towards  
the actual men and women of our own     
sphere and our own vicinity4 ,that man  
is the most interesting object in the   
world2 that the soul is precious2 and   
that it is better for a human being to  
lose the whole world than to miss his   
destiny--these are now commonplaces1    
which everyone who bears the ,christian 
name will acknowledge4 ,yet in reality  
few live under their power4 ,many a one 
who has paid the tribute of love and    
admiration to the spectacle of ,christ's
 compassion for the outcasts1 and melted
 with sthetic emotion before a picture  
of the ,woman taken in ,adultery or the 

,woman that was a ,sinner1 has never    
once attempted to save an actual woman  
of the same kind in his own city1 and   
would be utterly at a loss if such a    
one1 in an hour of remorse1 were to     
throw herself on his pity and           
protection4 ,there is a great difference
 between a sinner in a book or a picture
 and a sinner in the flesh4 ,multitudes 
in their hearts believe that all the    
remarkable and interesting people lived 
long ago or that1 at any rate1 if any   
are now alive1 they live many miles away
 from their vicinity4 ,they believe that
 there were remarkable people in the    
first or the ninth century1 but by no   
means in the nineteenth2 they believe   
that there are interesting people in    
,paris or ,london or ,new ,york2 but    
they have never discovered anything     
wonderful in those living in their own  
village or in their own street4 ,many   
who consider themselves enlightened will
 tell you that their neighbours are a   
poor lot4 ,they fancy that1 if they were

 living somewhere else1 fifty or a      
hundred miles away1 they would find     
company worthy of themselves2 though it 
is ten to one that1 if they made the    
change1 their new neighbours would be a 
poor lot also4  ,if a minister allows   
himself to harbour sentiments of this   
sort1 he is lost4#de ,no one will ever  
win men who does not believe in them4   
,the true minister must be able to see  
in the meanest man and woman a          
revelation of the whole of human nature2
 and in the peasant in the field1 and   
even the infant in the cradle1          
connections which reach forth high as   
heaven and far as eternity4 ,all that is
 greatest in king or kaiser exists in   
the poorest of his subjects2 and the    
elements out of which the most delicate 
and even saintly womanhood is made exist
 in the commonest woman who walks the   
streets4 ,the harp of human nature is   
there with all its strings complete2 and
 it will not refuse its music to him who
 has the courage to take it up and      

boldly strike the strings4 ,the great   
preacher is he who1 wherever he is      
speaking1 among high or low1 goes       
straight for those elements which are   
common to all men1 and casts himself    
with confidence on men's intelligence   
and experience1 believing that the just 
suggestions of reason and the terrors of
 conscience1 the sense of the nobility  
of goodness and the pathos of love and  
pity are common to them all4#df  ,let me
 close this lecture with a few words on 
a great subject1 to which a whole       
lecture might have been profitably      
devoted4  ,no safer piece of advice     
could be tendered you than to let the   
beginning of your ministry be marked by 
care for the young4 ,this is work which 
more than any other will encourage      
yourselves1 and it is more likely than  
any other to establish you in the       
affections of a congregation4  ,to work 
successfully among children you must    
know their life and have the entre of   
their little world of interests1        

excitements1 prizes and hopes4 ,it is   
not difficult to get it1 if only we are 
simple and genuine4 ,children will      
approach their minister gladly1 and make
 him their confidant1 if only he is     
accessible to them4 ,by the ministers of
 an older generation they were kept at  
an awful distance4 ,when they were out  
of temper or doing wrong1 they were     
threatened with a visit from the        
minister in the same way as they might  
be threatened with the policeman1 or the
 parish beadle1 or a still more awful   
functionary of the universe4 ,this1 let 
us hope1 has passed away1 and in most   
parishes a ministerial visit is spoken  
of as a promise instead of a threat4 ,a 
minister is proud nowadays if a child   
flies up to him in the street and       
ruffles his feathers with boisterous    
familiarity1 or if a group of children  
pin him into the corner of a room and   
order him1 under pains and penalties1 to
 tell them a story4 ,we are returning to
 the ideal of ,goldsmith1 in the        

,deserted ,village3--      ,the service 
past1 around the pious man     ,with    
steady zeal each loyal rustic ran2      
,even children followed with endearing  
wile1     ,and plucked his gown to share
 the good man's smile4  ,more important 
even than accessibility is genuine      
respect for the children4  ,we ought to 
respect their intelligence4 ,when we are
 preaching to them1 we should give them 
our very best4 ,i venture to say1 that a
 much larger proportion of the sermons  
preached to children is never written   
out than of sermons to adults4 ,the     
preacher1 having thought of two or three
 lines of remark and got hold of two or 
three stories1 enters the pulpit with   
these materials lying loosely in his    
mind1 and trusts to the moment for the  
style of the sermon4 ,of course1 if a   
man has trained himself to preach in    
this way always1 it is all right2 but1  
if not1 it is a mistake4 ,children are  
greatly affected by felicity of         
arrangement and the music of language2  

they do not know to what their pleasure 
is due1 but they feel it2 and1 if a     
preacher has the power of original      
thought or of beautiful diction1 there  
is no occasion when he should be more   
liberal in the use of it than when he is
 addressing them4#dg ,the truth is1 it  
is a complete mistake to make the       
children's sermon so different from     
other sermons as to create the          
impression that it is the only utterance
 from the pulpit to which they are      
expected to listen4 ,it is not easy to  
get children to begin to listen at all  
to what is said in church2 the          
children's sermon is a device to catch  
their attention2 but it ought also to be
 a bridge conducting them over to the   
habit of listening to all that is said  
there4 ,if they acquire the habit1 they 
are our best hearers4 ,a boy of twelve  
or thirteen can follow nearly anything2 
and there is no keener critic of the    
logic of a discourse or warmer          
appreciator of any passage which is     

worthy of admiration4  ,but1 while we   
respect the intelligence of the young1  
there is something else which we need to
 believe in still more4 ,we do not half 
realise the drama of religious          
impression going on in the minds of     
children4 ,we forget our own childhood  
and the movements excited in our        
childish breasts under the preaching of 
the ,word--how real the things unseen   
were to us2 how near ,god was1 ,his eye 
flashing on us through the darkness2 how
 our hearts melted at the sufferings of 
,christ2 how they swelled with unselfish
 aspirations as we listened to the      
stories of heroic lives2 how distinctly 
the voice of conscience spoke within us2
 and how we trembled at the prospect of 
death1 judgment and eternity4 ,what we  
were then1 other children are now2 and  
what went on in us is going on in them4 
,it is the man who believes this and    
reveres it who will reap the harvest in 
the field of childhood4  ,there is no   
surer way to secure for ourselves the   

interest of the old than to take an     
interest in the young4 ,of course a     
forced interest in children1 shown with 
this in view1 would be hypocrisy and    
deserve contempt4 ,we must love the     
children for their own sakes4 ,yet we   
may quite legitimately nourish our      
interest in the young by observing that 
it is one of the strongest instincts of 
human nature which makes fathers and    
mothers feel kindnesses shown to their  
children to be the greatest benefits    
which can be conferred on themselves4   
,an ,edinburgh minister1 who has had    
conspicuous success in preaching to     
children as well as in every other      
department of the work of his sacred    
office1 once1 in a gathering of divinity
 students1 of whom ,i was one1 told an  
incident from his own life which is     
almost too sacred to be repeated by any 
lips except his own1 but which ,i hope  
he will excuse me for enriching you     
with1 as it puts in a memorable form one
 of the truest secrets of ministerial   

success4 ,on the morning of the day when
 he was going to be ordained to his     
first charge1 he was leaving his home in
 the country to travel to the city1 and 
his mother came to the door to bid him  
good-bye4 ,holding his hand at parting1 
she said1 ,you are going to be ordained 
to-day1 and you will be told your duty  
by those who know it far better than ,i 
do2 but ,i wish you to remember one     
thing which perhaps they may not tell   
you--remember1 that1 whenever you lay   
your hand on a child's head1 you are    
laying it on its mother's heart4        
,,footnotes3  #dc ,the ,sybarites of    
to-day will tolerate a sermon which is  
delicate enough to flatter their        
literary sensuality2 but it is their    
taste which is charmed1 not their       
conscience which is awakened3 their     
principle of conduct escapes            
untouched4444 ,amusement1 instruction1  
morals1 are distinct genres4--,,amiel4  
#dd ,the finest description of a speaker
 known to me is this of ,lord ,bacon in 

,ben ,jonson's ,discoveries2 and it is  
evident that it was the man rather than 
the manner or even the matter which made
 the impression3 ,yet there happened in 
my time one noble speaker1 who was full 
of gravity in his speaking4 ,his        
language1 where he could spare or pass  
by a jest1 was nobly censorious4 ,no man
 ever spake more neatly1 more pressly1  
more weightily1 or suffered less        
emptiness1 less idleness1 in what he    
uttered4 ,no member of his speech but   
consisted of his own graces4 ,his       
hearers could not cough1 or look aside  
from him1 without loss4 ,he commanded   
where he spoke2 and had his judges angry
 and pleased at his devotion4 ,no man   
had their affections more in his power4 
,the fear of every man that heard him   
was1 lest he should make an end4  #de   
,it has often astonished me to observe  
how easily ministers' wives in this     
respect find for themselves the right   
path4 ,one would think it would be very 
difficult sometimes for those who have  

been brought up in cities or in a       
secluded circle to adapt themselves     
suddenly to a remote and unselect       
society2 and they have not1 like their  
husbands1 had the opportunity of        
meditating long on the duties of a      
public position4 ,a hearty and cordial  
humanity in the members of a minister's 
family lends an immense assistance to   
his work4 ,a minister ought to belong to
 no class of society1 but to have the   
power of moving without constraint in   
every class4  #df ,not a heart but has  
its romance1 not a life which does not  
hide a secret which is either its thorn 
or its spur4 ,everywhere grief1 hope1   
comedy1 tragedy2 even under the         
petrifaction of old age1 as in the      
twisted forms of fossils1 we may        
discover the agitations and tortures of 
youth4 ,this thought is the magic wand  
of poets and preachers4--,amiel4  #dg   
,this may be a reason for rather        
devoting a whole diet of worship to the 
children once a month or once a quarter 

than only giving them a few minutes     
every ,sabbath4 ,but many follow the    
latter practice with excellent results4 
,perhaps there ought to be something    
specially for the children at every     
service4 ,if ,i may mention my own      
practice1 ,i have1 during my whole      
ministry1 preached to children once a   
month2 and every ,sunday ,i have a      
children's hymn in the forenoon and a   
prayer for children in the afternoon4   
,,lecture ,,vii4  ,,the ,,preacher ,,as 
,a ,,christian4   ,in the last lecture  
,i spoke of ,st4 ,paul as a ,man1       
showing how remarkable were his         
endowments and acquirements1 and how    
these told in his apostolic career4 ,but
 it was not through these that he was   
what he was4 ,great as were the gifts   
bestowed on him by nature and cultivated
 by education1 they were utterly        
inadequate to produce a character and a 
career like his4 ,it was what           
,christianity added to these that made  
him ,st4 ,paul4  ,it is right enough    

that we should now recognise the        
importance of his natural gifts and     
trace out the ways in which ,providence 
was shaping his life towards its true   
aim before he was conscious of it4 ,but 
,st4 ,paul himself had hardly patience  
for such cool reflections4 ,he turned   
away with strong aversion from his      
pre-,christian life as something        
condemned and lost2 and he delighted to 
attribute all that he was and did to the
 influence of ,christ alone4 ,in my last
 lecture ,i quoted a single passage to  
show that he himself recognised that his
 natural endowments had been bestowed in
 order to fit him for the peculiar work 
which he was destined to accomplish in  
the world2 but ,i question if from all  
his writings ,i could have quoted       
another passage to the same effect4 ,it 
was only for a moment that he allowed   
himself to stand on this point of view2 
whereas we could quote from every part  
of his writings such sayings as these3  
,by the grace of ,god ,i am what ,i am2 

,i laboured more abundantly than they   
all1 yet not ,i1 but the grace of ,god  
in me2 ,it is no more ,i that live1 but 
,christ liveth in me4  ,that this was   
his habitual way of estimating his own  
achievements is strikingly illustrated  
by his mode of thinking and speaking of 
certain defects in the equipment with   
which nature had supplied him for the   
career on which he was embarked4 ,gifted
 as he was1 even he did not possess all 
gifts4 ,he lacked one or two of those   
which might have been thought most      
essential to his success4  ,it would    
appear that he lacked the rotund voice  
and copious diction of the orator2 for  
his critics were able to allege that1   
whilst his written style was powerful1  
his spoken style was contemptible4      
,painters have represented him as a kind
 of demi-god1 with the stature of an    
athlete and the grace of an ,apollo4    
,but he seems to have been diminutive in
 stature2 and there appears to be       
evidence to prove that there was that in

 his appearance which1 at first sight1  
rather repelled than attracted an       
audience4 ,he felt these defects keenly1
 and could not but wish sometimes that  
they were removed4 ,but his habitual and
 settled feeling about them was1 that he
 ought to look upon them as sources of  
strength rather than as weaknesses1     
because they made him rely the more on  
the strength of ,christ4 ,this was an   
unfailing resource1 on which he felt    
that he could draw without limit4 ,and  
so he gloried in his infirmities1 that  
the power of ,christ might rest upon    
him4#dh  ,it might be said that it was  
only the enthusiasm of ,paul which made 
him attribute to ,christ that which     
really belonged to himself4 ,but his own
 point of view is the just one4 ,it was 
,christ who made him2 and1 if we are to 
understand a ministry like his1 we must 
try to measure the influence of ,christ 
upon him1 or1 in other words1           
investigate the elements of his         
,christianity4         99       99      

99       99       99  #a4 ,paul could   
claim that even in his pre-,christian   
days he had lived in all good conscience
 towards both ,god and man4 ,yet this   
profession of uprightness does not      
prevent him from confessing elsewhere   
that deep down in his consciousness     
there had been a mortal struggle between
 the principles of good and evil1 in    
which the good was far from always      
winning the victory3 ,we all1 he        
acknowledges1 had our conversation in   
times past in the lusts of our flesh1   
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind1 and were by nature the     
children of wrath even as others4 ,in   
the seventh chapter of ,romans he has   
drawn a picture of this struggle1 and it
 is to the very life4 ,theologians have1
 indeed1 disputed among themselves as to
 the stage of experience there referred 
to--whether it is the state of an       
unconverted or of a converted man4 ,but 
the human heart has no difficulty in    
interpreting it4 ,the more thoroughly   

anyone is a man1 the more easily will he
 understand it2 and especially the more 
upright and conscientious anyone is1 the
 more certainly must he have experienced
 what is described in words like these1 
,that which ,i do ,i allow not1 for what
 ,i would that do ,i not1 but what ,i   
hate that do ,i2 ,for the good that ,i  
would ,i do not1 but the evil that ,i   
would not that ,i do2 ,i find1 then1 a  
law that1 when ,i would do good1 evil is
 present with me4 ,for ,i delight in the
 law of ,god after the inward man2 but  
,i see another law in my members warring
 against the law of my mind1 and        
bringing me into captivity to the law of
 sin which is in my members4 ,oh        
wretched man that ,i am6 who shall      
deliver me from the body of this death8 
,thus ,paul had been a lost man1 in     
hopeless bondage to sin4  ,but he had to
 repent of his own righteousness as well
 as of his sin4 ,he had inherited the   
passionate longing of the ,jewish race  
for fellowship with ,god--the longing   

expressed a hundred times in the poetry 
of his fathers in words like these3 ,as 
the hart panteth after the waterbrooks1 
so panteth my soul after ,thee1 ,o ,god2
 ,my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the   
living ,god2 when shall ,i come and     
appear before ,god8 ,he had been taught 
that the great prize of life is to be   
well-pleasing to ,god1 and he had       
learned the lesson with all the         
passionate earnestness of his nature4   
,yet he never could attain to that for  
which he longed4 ,there always seemed to
 be a cloud on the ,divine face1 and he 
was kept at a distance4 ,luther went    
through the very same experience4 ,his  
was also a passionately religious       
nature1 and he strove with all his might
 to get into the sunshine of ,god's     
face2 but his efforts were entirely     
baffled4 ,wash them as he would1 his    
hands were never clean4  ,what could an 
earnest nature do in such circumstances 
but seek to bring still greater         
sacrifices8 ,probably this was the      

