,,the ,,fourteenth ,,hartley ,,lecture3 ,the ,message and the ,man3 ,some ,essentials of ,effective ,preaching ,,by ,j4 ,,dodd ,,jackson4 ,,second ,,edition4 ,,london3 ,w4 ,a4 ,,hammond1 ,,primitive ,,methodist ,,publishing ,,house1 ,,holborn ,,hall1 ,,clerkenwell ,,road1 ,b4,c4 #aiab4 ,,to ,,the ,,memory ,,of ,the ,rev4 ,james ,jackson ,a ,,primitive ,,methodist ,,preacher ,,for ,,fifty-,,five ,,years ,,and ,,president ,,of ,,the ,,conference of #ahig ,,this ,,book ,,is ,,affectionately ,,and ,,reverently ,,dedicated ,,by ,,his ,,son4 ',a ,,workman' ,,needing ',,not ,,to ,,be ,,ashamed1 ,,rightly ,,dividing ,,the ,,word ,,of ,,truth4' ,,preface4 ,it would be strange1 indeed1 if in the procession of annual volumes of which this lecture is an unit1 there did not arrive a book about preaching4 ,the work of the preacher holds so large a place in the service and worship of ,god2 it is1 to all appearance1 so essential to the accomplishment of the purposes of the ,redeemer2 its content and quality mean so much to the life and health of the ,church2 it has played--and is destined to play--so great a part in the saving of mankind1 that1 sooner or later1 it was bound to come within the purview of this lectureship4 ,now that1 at last1 the inevitable has happened1 it may be said that the following pages have been written under the conviction that one of the greatest needs of the present day is a pulpit revival--a revival which will issue in a new endeavour to realise the highest possibilities of the divinest of callings4 ,many of late years have wandered from the fold of the ,church2 mighty is the multitude of those who have never been within her fellowship4 ,the author is more than convinced that any attempt to claim and reclaim must1 to be successful on a large scale1 commence in a renaissance of ,gospel preaching4 ,with the preacher1 more than with the ecclesiastic or the musician or the theologian1 not to mention the ,biblical critic and the religio-social worker1 rests the task of solving the great problem of twentieth century ,christianity4 ,this problem is neither a critical nor a theological one1 but simply that of the age-long campaign3--,how shall we so commend the ,christ as to draw the world to ,his feet8 ,to this avowal1 the writer would venture to add a brief personal explanation4 ,strongly convinced1 though he is1 of the soundness of the view expressed above1 he did not enter willingly upon the task of this book4 ,his brother preachers will know what it is to be captured by a text which comes uninvited and persistently demands to be preached upon4 ,how often such an arrest finds its subject unwilling1 doubtful of his powers1 afraid to be obedient to the unsought command6 ,so came the subject of this essay to the writer thereof4 ,for long he tried strenuously1 though vainly1 to make his escape to the refuge of some other topic wherein he might1 less daringly1 discharge the responsibilities of this lectureship4 ,he disclaims1 therefore1 any presumption of which he may be accused in attempting an enterprise which some may think is outside his province or beyond his powers4 ,this book embodies not a challenge1 but a surrender6 ,one word more may be allowed4 ,surely1 no one will need to be told that the ,hartley ,lecture is delivered under the auspices of the ,primitive ,methodist ,church1 or that its delivery is included in the programme of its ,annual ,conference4 ,this will explain why the reader will find1 here and there1 in the chapters here assembled1 certain denominational allusions of a historic and biographical character4 ,primitive ,methodists will readily understand them and1 we hope1 discover that they add force to argument--strength to appeal4 ,readers of other denominations will not find that the meaning of the writer is obscured by any one of these references4 ,as for the principles sought to be commended and emphasised1 any application they may have is not limited by denominational boundaries4 ,,london1 ,june #ast1 #aiab4 ,,contents4 ,,introduction ,,book ,i4 ,,the ,,man4 ,chapter ,i4 ,the ,designation of the ,preacher ,,ii4 ,things to be ,realised ,,iii4 ,the ,need for ,certainty ,,iv4 ,individuality ,v4 ,concerning ,understanding ,,vi4 ,passion ,,book ,,ii4 ,,the ,,message3--,,its ,,essential ,,notes4 ,chapter ,i4 ,the ,note of ,accusation ,,ii4 ,the ,note of ,pity ,,iii4 ,the ,note of ,idealism ,,iv4 ,the ,note of ,edification ,v4 ,the ,note of ,cheer ,,book ,,iii4 ,,the ,,message3--,,its ,,form ,,and ,,deliverance4 ,chapter ,i4 ,on ,attractiveness ,,ii4 ,on ,transparency ,,iii4 ,on ,appeal ,,conclusion ,,introduction ,there is a river1 the streams whereof shall make glad the city of ,god1 the holy place of the tabernacles of the ,most ,high4--,psalms4 ,then said he unto me1 ,these waters issue out toward the east country and go down into the desert4 ,and by the river upon the bank thereof1 on this side and on that side1 shall grow all trees for meat1 whose leaf shall not fade1 neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed3 it shall bring forth new fruit according to the months1 because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary2 and the fruit thereof shall be for meat1 and the leaf thereof for medicine4--,ezekiel4 ,but the water is nought1 and the ground barren4--#b ,kings4 ,,the ,,message ,,and ,,the ,,man ,,introduction ,among the many problems of a problem-ridden time the most important1 as it is the most difficult1 is that of the apparent arrest which has befallen the progress of ,protestant ,christianity in this and other lands4 ,for a long period now1 we have heard from the various churches an annually repeated story of decreases in membership1 in congregations1 in ,sunday ,school scholars4 ,we have been told1 also1 of a general decay of reverence for sacred things1 of a growth of frivolity1 a surrender of high ideals and of old faiths to the spirit of materialism which more and more1 so it is said1 dominates the age4 ,that ,sabbath of our youth2 that attachment by families to the sanctuary which was so marked a feature of our national life2 that fine old ,english home life and filial piety2 that deep communal consciousness of ,god which1 whether it produced personal profession of religion or not1 did at least create a sense of the seriousness of life and duty and so make our people strong to labour and endure--these things1 we are informed1 will soon be no more4 ,regarding the situation1 all thoughtful men are concerned and some are panic stricken4 ,the account given by the latter is to the effect that religion is losing its hold2 that the ,church is being left high and dry2 that the morality of classes and masses alike shows darker signs of degeneration with the coming of each succeeding day4 ,now1 we are of those who1 while trying to look facts in the face1 endeavour1 also1 not to see double and to keep heart of hope4 ,it is easy to make too much of statistics1 and very easy1 in a moment of depression1 to come to conclusions concerning the state of the ,church1 and the life of the world1 which a day of brighter and truer mood will greatly modify4 ,there is no cause for either panic or pessimism1 but there is cause for the asking of questions as to reasons for the condition of things1 for the making of suggestions for their improvement4 ,and of such questions1 many have been asked1 questions relating to the ,church1 her methods1 her teaching1 her attitude to the world around her1 to great social and moral issues4 ,of suggestions1 too1 there have been many1 and many of them have been seriously received and adopted as the starting points of changes and modifications1 the purpose of which has been to stay the progress of alleged decline in this field or in that4 ,beyond all admiration1 has been the willingness to make sacrifices and put forth efforts to win back the wanderer to the fold which have been exhibited by those to whom changes are not always the most agreeable things in the world4 ,the unfortunate thing is that1 notwithstanding all that has been done1 it cannot be claimed that the problem has been solved4 ,now1 it is a recognition of this problem1 and of the fact that all efforts so far made to find a solution and devise a remedy have failed to meet with the success which had been hoped for1 that has determined our choice of a subject for this--the fourteenth ,hartley ,lecture4 ,can it be possible1 that in some degree1 the preaching of the preachers has been to blame for the things we mourn8 ,from ,america we hear of a new profession which has been called into existence as a result of the fierce competition of industrial and commercial life4 ,it is the profession of the business doctor1 and already the idea has been justified4 ,all is not well1 perhaps1 with some great firm2 rivals are getting ahead2 profits are declining1 and the business doctor is called in to investigate and prescribe4 ,he goes from department to department1 considering the methods pursued1 checking the expenditure on this1 on that1 on the other4 ,he interviews the partners1 the managers1 the men down through the various grades2 the books are open to him4 ,he presents his diagnosis and writes his prescription4 ,the business doctor has been at work in the churches--in our ,church4 ,he has looked into many things4 ,he has made some suggestions4 ,they have not all been foolish1 but1 as yet1 he has not quite hit upon the very thing4 ,he has1 however1 not altogether finished his work4 ,why should he not come into the preacher's department1 into the pulpit1 into the study8 ,why should he not be permitted to read some of those treasured manuscripts which have been--shall we say the joy1 or shall we say the discipline8--of so many congregations8 ,why should he not be allowed to bring paper and pencil1 and1 ensconced in a pew commanding full view of the rostrum1 write down the thing that is true about the part we take in the work of saving the world8 ,perhaps he may find that all is well4 ,perhaps he may find that all is not quite well4 ,if this should be the case1 how important that we should know it4 ,discovery is often the starting point of improvement4 ,that1 in view of the situation referred to1 we should1 each of us for himself1 consider his preaching1 is the suggestion we would make to every preaching reader of the pages to follow4 ,we leave the figure of the business doctor1 for every illustration is of limited usefulness1 which is a good thing to learn4 ,there is but one authority capable of conducting this inquiry in such a way as inevitably to make discovery of the real truth4 ,that authority is surely the preacher's own conscience as taught1 illuminated and guided by the ,holy ,spirit4 ,at once we make a confession3--,this lecture raises a question1 but does not presume to answer it4 ,we will be satisfied to set men asking and answering for themselves4 ,here is the inquiry3--,am ,i1 as a preacher1 in any way to blame for the decline in ,church prosperity1 for the lack of conversions1 for such signs and results of spiritual indifference as are to be seen on every hand8 ,this question may pave the way for others3--,is there anything amiss with the substance of my preaching1 with its methods1 with its spirit8 ,if there be weakness here or there2 if it lack the true note2 if it have lost strength to grip1 sharpness to probe1 power to heal2 if1 in short1 it lacks aught of being the means of grace it was designed to be1 can it be brought1 once more1 on to the right lines8 ,our words may be as a river refreshing the ,church of ,god1 and flowing out through the portals of the sanctuary1 bearing fertility and healing to the world2 they may1 again1 from loss of virtue1 fail to enrich the waiting land4 ,there will be living trees by the living stream4 ,there will be barrenness where the water is nought6 ,for preaching has been effective and the story thereof is a story full of glory4 ,within the single century of our own church history what wonderful things have been done by the ministry of the ,word4 ,it must never be forgotten by those of our fellowship that the ,primitive ,methodist ,church owes its existence to a revival of preaching4 ,our founders were not seceders2 they were preachers4 ,they searched the ,scriptures not to find passages to hurl at theological antagonists1 or so-called ecclesiastical tyrants1 but to find texts for sermons to save sinners1 build up saints and glorify the ,saviour whom they loved better than their own lives4 ,these sermons they preached under the open ceiling of the skies in ,summer's heat1 and ,autumn's storms1 and ,winter's snow4 ,england had been waiting for just such preaching as these rugged men came forth in ,god's name to deliver1 and the common people heard them gladly4 ,immediately succeeding our actual founders came a race of preachers who carried the glad tidings ,east1 ,west1 ,north and ,south1 along the highways and byeways of ,england1 gathering in the lost and folding the gathered4 ,some of them1 we remember1 and could mention them name by name but that the list is very long1 and we would insist upon lingering to speak of deeds as names came forth4 ,we must recall their triumphs1 for the inspiration we will need as we pursue the task before us now4 ,another thing that must never be forgotten is that1 as our ,church was founded by preaching1 and has been built up by preaching1 by preaching will it be upheld and increased1 or not at all4 ,we are forward to recognise the immense importance of other branches of service and the great part they have played in our wondrous past4 ,the pastor carrying the message of salvation and consolation to the homes of the fallen and stricken2 the teacher gathering the little ones around him ,sabbath by ,sabbath2 the tract distributor1 now1 alas6 too seldom seen about his work1 but of great usefulness in earlier days--these and a score of differently named toilers have laboured in the uprearing of this city of the ,lord4 ,but ever the preacher has been the leader of them all--the pioneer1 the quarryman1 the inspirer4 ,the pulpit has been ever the place of direction and1 still more truly1 of encouragement4 ,the ,church has increased with the increase of the ,preacher4 ,shall we venture to prophesy8 ,with his decrease shall come the decrease of the ,church4 ,no ,church has ever flourished in which the power of the pulpit has declined4 ,primitive ,methodism cannot afford to underestimate the importance of preaching4 ,her very life is in it6 ,so the subject of preaching is of first importance4 ,this must be recognised by the preacher1 but not by him alone4 ,it must be recognised by the ,church as well4 ,the preacher is prone to put upon the place and work of his pulpit much the same estimate as is put upon them by his people4 ,there is one ,church in this land in which the people think little of preaching4 ,in some great sanctuaries of that ,church it is a common occurrence for the congregation to leave the building as the liturgical portion of the service comes to an end and the preacher takes his place4 ,the preaching in that body1 although it has among its ministers men who are among the pulpit princes of the age1 is speaking generally1 a sorrow to all who long for the coming of the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,like priest1 like people1 we sometimes say4 ,we might say with almost equal truth1 ,like people1 like preacher4 ,are there no signs of such a belittling of preaching in our congregations as may have the effect of lowering the preacher's ideals of his labours1 or1 at least1 of damping his enthusiasm and spoiling the joy with which his heart should always run over8 ,do we never hear it said that it does not so much matter in our circuit whether we have a preacher or not8 ,have we never been told that really the man most needed is a visitor1 or an organiser1 or someone who can raise the wind8 ,we want a sociable man1 says the steward of one station4 ,we want a public man who will make his mark on the civic and political life of the town1 say the brethren of another4 ,we recognise that the gifts of men differ4 ,we see that each1 in his own order1 may serve and build up the ,kingdom of ,god1 but to rank the business of preaching as second to any form of service2 to care less for the pulpit than for the class-room1 the social1 the entertainment1 the bazaar1 is a fatal mistake4 ,you may make the ,church a successful business concern1 an interesting and delightful social circle2 you may make it a pleasant and intellectual society whither cultured people may resort for new ideas as to an exchange4 ,all this you may do and care little concerning the preacher2 but you can only make a strong ,church rich in spiritual grace and knowledge and usefulness and power by fostering1 with a care amounting to jealousy1 the preaching of the ,gospel of the grace of ,god4 ,if1 therefore1 out of the problem we have named1 there arises a question to be asked by the preacher concerning his preaching1 there also arises1 just as certainly1 a question for the ,church4 ,it is a question as to whether preaching has always been allowed its chance amongst us1 whether we have helped the preacher to realise his best possibilities by requiring them from him with an affectionate but strong insistence4 ,there may even be another question3--,whether we have not sometimes actually discouraged the true preacher and sent him sorrowing away1 because1 forsooth1 it has happened that in his devotion to the great work of his calling1 he has seemed to underestimate the importance of some activities we held to be within his duty4 ,no man can be master in everything2 which is one of the lessons sorely needing to be learned by us all4 ,there have been preachers1 mighty in word and doctrine1 whose hearts have been broken because of the blame thrown upon them for failing to prove themselves equally skilful as financial agents4 ,let the ,church look well to this matter4 ,her preachers will probably be as great1 as effective1 as successful as she requires and encourages them to be6 ,all this1 however1 is by the way1 though of such moment that we might well linger to lay emphasis upon emphasis4 ,for the present we are concerned more with the preacher than with his congregation4 ,the question we desire to put into his heart has already been indicated4 ,the inquiry is suggested for the use1 not of one order of preachers but of all4 ,in the denomination to which we belong only one preacher in eighteen is what is termed a minister4 ,the question is proposed1 not only for the exercising of this one brother1 but of the other seventeen as well4 ,it has been intimated to us that a book on this subject might be of special use to our young men4 ,glad shall we be if this prove to be the case6 ,but not among the younger preachers alone do we seek to initiate this searching self-examination4 ,possibly it may be even less needful to them than to the more mature4 ,the most dangerous days of the preacher's career are1 after all1 not its earliest4 ,in the enthusiasm which1 almost always1 attends his launching forth into the work there is an element of salvation from some of the perils through which he may lose his strength in years when1 perhaps1 that enthusiasm may have passed with the novelty which now gives glamour to his tasks4 ,then there is still another class whose consideration we would solicit for what we may have to say4 ,we refer to those--and they are many--to whom1 as yet1 preaching is but an ambition1 a dream1 a prayer4 ,some day they hope to stand before others1 as now others stand before them1 to speak forth for ,christ's sake the story which has so often warmed their hearts4 ,it is a glorious ambition2 the human breast can contain no higher4 ,will such as cherish it join with us in thinking of these things8 ,in order to arrive at the true answer to the questions proposed we shall need to look in various directions4 ,as a beginning1 we must1 each one of us1 go faithfully over his own record1 tabulating results so far as they can be ascertained4 ,we are quite willing to admit that some of the finest consequences of preaching may not be known to the preacher1 but there is always material for an estimate as to the measure of success or of failure1 which has attended his efforts4 ,let us1 therefore1 go back through the years1 back along the path of bygone ,sabbaths4 ,confession8 ,no6 ,for that we do not ask4 ,our discoveries may well rest between ourselves and ,god4 ,let us make comparisons1 too1 however odious comparisons may be4 ,other men are set within our view4 ,there are preachers--thank ,god6--to whom1 even in these days1 success is richly given4 ,it may be one of ,god's purposes that they shall be considered as examples proving the high possibilities of the holy ministry when tuned to its highest notes4 ,let us relentlessly bring our work into comparison with theirs4 ,if he succeeds1 why do not ,i8 ,the results of such a measurement may be disappointing1 disquieting1 humiliating1 but the path to the best has often a first mile of painful self-discoveries4 ,then there were the former days of our own ministries and the ideals which in those days we cherished and have never forgotten4 ,let us bring out present selves alongside of what we were2 let us put the work of to-day alongside of the work of that far-off time2 let us compare the dream with the fulfilment thereof4 ,have passing years dimmed our ardour8 ,have they chilled our love8 ,have we gathered pulpit powers1 or lost them1 as the days have flown over our heads8 ,there is somewhere a story of a man who1 on his fiftieth birthday1 received a call from his own beardless self of thirty years before1 and1 when he gazed upon his strange guest1 he wept for what his visitor must see4 ,can it be true that in point of effectiveness and real success some of us were better preachers in youth than we are now after years of study1 of experience1 of opportunity to wax greater in every way8 ,there is still another test4 ,here are human sin1 human sorrow4 ,here are the perplexity of the perplexed1 the fear of the fearful4 ,here ,rachel weeps for her children4 ,here the widow and the fatherless cry aloud4 ,here are misery1 crime1 despair4 ,the whole world is full of hunger and thirst1 of grief and wretchedness1 of shame and remorse4 ,let us bring our preaching into comparison with these6 ,above all other means of coming to the truth1 let us take our preaching back to ,him who sent us forth4 ,let us1 in ,his company1 walk once more the roads of ,judea2 with ,him let us stand on the shores of ,galilee1 the slopes of ,olivet1 the pavements of ,zion1 the heights of ,calvary4 ,let us listen to ,his preaching and in ,his presence let us think of ours4 ,so let us follow the matter to the end1 painful though that end may be4 ,it is needful that we do indeed learn the very truth2 needful for the sake of the ,church4 ,she needs the ,gospel for herself4 ,she must eat if she would live4 ,the times are times of hardness for the flock of ,god4 ,it is necessary that a table be prepared in the wilderness4 ,the ,church needs preaching1 needs the inspiration of beholding the preachers' victories4 ,nothing strengthens an army like a triumph4 ,the conquests of the preacher are the salvation of the ,church4 ,for the world's sake it is needful that we come at the truth4 ,the age may not want preaching1 but it needs it4 ,possibly it also wants it more than we suspect4 ,it must be preaching of the right kind1 however4 ,preaching that lacks the qualities proper to itself is worse than useless4 ,for our own sake1 we preachers must come at the facts as they are4 ,it lies before us all to give one day an account of our stewardship1 and the years are swiftly passing by4 ,now is the time for investigation4 ,soon will come the hour when opportunity will be succeeded by retrospect4 ,men have been known to make discoveries in relation to this matter when too late2 when only the possibilities of regret remained4 ,to look back over the past and think that men have suffered in relation to eternal things as a result of our lack of zeal or of faithfulness1 or from some preventable defect in our dispensing of the word1 must be a sad occupation for those years when the grasshopper has become a burden4 ,the echo of our sermons will be in our ears at the last4 ,that echo will be either a song of gladness to sing itself forever1 or a lamentation to be soothed to sleep no more6 ,to be of some little service in the course of this personal and private inquiry this volume is sent out4 ,it claims only to be a reminder of things perfectly well known1 but of the sort that need repeating4 ,will our brethren of their charity acquit us of the charge of presumption in taking up the theme now timidly approached8 ,many1 very many1 who turn these leaves will bring to their perusal far greater ability1 and knowledge1 and experience than we are able to wield in their writing4 ,a few men learn the value of wealth from the possession of it2 more from a lack thereof4 ,nothing better teaches the value of money than the association in the learner's experience of hunger with an empty pocket4 ,what slight qualification for the production of this book we possess has been obtained in a similar way4 ,some few things we have learned2 some we have proved through our many mistakes2 some1 again1 through our frequent failures4 ,they will be found set down in the chapters yet to come4 ,as a general statement of the plan of our endeavour1 it may be said that we will try to speak of some essentials of effective and successful preaching1 essentials first in the preacher1 then in the substance of his message1 and1 finally1 in the form and manner of its presentation and delivery4 ,,book ,i4 ,,the ,,man4 ,,theory ,,of ,,book ,i4 ,to have ,effective ,preaching you must have the ,effective ,preacher4 ,jesus ,christ first ,chose and ,called ,his men and then communicated the ,substance of the ,message ,he wished them to ,declare to the ,world4 ,to every ,preacher it is left to speak that ,message in his ,own ,way4 ,the ,importance of the ,,man in relation to the accomplishment of the purposes of the ,message is therefore obvious1 and with him we begin4 ,what are the ,essential ,qualities of the ,effective ,preacher8 ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,designation of the ,preacher4 ,the preaching of the ,gospel is more than a mere utterance of certain historical facts with deductions therefrom2 more than a declaration of certain doctrines with their applications4 ,it is a highly complex intellectual1 moral and spiritual act4 ,two men may deliver the same sermon4 ,there may be similarity of voice1 of manner1 of delivery1 but one of these men will preach the sermon1 the other only recite it4 ,the difference may be almost beyond definition1 yet it will be felt4 ,at the bottom it will be found to be this3--,that one man is a preacher and the other is not4 ,so then the man himself matters8 ,indeed he does1 and to the extent that it is not the declaiming of what may be called a sermon that makes a man a preacher1 but the man who1 through self-expression1 by being what he is1 makes such an utterance preaching4 ,first the preacher1 afterwards the preaching4 ,and in the preacher the first essential to effectiveness and success is what we have called designation1 and designation is in part natural and in part spiritual4 ,natural fitness and spiritual calling1 gifts1 graces and a divine revelation made to his own consciousness--without these the occupation of the preacher's office1 especially in the capacity of the separated ministry1 can only be a perpetual misery and mortification to the so-called preacher4 ,to those who come to him for guidance in the things of ,god the result of their absence may be incalculable and eternal6 ,and1 alas6 there are to be found1 in the ministry of all the churches1 men in whom natural and spiritual qualifications for their work are absent and have always been absent4 ,concerning such men but a few words1 and those in reply to the reminders that we are continually receiving of the ineptitudes and inaptitudes of preachers4 ,these things form a favourite topic with some people1 to whom we will at once say1 that while there may be misfits in the pulpit1 probably they are there in no greater numbers than in other walks of life4 ,we have known such misfits at the bar2 in the surgery2 in the shop2 at the bench4 ,the preacher's failure is of all failures the most public1 and consequently more discussed than are such other examples as we have named4 ,we have been so often told that the fool of the family goes into the ,church that we find a natural satisfaction in pointing out that this particular fool is to be met with in every lane of life4 ,never a war which does not reveal his presence in the army2 never a political campaign in which we do not see him being shouldered into ,imperial ,parliament4 ,never do men talk together of their experiences of bodily suffering1 as sometimes even the least morbid of us will1 but some one is found to recall afflictions at the hands of the physician of little wit4 ,the incompetent is everywhere and if1 sometimes1 he finds his way into the pulpit1 those who jeer at the ,church on his account have little room for scorn4 ,but1 true as is this reply to the oft-repeated gibe to which we have referred1 it is also true that nowhere does the square man in the round hole do quite as great and as lasting injury as he does from the pulpit4 ,the right man for the work--that must be the ideal of the ,church1 that man and no other1 whatever be the consequence in the way of offending well-to-do supporters whose dream it has been that son of theirs shall wag his head in a pu'pit1 whatever be the disappointment caused to the uninspired ambitions of callow youth or the conceit of later years4 ,the pulpit is not for sale6 ,the honour of standing there is not to be dispensed as a reward or allowed as a compliment4 ,wealth has no rights and poverty no disabilities as to the occupancy of this high place4 ,only the preacher must be suffered there6 ,and on this matter the ,church must be jealous and alert4 ,sometimes the responsibility for the presence of the wrong man in the pulpit rests with her rather than with the man himself4 ,it is open to question whether the ,church always regards with quite sufficient seriousness this business of putting names upon the plan4 ,we have known cases in which an individual has been persuaded against his own knowledge of his qualities to set out upon a career which has brought to himself nothing but failure and to the churches and congregations to which he has ministered nothing but trial4 ,we do well to be anxious to help men into paths of ,christian service1 but it is needful to study the adaptation of the man for the task4 ,to send any man into the work of preaching1 either as a minister or as a lay preacher1 merely to find him something to do1 in order that he may be encouraged in the good way1 as has been done in many and many an instance1 is simply to prepare difficulties for some one else to face4 ,it is not sufficient reason for aiding a man's progress to the pulpit that his ambitions run in that direction1 or that his relatives wish to see him in the preacher's office4 ,we have hinted at the possibility of giving offence1 and1 of course1 it is not pleasant to do this1 especially when1 as is often the case1 that offence has to be given to people whom you love and honour for their works and character and sacrifices4 ,in this world1 however1 unpleasant things have to be faced1 