source of ,paul's zeal in the work of   
the persecutor4 ,he was vindicating the 
honour of ,god when he exterminated the 
enemies of ,god4 ,the work must have    
gone sorely against the grain of a      
nature as sensitive as his1 especially  
when he saw scenes1 like the death of   
,stephen1 in which the gentleness and   
heroism of his victims shone out with   
unearthly beauty4 ,but he only flung    
himself more passionately into his task2
 because1 the more trying it was1 the   
greater was the merit of doing it1 and  
the more certain was he of winning at   
last the full approval of ,god4  ,this  
portion of ,paul's career seems to be   
capable of complete vindication on the  
ground of conscientiousness4 ,indeed1 in
 reviewing it1 he stands sometimes on   
this point of view himself1 and says    
that ,god had mercy on him because he   
did it ignorantly in unbelief4 ,but     
oftener he thinks of it with            
overwhelming shame and remorse4 ,the    
whole course of life which had logically

 led up to work so inhuman in its       
details and so directly in the face of  
,god's purposes was demonstrated by the 
issue to have been utterly ungodly4 ,his
 thoughts had not been ,god's thoughts  
nor his ways ,god's ways4 ,the scenes of
 the persecution1 when1 haling men and  
women1 he cast them into prison2 the    
hatred and fury which in those days had 
raged in his breast2 the efforts which  
he had put forth to oppose the cause of 
,christ1 which it was his firm          
resolution to extinguish to its last    
embers--these memories would never      
afterwards quit his mind4 ,they kept him
 humble2 for he felt that he was the    
least of the apostles1 who was not      
worthy to be called an apostle1 because 
he had persecuted the ,church of ,god4  
,he called himself the chief of sinners1
 and believed that ,god had in his case 
exhaustively displayed the whole wealth 
of ,his mercy for a pattern to all      
subsequent generations4  ,the first     
element of ,st4 ,paul's ,christianity1  

then1 was the penitence of a lost man   
and a great sinner1 who owed to ,christ 
the forgiveness of his sins and the     
redemption of his life from an evil     
career4 ,and he believed that ,christ   
had purchased these benefits for him by 
the sacrifice of ,his own life4  #b4    
,the second great element of ,st4       
,paul's ,christianity was his           
,conversion1 which set a gulf between   
the portion of his life which preceded  
and the portion which followed it4 ,it  
was the chief date of his life1 and     
confronted him every time he looked     
back4 ,its influence extended to every  
part of his experience2 but perhaps its 
most important effect was to set ,christ
 up within him as a living ,person1 of  
whose reality he was absolutely assured4
  ,probably ,paul's opposition to       
,christianity was from the first very   
specially opposition to ,christ         
,himself4 ,when he struck at the        
disciples1 he was really striking at the
 ,master through them4 ,it is easy to   

conceive what an affront the pretensions
 of ,jesus must have been felt to be by 
,paul4 ,jesus had been a man of about   
his own age--a young man2 he had sprung 
from the lowest of the people1 being a  
villager and mechanic2 he had never sat 
in the schools of learning2 the men of  
ability and authority had had no        
hesitation in condemning ,him4 ,that    
such a one should be esteemed the       
,messiah of the ,jews and worshipped as 
if ,he were ,divine1 raised a storm of  
indignation in the heart of ,paul4      
,probably nothing could have converted  
him except the miraculous occurrence    
which ,god employed4 ,christ had to come
 to him in person and in a visible      
shape--in the shape of the glorified    
humanity which ,he wears somewhere in   
that empire of ,god which we call       
,heaven4 ,paul knew the light in which  
he was enveloped to be a ,divine light2 
the sound of the voice calling him was  
the thunder which from of old had been  
recognised by the race to which he      

belonged as the voice of ,god2 he was   
looking straight up to the place of     
,god2 and in that place he saw ,jesus1  
whom he was persecuting4 ,most ,divine  
of all1 however1 were the sweetness1 the
 clemency and the respect of the words  
in which he was addressed4 ,this ,jesus1
 against whom he was raging1 came to    
him1 not with corresponding rage1 to    
take vengeance and destroy him1 but with
 winning words of truth and with the    
call to a high and blessed vocation4 ,it
 was this which broke the heart of ,paul
 and attached him to ,christ forever4   
,he always afterwards believed that what
 took place on this occasion was what ,i
 have said--that ,jesus of ,nazareth    
descended from the right hand of ,god to
 prove to him who ,he was and to claim  
him as ,his servant and apostle--and    
never afterwards did he for a moment    
doubt that the man whom his             
fellow-countrymen had crucified1 and    
whom he himself had persecuted1 was     
seated on the throne of heaven1 clothed 

with ,divine blessedness and            
omnipotence4  ,of course others have    
doubted this4 ,it may be said that what 
,paul saw was only a vision1 and that   
therefore his new life was founded on a 
mistake4 ,i believe his own account to  
be the correct one2 but perhaps we need 
not dogmatize too much about what he    
saw2 because it was not in reality on   
any theory of this vision that his faith
 was founded4 ,it was not because he saw
 ,christ that day with the bodily eye1  
or believed he did so1 that he became or
 continued a ,christian2 it was because1
 trusting ,christ1 thus revealed1 he    
obtained that for which he had all his  
life been longing3 he was no longer     
banished or kept at a distance1 but     
brought nigh to ,god2 he was reconciled1
 and the love of ,god was shed abroad in
 his heart4 ,he had all his lifetime    
been asking in despair1 ,what must ,i do
 to be saved8 but now he was saved4 ,the
 humiliating bondage in which his       
spiritual nature had been held was      

dissolved1 and1 following ,christ1 he   
advanced from victory to victory4  ,this
 is the test of all conversions2 it is  
the best evidence of ,christianity2 and 
it is the power of preaching4 ,we       
believe in ,christ not only because     
there is sufficient historical evidence 
that ,he existed eighteen hundred years 
ago and did such acts as proved that ,he
 was sent from ,god1 but because ,he    
proves ,himself to be living now by the 
transformation which ,he brings to pass 
in those who put their trust in ,him4   
,we are certain that there is a         
,saviour1 because ,he has saved         
ourselves4 ,i am happy to see that this 
evidence of our religion is at present  
coming again to the front4 ,one of your 
younger scholars1 ,dr4 ,stearns of      
,bangor1 ,maine1 has developed it1 in a 
book just published1 with great breadth 
of theological knowledge2 and a former  
,yale lecturer1 ,dr4 ,dale of           
,birmingham1 has given a telling        
exposition of it at the same time4#di   

,this is the vital force of preaching4  
,we are witnesses to ,christ--not merely
 to a ,christ who lived long ago and did
 wonders1 but to a ,christ who is alive 
now and is still doing moral miracles4  
,and the virtue of any man's testimony  
lies in his being able to say that he   
has himself seen the ,christ whom he    
preaches to others1 and himself         
experienced the power which he          
recommends others to seek4  #c4 ,after  
his conversion the whole life of ,st4   
,paul was comprehended in one word2 and 
this word was ,christ4 ,there has often 
in modern times been a ,christianity    
which has contained very little of      
,christ4 ,mr4 ,sage1 of ,resolis1 one of
 whose quaint sayings ,i quoted in my   
last lecture1 has solemnly left it on   
record that1 when he was a student at   
,aberdeen1 the ,professor of ,divinity1 
who was also ,principal of the          
,university1 in a three years' course of
 lectures on the principles of the      
,christian religion1 never once         

mentioned the name of ,christ2 and in   
those times sermons were perfectly      
common in which there was not the       
slightest allusion to the ,saviour4 ,in 
our day this is entirely changed4 ,yet  
we are also surrounded with a           
,christianity which is extremely vague4 
,almost every sentiment in which there  
is anything devout or humane receives   
the name of ,christian2 and the question
 which many are asking is how little it 
is necessary for one who claims the     
,christian name to believe and profess4 
,even this question may1 indeed1 in some
 cases indicate a state of mind far from
 unpromising1 which requires the utmost 
pastoral sympathy and skill2 but1 if we 
wish to know what ,christianity is in   
its power1 we must not live in this     
unhealthy region1 but find a            
,christianity in which the distinctively
 ,christian element is not a minimum but
 a maximum4 ,such was ,st4 ,paul's      
,christianity4 ,its most prominent      
peculiarity was that there was so much  

of ,christ in it4 ,he expressed this in 
the characteristic saying1 ,to me to    
live is ,christ1 which was only a ,greek
 way of saying1 ,to me life is ,christ2 
and1 from whatever side we look at his  
life1 we see that this was true4        
,christ had obtained1 and ,he retained1 
an extensive hold on his emotional      
nature4 ,st4 ,paul's was a large heart1 
and it was all ,christ's4 ,we are shy of
 speaking of our personal feeling       
towards the ,saviour2 and we probably   
feel pretty often that the conventional 
terms of affection for ,him1 which are  
made use of1 for example1 in the hymns  
of the ,church1 transcend our actual    
experience4 ,st4 ,paul1 on the contrary1
 has no hesitation in employing about   
,christ the language commonly used to   
describe the most absorbing passion1    
when love is filling life with a sweet  
delirium and making everything easy     
which has to be done for the sake of its
 object4 ,st4 ,paul's achievements and  
self-denials were almost more than      

human2 but his own explanation of them  
was simple3 ,the love of ,christ        
constraineth us4 ,he had to forego the  
prizes which to other men make life     
worth living2 but what did he care8 ,i  
count them but dung1 he says1 that ,i   
may win ,christ4 ,if only he retained   
one thing1 he was willing to let all    
others go3 ,who shall separate us from  
the love of ,christ8 ,shall tribulation 
or distress or persecution1 or famine or
 nakedness1 or peril or sword8 ,nay1 in 
all these things we are more than       
conquerors through ,him that loved us4  
,for ,i am persuaded that neither death 
nor life1 nor angels nor principalities 
nor powers1 nor things present nor      
things to come1 nor height nor depth1   
nor any other creature shall be able to 
separate us from the love of ,god1 which
 is in ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,these 
sound like the fervours of first love2  
but they are the words of a man at the  
height of his powers4 ,and in old age he
 was still the same3 still to him       

,christ was the star of life1 and the   
hope of being with ,him had annihilated 
the terrors of death3 ,i am in a strait 
betwixt two1 having a desire to depart  
and to be with ,christ1 which is far    
better4  ,but ,christ was enthroned in  
,st4 ,paul's intellect no less than in  
his heart4 ,it was an intellect vast in 
its compass and restless in its         
movements2 but all its movements circled
 round ,christ1 and its most powerful   
efforts were put forth to reach the full
 height of ,his glory4 ,everyone        
acquainted with his writings knows how  
full of ,christ they are4 ,what is      
technically called his ,christology is  
both splendid and profound2 but1 indeed1
 his whole thinking is ,christological2 
he saw the whole universe in ,christ4   
,perhaps1 however1 we see even more     
suggestively how his whole mind was     
occupied with this subject by observing 
the way in which the mere incidental    
mention of the name of ,christ sends him
 off into the most sublime statements   

regarding ,him4 ,for example1 when he is
 speaking to husbands about loving their
 wives1 the thought strikes him that    
this love is like that of ,christ to    
,his people2 and he breaks forth3       
,husbands1 love your wives1 even as     
,christ also loved the ,church and gave 
,himself for it1 that ,he might sanctify
 and cleanse it with the washing of     
water by the word1 that ,he might       
present it to ,himself a glorious       
,church1 not having spot or wrinkle or  
any such thing4 ,in like manner1        
happening to be recommending generosity1
 he thinks of the generosity of ,christ1
 and away he breaks into an incomparable
 description of ,his descent from the   
throne of the ,highest to the death of  
the cross3 ,let this mind be in you     
which was also in ,christ ,jesus1 who1  
being in the form of ,god1 thought it   
not robbery to be equal with ,god1 and  
so on2 and1 not content with following  
,him down1 in accordance with the       
thought with which he started1 he       

pursues the subject under the impulse of
 sheer love1 following ,him up to the   
highest heaven3 ,wherefore ,god also    
hath highly exalted ,him and given ,him 
a name which is above every name1 that  
at the name of ,jesus every knee should 
bow1 of things in heaven and things in  
earth and things under the earth1 and   
that every tongue should confess that   
,jesus ,christ is ,lord to the glory of 
,god the ,father4 ,when is it that the  
mind thus starts off into a subject at  
any chance hint or suggestion1 pouring  
out the most astonishing ideas in the   
most felicitous language8 ,it is only   
when it is possessed with it1 and when  
its ideas are so hot and molten1 that   
they are ready to avail themselves of   
any outlet4  ,what may be called the    
inner or spiritual life of ,st4 ,paul   
may most of all be said to have been all
 ,christ4 ,his own theory of this       
innermost life is that it is a kind of  
living over again of the life of        
,christ3 we die with ,him to sin2 we are

 buried with ,him in baptism2 as ,he    
rose1 so we rise again to newness of    
life2 ,he ascended to sit on the throne 
of the ,father1 and we are seated with  
,him in heavenly places4 ,he is the very
 soil in which this life grows1 and the 
atmosphere which it breathes2 a         
,christian is a man in ,christ1 and all 
the functions of his interior and even  
of his exterior life are performed in   
this element3 he speaks in ,christ1 he  
marries in ,christ1 he dies in ,christ1 
and in the resurrection he will rise in 
,christ4  ,this is what would be called 
the mysticism of ,st4 ,paul2 and        
doctrines resembling this have sometimes
 been associated in religion with       
fantastic speculation and unpractical   
dreaming4 ,in ,st4 ,paul1 however1      
mysticism had no such results4 ,if there
 was any part of his life on which the  
influence of ,christ was more           
conspicuous than another1 it was the    
practical part4 ,to him any pretended   
connection or intercourse with ,christ  

in secret had no meaning unless its     
outcome was visible in a ,christlike    
life--,if any man have not the spirit of
 ,christ1 he is none of ,his4  ,to his  
own person he applied this principle in 
the most rigorous manner4 ,christ1 he is
 fond of saying1 lives in him2 he almost
 speaks as if in his flesh the ,son of  
,god had experienced a second           
incarnation2 but he relentlessly draws  
the practical conclusion4 ,when ,christ 
lived in ,his own earthly tabernacle1   
what did ,he live for8 ,it was for the  
salvation of men2 ,he went about        
continually doing good2 ,he lived to    
seek and save the lost4 ,if so1 then1   
living in ,st4 ,paul1 ,he must have the 
same purpose--to make use of his powers 
of mind and body for the salvation of   
the world4 ,in this way ,christ was     
really still carrying on the work which 
had been interrupted by ,his death4 ,st4
 ,paul dares to say that he is filling  
up that which was lacking of ,christ's  
sufferings for the sake of ,his body1   

the ,church4 ,he says that the heart of 
,christ is yearning after men in his    
heart2 that the mind of ,christ is      
scheming for the kingdom of ,god in his 
brain2 he even compares the marks of    
persecution on his body to the wounds of
 ,christ4  ,there is nowhere else on    
record--at least there was not till ,st4
 ,paul had taught it to the ,christian  
world--such a merging of one life in    
another4 ,and it is all the more        
remarkable when it is considered how big
 and strong a nature ,st4 ,paul's was4  
,if any other man might have coveted an 
original and independent life1 surely he
 was entitled to be something in the    
world2 but he had utterly sunk himself  
into the echo and the organ of          
,another4#ej  ,gentlemen1 ,i have taken 
up nearly the whole of the lecture with 
this minute analysis of ,st4 ,paul's    
,christianity for two reasons4  ,i have 
done so1 first1 because ,i wish to      
create in your minds a genial estimate  
of the man himself whom ,i am setting up

 in this course of lectures as the model
 for preachers4 ,it is not uncommon to  
speak as if the earliest apostles had   
been formed by their association with   
,jesus1 and1 strong only in their       
affection for ,him1 had gone forth to   
tell the world the simple story of ,his 
life and death2 but ,st4 ,paul1 being a 
man of a colder nature and of strong    
intellectual proclivities1 drew         
,christianity away from the person of   
,jesus and transmuted it into a hard    
intellectual system4 ,i think ,i have   
proved that this is a totally mistaken  
impression1 which does gross injustice  
to the great ,apostle4 ,none of the     
apostles1 not even ,st4 ,john1 was more 
filled with the glow of personal        
attachment to ,christ4 ,he had a larger 
nature than any of them1 but it was     
penetrated with this passion through and
 through4 ,being of the intellectual    
type1 he could not help thinking out    
,christianity3 but ,christ entered into 
every thought he had about it4  ,the    

other reason why ,i have attempted to   
analyze so fully to-day the ,christian  
experience of ,st4 ,paul is because ,i  
believe that the great motive of the    
ministry lies here--the very pulse of   
the machine4#ea  ,there are many motives
 which may go to constitute a powerful  
ministry and enable us to rejoice in our
 vocation4 ,i have dealt with some of   
them already in this course of lectures4
 ,there is1 for example1 the one with   
which ,i dealt in my last lecture1 that 
the ministry gives satisfying and       
exhilarating employment to all the      
powers of the mind4 ,there is1 again1   
that which ,i mentioned in an earlier   
lecture1 that ours is a patriotic       
service3 we are doing the very best for 
our country when we are permeating its  
life with the spirit of true religion4  
,an aspect of the ministry which        
attracts many minds at present is that  
it is a service to humanity2 the heart  
and conscience of the age are stirred by
 the misery of the poor1 and this is the

 most obvious and effective mode of     
rescue4 ,these are inspiring motives2   
and others might be mentioned4 ,but far 
more important than them all is a strong
 personal attachment to the ,saviour4   
,this is the motive of the ministry     
which goes deepest and wears longest4   
,it may have many roots4 ,it may be     
rooted in impressive convictions about  
the person of the ,saviour and          
enthusiastic admiration of ,his         
character4 ,it may spring from a        
profound sense of the lost condition    
from which ,he has rescued ourselves and
 of the destiny to which ,he has raised 
us4 ,it may be due most of all to the   
impression made on our mind and heart by
 the sacrifice at the cost of which     
,jesus procured salvation for us4 ,and  
here the depth or shallowness of our    
theology will be sure to tell4 ,if our  
views are superficial either of the     
difference which salvation has made to  
ourselves or of what ,christ did to     
constitute ,himself the ,saviour1 the   

likelihood is that we shall love little4
 ,it is the man who knows that he has   
been forgiven much and saved at a great 
cost1 who loves much4 ,and the amount of
 love is the measure of sacrifice4  ,in 
all ages this has been the secret of    
devoted lives4 ,it has made the great   
preachers--,st4 ,augustine and ,st4     
,bernard1 ,luther and ,wesley1 ,samuel  
,rutherford and ,mc,cheyne4 ,it has made
 those too who have not been great in   
the eyes of men1 but by their           
self-denying lives have made the kingdom
 of ,god to come4 ,in one of his sonnets
 ,matthew ,arnold tells of meeting with 
a minister1 ill and o'erworked1 on a    
broiling ,august day in the ,east ,end  
of ,london1 and asking him how he fared 
in that scene of sin and sorrow4        
,bravely1 was the answer1 for ,i of late
 have been much cheered with thought of 
,christ4 ,it is said to have been an    
actual incident4#eb ,at all events1 it  
is the explanation of thousands of      
heroic lives passed in similar desperate

 situations4 ,at present the adherents  
of a humanitarian philanthropism are    
loud in proclaiming the woes of the     
world1 as if they had been the first to 
discover them1 and propounding schemes  
for their amelioration2 but their       
methods have all been anticipated by the
 humble followers of ,jesus2 and        
nine-tenths of the genuine philanthropic
 work of the world are being done by men
 and women who make no noise1 but who   
cannot help working for the ends of     
,jesus1 because ,his love is burning in 
their very bones1 and because the life  
of ,christ in them cannot help          
manifesting itself after its kind4 ,down
 the ,christian centuries there has come
 floating a kind of hymn3 the words are 
said to be by ,st4 ,patrick3 the        
sentiment may well be called the music  
to which the true ,church militant has  
always marched3--    ,christ with me1   
,christ before be1   ,christ behind me1 
,christ within me1   ,christ beneath me1
 ,christ above me1   ,christ at my      

right1 ,christ at my left1   ,christ in 
the fort1   ,christ in the chariot seat1
   ,christ in the poop1   ,christ in the
 heart of every man who thinks of me1   
,christ in the mouth of every man who   
speaks to me1   ,christ in every eye    
that sees me1   ,christ in every ear    
that hears me4#ec  ,,footnotes3  #dh    
,the most charming chapter of ,adolphe  
,monod's ,saint ,paul is on the subject 
of these two paragraphs4 ,it is         
difficult to quote from it1 because one 
would like to quote it all2 but ,i allow
 myself the pleasure of borrowing these 
golden sentences3 ,c'est qu'en dpit de  
tant de promesses faites  la foi1 nous  
sommes toujours plus on moins affaiblis 
par un reste de force propre1 comme nous
 sommes toujours plus on moins troubls  
par un reste de propre justice1 que les 
plus humbles eux-mmes tranent partout   
avec eux4 ,cette malheureuse force      
propre1 cette loquence propre1 cette    
science propre1 cette influence propre1 
forme en nous comme un petit sanctuaire 

favori1 que notre orgueil jaloux tient  
ferm  la force ,dieu1 pour s'y rserver  
un dernier refuge4 ,mais si nous        
pouvions devenir enfin faibles tout de  
bon et dsesprer absolument de nous-mmes1
 la force de ,dieu1 se rpandant dans    
tout notre homme intrieur et s'         
infiltrant jusque dans ses plus secrets 
replis1 nous remplirait jusqu'en toute  
plnitude de ,dieu2 par o1 la force de   
l'homme tant change contre la force de  
,dieu1 rien ne nous serait impossible1  
parce que rien n'est impossible  ,dieu4 
#di ,stearns1 ,the ,evidence of         
,christian ,experience2 ,dale1 ,the     
,living ,christ and the ,four ,gospels4 
#ej ,i feel most strongly that man1 in  
all that he does or can do which is     
beautiful1 great or good1 is but the    
organ and the vehicle of something or   
some one higher than himself4 ,this     
feeling is religion4 ,the religious man 
takes part with a tremor of sacred joy  
in those phenomena of which he is the   
intermediary but not the source1 of     

which he is the scene but not the       
author1 or rather the poet4 ,he lends   
them voice1 hand1 will and help1 but he 
is respectfully careful to efface       
himself1 that he may alter as little as 
possible the higher work of the ,genius 
who is making a momentary use of him4 ,a
 pure emotion deprives him of           
personality and annihilates the self in 
him4 ,self must perforce disappear when 
it is the ,holy ,spirit who speaks1 when
 it is ,god who acts4 ,this is the mood 
in which the prophet hears the call1 the
 young mother feels the movement of the 
child within1 the preacher watches the  
tears of his audience4 ,so long as we   
are conscious of self1 we are limited1  
selfish1 held in bondage4--,,amiel4  #ea
 ,as enthusiasm for ,christ is the soul 
of preaching as far as the preacher is  
concerned1 so in a spiritual            
congregation there will always be found 
a jealous desire for this element in    
what they hear4  #eb ,see an article by 
the ,rev4 ,john ,kennedy1 ,d4,d41 in    

,the ,evangelical ,magazine1 ,april1    
#ahia4  #ec ,here may be introduced a   
few notes which are to me of inestimable
 value4 ,the happiness of my visit to   
the ,states1 which was great1 was       
overshadowed at the close by the news of
 the death of the best friend ,i had on 
earth--the ,rev4 ,robert ,w4 ,barbour1  
of ,bonskeid4 ,none who knew him will   
need to have it explained why ,i should 
think of him at this point2 because1    
while he had drunk deeply of the spirit 
of the time and was possessed of a rare 
love for men1 the deepest source of the 
sacred extravagance with which he       
lavished himself and his many talents on
 every good cause was nothing else than 
the passion for ,christ which ,i am     
trying in this lecture to illustrate4   
,he took a warm interest in this course 
of lectures1 and sent me the following  
,aphorisms on ,preaching1 to be used as 
,i might think fit4 ,i reproduce them   
entire1 as they came from him4 ,perhaps 
they were the very last literary work he

 did3--     ,the ,book and the ,library4
 ,the preacher must be master of many   
books1 and servant of one4     ,closet  
and ,desk4 ,study as though thou        
mightest preach for    fifty years2 pray
 as though thou mightest preach for     
five4     ,divine and ,human4 ,speak as 
though the mouth were ,god's2 but    let
 the voice be a man's4     ,first and   
,second ,aims4 ,all gifts 7presence1    
voice1 gesture1    culture1 style1 and  
so on7 may be wings1 if kept behind     
one's    back2 the moment they are seen 
they become dead weights4     ,two      
strings to one's bow will do with any   
shafts but the arrows    of the ,king4  
,letters1 the press1 the lyre1 the      
porch1 must    stand in the background  
behind this one thing4     ,think less  
and less of everything else1 and more   
and more of    thy message4     ,aims   
and ,no ,aims4 ,aim at something1 you   
will hit it2 also    draw your bow at a 
venture4     ,make full proof of thy    
ministry4 ,try every method--writing1   

reading1 committing1 extending1         
extemporising4 ,imitate every    man1   
but mimic none4 ,nothing makes a        
preacher like preaching4        ,whence 
comes it that my nature is subdued      
,to that it works in1 like the dyer's   
hand4     ,pulpit ,form4 ,respect your  
hearers4 ,do not gird at them2 angle    
for them--and agonize4 ,address yourself
 to one at a time--first    to the man  
in the pulpit4 ,he who has hit himself  
first will not    miss others4 ,he who  
trembles at the word of the ,lord1 men  
will    tremble at his word4 7,borrowed7
 ,a preacher must either be    afraid of
 his audience or his audience of him4   
,janua ,domini4 ,always enter the pulpit
 by the ,door 7,john x4 #g74            
,contents and ,omissions4 ,put          
everything you can into every           
address4 ,omit everything you can from  
every address4     ,faith cometh by     
hearing4 ,therefore1 to begin with1 be  
audible4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount     
commences thus3 ,he opened ,his    mouth

 7,matt4 v4 #b74     ,time and          
,eternity4 ,speak to men's fleeting     
hopes and passing    interests2 speak   
also to their grey hairs and to their   
midnight    hours4     ,ultimata4       
,desire to prophesy 7#a ,cor4 xiv4 #a72 
covet to    prophesy 7ib4 #ci72 do not  
preach if thou darest be silent 7#a     
,cor4 ix4 #af74     ,,lecture ,,viii4   
,,the ,,preacher ,,as ,,an ,,apostle4   
,gentlemen1 in the two last lectures we 
have investigated two of the principal  
sources--perhaps ,i might say the two   
principal sources--of a minister's      
power--his manhood and his              
,christianity4 ,these may be called the 
two natural springs out of which work   
for men and ,god proceeds4 ,out of these
 it comes as a direct necessity of      
nature4 ,if anyone is much of a man--if 
there be in him much fire and force1    
much energy of conviction--it will be   
impossible for him to pass through so   
great an experience as the reception of 
,christianity without making it known2  

and1 if he be much of a ,christian--if  
there be in him much of the spirit of   
,christ1 which is the spirit of         
self-sacrifice and benevolence--it will 
be impossible for him to refrain from   
approaching men in their sin and misery 
and endeavouring to communicate to them 
the secret of blessedness4 ,he will make
 but a poor minister who would not be an
 earnest worker for ,god and man1 even  
if he were not a minister4  ,these      
impulses were conspicuously strong in   
,st4 ,paul4 ,yet there was also another 
source from which he drew the motives of
 his ministry4 ,this was the fact that  
,god had appointed him to the office of 
an apostle and allotted him a specific  
sphere of activity as the apostle of the
 ,gentiles4  ,the other two sources of  
motive are1 as ,i have said1 natural2   
this one1 on the contrary1 is official4 
,this may raise a prejudice against it4 
,so many and such grave mistakes have   
been made through regarding official    
appointment as the only warrant for     

,christian work1 to the prejudice of the
 antecedent qualifications of a genuine 
and sympathetic manhood and a deep      
personal ,christianity1 without which it
 is nothing1 that there is a disposition
 to ignore this kind of motive          
altogether4 ,but ,st4 ,paul acknowledges
 it4 ,although he was always1 no doubt1 
far more of a man and a ,christian than 
an official1 yet1 in reply to           
opposition1 he insists with great       
vehemence on his apostolic rank2 and    
evidently he felt that this imposed on  
him additional obligations to be earnest
 and faithful in the work to which his  
manly and ,christian instincts prompted 
him4         99       99       99       
99       99  ,it is1 indeed1 of great   
consequence to anyone who has become a  
,christian1 and who begins to feel      
stirring in his breast those impulses to
 serve ,god and bless the world which   
are native to the ,christian spirit1 to 
obtain a definite sphere to fill and a  
definite work to do4 ,otherwise these   

,god-inspired impulses1 expressing      
themselves in mere words and sentiments1
 gradually decay through want of        
exercise1 or they are dispersed over so 
many objects that nothing is done4 ,but1
 when a special task is obtained1 the   
force of these sentiments is            
concentrated upon it and transmuted into
 actual work4 ,the ,christian man says3 
,here is my own task2 if ,i do not      
accomplish it1 no one else can2 this is 
my corner in the great labour-field1    
which ,i1 and no one else1 have to make 
fruitful and beautiful2 ,i shall be     
answerable to the ,judge of all at the  
last for the manner in which the work   
assigned to me is done4  ,such          
sentiments had a strong hold of the mind
 of ,st4 ,paul4 ,one of his commonest   
ways of thinking of his office was as a 
stewardship1 which he was administering1
 and for which by-and-by he would have  
to render a reckoning4 ,and1 says he1 it
 is required in stewards that a man be  
found faithful4#ed ,similarly1 he       

thought of himself as a workman with a  
certain portion of a temple to build2   
but the great ,taskmaster was coming    
round in the evening to inspect the     
work--ay1 and even to test it with fire2
 and1 when that testing-time came1 he   
desired to be a workman not needing to  
be ashamed4 ,all the work of his        
apostleship appeared to him a curriculum
 which he had to cover before he could  
win the prize of the ,divine approval4  
,this is his favourite figure of speech1
 and he applies it in many directions4  
,for example1 the athlete in the        
racecourse has to keep himself in       
training and to put every muscle on the 
stretch4 ,so ,st4 ,paul felt the        
obligation to put every power he        
possessed into his work4 ,give thyself  
wholly to them1 he says to a young      
fellow-labourer about his duties2 and   
what he preached he practised4 ,stir up 
the grace of ,god that is in thee1 he   
says to the same friend again2 and he   
called on his own nature continually for

 the utmost exertion of its powers4 ,he 
was always growing2 but the increment of
 his faculty and influence went all to  
the same object4  ,an athlete in the    
games naturally laid aside every weight1
 divesting himself of everything which  
might impede his running and rob him of 
the prize4 ,he dared not glance aside at
 any object which would take his eye off
 the goal4 ,so ,st4 ,paul sacrificed    
everything for the ,gospel's sake2 he   
had but one end and no by-ends4 ,he was 
often1 indeed1 accused of aiming at some
 end of his own4 ,with especial         
persistency he was accused of avarice4  
,it is very ludicrous now to think of   
this great man having been supposed     
capable of so mean a vice4 ,but his     
motives were too high and pure to be    
intelligible to his accusers1 and they  
naturally attributed to him the motive  
which was the strongest of which they   
were conscious themselves4 ,but they    
only brought out the true greatness of  
the man4 ,he believed in the right of   

preachers of the ,gospel to live by the 
,gospel1 and he looked forward to the   
general recognition of this as soon as  
,christianity had obtained a footing in 
the world4 ,but he himself lived above  
all such claims4 ,he accepted support   
from his converts1 indeed1 and thanked  
,god for it1 when he had good reason to 
think that his motives were understood4 
,but1 where they were suspected or the  
success of the ,gospel seemed to be in  
any degree endangered by his acceptance 
of money1 he would not take a cent1 but 
would rather sit up half the night and  
work his fingers to the bone to earn his
 livelihood4 ,there is no sublimer scene
 in history than the great ,apostle1 who
 was bearing the weight of ,christianity
 on his shoulders and carrying the      
future of the world beneath his robe1   
toiling with his hands for his living by
 the side of ,aquila and ,priscilla1 in 
order that he might keep ,christianity  
from being tarnished with the faintest  
suspicion of mercenary motives4         

,gentlemen1 among the many attractions  
of our calling on which ,i should like  
to congratulate you this is not the     
least1 that it provides a definite      
sphere for the exercise of the          
benevolent impulses which you may feel  
as men and as ,christians and1 by       
exercising1 develops them4 ,these       
impulses may be the strongest and most  
sacred in our nature4 ,but in other     
occupations1 in the excitement and      
competition of life1 they are in great  
danger of being slowly extinguished4 ,in
 our calling1 on the contrary1 they     
receive constant opportunities of       
nurture and development4 ,their healthy 
and spontaneous activity is the soul of 
ministerial work2 and this is stimulated
 by the sense of responsibility to fill 
the sphere allotted to us and exhaust   
its possibilities4  ,but1 besides the   
sense of duty1 there is a stimulus of a 
still more affecting kind which comes to
 a man when he is set over a            
congregation of his own4 ,when ,i first 

was settled in a church1 ,i discovered a
 thing of which nobody had told me and  
which ,i had not anticipated1 but which 
proved a tremendous aid in doing the    
work of the ministry4 ,i fell in love   
with my congregation4 ,i do not know how
 otherwise to express it4 ,it was as    
genuine a blossom of the heart as any   
which ,i have ever experienced4 ,it made
 it easy to do anything for my people2  
it made it a perfect joy to look them in
 the face on ,sunday morning4 ,i do not 
know if this is a universal experience2 
but ,i should think it is common4 ,for  
my part1 ,i like to meet a man who      
thinks his own congregation1 however    
small it may be1 the most important one 
in the ,church and is rather inclined to
 bore you with its details4 ,when a man 
thus falls in love with his people1 the 
probability is that something of the    
same kind happens to them likewise4     
,just as a wife prefers her own husband 
to every other man1 though surely she   
does not necessarily suppose him to be  

the most brilliant specimen in          
existence1 so a congregation will       
generally be found to prefer their own  
minister1 if he is a genuine man1 to    
every other1 although surely not always 
entertaining the hallucination that he  
is a paragon of ability4 ,thus to love  
and to be loved is the secret of a happy
 and successful ministry4         99    
99       99       99       99  ,taking  
up the responsibilities of his office in
 the spirit which ,i have described1    
,st4 ,paul would have found any sphere1 
however limited1 laborious4 ,but1 in    
point of fact1 the sphere allotted to   
him was an enormous one4 ,it was nothing
 less than the whole ,gentile world4    
,the known world was not1 indeed1 in    
that age1 of anything like the same     
dimensions as it is today4 ,it consisted
 only of a narrow disc of countries     
round the shores of the ,mediterranean4 
,yet to any other man the vocation to   
evangelize it all must have been        
bewildering and even paralyzing4 ,st4   