and frequently the line of least resistance leads in the end to the greater trouble4 ,it is even more unpleasant to have to disappoint the hopes1 and discourage the desire for service1 of some young aspirant whose piety and devotion you admire2 but it is better to hold a man back from the very thing he longs for most than1 by cowardly acquiescence in mistaken purposes1 to contribute to place him in a position for which he was not born4 ,has this never been done8 ,have we never known officials vote a formal recommendation rather than hurt the young man's mind1 or rather than estrange his parents who are such good supporters1 you know1 trusting1 meanwhile1 to ,providence for a happy issue out of all their troubles8 ,in the case of a local preacher the providential issue may be the man's own discovery1 sooner or later1 of his own unfitness4 ,in the case of a candidate for the ministry some ,connexional ,committee sitting in some distant town may take a stand we cannot take who are on the spot4 ,these providences do not always come to pass4 ,the brother concerned does not always discover his unfitness4 ,he is frequently quite satisfied with himself1 and remains so to the end of a career long drawn out1 with a persistent contentment which would be amusing if its results were not so tragic4 ,the ,central ,committee does not invariably find out for itself the facts we are afraid to communicate1 and1 as a consequence1 the candidate goes successfully through1 and in after years1 as like as not1 becomes a ,conferential problem4 ,often the truest kindness lies in doing the thing hardest to do and most painful to bear1 and in the doing of this thing the sacred obligation of the church may consist4 ,here is a lesson that needs learning and remembering4 ,no man becomes a preacher in ,methodism except with the assent and calling of the ,church4 ,this must not be forgotten when preachers are being criticised4 ,do you say that such and such an one ought not to be in the pulpit8 ,it is probably quite true1 but it is also true that some ,church helped him up the stair4 ,he1 poor man6 is not the only person to blame for your unsatisfied hunger2 your unquenched thirst2 your empty pews6 ,but1 to look at this matter of designation more in detail3--,we have said that it includes natural fitness and spiritual gifts and is made manifest in a divine revelation to the consciousness of the person concerned4 ,of this natural fitness1 it may go without saying1 the gift of public speech will form a part4 ,this should surely be regarded as indispensable1 yet how often do we come across instances in which the importance of this prime essential seems to have been altogether overlooked8 ,it is not maintained that every pulpiteer need be a ,demosthenes1 or that a man must possess the golden mouth of a ,chrysostom before he stands up to address his fellows on the concerns of the soul4 ,in these days orators are not numerous1 and1 if no man be permitted to preach who does not possess this infrequent gift1 preachers will be few1 while some of the greatest forces of the day will be banished from the pulpit4 ,what is needed is that a man be able to express himself in such a manner as to command and retain the attention of those to whom he speaks1 and that1 without outraging the just sensibilities of the hearer whom he is sent to bless1 he shall be able to tell out the thing that is in him4 ,congregations are not generally unreasonable in their requirements2 indeed1 as a rule they are predisposed to indulgence1 which has been well for some of us4 ,they do not clamour for an exhibition of elocution twice every ,sunday4 ,they do not come to church demanding to hear in every preacher the wonder of his age4 ,but they do ask that a man be audible2 that his voice1 if not melodious as a silver bell1 be human2 that his pronunciation1 if not faultless1 be distinct1 and his delivery without painful hesitancy or torrential rush4 ,surely these requirements are reasonable enough1 and it is1 at least1 open to question whether a man who1 manifestly1 can never be able to meet expectations so moderate should consider himself1 or be deemed by others1 as unmistakably marked out for a preacher of the word4 ,along with the gift of utterance to be required in the man who is designated to the pulpit will1 almost invariably1 be found a mind studiously inclined4 ,the days are gone when it was held that study for the work of preaching the ,gospel involved dishonour to the ,holy ,spirit and unbelief concerning the promise of the divine enlightenment and guidance4 ,the words of ,paul to ,timothy are now accepted as a necessary principle of pulpit preparation4 ,study to shew thyself a workman needing not to be ashamed1 rightly dividing the word of truth1 wrote the ,apostle2 but it is not every man who is gifted for study4 ,books1 to some1 are irksome1 and much study a weariness to the flesh4 ,they simply cannot do it1 try as ever they may4 ,now we will not say that such a man can never become a preacher4 ,we will not even say that he can never become a great preacher4 ,there are some great students who read few printed books--unconscious students1 you might almost call them4 ,again1 some men arrive at great truths through intuition1 and by natural endowment of words are able to express them with an artless art beyond the power of academies to teach4 ,we must never forget that some of our greatest and most successful preachers have been failures at college and hopelessly out of it in examinations4 ,still1 such men are exceptions1 and exceptions who1 in almost every instance1 have1 in various ways1 given such proof of their exceptional endowments that there has been little danger of their lack of bookishness proving a barrier to their election for labours for which they were1 from obvious evidences1 designed4 ,notwithstanding all that may be said of these exceptional cases it should be wisely and carefully discussed whether the man who always prefers the street to the study1 the crowd to the class1 the newspaper to the treatise1 was ever meant to spend his life in instructing his fellows in matters that call for the deepest thoughts of men4 ,it is1 however1 quite possible that a man may have gifts of public speech1 and possess a studious disposition1 and still be without the preaching mind4 ,such a mind will be more sensitive to spiritual truths and influences than the average intellect4 ,it will manifest a talent for religion1 a natural interest in things that are divine and heavenly for their own sake and not merely because they are to form the themes for appointed discourses4 ,the delight1 as well as the life work1 of such a mind will be in the ,law of the ,lord4 ,its possessor will not find himself hopelessly bored by the study of theology any more than the born physician will find himself hopelessly bored by the study of physiology or anatomy or pathology or materia medica4 ,again1 to the preaching mind spiritual vision and spiritual hearing will commonly be attended with less effort than in the case of most men2 though even the preacher will find that there are times and times4 ,spiritualism talks of its mediums1 some of whom are said to see while others are said to hear4 ,the preaching mind will be in the best sense both clair-voyant and clair-audient4 ,call the man a seer1 if you will1 and speak of preaching as prophecy1 and you will describe as well as it can possibly be done the designated preacher and his work4 ,it remains to be predicated that such a man will possess1 at least1 a more than ordinary endowment of tact and aptness in dealing with men1 holding keys to their consciences and their hearts4 ,he will have some special gift of natural power to move his fellows toward the action they would rather not perform4 ,he will abound in that precious sympathy with humanity that feels the truth concerning other lives which it cannot always know4 ,to express our meaning in still another tabloid phrase3--,the man meant for the pulpit will possess a genius for spiritual things4 ,in these few1 incomplete lines we have indicated some of the natural gifts whose possession should be held essential to the proof of a man's designation for the preacher's vocation4 ,before the ,church suggests this service to one of her sons she should be satisfied of the presence of these qualifications2 not1 of course1 as matured and perfected talents--that would be to ask the impossible--but as evidenced in signs visible to the searching eye4 ,before a man yields to such a suggestion1 however kindly and urgently expressed1 even if it only point to a place on the plan of some struggling rural circuit1 he should know that nature has already in some degree fashioned the instrument for the work4 ,but natural endowments and indications are not--need we say8--the whole necessity4 ,our fathers talked not only of gifts but also of graces and of fruits as well4 ,the work of religion should be realised by the preacher as a personal experience and prove itself in a life accordant therewith4 ,it is perfectly true that every hearer ought to be as good as the preacher1 but1 paradoxical as the remark may appear1 it is none the less true that the preacher ought to be better than those to whom he preaches4 ,it is an absolutely sound instinct for the fitness of things--an instinct honourable to the preacher's office--which asks that he who discourses concerning the elements of piety1 calling upon men to embody them in works of faith and righteousness1 should prove his own possession of those elements in the same way4 ,it was laid down of old time that they must be clean that bear the vessels of the ,lord4 ,who1 asks the ,psalmist1 shall ascend into the hill of the ,lord1 or who shall stand in ,his holy place8 ,he that hath clean hands and a pure heart1 who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully4 ,so1 before the ,church sends out a man to preach let her search his life to see not only whether he is able1 but1 also1 whether in his character and deportment grace and truth are so displayed as to give him authority in calling upon others to live the holier life4 ,let the ,church look1 too1 for some signs of whole-heartedness in religion4 ,zeal must be regarded as indispensable4 ,we have heard a ,circuit ,quarterly ,meeting refuse to accept the recommendation of a young man for the plan because he invariably failed to attend the ,sunday night prayer meeting in his own church4 ,would that every ,quarterly ,meeting had the moral and spiritual courage to take so wise and discriminating a course6 ,further1 when the church has asked a man to assume the ministry of the word1 let him see to it that he take the candle of the ,lord into the secret places of his heart and search diligently therein lest1 in going up1 he take with him that which will spoil his labours and bring dishonour upon the truth6 ,he had better a thousand times tarry for a more perfect work of ,god to take place in his soul than do that6 ,and now comes the greatest and most vital question of all4 ,to a man may be given gifts many and acceptable2 he may have received grace for grace2 he may have known deep and wonderful experiences of heavenly things1 and yet it may not be the will of ,god that he shall be numbered with the preaching host4 ,there are other noble kinds of work demanding all the qualifications already named1 and his powers may be given to be expended in one of these4 ,the preacher's designation1 therefore1 is never complete until the ,holy ,spirit has spoken in his soul the direct command of ,god4 ,this must be clear and unmistakable4 ,personal desire and ambition so often lead men astray4 ,beloved1 try every spirit whether it be of ,god4 ,this is a word to be followed here4 ,if only it had always been remembered how many tragedies had been averted6 ,for ,god does directly call those whom ,he will for this office1 and those whom ,he so calls will certainly recognise ,his voice4 ,this is assumed everywhere in the ,scriptures4 ,this is proved in the experience of the ages4 ,how often in the ,old ,testament do we find the record of such a revelation8 ,samuel in the ,temple1 in the darkness and silence of the night1 hears with the ears of childhood the word that invites him to his destiny4 ,to ,isaiah1 in the year that ,king ,uzziah died1 comes in the ,holy ,place from a throne high and lifted up the question1 ,whom shall ,i send and who will go for us8 and he answers1 ,here am ,i1 send me4 ,in the terms of these histories is enshrined the story of the vivid way in which the ,almighty revealed ,his will to the conscience of men of old time4 ,the narratives of the ,new ,testament still further illustrate the manner of the divine compelling4 ,how urgent ,his call may be1 is heard in such a cry as this2 ,woe is me if ,i preach not the ,gospel6 ,here was a man to whom preaching was no personal ambition1 no mere means of livelihood1 who1 indeed1 wrought with his own hands that he might not be chargeable to any4 ,to ,paul this ministry was a divine compulsion2 a duty only to be escaped at the cost of spiritual peace1 of the serenity of perfect obedience4 ,in all generations this experience has been repeated4 ,read the life stories of those who have wrought great works with the hammer of the word1 and in every such record you will certainly light upon a page upon which will be told the story of the call that could not be disobeyed4 ,the older biographies of our own preachers abound in accounts of how they were spoken to from on high4 ,in those days there was little earthly advantage to be gained from the work of a ,primitive ,methodist preacher1 itinerant or local4 ,persecutions were many and the labour was hard--very hard4 ,often do we read of men struggling to escape from the order which had come unto them1 and only yielding at last1 because1 for love of ,him who entreated them1 they could do no other4 ,sent by my ,lord1 they cried1 on you ,i call6 ,and this clear word which came to men of old time1 which has always come to the man whose work was to lie in the breaking of the bread of life--this clear word must still be regarded as essential to a perfect designation4 ,of course1 there is but one man to whom this supreme indication will be apparent1 the man to whom the voice has come2 so that with the preacher1 himself1 lies the final responsibility of his presence in the pulpit--a sent1 or unsent1 man4 ,do we say that it is to ask a hard thing to insist that no one shall preach who cannot say confidently that he knows himself to have been moved of ,god to this place and labour8 ,hard1 perhaps1 it may seem1 but strait is the gate and narrow is the way into this excelling service4 ,there are many hard things in the ordinances of the ,kingdom1 and1 perhaps1 it has not been well that we have so often sought to broaden the path1 to widen the gate4 ,possibly there might be fewer preachers if all we have laid down were insisted upon1 but there might be more power2 there might be more success4 ,designation made plain by gifts1 graces and an inward sense of ,divine election--this then is the first essential in the man4 ,the recollection of this will prevent the office of the preacher from being regarded simply as a profession4 ,when a man enters the ministry for a living1 or because1 forsooth1 he has social aspirations1 he has taken a downward1 and not an upward1 step4 ,when he comes into the work because all his nature1 all his experiences1 all the results of religion in his heart and life urge him on1 the ,lord saying ,go thou and ,i will be with thee1 then glorious is his calling1 and glorious will be his record when the day is done6 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,things to be ,realized4 ,it is absolutely essential to the successful preaching of the ,gospel that the preacher should realise the greatness and dignity of his position2 and having once come into this realisation1 it is also essential to continuance in well-doing that he abide in it4 ,in himself he may have little in which to glory1 but in his calling he has much indeed4 ,for what is the ,christian preacher8 ,he is the very messenger of ,jesus ,christ to men4 ,he belongs to an order founded and recruited by the ,master ,himself4 ,first ,he sent out the seventy1 who probably soon returned2 afterwards ,he sent forth the twelve1 armed with a permanent commission4 ,when1 in the ranks of this early band1 a vacancy arose through the unfaithfulness of one of its members1 ,he made choice of another4 ,from the opened skies ,he arrested ,saul in his journey to ,damascus that he might be a chosen vessel to bear the truth to the ,gentiles4 ,from that day to this ,he has been calling and sending1 not less really1 a succession of men every one of whom might with ,paul have called himself an ambassador of the ,king of ,kings4 ,of course there were preachers before the apostles and there was preaching before ,pentecost4 ,the prophets were preachers1 and mighty was their proclamation of the divine message--so mighty that though addressed primarily to their contemporaries it lives and burns to-day4 ,later1 in the period lying between the end of the ,old ,testament and the beginning of the ,new1 there were notable preachers in ,israel who kept alive the ,messianic hope and sought to prepare the way of the ,lord and make ,his paths straight4 ,there was preaching in the synagogues in our ,lord's own day1 and ,he but observed an established custom when1 entering into the synagogue at ,nazareth1 as was ,his practice on the ,sabbath day1 ,he stood up for to read1 and there was brought unto ,him the book of the ,prophet ,esaias4 ,he had a text that day1 and ,he preached from it1 and1 if the end of ,his discourse was that ,he was thrust out of the synagogue and was like to have been put to death1 it was because of the unwelcomeness of the word ,he spoke1 and not because ,he had introduced a new order of service into the sanctuary of an intensely conservative people4 ,he preached in the synagogues of ,capernaum1 too1 and they were astonished at ,his doctrine1 for the word was with power4 ,john the ,baptist was a preacher who was more than a prophet1 and to his preaching doubtless the ,lord ,himself listened more than once4 ,and ,john began to say unto men everywhere repent4 ,such seems to have been the burden of his message until that hour when he suddenly found his sweetest music and cried ,behold the ,lamb of ,god which taketh away the sin of the world4 ,yes1 there were preachers before ,christ1 and long previous to ,his coming it pleased ,god by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed4 ,jesus1 however1 gave to the order of the preacher a new institution4 ,he put upon the lips of ,his servants a new message4 ,they were to go1 no longer to the children of one favoured nation only1 but out into all the world1 and preach the ,gospel to every creature4 ,from all classes did ,he gather the men upon whom ,he put this glorious burden4 ,here was a fisherman fresh from his toil upon the deep2 here a publican newly come up from the receipt of custom2 here a husbandman from distant farm or vineyard1 and each was commanded to go in ,my name4 ,each was the representative1 the ambassador of the ,king4 ,each was promised ,his help2 each the baptism through which memory was to be quickened to recall the words ,he had spoken--the baptism which was to explain sentences which1 at the moment of their utterance1 were full of perplexing and affrighting mystery to such as heard4 ,almost ,his very last words on earth concerned their mission4 ,then came ,pentecost1 the gift of power1 the descent of the ,holy ,ghost upon the waiting company in the ,upper ,room4 ,signs and wonders filled the hour4 ,the word was with assurance and ran like fire among dry stubble4 ,the multitude was pricked to the heart4 ,soon followed the ,herodian persecution1 and the preaching band was scattered abroad4 ,as a result they went everywhere preaching the word4 ,so the voice of the preacher proclaiming the new faith was heard throughout the countries of ,asia ,minor and in learned ,greece and warlike ,rome1 on ,mars ,hill where walked and taught the philosophers in the presence of the admiring and novelty-seeking sons of ,athens1 in the palace of the ,caesars whence ran the currents filling the arteries of the world4 ,westward1 ,eastward1 all over the known earth they went1 and still they preached1 until1 in years that seem very few1 when we think of all that had to be done to make true the boast1 it was said the ,christians are everywhere4 ,and no preacher has ever risen to any true sublimity of service and success who has not connected his own place1 and his own work1 with the events of this great history4 ,he is of the same company as were ,peter1 ,paul1 ,john1 ,james1 ,apollos4 ,the spiritual dignity conferred upon him1 the responsibility laid upon his shoulders1 are of the same kind as were theirs4 ,we stand for a doctrine of ,apostolic ,succession1 but it is not a succession dependent upon a ceremonial ordination dispensed by a