,paul1 however1 accepted it in all      
seriousness1 and ever afterwards1 till  
the day of his death1 he regarded the   
populations of these countries as people
 to whom he owed the message of the     
,gospel4 ,speaking of the two recognised
 divisions of the ,gentile world of that
 day1 he says1 ,i am debtor both to the 
,greeks and to the barbarians1 both to  
the wise and to the unwise4  ,of course 
he did not live long enough to preach   
the ,gospel to all the inhabitants of   
even the little world of his day4 ,yet  
it is amazing to think of the range of  
his labours4 ,he preached in nearly all 
the great cities of that world--in      
,antioch1 ,ephesus1 ,corinth1 ,athens1  
,rome and many others--his predilection 
for cities being obviously due to the   
hope that1 when ,christ was made known  
in these crowded centres1 the sound of  
his doctrine would echo through the     
surrounding regions4 ,and this hope was 
justified4 ,the cities in the province  
of ,asia1 for example1 to which ,st4    

,john sent the letters in the beginning 
of ,revelation1 were probably all       
evangelized from ,ephesus by converts of
 ,st4 ,paul1 though he himself may have 
visited none of them but ,ephesus4 ,the 
passion burned continually in his mind  
to get forward and cover new ground4 ,he
 could not bear to build on another     
man's foundation4 ,the wide unfulfilled 
provinces of his apostolate ever called 
him on4  ,his first journey was merely a
 circuit of the countries bordering to  
the west and north on his own native    
,cilicia1 and lay chiefly among         
barbarians4 ,but the second1 after a    
still more extended tour among the      
barbarians1 brought him to the borders  
of that wonderful world of culture and  
renown in which dwelt the ,greeks as    
distinguished from the barbarians4 ,he  
was standing on the shore of ,asia and  
looking across to the shore of ,europe4 
,in ,europe were the two great eyes of  
the ,gentile world--,athens and         
,rome--the one the centre of its wisdom 

and the other of its power4 ,how could  
the ,apostle of the ,gentiles help      
wishing to preach the ,gospel there8 ,he
 crossed the narrow strait1 and then    
advanced from one ,greek town to        
another1 till he stood on the very spot 
where ,socrates had taught and          
,demosthenes thundered4 ,in his third   
journey he had to concentrate his work  
on ,ephesus2 because1 like a skilful    
general1 he would not leave territory in
 the rear unconquered4 ,but ,rome was   
now the aim of all his desires--,rome1  
the very citadel of the world which he  
had to conquer4 ,he approached it at    
last in the garb of a prisoner and in a 
gang of prisoners4 ,but1 as we follow   
him1 we feel as if we were going with a 
victorious army to take part in a grand 
triumph4 ,indeed1 as you accompany this 
great spirit1 this is often the feeling 
you have4 ,he had it himself4 ,thanks be
 unto ,god1 he says1 who always causeth 
us to triumph4 ,only to his mind the    
occupant of the car of victory was not  

himself1 but ,christ2 he was only a     
satellite1 showering largess in the name
 of the ,victor among the crowd around  
the chariot-wheels4  ,such is the image 
of the ,apostle which grows on the      
imagination as we read his extraordinary
 life4 ,yet there was another side4 ,to 
us now his career is heroic and         
glorious2 but to him1 at the time1 it   
was beset with innumerable obstacles2   
and1 wonderful as were his labours1 more
 wonderful still were his sufferings4   
,he went from town to town incessantly2 
but seldom did he leave any place       
without having been in peril of his     
life4 ,sometimes the mob rose against   
him and only left him when they had cast
 out of their town his apparently       
lifeless body1 as they would have flung 
away the carcase of a dog4 ,sometimes   
the authorities apprehended him and     
subjected him to the rigour of the law4 
,but hear the catalogue of his          
sufferings from his own lips3 ,are they 
ministers of ,christ8 so am ,i3 in      

labours more abundant1 in stripes above 
measure1 in prisons more frequent1 in   
deaths oft2 of the ,jews five times     
received ,i forty stripes save one1     
thrice was ,i beaten with rods1 once was
 ,i stoned1 thrice ,i suffered          
shipwreck1 a night and a day ,i have    
been in the deep2 in journeyings often1 
in perils of waters1 in perils of       
robbers1 in perils by mine own          
countrymen1 in perils by the heathen1 in
 perils in the city1 in perils in the   
wilderness1 in perils in the sea1 in    
perils among false brethren2 in         
weariness and painfulness1 in watchings 
often1 in cold and nakedness2 besides   
those things which are without1 that    
which cometh upon me daily1 the care of 
all the churches4 ,yet1 when he wrote   
this1 he was only midway in his career4 
,these incidents are glorified now by   
the influence of time1 but1 when they   
had to be endured1 they were real and   
painful enough4 ,to take but a single   
instance1 what must it have been to a   

man of such sensitive honour and engaged
 only in doing good to be so frequently 
in the hands of the police and in the   
company of malefactors8 ,in his epistles
 he cannot conceal the irritation caused
 by his chain4 ,although in victorious  
moods he felt himself1 as we have seen1 
borne onwards in triumph1 in other moods
 he felt himself at the opposite        
extreme3 ,i think that ,god hath set    
forth us the apostles last1 as it were  
appointed to death2 for we are made a   
spectacle unto the world and to angels  
and to men2 we are made as the filth of 
the world and are the offscourings of   
all things2 the reference being to the  
gladiators whose cheap lives were       
sacrificed to embellish the conqueror's 
triumph4  ,yet it was never long before 
he could rally from such depression at  
the thought of the cause in which he    
suffered all2 and his habitual mood1 in 
the face of accumulating difficulties1  
was expressed in these heart-stirring   
words1 ,none of these things move me1   

neither count ,i my life dear unto      
myself1 so that ,i might finish my      
course with joy and the ministry which  
,i have received of the ,lord ,jesus1 to
 testify the ,gospel of the grace of    
,god4  ,it is good to linger beside one 
who was so faithful to his charge1 so   
hard a worker and so patient a sufferer4
 ,we may learn from these extraordinary 
labours and sufferings to do honest work
 and to endure hardness ourselves4  ,our
 sphere is1 indeed1 very different from 
his4 ,his was so vast as to be almost   
limitless2 ours may be very             
circumscribed4 ,he was continually      
moving from place to place and          
encountering new people2 we may have to 
labour among the same handful of people 
for a lifetime4 ,he lived amidst daily  
novelty and excitement2 we may have to  
fulfil an existence of deep monotony4   
,and all the disadvantages do not belong
 to the large1 difficult and dangerous  
lot4 ,it may seem easy to be faithful in
 a small sphere and to exhaust all its  

possibilities4 ,but the narrow lot has  
its trials as well as the wide one1 and 
perhaps it does not require less virtue 
to overcome them4 ,a stronger sense of  
duty may be needed to prepare an honest 
sermon week by week to a small and      
comparatively ignorant congregation than
 to bear the brunt of danger in an      
exposed post of the mission field4#ee   
,nowhere can the ministry be easy if its
 responsibilities are realised and its  
duties honestly discharged4 ,look       
forward1 ,i would say to you1 to a      
labourious life4 ,if you are thinking of
 the ministry otherwise1 you had better 
turn back4 ,ours is a more crowded      
existence than that of any other        
profession4  ,there is the work of study
 and preaching4 ,i do not know the      
details of a minister's week among you2 
but in ,scotland ministers have1 as a   
rule1 two discourses to prepare for     
,sunday1 besides a lesson for the ,bible
 ,class1 which may involve as much work 
as a sermon2 and we have at least one   

week-day meeting at which a lengthy     
address is given4 ,for these four       
discourses subjects have to be found2   
materials for exposition and            
illustration have to be collected2 the  
mind has first to make each subject its 
own and then to shape it into a form    
suitable for popular effect4 ,a sermon  
may sometimes1 indeed1 come in a flash1 
and perhaps there is something of sudden
 discovery in the very best work2 but   
even then time is required to work out  
the thought and enrich it with          
subsidiary thinking2 and there are many 
discourses which are of no value without
 extensive investigation and the patient
 working-up of the quarried materials4  
,then follows the writing4 ,this will   
take at least six or eight hours for a  
discourse1 and may easily take much     
more4 ,many ministers do not write more 
than one discourse a week fully out1 and
 probably they are wise2 but many write 
two4 ,here1 then1 there is obviously    
ample work for a long forenoon on five  

days of the week4 ,i have always had to 
add the afternoon of ,friday and        
,saturday1 and often the evening as     
well4 ,then comes the hard and exciting 
work of ,sunday4 ,it is a religious duty
 to rest on ,monday1 as we do not get   
the bodily rest of the ,sabbath4#ef     
,there is the work of visitation4 ,the  
sick and the bed-ridden must be visited2
 and it is of enormous profit to visit  
the whole congregation from house to    
house4 ,as ,dr4 ,chalmers said1 the     
directest way to a man's heart is       
generally through the door of his home4 
,acquaintance with the actual           
circumstances of the families of the    
congregation gives wonderful reality and
 point to the prelections of ,sunday4   
,our sermons must rise out of the       
congregation if they are ever to reach  
down to it again4 ,here1 it is evident1 
there is abundant work for the          
afternoons which study leaves free4     
,many ministers have to add one or two  
evenings1 the evening being the best    

time to find their people at home4      
,there is a third mass of work of an    
exceedingly miscellaneous character     
which absorbs much time and strength4   
,it includes such duties as performing  
the ceremonies at baptisms1 marriages   
and funerals2 organizing the work of the
 congregation2 attending church courts  
and sitting on committees2 serving on   
school boards and the boards of         
benevolent societies2 preaching from    
home and addressing the meetings of     
neighbour ministers2 writing official   
letters2 raising money2 receiving       
visitors2 writing for the press4 ,it    
would be easy for ministers in positions
 of any prominence to spend their whole 
time in duties of this description1 none
 of which might appear useless2 so great
 is the multitude of the claims which   
pour in from every side4  ,i have said  
nothing of the time required for keeping
 abreast of the literature of the day or
 for cultivating an intellectual        
specialty4 ,it is extraordinary what    

some of the busiest men achieve in this 
respect2 but it is only managed by an   
economy and even penury of time for     
which a kind of genius is requisite4 ,of
 course there are seasons of the year   
when the pressure of public engagements 
is not so great2 and ministers are      
allowed longer holidays than other      
professional men4 ,a couple of hours a  
day given from a holiday to great       
reading may shoot threads of fresh      
colour through the whole web of a       
season's work4 ,nor have ,i said        
anything of the time necessary for      
thinking over the devotional portion of 
the service of the sanctuary1 though in 
our churches1 where free prayer         
prevails1 this deserves as careful      
attention as the sermon4  ,the glimpse  
which ,i have given you into the details
 of a minister's week will help you to  
realise that the life which lies before 
you is a labourious one4 ,of course the 
labour may be shirked4 ,ministers have  
their time in their own hands2 they have

 no office hours2 and1 ,i suppose1 a    
minister's life may be more ignobly idle
 than any other professional man's4     
,that is1 if he has no conscience4  ,how
 far a man who is conscientious and     
works hard may be justified in devoting 
himself to one branch of ministerial    
work for which he has special aptitudes 
or predilections1 it is difficult to    
judge4 ,perhaps the ,protestant ,church 
has failed in making use of special     
gifts4 ,some eminent preachers1 for     
example1 neglect pastoral visitation2#eg
 and there are1 ,i suppose1 many        
ministers who keep out of more general  
public work1 because they have no taste 
for it4 ,there may be some gain in this2
 but there is also loss4 ,when a        
preacher does not visit1 he is apt to   
become an orator1 who dazzles but does  
not feed the flock4 ,when a minister    
keeps himself apart from public         
interests1 the ,church to which he      
belongs is likely to be weak at that    
point4  ,the most fatal neglect is that 

of study2 and perhaps it is the         
commonest4 ,the part of our work which  
needs most moral resolution is          
undoubtedly the sermon--to get it begun1
 studied1 written and finished4 ,it     
requires the discipline of years in even
 the most conscientious to win the      
mastery of themselves in this           
particular2 and it is probably at this  
point that three-fourths of all         
ministerial failures take place4 ,it is 
not the reading of the material bearing 
on the subject which is difficult2      
indeed1 this may be luxuriously         
prolonged1 till it is too late to think 
and write the sermon out4 ,the hard and 
sour toil lies in facing the sweat of   
thought and the irksomeness of writing2 
although1 when the difficulty is        
overcome1 the happiness and triumph of  
our calling lie here also4  ,of course  
this difficulty is greatest in the small
 sphere4 ,here the temptation is1 to be 
overcome by the monotony of the         
situation1 to allow the powers to       

stagnate1 to feel that anything will do1
 and put the people off with that which 
has cost no exertion4 ,i know1 says one 
who wields a trenchant pen1#eh how      
plausible the excuses are1 and ,i know  
what relaxation of study results        
in--laziness in the morning1 increasing 
excesses in the daily papers1 increased 
interest in gardening1 several more     
pipes a day1 and so forth4 ,breakfast   
comes finally to its long-deferred end  
about ten2 then there is a consultation 
with the gardener1 which is1 of course1 
business1 and makes the idler feel that 
really his active habits are returning2 
then two letters have to be answered2   
then1 just as he means to go to his     
study1 he sees ,mr4 ,fritterday passing1
 and before he has finished his colloquy
 over the hedge with him1 it is past    
midday4 ,when he does get to his study1 
,macmillan or ,blackwood is lying on his
 table1 and he feels he cannot settle   
till he knows what is the fate of the   
heroine of the current story1 or his    

window overlooks the busy hayfield of   
his neighbour1 and he becomes ten times 
more interested in that work than in his
 own2 and so his whole forenoon is gone1
 and he is summoned to dinner before he 
has earned his salt by one decent hand's
 turn4  ,this kind of temptation1       
however1 is not confined to the man in  
the small and easy situation3 it is the 
common temptation of all ministers4     
,only in the city it comes in another   
form4 ,the man who has a large          
congregation and a little popularity is 
beset with calls from every quarter to  
engage in every kind of duty outside his
 own sphere4 ,his doorbell never ceases 
ringing4 ,every applicant supposes his  
own case the most important4 ,there is a
 whirl of excitement1 and there is an   
exhilaration in being able in many ways 
to serve the public4 ,but1 if the man   
gives up his habits of study1 he is     
lost4 ,his appearances become           
commonplace2 the public tire of him1 and
 throw him aside as ruthlessly as they  

have senselessly idolized him4 ,robert  
,hall used to say that1 when the devil  
saw that a minister was likely to be    
useful in the church1 his way of        
disposing of him was to get on his back 
and ride him to death with engagements4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,to follow the course of ,st4 ,paul's   
labours and sufferings on the grand     
scale produces an overwhelming          
impression of earnestness and devotion2 
yet it is even more by entering into the
 minute details of his activity that we 
find the apostle4 ,one who has to deal  
with vast masses is apt to overlook     
details2 and it is so even in the work  
of ,christ4 ,an evangelist1 for example1
 moving from place to place and         
surrounded with multitudes1 may know    
very little of individuals4 ,the        
minister of a large congregation is     
exposed to the same temptation4 ,indeed1
 we are all too desirous of crowds and  
too little occupied with the units of   
which they are composed4 ,but this is   