privileged and ghostly class4 ,it is a succession of gifts1 of graces1 of commission1 of power1 of victory4 ,the true preacher is ,god's messenger4 ,does he stand before thousands--a man of learning1 of eloquence1 of far flung fame8 ,his highest glory is not in any one of these things1 but in the fact that his commission is divine4 ,does he plod--a poor local brother from mine or loom or plough or forge--along dark lanes and over wild moorlands1 in order that in some distant and lowly village sanctuary he may speak to a few simple souls of heavenly things8 ,let him not be depressed by the toil of the journey2 let him not be disheartened by the smallness of the audience4 ,rather let him lift up his head in humble pride that he is counted worthy to make this errand1 to utter this testimony1 for in the ,king's stead he goes1 and in the ,king's name he speaks6 ,a great1 good thing would it be if only the divinity of their calling could be brought home to all who minister among us--brought home1 we mean1 as a constantly realised truth1 warming always and inspiring the hearts of our preachers and giving confidence and authority to their word4 ,the oft-quoted prayer1 ,lord1 give us a good conceit of ourselves1 might well be offered with some small change of terms4 ,we do need a good conceit of our office4 ,from such a conceit so many great thoughts would flow1 such a sense of the importance of our task6 ,we should hear less complaint concerning poor appointments2 we should hear less criticism of the sermons of humble but sincere men1 if preacher and people alike remembered that this commission was given on the steps of the throne4 ,let the preacher think small things of the preaching office and small service will be the inevitable result1 small sermons1 small faithfulness1 small harvests when the reaping time shall come4 ,let the preacher live in the great facts of his history6 ,let him realise--he cannot magnify--his office6 ,this is the word we would speak into every preacher's ear throughout our ,church4 ,there would be little murmuring concerning poor sermons and forgotten appointments if only this fact could win home4 ,we are persuaded that the cause of much of the poor and careless preaching1 the preaching that is perfunctory and cold and lifeless1 lies in this3--,that here and there are preachers who have never realised the glory of their delegation4 ,another realisation into which the preacher must come before his preaching can reach its highest possibilities1 both as to quality and results2 and in which he must abide if his ministry has to remain upon the heights1 is that of the supreme distinction of the message he has to proclaim4 ,it is a divine message which has been divinely entrusted to him for conveyance to his fellow-men4 ,in regard to this1 too1 he must occupy and speak from high ground4 ,he is not merely one among the world's many teachers1 not simply one among the many speculators who come with theories first ingeniously spun by the spindles of imagination1 then woven in the looms of logic4 ,he brings not a theory but a revelation4 ,he is not one of the philosophers classified and catalogued with the rest4 ,he is a messenger4 ,behind him is ,one who sent him2 and the message is not a philosophy but a way4 ,it is neither a guess1 nor a speculation1 nor a deduction2 it is ,god's word to men6 ,now it may seem a needless thing to insist with such emphasis upon this view of the substance of true ,christian preaching1 a view that we hear and repeat almost every day2 but it is not so needless a thing as may appear4 ,is it not true that some preachers condescend too much from the word given unto them8 ,is it not a fact that some of us fail from very wont and use to live in the thought that our message is as far above every message as the ,name it reveals is above every name8 ,has the preacher never been guilty of turning aside from this theme of his to what the ,apostle called cunningly devised fables8 ,it seemed to him that the old story had become so well worn that1 for the sake of a little novelty1 which might1 perhaps1 attract the people who stayed away1 he might turn into some subject less hackneyed than the staple stock of pulpit addresses4 ,the reason was a very plausible one1 and the preacher altogether sincere4 ,the people did come to hear him1 too1 as they had not come concerning the other matters he had been used to expound4 ,there was a little mild sensation1 and sensation is an agreeable variant of the dulness of grey and monotonous years4 ,most folks were pleased1 it seemed--indeed all were pleased who were of any real account4 ,many people even waxed complimentary and the preacher had hard work to keep his humility in flower4 ,the only people who complained were those survivals of far past ages whose antediluvian notions accord so ill with the progressive spirit of our times4 ,of course they grumbled a little2 said the preacher gave them less than the best1 that he went to the newspapers for his subjects and to--,heaven-only-knew-where for the treatment of the topics so selected4 ,they complained1 too1 that the only advantage of leaving the old wells was that the effervescence of the new beverage drew larger congregations of a sort to whom effervescence is everything and they even made the amazing statement that the great purpose of preaching was not1 after all1 to draw great congregations which might be accomplished in association with failure as well as in association with success1 but to change the hearts and lives of men and nations4 ,they were actually so unkind as to remark that of this latter kind of work there could be little done excepting as a result of faithfulness to the old ,gospel--a term getting1 nowadays1 rather out of date4 ,they said this1 and they claimed to prove the statement by figures they unkindly produced4 ,the thing for the preacher to do1 they contended1 was the work he was sent to do4 ,the greatest subjects possible to him were the subjects given unto him4 ,christ's word1 they held1 was infinitely better worth repetition and interpretation than any other word the world had ever heard4 ,who shall say these critics were wrong8 ,the preacher falls below the splendour of his high calling when he turns from the thoughts of ,god to the dreams of men4 ,of this mistake1 however1 there need be little fear if in his own soul the preacher dwell upon the glory of his treasure1 the preciousness of the seed he has to sow4 ,thus saith the ,lord4 ,with these words he will refresh his faith and courage what time he challenges the attention and demands the reverence of men4 ,god hath spoken1 once have ,i heard this2 nay twice1 so he sings to his spirit as he enters into controversy with those to whom he is sent4 ,come1 let us reason together1 saith the ,lord1 thus may he invite rebellious men into confidence concerning all those things that matter to the soul4 ,to him1 even him1 ,god hath revealed ,himself4 ,through the written word has ,he spoken directly to his heart and mind4 ,to his prayerful inquiry and diligent searching has ,he made known ,his will1 his mind being chosen as the organ of a revelation1 honouring his devout spirit and earnest striving to know the truth4 ,through the varying phases of the experience of this messenger of ,his ,he has shown him the deep things of ,god and disclosed new applications of truths already known4 ,god reveals ,himself to men to-day4 ,let us at least allow ourselves the joy of believing that ,he has no favourites2 that ,london or ,new ,york is as dear to ,him as ,jerusalem2 that ,he will1 and does speak as certainly through the prophets of our times as through those of any far-off century in the history of the race4 ,of this high doctrine every new sermon ought to bring fresh proof to the preacher's own soul as well as to the people who hear the latest word from heaven through the spokesman of the skies4 ,so the wonder grows6--,an ambassador of the ,king1 speaking the ,king's own word1 spoken to me by the ,king ,himself1 my heart burning within me the while ,he talked with me by the way1 my own soul growing strong in the incoming strength of living truth warm from the lips of ,god6 ,stand we here--each for himself8 ,indeed we must do so2 for unless we do1 abiding in this consciousness as to our calling and our work1 we shall lack full furnishing for toil and accomplishment1 for noble battle1 for glorious victory6 ,and if it comes to pass that sometimes the preacher fails to realise the greatness of his position and the true distinction of his message1 and that his preaching suffers loss of effectiveness as a result of such failure1 it also comes to pass1 not infrequently1 that he fails to realise1 as he should1 the great purpose his efforts are meant to serve4 ,this failure also must hinder his preaching of the success it should command4 ,behind the labours of the humblest of the preaching army lies the purpose which lay back of all ,god's dealing with the race1 which moved ,him to give ,his only begotten ,son2 the purpose for which ,he who was rich and for our sakes became poor1 came to earth and was found in fashion as a man4 ,the purpose behind the preaching of the preacher is one with the purpose behind the cross2 it is1 in short1 that purpose of infinite love which contemplates and designs the salvation of the race4 ,the ,son of ,man is come into the world to seek and to save that which was lost4 ,that which was lost6 ,the meaning of this word is surely not exhausted in the application of the text to individual wanderers however great their number4 ,the whole world was lost1 and to seek and to save the world1 from the rivers to the ends of the earth1 ,he came--to bring back all humanity to faith1 obedience1 love1 purity1 happiness and glory4 ,for the attainment of the highest possibilities wrapped up in himself and his work the preacher must be possessed by this imperial design4 ,he must feel that he is fighting in a campaign for world conquest--for that and no smaller end4 ,we hear1 in these days1 a good deal about imperialism in politics4 ,we are encouraged to teach this imperialism to our children1 and the argument advanced in support of the advice is that the learning of the lesson will have influence on the way in which the scholar will perform the humblest tasks awaiting him in life4 ,the ,imperialist1 it is said1 will find himself saved by his imperialism from sordid views and actions1 from all temptation to make small personal ends the measure of his service as the days go by4 ,experience1 alas6 has hardly justified the prophecy4 ,we have seen the well instructed and professed ,imperialist display much the same infirmities and proclivities as other men4 ,we have heard of him speaking of the ,british flag1 that most sacred symbol of his faith and hope1 which it is his high mission to plant on every shore1 as an asset2 and we have found that questions relating to dividends were not altogether alien to his proud determination to fling the red line further yet4 ,but there is an imperialism in religion which has a happier history4 ,that man possesses it who thinks of every blow struck for ,god as a blow struck in an age-long and world-wide warfare4 ,this imperialism does redeem the days1 and has a royal and quickening effect upon the labours of all who are in bondage to its spell4 ,such an imperialist is no longer the servant of this denomination or that1 a mere agent hunting recruits for his own little connexional interest4 ,he may seek to attach men to his ,church1 but only because that ,church is part of the great confederacy of states-divine4 ,he goes to his appointment in yonder tiny hamlet1 where but few are assembling to hear him1 as went out ,alexander to subdue the nations to his will4 ,it is often said1 and it is a saying too often received with small approval1 that the ,church which does most for the support and advocacy of missions to the heathen invariably does most for the spread of the ,gospel within its own district as well4 ,the saying1 we repeat1 is not always received with enthusiastic approval1 but it is true nevertheless1 and it is capable of easy explanation4 ,this superior devotion to the spreading of the ,gospel at home follows as a direct result of a realisation of that ,gospel's all-embracing1 all-conquering purpose4 ,that purpose must be realised by the ,church if she would get unto herself the victory4 ,with no meaner proposals must she go into battle1 or else the chariot wheels will run heavily and the young men will faint and be weary4 ,what is true for the ,church is1 if possible1 still more true for the preacher1 for the tasks of leadership and inspiration are in his hands4 ,he must hold firmly to the ideal of a new world wherein dwelleth righteousness4 ,to labour for this1 and no meaner dream1 must be his constant and unfailing resolve4 ,and how are we to keep this sublime purpose of ,god ever in recollection1 making it our own8 ,ah6 here is a question6 ,we have all heard and assented to this grand design of infinite love4 ,we all believe that through the ages one increasing purpose runs4 ,but to believe in the sense that we do not disbelieve1 is one thing1 and profoundly and constantly and vitally to realise a truth is another4 ,it is so easy to forget a belief when everything around us seems to contradict the possibility of its fulfilment4 ,the labour of the preacher is often very hard2 often1 in its immediate results1 extremely disappointing4 ,the present and immediate care1 the difficulty to be faced here and now1 so much concern and so much1 at times1 depress us4 ,so much effort must be put forth even to keep living1 so much patience even to hold up under the burden1 that it is little wonder if1 at times1 we forget that our strenuous struggle is in fulfilment of a great plan to eventuate in the accomplishment of an eternal purpose4 ,if we do hold the thought it is too often only in a theoretic way4 ,it does not dominate us as it should1 and as it would if once it seized us by the heart4 ,perhaps1 more than in the case of most things to be realised1 it requires great grace to make the soul able to grasp it4 ,perhaps1 again1 the purpose of ,god seems to ask more from us than we care to give1 and the fear of the sacrifice required blinds us to the glory of that purpose4 ,as long as the preacher's programme is parochial or merely patriotic his preaching will lack the clarion note4 ,small conceptions of the will of ,god make mean service4 ,god's intention is to reign on earth as ,he reigns in ,heaven4 ,let us live in this assurance if we would help ,his kingdom in4 ,but there is still more to be realised before the preacher has grasped all the golden truth with which ,god would fortify and cheer him for the task he is sent out to perform4 ,did we say that he must come into a consciousness of the true dignity of his office8 ,did we point out his need to discern the true glory of his message1 which is that it alone is the message that is indeed from the heart of ,god8 ,did we emphasise the preacher's need of a clear view of the infinite1 loving purpose behind the work he is sent to carry through8 ,to all this he must add a clear and constant vision of the victory to come4 ,in that vision he must live as though the music of the triumph were already falling upon his ear4 ,there is no room in the pulpit for pessimists or pessimism4 ,the man who thinks that the world is growing worse1 and will grow worse1 and still worse1 moving down the slopes of inevitable perdition until the final catastrophe shall burst upon it--that man has no right to pose as a preacher of the gospel of glad tidings to men4 ,not so did ,his ,master look forward to the days to come when for the joy that was set before ,him1 ,he endured the cross1 despising the shame4 ,such a vision was not in ,his eyes when ,he said1 ,and ,i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,me4 ,failure6 ,that is a possibility the preacher must not admit1 even in secret to himself1 if he would not find his strength stolen and grey hairs upon him here and there6 ,and in the spirit of victory he not only must1 but may live4 ,there have been darker ages than this in which the preachers have alone held up the lamp of hope4 ,times of apparent unfruitfulness do come1 times of drought do fall upon us1 but they pass1 for silently1 secretly ,god works on and on4 ,let us believe in ,him4 ,his are the yet uncounted years4 ,he prepareth ,his ways in the darkness1 and ,he will bring it to pass4 ,in that faith alone is great1 true and mighty preaching possible4 ,thus1 with somewhat of the seer1 ,must the moral pioneer1 ,from the future borrow2 ,clothe the waste with dreams of grain1 ,and on midnight's sky of rain ,paint the golden morrow4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,need for ,certainty4 ,one of the most obvious lessons to be learned from a study of church history is a lesson teaching the necessity of the positive note in the pulpit4 ,the great ages of ,christianity have been those in which affirmation has been clear and definite and strong4 ,the great preachers of the past have ever been positive preachers1 men whose assurance concerning their message was heard in every tone of their voices1 who knew in whom they had believed4 ,especially has this been true of those whose ministrations have been the means of great revivals of religion as seen in the awakening of zeal within the ,church and the salvation of sinners4 ,how positive were the ,wesleys6 ,how sure was ,whitefield6 ,how absolutely certain of things were the fathers of our own ,church6 ,how real to them were ,god and ,jesus and ,heaven and ,hell4 ,they were narrow1 perhaps4 ,possibly they were often intolerant4 ,it may have been the case that they were rather too ready to damn every one who disagreed with them as to the interpretation of the truth of ,god4 ,they may not have always displayed a sweet and brotherly reluctance to brand as a heretic any person whose creed was a little more hopeful than their own4 ,it might possibly be shown that there is some truth in the suggestion that they were not always able to render a reason for their convictions with an intelligence and a wealth of knowledge proportionate to the strength with which they held them4 ,but they did know where they were4 ,they could identify themselves among theologians4 ,they were ready with a confession of faith4 ,this is so1 and this and this1 they could say4 ,that will come to pass1 and that and that1 they affirmed1 as if they saw it all enacted before them4 ,the result of this strong believing was seen in the production of strong belief and1 better still1 of determined action in those to whom they preached2 for belief is at least as infectious as doubt1 as the records of spiritual movements and the biographies of religious leaders of all schools will prove4 ,there was no theorising in those camp-meeting sermons to which the people of this land were listening a hundred years ago2 no honest doubt in those invitations heard upon the greens of the villages and in the market-places of the towns while yet the last century was young4 ,here were preachers as sure of their message as they were of their own existence4 ,of mental reservations they knew nothing4 ,they had never even heard the term4 ,they dealt in wills and shalls2 not in peradventures or maybes4 ,they said of a thing it is or it is not4 ,they went up into such pulpits as they possessed1 not to conduct a public inquiry after truth1 but to declare it4 ,they were not out in search of a gospel adapted to the needs of the age4 ,they had found the one sure way of life adapted to this and every other time4 ,this they cried aloud1 and then lifting up their voices in song1 ,turn to the ,lord and seek salvation1 they went marching on1 while men followed enquiring with weeping eyes1 ,what must we do to be saved8 ,such was the preaching of our fathers1 crude enough1 much of it1 no doubt2 lacking1 perhaps1 many of the literary excellencies and graces of the preaching of our later days1 yet mighty because of its very sureness1 because of its splendid dogmatism4 ,the complaint goes that the pulpit of our time lacks this positive note2 that by word or tone the preacher conveys the impression that he is not quite sure4 ,it is reported that he suggests where once he proclaimed1 surmises where once he declared4 ,it is alleged that people are turning away from the churches because they can obtain no certain answer to the questions of the soul4 ,instead of quoting a ,yea or a ,nay1 they report replies to the effect that probably the answer should be ,yea1 but that1 as we are at present passing through a period of transition1 as all our creeds are in the melting pot1 we must wait a little while for an absolutely categorical reply1 preserving1 in the meantime1 an open mind and a trusting heart4 ,for purposes of consolation1 and to encourage them to this trustfulness of spirit1 they are told1 so they relate1 that devout men are at work upon the sacred documents2 that other men1 equally devout1 are