the greatest of all mistakes4 ,st4      
,paul1 amidst the constant change of    
scene and the pressure of large bodies  
of people in which he lived1 never      
overlooked individuals4 ,in his speech  
to the elders of ,ephesus he could      
challenge them to bear witness that he  
had taught not only publicly but from   
house to house1 and had warned everyone 
night and day with tears4 ,while1 like  
his ,master1 he was moved by the sight  
of a multitude and welcomed the         
opportunity of making known the glad    
tidings to many1 he was quite as ready  
to preach to the small company of women 
of whom ,lydia was one at the riverside 
or to the soldier to whom he was chained
 in the ,roman prison4  ,st4 ,paul was  
never a mere evangelist4 ,the           
evangelist's work is to deal with the   
initial stage of the ,christian life3 he
 has to bring men to decision2 and1 when
 this is done1 he passes on1 leaving to 
other agencies whatever more may be     
required4 ,an evangelist sometimes knows

 very little of what becomes of his     
converts after he has quitted the place4
 ,but ,st4 ,paul was as eager about this
 as about the first impressions4        
,however small the company of the       
converted might be1 he formed them into 
a ,christian ,church1 and ordained      
elders in every city4 ,he often left an 
assistant behind to carry on and        
consolidate the work which he had begun4
 ,when at a distance1 he was always     
eager for news about his churches4 ,his 
epistles are full of such anxieties2    
and1 indeed1 his epistles themselves are
 the best monument of his pastoral care2
 for they were written to ask after the 
welfare of those whom he had left       
behind1 or to give counsel on points    
about which they had consulted him4     
,they brim over with the expressions of 
a tender and heartfelt love4 ,he is able
 to assure those to whom he is writing  
that he is praying for them1 and that   
not only in the mass but one by one4 ,he
 kept their faces and names alive in his

 memory by thus recalling them at the   
throne of grace2 and his life must have 
been one long prayer about his work4    
,sometimes he lets the prayer which he  
has been offering slip through his pen2 
and then we see how high was the ideal  
of ,christian attainment which he       
cherished on behalf of his converts4 ,he
 was not content that they had turned   
from their old sins and taken the first 
steps in the ,divine life4 ,he longed to
 see them becoming creditable specimens 
of ,christianity and ornaments to the   
,church--complete men1 thoroughly       
furnished unto all good works4 ,it was  
life itself to him to hear of their     
progress3 ,now we live if ye stand fast 
in the ,lord4 ,and the crown to which he
 looked forward as the reward of all his
 toils and sufferings was to be         
permitted at last to present the soul of
 everyone of them as a chaste virgin to 
,christ4  ,gentlemen1 ,i believe that   
almost any preacher1 on reviewing a     
ministry of any considerable duration1  

would confess that his great mistake had
 been the neglect of individuals4 ,if ,i
 may be permitted a personal reference3 
when1 not long ago1 ,i had the          
opportunity1 as ,i was passing from one 
charge to another1 of reviewing a       
ministry of twelve years1 the chief     
impression made on me1 as ,i looked     
back1 was that this was the point at    
which ,i had failed2 and ,i said to     
myself that henceforth ,i would write   
,individuals on my heart as the         
watchword of my ministry4  ,we make     
impressions in the church2 but we do not
 follow them up1 to see that the        
decision is arrived at and the work of  
,god accomplished2 and so they are      
dissipated by the influences of the     
world2 and those who have experienced   
them are perhaps made worse instead of  
better4 ,it is a very significant thing 
that is said of the pastor in our       
,lord's parable--that he sought the lost
 sheep until he found it4 ,we seek3 we  
even seek labouriously and painfully3   

but we frequently leave off just before 
finding4  ,a minister told me that1 on  
the ,saturday evening before his first  
,sunday in his first charge1 the        
experienced minister who was to         
introduce him to his people next day was
 strolling with him in the vicinity of  
the village and talking about his       
duties1 when they chanced to pass a     
plantation of trees4 ,pointing to them1 
the aged minister asked1 ,if you had to 
cut these trees down1 how would you go  
about it8 would you go round the whole  
plantation1 giving each tree a single   
blow1 and then go round them all again1 
giving each a second blow8 ,well1 no1 he
 answered1 ,i think ,i should attack one
 tree and cut at it till it came down2  
and then go on and do the same to a     
second and a third1 and so forth4 ,well1
 said his experienced friend1 that is   
the way you must do here4 ,after you    
have been settled a short time1 you will
 discover which families and individuals
 are most impressed by your first       

efforts1 and you must devote yourself to
 these susceptible souls1 till you have 
won them thoroughly2 and then in their  
enthusiasm for yourself and their       
willingness to work for the congregation
 you will have the best foundation for a
 successful ministry4  ,in a former     
lecture ,i spoke of the power of        
discerning in men and women of every    
class and condition the humanity which  
is common to all and speaking straight  
to that1 without reference to the       
superficial differences which           
distinguish class from class and one    
individual from another4 ,but           
ministerial sympathy has to embrace what
 is peculiar to classes and individuals 
as well as what is common to all4       
,though ,st4 ,paul1 like his ,master1   
had a powerful grasp of what is         
universal in humanity1 yet to the ,jew  
he made himself a ,jew1 that he might   
gain the ,jew1 and to them that were    
without law as without law1 that he     
might gain them who were without law2 he

 was made all things to all men1 that he
 might gain the more4  ,his persuasion  
obviously was1 that ,god was trying1 by 
,his revelation among those who         
possessed the ,written ,word1 and by    
,his providence among those who did not 
possess it1 to lead ,his children by    
divers ways to ,himself2 and his own    
duty was to join himself to each company
 at the stage which it had reached and  
offer to become its conductor4 ,the ,jew
 was more advanced1 and he met him where
 he was2 the ,gentile was further       
behind1 and he had to go back and       
approach him also where he stood1 that  
he might win his confidence and be      
allowed to lead him on4  ,this is the   
persuasion which gives a minister faith 
in his own work4 ,the souls of men are  
,god's4 ,his providence is a discipline 
intended to lead them to ,himself2 there
 are none with whom ,his ,spirit does   
not strive4 ,and it is only as our work 
co-operates with ,his that it is of any 
effect4 ,where ,god has been working1   

opening and softening the heart1 very   
simple efforts1 put forth at the right  
moment1 may go a long way1 and the work 
of ,god be quickly done4  ,what         
situation could be more pathetic to a   
sensitive and sympathetic mind than that
 of a minister when he stands up in the 
pulpit and looks down on the            
congregation8 ,what a variety of        
conditions are before him6 ,in one pew  
there is a man who during the week has  
been fighting a losing battle with his  
business and sees himself on the verge  
of bankruptcy2 in the next may be a     
merchant into whose lap fortune has been
 pouring her gifts in handfuls4 ,here is
 a mother who is thinking of her son who
 has just left his home and is sailing  
on the sea2 and there a girl whose heart
 is rejoicing in the happy dreams of    
youth4 ,on the right may be a young man 
who is trembling on the brink of the    
great temptation of his life1 and on the
 left another who is reeking from some  
orgy of secret sin4 ,there is endless   

variety2 yet none are uninteresting2 and
 probably there is no one but1 if you   
could meet him exactly where he stands1 
would respond to the influence which you
 bring4 ,it arrests men when you are    
able to show such a knowledge of the    
human heart that they feel themselves   
discovered2 and it disposes a man to    
answer to your call if he sees that you 
are familiar with the circumstances in  
which he will have to lead the life to  
which you are inviting him1 and that you
 appreciate the difficulties of the     
situation4 ,therefore the more a        
minister knows of the variety of actual 
life the better2 and1 if he is to do    
really effective work1 he must know how 
to come down from the pulpit and put    
himself alongside of individuals4#ei    
,here ,i might again recommend the work 
of visitation and the practice of being 
accessible at home to the visits of     
those who come with confidences to      
communicate2 but let me rather close    
this lecture with a word or two on some 

of the more favourable opportunities    
which ministerial life affords for      
direct dealing with individuals4#fj     
,one of the best opportunities of this  
kind is when parents come seeking       
baptism for their children4 ,when you   
are speaking in their children's        
interest1 men will welcome an amount of 
faithfulness which they would not endure
 at other times4 ,you can show how much 
their children's welfare in time and    
eternity may depend on their own        
religious condition2 you can urge the   
duty of family worship2 and you must    
have very little skill if you cannot get
 very close to their hearts4 ,especially
 when a man comes about the baptism of  
his first child1 he is perhaps in the   
most favourable state for an earnest    
talk in which you can ever find him4    
,his soul is opened with tenderness and 
overawed with the mystery of life2 he is
 longing with his whole heart to do his 
best for his child2 and1 if you show him
 that the best he can do for it is to   

become connected with the great source  
of holy influence himself1 there is no  
other occasion on which a good          
impression is more likely to be made4   
,the other opportunity which ,i should  
like to mention is when the young come  
to join the ,church4 ,i well remember   
that1 when ,i was a student1 there was  
no part of a minister's duty to which ,i
 looked forward with so much fear and   
trembling as this2 for ,i had the       
conviction1 which ,i still have1 that it
 is our duty at this crisis to bring the
 question of personal salvation in the  
most direct and solemn way before every 
intending communicant1 and that it is   
ministerial treason to let the          
opportunity slip4 ,some of you may be   
looking forward to this with the same   
feelings2 and1 therefore1 ,i am happy to
 tell you that in practice it is not    
nearly so difficult as it seems at a    
distance4 ,the applicants themselves    
expect you to be faithful2 if you are1  
they will honour you for it1 and1 if    

not1 they will be disappointed4 ,if they
 get the opportunity1 they are far      
franker than you would expect4 ,no doubt
 it is delicate work1 and one has to    
guard against harshness and anything    
inquisitorial2 but it yields the most   
blessed results4 ,this is the           
harvest-time of the minister's year1    
when he sees that his labour is not in  
vain4 ,even one such close talk1 brought
 about in this way or otherwise1 casts a
 glow of reality into one's work which  
does not pass away for weeks2 and1 if a 
minister is so highly honoured as to    
receive many of these confidences1 he   
acquires a skill in laying his finger on
 the very pulse of his hearers' deepest 
life which nothing else can give4       
,,footnotes3  #ed ,an indication of the 
intensity with which ,st4 ,paul's mind  
worked upon the subject of the ministry 
is to be found in the number and variety
 of his metaphors for it4 ,the following
 are those which ,i have noted1 but     
there may be more--nurse 7#a ,thess4 ii4

 #g71 father 7#a ,cor4 iv4 #ae71        
gardener 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #f71 labourer   
7#a ,cor4 iii4 #i71 builder 7#a ,cor4   
iii4 #aj71 servant 7#a ,cor4 iv4 #a71   
bondman 7#b ,tim4 ii4 #bd71 steward 7#a 
,cor4 iv4 #a71 ambassador 7,eph4 vi4    
#bj71 soldier 7#a ,tim4 vi4 #ab71 herald
 7#a ,tim4 ii4 #g71 shepherd 7,acts xx4 
#bh71 workman 7#b ,tim4 ii4 #ae71       
athlete 7#a ,tim4 iv4 #g71 vessel 7#b   
,tim4 ii4 #ba74  #ee ,go where you can  
do most for men1 not where you can get  
most from men4  ,be more concerned about
 your ability than about your           
opportunity1 and about your walk with   
,god than either4  ,your sphere is where
 you are most needed4  ,there is no     
place without its difficulties3 by      
removing you may change them1 it may be 
you will increase them2 but you cannot  
escape them4--,,prediger4  #ef ,a sermon
 which costs little is worth as much as 
it has cost4 ,yet measure not the value 
of the sermon by the length and hardness
 of your labour4--,,dupanloup4  #eg ,the

 first ,sunday ,i was in ,america1 ,i   
worshipped in the churches of ,rev4 ,dr4
 ,w4,m4 ,taylor and ,rev4 ,dr4 ,john    
,hall1 who are1 ,i suppose1 the two most
 eminent ministers of ,new ,york2 and ,i
 was astonished to hear both of them    
intimate that they would visit in       
certain streets during the week4 ,there 
are no ministers anywhere more immersed 
than these in every kind of public duty2
 yet they find time for regular pastoral
 visitation4 ,on coming home1 ,i        
mentioned this fact to an equally       
eminent minister in my own country4     
,well1 said he1 when ,i came to the     
city1 the elders of my congregation     
advised me not to visit1 and ,i followed
 their advice2 but it was the worst     
advice ,i ever got4  #eh ,dr4 ,marcus   
,dods4  #ei ,get others to talk3 what a 
man says to you has more influence upon 
him than all you can say to him4  ,it is
 not the time of sickness so much as the
 time of convalescence that decides the 
future life4 ,remember this1 and seize  

opportunities4 --,,prediger4  #fj ,much 
of the ,gospels is taken up with        
conversations between ,christ and       
individuals4 ,teaching so startling and 
difficult as ,his1 with such an element 
in it of attraction and hope1 naturally 
drew around ,him many who sought to know
 further what this ,gospel meant4 ,he1  
on ,his part1 was as eager to meet      
inquirers as they were to seek ,him2 and
 we find that ,he bestowed as much care 
and pains in expounding the nature of   
,his kingdom to individuals as ,he did  
when ,he was speaking to great          
multitudes4 ,the audience1 if small1 was
 fit4 ,not only so1 but we find that ,he
 put ,himself in the way of             
individuals4--,,nicoll1 ,the ,incarnate 
,saviour4     ,,lecture ,,ix4  ,,the    
,,preacher ,,as ,a ,,thinker4           
,gentlemen1 in the foregoing lectures ,i
 have adverted very little to the       
studies1 in preparation for the work of 
the ministry1 with which you are at     
present occupied4 ,indeed1 ,i have      

rather ostentatiously kept to a         
standpoint at some distance from the    
academic one1 for reasons which ,i      
explained in the opening lecture4 ,but  
the clue which ,i have endeavoured      
faithfully to follow has brought us at  
last to this point also2 and ,i welcome 
the opportunity of saying something     
about the more intellectual aspects of  
our work4 ,the subject to-day is the    
,preacher as a ,thinker4         99     
99       99       99       99  ,in my   
last lecture ,i spoke of the vast sphere
 of operations assigned to ,st4 ,paul   
and of the almost superhuman exertions  
which he made to fill it4 ,but what did 
he exert himself to fill it with8 ,it   
was not merely to overtake the ground   
and be himself present in so many       
countries and cities that he was so     
zealous4 ,that which drove him on was   
the glorious message of which he was the
 bearer1 with the sound of which he     
desired to fill the world4 ,he often    
combines these two ideas in his         

writings--that the ,gentile world had   
been committed to him as a trust1 to    
care for the souls which it contained1  
and that the ,gospel had been committed 
to him as a trust1 to be communicated to
 the ,gentiles4 ,these two things were  
included in his apostolate--on the one  
hand1 the care of the heathen world1    
and1 on the other1 the publication of   
the ,gospel4  ,of course he had not1    
like the original apostles1 heard the   
,gospel from the lips of ,christ2 but he
 had received it directly from ,christ  
in some other way2 and you know how     
vigorously he claimed that he had not   
received it from man and was not        
indebted to the other apostles for it4  
,he frequently calls it his own gospel1 
and he maintains it to be as authentic  
and authoritative as that preached by   
any of the other apostles4 ,how it was  
revealed to him we cannot tell4 ,this is
 the same mystery as we encountered in  
studying the prophets of the ,old       
,testament4 ,both prophets and apostles 

speak with a knowledge of the mind and  
will of ,god which has a certainty and  
authority peculiar to their writings4   
,we ought to speak1 if we speak at all1 
with certainty and authority too2 but   
there is a difference between ours and  
theirs4 ,i know how difficult it is to  
define the difference2 we cover it up   
with the vague word ,inspiration2 but ,i
 do not see any use in hiding from      
ourselves that it exists4  ,admitting1  
however1 that there is this mystery1 yet
 we can see1 in some respects1 how the  
truth1 when it came1 dealt with ,st4    
,paul1 and how his mind was exercised   
about it2 and in these respects he is   
not beyond our imitation4  ,what ,i wish
 to emphasize in this lecture is1 that  
,christianity did specially lay hold of 
him in the region of the intellect4 ,it 
is meant to lay hold of all parts of the
 inner man--the feelings1 the           
conscience1 the will1 the intellect2 and
 it may lay hold of certain people more 
fully in one part of their being and of 

others in another according to their    
constitutional peculiarities4 ,some     
suppose--and perhaps they are not far   
wrong--that the first preaching of the  
,gospel consisted of little more than   
the simple story of the life and death  
of ,jesus2 that those who heard it      
sympathetically began forthwith to live 
new lives in imitation of ,christ2 and  
that this was the most of their         
,christianity4 ,in a fine and peculiar  
nature like that of ,st4 ,john1 again1  
the ,gospel caught hold chiefly in the  
region of the emotions2 and his         
,christianity was a mystical union and  
fellowship between the ,saviour and the 
soul4 ,st4 ,paul was not by any means   
deficient in the other elements of      
humanity2 but he was conspicuously      
strong in intellect4 ,that is to say1 he
 was one of those natures to which it is
 a necessity to know the why and the    
wherefore of everything--of the universe
 in which they live1 of the experiences 
through which they pass1 of the ends    

which they are called upon to pursue4   
,this natural tendency was strengthened 
by the training of an educated man4 ,and
 therefore the ,gospel came to him as a 
message of truth1 which cleared up the  
mysteries of existence and presented the
 universe to the mind as a realm of     
order4  ,st4 ,paul often expresses the  
intense intellectual satisfaction which 
,christianity brought him1 and the joy  
he experienced in applying it to the    
solution of the problems of life4 ,the  
light which ,christianity cast on the   
universe was to him1 he says1 like the  
morning of creation1 when ,god said1    
,let there be light1 and there was      
light4 ,before1 all was darkness and    
chaos1 but then all became sunshine and 
order4 ,he often speaks with wondering  
gratitude of the fact that the mystery  
which had been hidden from ages and from
 generations had been revealed to him3  
,eye had not seen1 nor ear heard1       
neither had entered into the heart of   
man1 the things which ,god had prepared 

for them that love ,him1 but ,god had   
revealed them unto him by ,his ,spirit4 
,and by this mystery he meant the tangle
 of ,god's providence in history1 which 
the coming of ,christ disentangled and  
smoothed out into a web whose pattern   
the mind could discern4  ,having himself
 received ,christianity as an           
intellectual system1 he very specially  
addressed himself to the intellect of   
others4 ,the door of the kingdom of     
heaven1 it has been beautifully said1   
can only be opened from the inside2 but 
to that observation this other may be   
added1 that in a sense there are many   
doors1 but each man can only open to    
others the one by which he has entered  
himself4 ,christianity had come to ,st4 
,paul as the truth about ,god and the   
world and himself4 ,there was plenty of 
emotion besides2 but the emotion for him
 came after the clear intellectual      
conviction and sprang out of it4 ,and he
 expected that others would receive     
,christianity in the same way4          

,therefore he never spared the minds of 
those he addressed2 he expected them to 
think2 and he would have said that1 if  
they would not open and exert their     
minds1 they could not receive           
,christianity4  ,i hardly know anything 
more puzzling than the audacity with    
which he cast himself on the minds of   
his hearers and trusted them to         
understand him1 when he was thinking his
 strongest and his deepest4 ,imagine an 
epistle of his arriving in ,rome or     
,ephesus1 and read out in the audience  
of the church for the first time4 ,who  
were the hearers8 ,the majority of them 
were slaves2 many had till a short time 
before been unconcerned about religion2 
in all probability not a tithe of them  
could read or write4 ,yet what did ,paul
 give them8 ,not milk for babes2 not a  
compost of stories and practical        
remarks2 but the ,epistle to the        
,romans1 with its strict logic and grand
 ideas1 or the ,epistle to the          
,ephesians1 with its involved sentences 

and profound mysticism4 ,he must have   
believed that they would understand what
 he wrote1 though scholarship has       
considered it necessary to pile up a    
mountain of commentaries on these       
epistles4 ,christianity1 as it went     
through the cities of the world in ,st4 
,paul's person1 must have gone as a     
great intellectual awakening1 which     
taught men to use their minds in        
investigating the profoundest problems  
of life4  ,how deeply he was interested 
in the intellectual reception of the    
,gospel is shown by the earnestness with
 which he prays that his converts may   
excel in mental grasp of the truth4 ,i  
pray1 he says1 that your love may abound
 yet more and more in knowledge and in  
all judgment4 ,and again he says1       
,making mention of you in my prayers1   
that the ,god of our ,lord ,jesus       
,christ1 the ,father of glory1 may give 
unto you the spirit of wisdom and       
revelation in the knowledge of ,him1 the
 eyes of your understanding being       

enlightened1 etc4  ,but nothing proves  
so clearly the value which he set on    
this element of ,christianity as his    
earnestness that his version of the     
,gospel should be kept pure and entire4 
,he called upon younger ministers1 like 
,timothy and ,titus1 to guard it as a   
precious treasure and to transmit it to 
faithful men who would be able to teach 
others also4 ,it filled him with the    
most poignant anxiety and pain when the 
minds of his converts were assailed with
 doctrines subversive of the truth which
 he had taught4 ,he had to encounter    
assaults of this kind coming from the   
side of orthodoxy as well as of         
heterodoxy1 and no small portion of his 
energy had to be expended in refuting   
them4 ,you remember1 for example1 with  
what a heat of zeal and affection he    
cast himself on the ,galatians1 when    
they had lent an ear to false teachers3 
,o foolish ,galatians1 who hath         
bewitched you8 ,if any man preach any   
other gospel unto you than that which ye

 have received1 let him be accursed4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,gentlemen1 you are going to be teachers
 of ,christianity1 and this implies that
 you should yourselves have mastered it 
in thought4 ,a certain number of people 
will be more or less dependent on you   
for the view they have of ,christianity2
 and this really means the view they    
have of all the most important and      
solemn objects of existence2 for to them
 all things will be comprehended in     
,christianity2 and on you will largely  
depend whether this view is true or     
false1 narrow or noble4  ,it would be   
difficult to exaggerate the importance  
to men and women of their fundamental   
convictions about this universe in which
 they live4 ,there is current1 indeed1  
at present a way of speaking about the  
intellect1 as if1 while all the other   
faculties have to do with religion1 it  
were only an intruder2 and there is a   
way of speaking about definite religious
 truth which really implies1 if any     

strict meaning is to be attached to it1 
that in religion1 when the truth is not 
found1 the opposite may answer quite as 
well2 and yet1 strange to say1 this     
language is usually to be heard from the
 lips of those who make special claims  
to intellectuality and affect to be the 
special champions of truth4 ,but the    
intellect is a noble faculty and has an 
important office in religion4 ,it is1   
properly speaking1 antecedent to both   
feeling and will2 and what is put into  
it determines both what feeling and     
choice will be4 ,people are often1      
indeed1 swept into the ,church on some  
current of feeling2 and the pressure on 
every side of the ,christian society1   
along with the examples of superior     
,christians1 does much to develop the   
religious nature2 but probably in the   
great crises of temptation1 when a flood
 of passion or some great worldly       
opportunity is about to sweep a man away
 from his connection with ,christ1 that 
which keeps hold of him is the force of 

conviction--if the roots of his mind    
have gone deep down and clasped         
themselves about the great verities of  
the faith4 ,our ,lord ,himself called   
the truth the foundation on which the   
whole structure of life is built4 ,all  
that a man is and does depends1 in the  
last resort1 on what he knows and       
believes4 ,it will be a calamity for    
your hearers1 if from your preaching    
they are not able by degrees to put     
together in their minds a conception of 
,christianity both true and elevating1  
which will supply them with the         
fundamental principles of their life4   
,besides this sacred obligation to our  
people1 there is the obligation to the  
truth itself4 ,this was felt by ,st4    
,paul profoundly4 ,a revelation of      
,christianity had been committed to him1
 and he had to present it in all its    
splendour and apply it to all the       
details of life4 ,so the ,word of ,god  
is committed to us1 and we are          
responsible for delivering its whole    

message4 ,if we take up a single text of
 the ,bible1 our merit as preachers lies
 in bringing out attractively and       
comprehensively the truth which it      
contains4 ,it would be considered still 
more meritorious to present the whole   
message contained in a book of the      
,bible2 and it would be quite in        
accordance with the theological fashion 
of the time if a preacher were able to  
show that he was master of some single  
section of ,scripture1 say1 the         
,prophets of the ,old ,testament or the 
writings of ,st4 ,john4 ,i do not know  
why we should hesitate about the next   
step1 which1 if we have gone so far1 we 
are logically bound to take--the mastery
 of the message of the ,bible as a      
whole4 ,this is what we are responsible 
for4 ,the ,bible is the message of the  
mind and will of the loving and         
redeeming ,god2 and this we are bound to
 deliver in such a way that neither its 
truth nor its glory will suffer in our  
hands4  ,how this is to be done1 of     

course it requires wisdom to decide1 and
 there will doubtless be different ways 
for different men and for different     
times4 ,in a former generation a        
president of this college#fa preached in
 the ,college ,chapel straight through  
the doctrines of ,christianity1 taking  
them up one by one in systematic order2 
and his book was long a model to        
preachers both in this country and      
,great ,britain4 ,he was preaching to an
 academic audience1 and there are       
probably few congregations for which    
such a course would be suitable now2    
although ,i know at least one able young
 minister in a country village who has  
been pursuing this method from the      
commencement of his ministry4 ,once a   
month he gives a sermon of the course2  
perhaps his people do not know that he  
is doing so2 but he is giving his own   
mind the discipline of investigating the
 doctrines of ,christianity in their    
order2 and ,i am certain both that he   
himself is growing a strong man in the  

process and that his people1 though     
unconsciously1 are getting the benefit  
of it4 ,in the ,lutheran and ,episcopal 
,churches the observance of the         
,christian festivals gives occasion for 
regularly bringing the circle of the    
grand ,christian facts before the minds 
of the people4 ,we have not this        
guidance2 but a faithful minister is    
bound to make sure that he is preaching 
with sufficient frequency on the leading
 ,christian facts and doctrines1 and    
that he is not omitting any essential   
element of ,christianity4#fb  ,not      
unfrequently ministers are exhorted to  
cultivate extreme simplicity in their   
preaching4 ,everything ought1 we are    
told1 to be brought down to the         
comprehension of the most ignorant      
hearer1 and even of children4 ,far be it
 from me to depreciate the place of the 
simplest in the congregation2 it is one 
of the best features of the ,church of  
the present day that it cares for the   
lambs4 ,i dealt with this subject1 not  

unsympathetically ,i hope1 in a former  
lecture4 ,but do not ask us to be always
 speaking to children or to beginners4  
,is the ,bible always simple8 ,is ,job  
simple1 or ,isaiah8 ,is the ,epistle to 
the ,romans simple1 or ,galatians8 ,this
 cry for simplicity is three-fourths    
intellectual laziness2 and that ,church 
is doomed in which there is not supplied
 meat for men as well as milk for babes4
 ,we owe the ,gospel not only to the    
barbarian but also to the ,greek1 not   
only to the unwise but also to the      
wise4#fc  ,i do not believe1 however1   
that it is only in cultured             
congregations that this element of      
preaching is required4 ,there is no     
greater mistake than to suppose that you
 will drive the common man away from the
 ,church by strong intellectual         
preaching4 ,you will do so no doubt if  
you preach over his head1#fd and use a  
language which he does not understand4  
,you must find him where he is1 and     
either speak to him in his own language 

or teach him yours by slow degrees4     
,but1 if you accommodate yourself to him
 so far1 you will find him alert and    
willing to accompany you2 you will find 
that he has not only sturdy limbs for   
climbing1 but even wings for soaring to 
the heights of truth4  ,a greater       
difficulty lies in the preacher himself4
 ,at the beginning of his ministry he   
may be encumbered with doubts and far   
from clear in his faith4 ,this is a real
 obstacle1 and the first years of       
ministerial life may be a time of great 
perplexity and pain4 ,i suspect our     
congregations have often a good deal to 
suffer while we are endeavouring to     
preach ourselves clear4 ,it is vicarious
 suffering2 for they do not know what is
 perplexing us4 ,they have to stand by  
and look on while their minister is     
fighting his doubts4 ,but1 if he is a   
true man1 it is worth their while to    
wait4 ,if these are the pangs of        
intellectual birth1 and the truth is    
merely divesting itself of a traditional

 form in order to invest itself in a    
form which is his own1 he will preach   
with far greater power when the process 
is complete1 and he is able to speak    
with the strength of personal           
conviction4  ,but1 gentlemen1 it is     
important for you to see that your      
opening ministry is not enveloped in    
mist simply because you have never made 
a real study of ,christianity4 ,this1 ,i
 am afraid1 is the commonest source of a
 vague theology4 ,in a former lecture ,i
 have recommended a wide acquaintance   
with the masterpieces of literature2 but
 some able men at college substitute    
this for the studies of their           
profession2 and this is a fatal mistake4
 ,literature ought to be a supplement to
 these1 not a substitute for them4 ,i   
have watched the subsequent career of   
more than one student who had pursued   
this course2 and ,i must say it is not  
encouraging4 ,their supply of ideas soon
 runs out2 their tone becomes secular2  
and the people turn away from them      

dissatisfied4  ,a student ought1 while  
at college1 to make himself master of at
 least one or two of the great books of 
the ,christian centuries in which       
,christianity is exhibited as a whole by
 a master mind4 ,if ,i may be allowed to
 mention my own experience1 it happened 
to me1 more by chance1 perhaps1 than    
wise choice1 to master1 when ,i was a   
student1 three such books4 ,one was     
,owen's work on ,the ,holy ,spirit1     
another ,weiss' ,new ,testament         
,theology1 and the third ,conybeare and 
,howson's ,life and ,epistles of ,st4   
,paul4 ,each of these may be said1 in   
its own way1 to exhibit ,christianity   
entire1 and ,i learned them almost by   
heart1 as one does a text-book4 ,i was  
not then thinking much of subsequent    
benefit2 but ,i can say1 that each of   
them has ever since been a quarry out of
 which ,i have dug1 and probably ,i have
 hardly ever preached a sermon which has
 not exhibited traces of their          
influence4  ,there is another valuable  

result which will follow from the early 
mastery of books of this kind4 ,you will
 be laying the foundation of the habit  
of what may be called ,great ,reading1  
by which ,i mean the systematic study of
 great theological works in addition to 
the special reading for the work of each
 ,sunday4 ,week by week a conscientious 
minister has to do an immense amount of 
miscellaneous reading in commentaries1  
dictionaries1 etc41 in connection with  
the discourses in hand2 but1 in addition
 to this1 he should be enriching the    
subsoil of his mind by larger efforts in
 wider fields4 ,it is far from easy to  
carry this on in a busy pastorate2 and  
it is almost impossible unless the      
foundation has been laid at college4#fe 
,one more hint ,i should like to give3  
it is a reminiscence from a casual      
lecture which ,i listened to when a     
student and profited by4 ,besides       
attending to theological studies in     
general1 one ought to have a specialty4 
,the minister1 and even the student     

before he leaves college1 should be     
spoken of as the man who knows this or  
that4 ,perhaps the best specialty to    
choose is some subject which is just    
coming into notice1 such as1 at present1
 ,comparative ,religion1 or ,christian  
,ethics1 or1 best of all1 ,biblical     
,theology4 ,such a specialty1 early     
taken up1 is like a well dug on one's   
property1 which year by year becomes    
deeper4 ,all the little streams and     
rivulets of reading and experience find 
their way into it2 and almost unawares  
the happy possessor comes to have within
 himself a fountain which makes it      
impossible that his mind should ever run
 dry4         99       99       99      
99       99  ,of course ,i cannot       
attempt to give here even the slightest 
sketch of the doctrinal system of ,st4  
,paul2 but there are two characteristics
 of it which ,i should like to mention  
in closing1 as they are essential to the
 right management of the element of     
preaching with which ,i have occupied   

you to-day4  ,the thinking of ,st4 ,paul
 went hand in hand with his experience4 
,his ,christianity began in a great     
experience1 in which he discovered the  
secret of life and found peace with     
,god4 ,he set his mind to reflect upon  
this1 so as to comprehend how it came   
about and what it involved2 and the     
theology of the first part of his       
apostolate was nothing but the result of
 these broodings under the guidance of  
the ,holy ,spirit4 ,these in their turn1
 however1 brought him still nearer to   
,god and closer to ,christ2 and so he   
obtained new and deeper experiences1 of 
which the doctrines of his more advanced
 life are again the exposition4 ,thus   
his thinking was both experimental and  
progressive4 ,if his ,epistles be       
arranged in chronological order1 it will
 easily be seen that there is a splendid
 growth in his theology from first to   
last4 ,he never1 indeed1 gave up the    
doctrines of his earlier life2 there is 
no inconsistency between one part of his

 writings and another2 but neither his  
experience nor his thinking ever stood  
still2 he made his first doctrines the  
foundations on which he reared a        
structure which was rising higher and   
higher to the very close of his life4   
,st4 ,paul had the heartiest scorn for  
intellectualism in religion divorced    
from experience2 and it cannot be denied
 that it is this divorce which has      
brought contempt on the intellectual    
element in preaching4 ,when doctrine is 
preached as mere dogma1 imposed as a    
form on the mind of the preacher from   
without1 no wonder it is dry and barren4
 ,it is when the preacher's own         
experience is growing1 and he is coming 
up with the doctrines of ,christianity  
one by one as the natural expression for
 what he knows in his deepest           
consciousness to be true1 that he utters
 the truth with power4 ,never1 perhaps1 
is a sermon so living as when the       
preacher has found out the truth during 
the week as a novelty to himself1 and   

comes forth on ,sunday to deliver it    
with the joy of discovery4  ,the other  
feature to which ,i wish to draw        
attention is the perfect balance in ,st4
 ,paul of the doctrinal and the ethical4
 ,if reproach has been cast on the      
intellectual element in preaching by its
 want of connection with experience1    
this has been done no less by its want  
of connection with conduct4 ,but ,st4   
,paul is not open to this reproach4     
,this is made clear by the very external
 form of his writings4 ,an ,epistle of  
,st4 ,paul is divided into two parts1   
the first containing doctrines and the  
second practical rules for the conduct  
of life2 and not unfrequently the two   
parts are of about equal length4  ,but  
the connection is far closer than this4 
,in ,st4 ,paul's mind all the great     
doctrines of the ,gospel were living    
fountains of motives for well-doing2 and
 even the smallest and commonest duties 
of every-day life were magnified and    
made sacred by being connected with the 

facts of salvation4 ,take a single      
instance4 ,there is no plainer duty of  
every-day life than telling the truth4  
,well1 how does ,st4 ,paul treat it8    
,lie not one to another1 he says1 seeing
 ye have put off the old man with his   
deeds4 ,thus truthfulness flows out of  
regeneration4 ,treating of the same     
subject again1 he says1 ,lie not one to 
another1 for ye are members one of      
another1 deriving the duty from the     
union of believers to one another       
through their common union with         
,christ4#ff ,thus does ,st4 ,paul       
everywhere show great principles in     
small duties and stamp the commonest    
actions of life with the image and the  
superscription of ,christ4  ,this       
balance between the doctrinal and the   
moral is difficult to maintain4 ,seldom 
has the mind of the ,church been able to
 preserve it for any length of time4 ,it
 has oscillated from one kind of        
one-sidedness to another1 sometimes     
exalting doctrines and neglecting duties

 and at other times preaching up        
morality and disparaging doctrine4 ,to  
which side the balance may be dipping at
 the present time among you ,i do not   
know2 but among us1 ,i should say1 it   
was from doctrines towards duties4      
,perhaps in the last generation we had  
too much preaching of doctrine1 or      
rather ,i should say1 too little        
preaching of duty4 ,younger preachers   
are beginning to dwell much on a nobler 
conception of the ,christian life1 and  
there is a strong demand for practical  
preaching4 ,undoubtedly there is room   
for a healthy development in this       
direction4 ,yet this is a transition    
about which our country has good cause  
to be jealous2 because it passed through
 a terrible experience of the effects of
 preaching morality without doctrine4 ,i
 question if in the whole history of the
 pulpit there is a document more worthy 
of the attention of preachers than the  
address which ,dr4 ,chalmers sent to the
 people of his first charge at ,kilmeny1

 when he was leaving it for ,glasgow4   
,it is well known that for seven years  
after his settlement in this rural      
parish he was ignorant of the ,gospel   
and preached only the platitudes of the 
,moderate creed2 but1 the grace of ,god 
having visited his heart1 he lived for  
other five years among his people as a  
true ambassador of ,christ1 beseeching  
them in ,christ's name to be reconciled 
to ,god4 ,this is his summing up of the 
results of the two periods3--  ,and here
 ,i cannot but record the effect of an  
actual though undesigned experiment1    
which ,i prosecuted for upwards of      
twelve years among you4 ,for the greater
 part of that time ,i could expatiate on
 the meanness of dishonesty1 on the     
villany of falsehood1 on the despicable 
arts of calumny2 in a word1 upon all    
those deformities of character which    
awaken the natural indignation of the   
human heart against the pests and the   
disturbers of human society4 ,now1 could
 ,i1 upon the strength of these warm    

expostulations1 have got the thief to   
give up his stealing1 and the evil      
speaker his censoriousness1 and the liar
 his deviations from truth1 ,i should   
have felt all the repose of one who had 
gotten his ultimate object4 ,it never   
occurred to me that all this might have 
been done1 and yet the soul of every    
hearer have remained in full alienation 
from ,god2 and that1 even could ,i have 
established in the bosom of one who     
stole such a principle of abhorrence at 
the meanness of dishonesty that he was  
prevailed upon to steal no more1 he     
might still have retained a heart as    
completely unturned to ,god and as      
totally unpossessed by a principle of   
love to ,him as before4 ,in a word1     
though ,i might have made him a more    
upright and honourable man1 ,i might    
have left him as destitute of the       
essence of religious principle as ever4 
,but the interesting fact is1 that      
during the whole of that period in which
 ,i made no attempt against the natural 

enmity of the mind to ,god2 while ,i was
 inattentive to the way in which this   
enmity is dissolved1 even by the free   
offer on the one hand1 and the believing
 acceptance on the other1 of the ,gospel
 salvation2 while ,christ1 through whose
 blood the sinner1 who by nature stands 
afar off1 is brought near to the        
heavenly ,lawgiver1 whom he has         
offended1 was scarcely ever spoken of1  
or spoken of in such a way as stripped  
,him of all the importance of ,his      
character and ,his offices2 even at this
 time ,i certainly did press the        
reformations of honour and truth and    
integrity among my people2 but ,i never 
once heard of any such reformations     
having been effected amongst them4 ,if  
there was anything at all brought about 
in this way1 it was more than ever ,i   
got any account of4 ,i am not sensible  
that all the vehemence with which ,i    
urged the virtues and the proprieties of
 social life had the weight of a feather
 on the moral habits of my parishioners4

 ,and it was not till ,i got impressed  
by the utter alienation of the heart in 
all its desires and affections from     
,god2 it was not till reconciliation to 
,him became the distinct and the        
prominent object of my ministerial      
exertions2 it was not till ,i took the  
,scriptural way of laying the method of 
reconciliation before them2 it was not  
till the free offer of forgiveness      
through the blood of ,christ was urged  
upon their acceptance1 and the ,holy    
,spirit1 given through the channel of   
,christ's mediatorship to all who ask   
,him1 was set before them as the        
unceasing object of their dependence and
 their prayers2 in one word1 it was not 
till the contemplations of my people    
were turned to these great and essential
 elements in the business of a soul     
providing for its interest with ,god and
 the concerns of its eternity1 that ,i  
ever heard of any of those subordinate  
reformations which ,i aforetime made the
 earnest and the zealous1 but1 ,i am    

afraid1 at the same time the ultimate   
object of my earlier ministrations4 ,ye 
servants1 whose scrupulous fidelity has 
now attracted the notice1 and drawn     
forth in my hearing a delightful        
testimony from your masters1 what       
mischief you would have done1 had your  
zeal for doctrines and sacraments been  
accompanied by the sloth and the        
remissness1 and what1 in the prevailing 
tone of moral relaxation1 is counted the
 allowable purloining of your earlier   
days4 ,but a sense of your ,heavenly    
,master's eye has brought another       
influence to bear upon you2 and1 while  
you are thus striving to adorn the      
doctrine of ,god your ,saviour in all   
things1 you may1 poor as you are1       
reclaim the great ones of the land to   
the acknowledgment of the faith4 ,you   
have at least taught me that to preach  
,christ is the only effective way of    
preaching morality in all its branches2 
and out of your humble cottages have ,i 
gathered a lesson1 which ,i pray ,god ,i

 may be enabled to carry with all its   
simplicity into a wider theatre1 and to 
bring with all the power of its subduing
 efficacy upon the voices of a more     
crowded population4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,there is nothing 
which ,i should more like to leave      
ringing in your ears than this          
remarkable statement of my great        
fellow-countryman4 ,but ,i cannot close 
and bid you farewell without expressing 
the happiness which ,i have derived from
 these weeks spent in your society and  
thanking you for the extremely          
encouraging attendance with which you   
have honoured me from first to last4 ,to
 the authorities of the college1 as well
 as to many citizens of this town1 ,i   
have to express my indebtedness for an  
amount of kindness and courtesy which ,i
 can never forget1 and which will always
 make my visit to this country one of   
the pleasantest of memories4  ,let us1  
in parting1 commend each other to the   
grace of ,god3      ,o ,god our ,father1

 the infinite ,power1 the perfect       
,wisdom and     the immortal ,love1 in  
,thy hands are all our ways1 and the    
success of our purposes proceeds from   
,thee alone4 ,follow with     ,thy      
blessing our intercourse together and   
the work which we     have now          
completed4 ,bless this ,university--its 
president1 its     professors and       
students4 ,may knowledge grow in it from
 more to     more1 and1 along with      
knowledge1 reverence and love4 ,may     
those     especially who are preparing  
for the ministry of ,thy ,son be        
filled with ,thy ,spirit1 and in due    
time may they prove     faithful        
stewards of the mysteries of ,god4      
,bless them in their     studies1 in    
their fellowship with one another1 and  
in their     efforts to advance ,thy    
kingdom4 ,we commend each other         
affectionately to ,thee2 be our ,god and
 our ,guide in life and     in death1 in
 time and in eternity4 ,for ,christ's   
sake4 ,amen4  ,,footnotes3  #fa ,the    

earlier ,president ,dwight4  #fb ,great 
subjects insure solid thinking4 ,solid  
thinking prompts a sensible style1 an   
athletic style1 on some themes a        
magnificent style1 and on all themes a  
natural style4--,,phelps1 ,my           
,note-book4  #fc ,we owe it to the      
,church1 we owe it to the time in which 
,god has called us to labour1 we owe it 
to the restless and perplexed but often 
honest minds in whose presence we carry 
on our ministry1 to be not merely a     
hard-working but a learned clergy4 ,to  
those great questions which both stir   
and disquiet men1 we are bound to bring 
that knowledge which will give us a     
claim to be listened to4 ',know as much 
as you can2' that ought to be the rule  
to which an educated clergyman should   
hold himself forever tied4 ,a clergyman 
ought to be a student1 a reader and a   
thinker1 to the very end4--,,dean       
,,church4  #fd ,richard ,baxter         
confesses that he deliberately preached 
over the heads of his people once a     

year1 for the purpose of keeping them   
humble and showing them what their      
minister could do every ,sunday of the  
year1 if he chose6  #fe ,a sentence of  
,pascal would sometimes shoot more light
 and life through a sermon than all the 
commentators upon the text since the    
days of ,noah4--,,principal ,,rainy4    
#ff ,rev4 ,dr4 ,henderson1 of ,crieff1  
told me a story which illustrates in an 
amusing yet significant way the change  
which passed over the religious mind of 
,scotland in the beginning of the       
present century4 ,his father1 the late  
,rev4 ,dr4 ,henderson1 of ,glasgow1 when
 newly licensed1 was preaching1 on the  
,saturday before a communion1 for an    
extremely ,moderate minister of the     
dignified and pompous school4 ,i do not 
know1 ,mr4 ,henderson1 said the latter1 
what is the difference between you      
evangelicals and us2 but ,i suppose it  
is that you preach doctrines1 while we  
preach duties4 ,i do not know about     
that1 said ,mr4 ,henderson2 we preach   

duties too4 ,well1 said the old man1 for
 example1 my action sermon to-morrow is 
to be on lying2 and my divisions        
are--first1 the nature of lying2        
secondly1 the sin of lying2 and thirdly1
 the consequences of lying3 now what    
could you add to that8 ,well1 replied   
,mr4 ,henderson1 ,i would add two       
things--first1 ',lie not one to another1
 seeing ye have put off the old man with
 his deeds1' and secondly1 ',putting    
away lying1 speak every man truth with  
his neighbour2 for we are members one of
 another4' ,mr4 ,henderson1 these       
suggestions are admirable3 ,i shall add 
them to my discourse6     ,,appendix    
,,an ,,ordination ,,charge              
,,appendix4  ,,an ,,ordination          
,,charge4#fg   ,i should like to connect
 what ,i have to say with a text of     
,scripture1 which you may remember as a 
motto for this occasion4 ,take1 then1   
that pastoral exhortation to a young    
minister in #a ,tim4 iv4 #af3 ,take heed
 unto thyself1 and to the doctrine2     

continue in them2 for in doing this thou
 shalt both save thyself and them that  
hear thee4  ,there are three subjects   
recommended in this text to one in your 
position--first1 yourself2 second1 your 
doctrine2 third1 those that hear you4   
,i4 ,take heed unto thyself4--,perhaps  
there is no profession which so         
thoroughly as ours tests and reveals    
what is in a man--the stature of his    
manhood1 the mass and quality of his    
character1 the poverty or richness of   
his mind1 the coldness or warmth of his 
spirituality4 ,these all come out in our
 work1 and become known to our          
congregation and the community in which 
we labour4  ,when a man comes into a    
neighbourhood1 as you are doing now1 he 
is to a large extent an unknown         
quantity2 and it is very touching to    
observe the exaggeration with which we  
are generally looked on at first1 people
 attributing to us a sort of indefinite 
largeness4 ,but it is marvellous how    
soon the measure of a man is taken1 how 

he finds his level in the community1 and
 people know whether he is a large or a 
petty man1 whether he is a thinker or   
not1 whether he is a deeply religious   
man or not4 ,the glamour of romance     
passes off1 and everything is seen in   
the light of common day4  ,the sooner   
this takes place the better4 ,a true man
 does not need to fear it4 ,he is what  
he is1 and nothing else4 ,he cannot by  
taking thought add one cubit to his     
stature4 ,any exaggeration of his image 
in the minds of others does not in      
reality make him one inch bigger than he
 is4  ,it seems to me to lie at the very
 root of a right ministerial life to be 
possessed with this idea--to get quit of
 everything like pretence and           
untruthfulness1 to wish for no success  
to which one is not entitled1 and to    
look upon elevation into any position   
for which one is unfit as a pure        
calamity4  ,the man's self--the very    
thing he is1 standing with his bare feet
 on the bare earth--this is the great   

concern4 ,this is the self to which you 
are to take heed--what you really are1  
what you are growing to1 what you may   
yet become4  ,all our work is determined
 by this--the spirit and power of our   
preaching1 the quality of the influence 
we exert1 and the tenor of our walk and 
conversation4 ,we can no more rise above
 ourselves than water can rise above its
 own level4 ,we may1 indeed1 often fail 
to do ourselves justice1 and sometimes  
may do ourselves more than justice4 ,but
 that is only for a moment2 the total   
impression made by ourselves is an      
unmistakable thing4 ,what is in us must 
come out1 and nothing else4 ,all we say 
and do is merely the expression of what 
we are4  ,evidently1 therefore1 there   
can be nothing so important as carefully
 to watch over our inner life1 and see  
that it be large1 sweet and spiritual1  
and that it be growing4  ,yet the       
temptations to neglect and overlook this
 and turn our attention in other        
directions are terribly strong4 ,the    

ministerial life is a very outside life2
 it is lived in the glare of publicity2 
it is always pouring out4 ,we are       
continually preaching1 addressing       
meetings1 giving private counsel1       
attending public gatherings1 going from 
home1 frequenting church courts1        
receiving visits1 and occupied with     
details of every kind4 ,we live in a    
time when all men are busy1 and         
ministers are the busiest of men4 ,from 
,monday morning till ,sunday night the  
bustle goes on continually4  ,our life  
is in danger of becoming all outside4   
,we are called upon to express ourselves
 before conviction has time to ripen4   
,our spirits get too hot and unsettled  
to allow the dew to fall on them4 ,we   
are compelled to speak what is merely   
the recollection of conviction which we 
had some time ago1 and to use past      
feelings over again4 ,many a day you    
will feel this2 you will long with your 
whole heart to escape away somewhere    
into obscurity1 and be able to keep your

 mouth closed for weeks4 ,you will know 
the meaning of that great text for      
ministers1 ,the talk of the lips tendeth
 only to penury1--that is1 it shallows  
the spirit within4  ,this is what we    
have to fight against4 ,the people we   
live among and the hundred details of   
our calling will steal away our inner   
life altogether1 if they can4 ,and then1
 what is our outer life worth8 ,it is   
worth nothing4 ,if the inner life get   
thin and shallow1 the outer life must   
become a perfunctory discharge of       
duties4 ,our preaching will be empty1   
and our conversation and intercourse    
unspiritual1 unenriching and            
flavourless4 ,we may please our people  
for a time by doing all they desire and 
being at everybody's call2 but they will
 turn round on us in disappointment and 
anger in the day when1 by living merely 
the outer life1 we have become empty1   
shallow and unprofitable4  ,take heed to
 thyself6 ,if we grow strong and large  
inwardly1 our people will reap the fruit

 of it in due time3 our preaching will  
have sap and power and unction2 and our 
intercourse will have about it the      
breath of another world4  ,we must find 
time for reading1 study1 meditation and 
prayer4 ,we should at least insist on   
having a large forenoon1 up1 say1 to two
 o'clock every day1 clear of            
interruptions4 ,these hours of quietness
 are our real life6 ,it is these that   
make the ministerial life a grand life4 
,when we are shut in alone1 and1 the    
spirit having been silenced and         
collected by prayer1 the mind gets      
slowly down into the heart of a text1   
like a bee in a flower1 it is like      
heaven upon earth2 it is as if the soul 
were bathing itself in morning dews2 the
 dust and fret are washed off1 and the  
noises recede into the distance2 peace  
comes2 we move aloft in another         
world--the world of ideas and realities2
 the mind mounts joyfully from one      
height to another2 it sees the common   
world far beneath1 yet clearly1 in its  

true meaning and size and relations to  
other worlds4 ,and then one comes down  
on ,sabbath1 to speak to the people1    
calm1 strong and clear1 like ,moses from
 the mount1 and with a true ,divine     
message4  ,in so doing1 my dear brother1
 thou shalt save thyself4 ,lose your    
inner life1 and you lose yourself1 sure 
enough2 for that is yourself4 ,you will 
often have to tell your people that     
salvation is not the one act of         
conversion1 nor the one act of passing  
through the gate of heaven at last2 but 
the renewal1 the sanctification1 the    
growth1 into large and symmetrical      
stature1 of the whole character4 ,tell  
that to yourself often too4 ,we take it 
for granted that you are a regenerated  
man1 or we would not have ordained you  
to be a minister of the ,gospel to-day4 
,but it is possible for a man to be     
regenerate and to be a minister1 and yet
 to remain very worldly1 shallow1       
undeveloped and unsanctified4 ,we who   
are your brethren in the ministry could 

tell sad histories in illustration of   
this out of our own inner life4 ,we     
could tell you how1 in keeping the      
vineyard of others1 we have often       
neglected our own2 and how now1 at the  
end of years of ministerial activity and
 incessant toil1 we turn round and look 
with dismay at our shallow characters1  
our unenriched minds1 and our lack of   
spirituality and ,christlikeness4 ,o    
brother6 take heed to thyself--save     
thyself6   ,,ii4 ,take heed to the      
,doctrine4--,a very little experience of
 preaching will convince you that in    
relation to the truth which you have to 
minister week by week to your people you
 will have to sustain a double          
character--that of an interpreter of    
,scripture and that of a prophet4  ,let 
me first say something of the former4   
,with whatever high-flown notions a man 
may begin his ministry1 yet1 if he is to
 stay for years in a place and keep up a
 fresh kind of preaching and build up a 
congregation1 delivering such discourses

 as ,scotchmen like to hear1 he will    
find that he must heartily accept the   
rle of an interpreter of ,scripture1 and
 lean on the ,bible as his great        
support4  ,this is your work2 the ,book 
is put into your hands to-day1 that you 
may unfold its contents to your people1 
conveying them into their minds by all  
possible avenues and applying them to   
all parts of their daily life4  ,it is a
 grand task4 ,i cannot help             
congratulating you on being ordained to 
the ministry to-day1 for this above     
everything1 that the ,bible is          
henceforth to be continually in your    
hands2 that the study of it is to be the
 work of your life2 that you are to be  
continually sinking and bathing your    
mind in its truths2 and that you are to 
have the pleasure of bringing forth what
 you have discovered in it to feed the  
minds of men4 ,the ministerial          
profession is to be envied more for this
 than anything else4 ,i promise you     
that1 if you be true to it1 this ,book  

will become dearer to you every day2 it 
will enrich every part of your nature2  
you will become more and more convinced 
that it is the ,word of ,god and        
contains the only remedy for the woes of
 man4  ,but be true to it6 ,the ,bible  
will be what ,i have said to you only if
 you go deep into it4 ,if you keep to   
the surface1 you will weary of it4      
,there are some ministers who begin     
their ministry with a certain quantity  
of religious doctrine in their mind1 and
 what they do all their life afterwards 
is to pick out texts and make them into 
vessels to hold so much of it4 ,the     
vessels are of different shapes and     
sizes1 but they are all filled with the 
same thing2 and oh6 it is poor stuff1   
however orthodox and evangelical it may 
seem4  ,to become a dearly loved friend 
and an endless source of intellectual   
and spiritual delight1 the ,bible must  
be thoroughly studied4 ,we must not pour
 our ideas into it1 but apply our minds 
to it and faithfully receive the        

impressions which it makes on them4 ,one
 learns thus to trust the ,bible as an  
inexhaustible resource and lean back    
upon it with all one's might4 ,it is    
only such preaching1 enriching itself   
out of the wealth of the ,bible and     
getting from it freshness1 variety and  
power1 that can build up a congregation 
and satisfy the minds of really living  
,christians4  ,the intellectual demand  
on the pulpit is rapidly rising4 ,i     
should like to draw your earnest        
attention to a revolution which is      
silently taking place in ,scotland1 but 
is receiving from very few the notice   
which it deserves4 ,i refer to the      
changes that are being made by the new  
system of national education4 ,no one   
can have travelled much for several     
years past through this part of the     
island without his attention being      
attracted by the new and imposing school
 buildings rising in almost every       
parish4 ,these are the index of a       
revolution2 for inside1 in their        

management and in the efficiency of the 
education1 there has also been an       
immense change4 ,i venture to say that  
nothing which has taken place in        
,scotland this century--and ,i am       
remembering both the ,reform ,bill and  
the ,disruption--will be found to have  
been of more importance4 ,there will be 
a far more educated ,scotland to preach 
to in a short time1 which will demand of
 the ministry a high intellectual       
standard4 ,it is a just demand4 ,our    
people should go away from the church   
feeling that they have received new and 
interesting information1 that their     
intellects have been illuminated by     
fresh and great ideas1 and that to hear 
their minister regularly is a liberal   
education4  ,nothing will meet this     
demand except thorough study of         
,scripture by minds equipped with all   
the technical helps1 as well as enriched
 by the constant reading of the best    
literature1 both on our own and kindred 
subjects4 ,one of our hymns says that   

the ,bible gives a light to every age2  
it gives1 but borrows none4 ,nothing    
could be more untrue4 ,the ,bible       
borrows light from every age and from   
every department of human knowledge4    
,whatever especially makes us acquainted
 with the mysterious depths of human    
nature is deserving of our attention4   
,the ,bible and human nature call to    
each other like deep unto deep4 ,every  
addition to our knowledge of man will be
 a new key to open the secrets of the   
,word2 and the deeper you go in your    
preaching into the mysteries of the     
,word1 the more subtle and powerful will
 be the springs you touch in the minds  
and hearts of your hearers4  ,but       
preparation of this sort for the pulpit 
is not easy4 ,it requires time1         
self-conquest and hard work4 ,perhaps   
the greatest ministerial temptation is  
idleness in study--not in going about   
and doing something1 but in finding and 
rightly using precious hours in one's   
library1 avoiding reverie and light or  

desultory reading1 and sticking hard and
 fast to the ,sabbath work4 ,i1 for one1
 must confess that ,i have had1 and     
still have1 a terrible battle to fight  
for this4 ,no men have their time so    
much at their own disposal as we4 ,i    
often wish we had regular office-hours1 
like business men2 but even that would  
not remedy the evil1 for every man shut 
up alone in a study is not studying4    
,nothing can remedy it but faithfulness 
to duty and love of work4  ,you will    
find it necessary to be hard at it from 
,tuesday morning to ,saturday night4 ,if
 you lecture1 as ,i trust you will--for 
it brings one1 far more than            
sermonising1 into contact with          
,scripture--you will know your subject  
at once1 and be able to begin to read on
 it4 ,the text of the other discourse   
should be got by the middle of the week 
at latest1 and the more elaborate of the
 two finished on ,friday4 ,this makes a 
hard week2 but it has its reward4 ,there
 are few moods more splendid than a     

preacher's when1 after a hard week's    
work1 during which his mind has been    
incessantly active on the truth of ,god 
and his spirit exalted by communion with
 the ,divine ,spirit1 he appears before 
his congregation on ,sabbath1 knowing he
 has an honestly gotten message to      
lavish on them2 just as there can be no 
coward and craven more abject than a    
minister with any conscience who appears
 in the pulpit after an idle1 dishonest 
week1 to cheat his congregation with a  
diet of fragments seasoned with         
counterfeit fervour4  ,but1 besides     
being an interpreter of ,scripture1 a   
true minister fills the still higher    
position of a prophet4 ,this            
congregation has asked you to become its
 spiritual overseer4 ,but a minister is 
no minister unless he come to his sphere
 of labour under a far higher           
sanction--unless he be sent from ,god1  
with a message in his heart which he is 
burning to pour forth upon men4 ,an     
apostle 7that is1 a messenger sent from 

,god7 and a prophet 7that is1 a man     
whose lips are impatient to speak the   
,divine message which his heart is full 
of7 every true minister must be4 ,i     
trust you have such a message1 the      
substance of which you could at this    
moment1 if called upon1 speak out in    
very few words4 ,there is something     
wrong if from a man's preaching his     
hearers do not gather by degrees a      
scheme of doctrine--a message which the 
plainest of them could give account of4 
,what this message should be1 there     
exists no doubt at all in the ,church of
 which you have to-day been ordained a  
minister4 ,it can be nothing else than  
the evangelical scheme1 as it has been  
understood and expounded by the greatest
 and most godly minds in all generations
 of the ,church and preached with fresh 
power in this country since the         
beginning of the present century4 ,it   
has proved itself the power of ,god1 to 
the revival of the ,church and the      
conversion of souls1 wherever it has    

been faithfully proclaimed2 and it is a 
great trust which is committed to your  
hands to-day to be one of its heralds   
and conservators4  ,not that we in this 
generation are to pledge ourselves to   
preach nothing except what was preached 
last generation4 ,that would be a poor  
way of following in the footsteps of men
 who thought so independently and so    
faithfully fulfilled their own task4    
,the area of topics introduced in the   
pulpit is widening1 ,i think4 ,why      
should it not8 ,the ,bible is far       
greater and wider than any school or any
 generation2 and we will fearlessly     
commit ourselves to it and go wherever  
it carries us1 even though it should be 
far beyond the range of topics within   
which we are expected to confine        
ourselves4 ,your congregation will put  
one utterance side by side with another2
 and1 if you are a truly evangelical    
man1 there will be no fear of their     
mistaking your standpoint4 ,there is no 
kind of preaching so wearisome and      

unprofitable as an anxious1 constrained 
and formal repetition of the most       
prominent points of evangelical         
doctrine4 ,the only cure for this is to 
keep in close contact with both human   
nature and the ,bible1 and be absolutely
 faithful to the impressions which they 
make4  ,yet take heed that your doctrine
 be such as will save them that hear    
you4 ,what saving doctrine is has been  
determined in this land by a grand      
experiment2 and it is only faithfulness 
to the history of ,scotland1 as well as 
to ,god and your people1 to make it the 
sum and substance and the very breath of
 life for all you preaching4 ,our       
calling is emphatically the ministry of 
reconciliation2 to wit1 that ,god was in
 ,christ1 reconciling the world unto    
,himself1 not imputing their trespasses 
unto them2 and hath committed unto us   
the word of reconciliation4 ,now then we
 are ambassadors for ,christ1 as though 
,god did beseech you by us2 we pray you 
in ,christ's stead1 be ye reconciled to 

,god4 ,for ,he hath made ,him to be sin 
for us who knew no sin2 that we might be
 made the righteousness of ,god in ,him4
 ,this is the glorious message of the   
,gospel1 which alone can meet the deep  
spiritual wants of men4  ,preach it out 
of a living experience4 ,bunyan1 in his 
autobiography1 gives an account of his  
own preaching1 telling how1 for the     
first two years of his ministry1 he     
dwelt continually on the terrors of the 
law1 because he was then quailing       
beneath them himself2 how for the next  
two years he discoursed chiefly on      
,christ in his offices1 because he was  
then enjoying the comfort of these      
doctrines2 and how1 for a third couple  
of years1 the mystery of union to       
,christ was the centre both of his      
preaching and his experience2 and so on4
 ,that appears to me the very model of a
 true ministry--to be always preaching  
the truth one is experiencing oneself at
 the time1 and so giving it out fresh1  
like a discovery just made2 while at the

 same time the centre of gravity1 so to 
speak1 of one's doctrine is constantly  
in motion1 passing from one section of  
the sphere of evangelical truth to      
another1 till it has in succession      
passed through them all4   ,,iii4 ,take 
heed to them that hear you4--,i almost  
envy you the new joy that will fill your
 heart soon1 when you fairly get        
connected with your congregation4 ,the  
first love of a minister for his own    
flock is as original and peculiar a     
blossom of the heart as any other that  
could be named4 ,and the bond that      
unites him to those whom he has been the
 means of converting or raising to      
higher levels of life is one of the     
tenderest in existence4  ,you have come 
to a hearty people1 who will be quite   
disposed to put a good construction on  
all you do4 ,this is a busy community1  
that appreciates a man who works hard4  
,if you do your work faithfully and     
preach with the heart and the head1 they
 will come to hear you4 ,it is wonderful

 how lenient those who hear us are4 ,you
 will wonder1 ,i daresay1 some          
,sabbaths1 that they sit to hear you at 
all1 or that1 having heard you1 they    
ever come back again4 ,but1 if a man is 
really true1 he is not condemned for a  
single poor sermon4 ,honesty and        
thorough work and good thinking are not 
so easily found in the world that a man 
who generally exhibits them can be      
neglected4 ,if we fail1 it must surely  
generally be our own fault4  ,the more  
we put ourselves on a level with the    
people the better4 ,we stoop to conquer4
 ,it is better to feel that we belong to
 the congregation than that it belongs  
to us4 ,i like to think of the minister 
as only one of the congregation set     
apart by the rest for a particular      
purpose4 ,a congregation is a number of 
people associated for their moral and   
spiritual improvement4 ,and they say to 
one of their number1 ,look1 brother1 we 
are busy with our daily toils and       
confused with domestic and worldly      

cares2 we live in confusion and         
darkness2 but we eagerly long for peace 
and light to cheer and illuminate our   
life2 and we have heard there is a land 
where these are to be found--a land of  
repose and joy1 full of thoughts that   
breathe and words that burn3 but we     
cannot go thither ourselves2 we are too 
embroiled in daily cares3 come1 we will 
elect you1 and set you free from our    
toils1 and you shall go thither for us1 
and week by week trade with that land   
and bring us its treasures and its      
spoils4 ,oh1 woe to him who accepts this
 election1 and yet1 failing through     
idleness to carry on the noble          
merchandise1 appears week by week       
empty-handed or with merely counterfeit 
treasure in his hands6 ,woe to him too1 
if1 going to that land1 he forgets those
 who sent him and spends his time there 
in selfish enjoyment of the delights of 
knowledge6 ,woe to him if he does not   
week by week return laden1 and ever more
 richly laden1 and saying1 ,yes1        

brothers1 ,i have been to that land2 and
 it is a land of light and peace and    
nobleness3 but ,i have never forgotten  
you and your needs and the dear bonds of
 brotherhood2 and look1 ,i have brought 
back this1 and this1 and this3 take it  
to gladden and purify your life6  ,i    
esteem it one of the chief rewards of   
our profession1 that it makes us respect
 our fellow-men4 ,it makes us           
continually think of even the most      
degraded of them as immortal souls1 with
 magnificent undeveloped possibilities  
in them--as possible sons of ,god1 and  
brethren of ,christ1 and heirs of       
heaven4 ,some men1 by their profession1 
are continually tempted to take low     
views of human nature4 ,but we are      
forced to think worthily of it4 ,a      
minister is no minister who does not see
 wonder in the child in the cradle and  
in the peasant in the field relations   
with all time behind and before1 and all
 eternity above and beneath4 ,not but   
that we see the seamy side too--the     

depths as well as the heights4 ,we get  
glimpses of the awful sin of the heart2 
we are made to feel the force of corrupt
 nature's mere inert resistance to good 
influences2 we have to feel the pain of 
the slowness of the movement of         
goodness1 as perhaps no other men do4   
,yet love and undying faith in the value
 of the soul and hope for all men are   
the mainsprings of our activity4  ,for  
the end we always aim at is to save     
those who hear us4 ,think what that is6 
,what a magnificent life work6 ,it is to
 fight against sin1 to destroy the works
 of the devil1 to make human souls      
gentle1 noble and godlike1 to help on   
the progress of the world1 to sow the   
seed of the future1 to prepare the      
population of heaven1 to be             
fellow-sufferers and fellow-workers with
 ,christ1 and to glorify ,god4  ,this is
 your work2 and the only true measure of
 ministerial success is how many souls  
you save--save in every sense--in the   
sense of regeneration1 and              

sanctification and redemption4   ,,the  
,,end4  ,,footnotes3  #fg ,delivered at 
the ,ordination of the ,rev4 ,william   
,agnew1 ,gallatown1 ,kirkcaldy1 #ahgi4  
99       99       99       99       99  
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-------------------      ,typographical 
errors corrected in text3               
,page  #fg3 humilitating replaced with  
humiliating                ,page #acg3  
propets replaced with prophets          
,page #afb3 subequent replaced with     
subsequent                    ,page     
#ahi3 ruth replaced with truth          
,page #aic3 delirum replaced with       
delirium                                
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