reconsidering the doctrines1 and that1 among it all1 the preacher does not worry1 but1 with admirable calm1 waits and trusts1 knowing that in the end his position will be stronger than ever for the surrender of a few defenceless outposts4 ,by preaching such as this possibilities are suggested which1 it is said1 cause more concern than comfort to the man in search of definite guidance on the most serious and vital subjects with which the mind is called upon to deal4 ,another statement we have heard3--,that as this kind of thing is met with almost exclusively in ,protestantism it works out largely to the advantage of the ,roman ,catholic ,church4 ,few weeks pass by in which we do not read of this or that well-known person who has gone over4 ,as only the more prominent converts are mentioned in the press we may be sure that the number of unknown and relatively unimportant people who secede from ,protestantism is much greater than is known4 ,from one of this multitude came a little while ago an explanation of the step he had taken3--,the ,roman ,church knows what she believes4 ,her priests are positive4 ,i cannot risk my soul upon a theory2 ,i want a fact6 ,now it is quite possible that this complaint is greatly an exaggeration4 ,it is certain that many are blamed while comparatively few are guilty4 ,it is quite possible to be too much disturbed and alarmed by criticisms of the ,church and her preachers4 ,these criticisms do not all come from the sincerest friendliness2 neither are they always absolutely without bias1 or invariably founded upon extensive observation4 ,the ,church at her worst has always been better--she always will be better--than her enemies allow4 ,the same is true of preaching4 ,still it is wise to ask ourselves1 when a criticism is laid against either ,church or preacher1 whether there may not be a grain or two of truth to the bushel of chaff4 ,it would be a misfortune if in our contempt for this same chaff we should lose the corn hidden there4 ,where there is smoke it is well to remember there is always1 at least1 a smoulder of fire4 ,grant that much has been made of little1 which is a weakness of the critic in every time1 and that all the rumour has resulted simply from some lack of definiteness on the part of a few4 ,grant1 also1 that as the criminal is always far more talked about for his transgression than the honest man for his honesty1 so the man who betrays his doubts in the pulpit is far more discussed than the ninety-and-nine sure men who go on their unsensational way according to standards made and received from old time amongst us4 ,grant all this1 and it will still remain to be said that the preaching of the present day1 in those churches where the right of private judgment on matters of faith and doctrine is recognised1 would1 to make the least of it1 be all the better for a more positive tone4 ,but how has it come to pass that there should have occurred1 even in the small degree in which we admit it1 a loss of the sureness which means so much in the preaching of the word of truth8 ,the question is a large one1 and to answer it fully much more than all the paper composing this book would be required4 ,it may be that the spirit of the age is not a spirit favourable to belief4 ,in some periods faith is glorified2 in others1 doubt4 ,in these days1 it might be thought from much we hear1 a little scepticism is the one sure evidence of intellectuality2 while steadfastness in the creed of one's youth proves the possession of a dull and narrow mind and the existence of that hopeless mental condition known as fossilisation4 ,ours are the days of science1 and science has frightened some people terribly concerning religion1 though it would almost appear that she is now beginning1 in some measure1 to repent1 and is turning to soothe the timorous souls whom she formerly terrified4 ,ours are days of criticism too1 and the criticism has largely been concerned with the very writings wherein are recorded those words upon which we have relied as containing the way of life4 ,some things said to have been discovered have disturbed us a little1 though why they should have done so it is difficult1 upon reflection1 to see4 ,we have been too prone1 perhaps1 to surrender ourselves to such a feeling as is natural to those anxious moments when1 having called a consultant to the bedside of a sick friend1 we have just uttered the request1 ,now1 ,doctor1 tell us candidly the worst4 ,all these things would be mentioned in the long history which would be needed fully to narrate the causes of the slight slackening of faith noted here and there2 but1 for all the importance which would probably be ascribed to each in turn1 they are not the only reasons2 they are not even the chief reasons4 ,those1 we are bold to say1 are not intellectual1 but moral and spiritual6 ,and these moral and spiritual causes of doubt in relation to eternal and divine things will emerge as we proceed to try to answer the question1 which now arises1 as to how we can recover that measure of certainty which we have lost1 and which we must regain1 with additions1 if we would achieve that power in the work of preaching which is needed to turn the hearts of men towards ,god and goodness4 ,notwithstanding all that may be said as to the difficulties of the situation1 we venture to think that the lines upon which confidence may be won back again are not impossible of discernment4 ,for1 simple as the suggestion may be2 lacking all flavour of the extraordinary as it does2 without novelty and confessedly old-fashioned2 we have but this to commend to all who waver and doubt1 to all whose voices falter as they seek to utter the mighty affirmations of the ,gospel3--,that the way to win again the old assurance is to come back to the source of their sublime vocation1 determined1 whatever may befall1 there to abide all the long and trying day4 ,reach hither thy finger1 ,he said to the doubter whose faith had well-nigh died for loss of a few days' open vision1 ,reach hither thy finger and behold ,my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into ,my side and be not faithless but believing4 ,the spirit of ,st4 ,thomas comes upon us all at times1 perhaps more often in youth than age4 ,occasionally it comes uninvited2 sometimes1 alas6 we open the door and bid it enter4 ,there is but one way of escaping this spirit1 and it is recorded in this old history4 ,surely for doubting souls in all ages was this experience of ,thomas written down6 ,the way of certainty is the way of the extended hand4 ,ultimately the preacher's faith depends upon the use he makes of his own spiritual opportunities4 ,if any man will do ,his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of ,god4 ,there is an intimate connection between intellectual results and moral and spiritual conditions4 ,the surrender of the will to ,god is always followed by an increase of spiritual intelligence4 ,that this is true we have seen proved unnumbered times as lowly piety has revealed sublimities of faith and trust4 ,spiritual things are1 and must be1 spiritually discerned4 ,and this is not so hard to understand as may appear4 ,a life surrendered to the will of ,god is of all lives the most peaceful and composed4 ,it is lived in an atmosphere of repose4 ,in such an atmosphere the mind has an opportunity of looking upon the great spiritual mysteries in the light proper to their contemplation and consideration4 ,it is a life of good works too1 and good works tend to establish the gospel by which they were inspired4 ,it would not be easy--we had almost said it would be impossible--to find a man engaged in hard and constant toil for ,jesus ,christ who would complain that he suffers from doubt as to the truth of the faith he serves4 ,unbelief is not unfrequently the penalty of indolence4 ,it might in many instances be found possible to trace the doubts of men to their slackness in the service of ,god4 ,the same spiritual laws as regulate the experience of every saint of ,god regulate those of the preacher4 ,his ,sabbath note will be according to his week-day living4 ,let him be all the week absorbed in material things only2 let him seek only his own gratification1 only his own wealth or pleasure or advantage2 let him walk only in the lower paths1 and he must not be surprised if1 as he stands up upon the ,sabbath1 his voice be found to have lost the old ring of joyful and glorious assertion4 ,he must not be astonished if his grasp of heavenly mysteries and promises and provisions be slack1 and if1 as a result1 he speaks in halting tones4 ,if his daily walk be far from the side of his ,lord1 he must not wonder if other spirits find their way to his ear and fill it with whispers of doubt and fear which make his testimony hesitant and of small effect for good4 ,we say he must not be surprised at these things4 ,no1 nor must he find the reasons for this weakening of his faith in the message itself1 though that will inevitably be the chief temptation of such dangerous hours4 ,he should ask first concerning the life he is living1 whether it is of a sort to make faith an easy thing4 ,he should ask concerning his personal observance of the ,master's counsel of prayer and self-denial and cross-bearing4 ,it is pleasanter1 no doubt1 to seek the reasons for one's unbelief in intellectual than in moral directions4 ,the former method may flatter us a little2 the latter is often very painful6 ,and yet by inquiring as to our moral condition the whole secret will often be discovered4 ,there is also another question to ask3--,if we understand the promises of our ,lord1 in even a slight degree1 ,he gives to all whom ,he calls into the holy ministry the assurance of a ,comforter who will guide them into all truth1 and bring all things to their remembrance whatsoever ,he has said4 ,are we quite able1 we who are afflicted with doubts which sometimes make it hard to preach1 are we quite able to say that we have honoured ,him in putting ,his promises to the proof as we might have done8 ,was not one of the ,master's words to us ,it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak8 ,there was no uncertainty in the ,upper ,room in that glad but awful moment when the pledge of the ages was fulfilled to the children of the new and better covenant4 ,let us seek that experience again4 ,let us begin our quest at the cross1 with a prayer for forgiveness1 and a vow of reconsecration4 ,let us wait upon ,him for a renewal of that divine outpouring of which ,he has never disappointed ,his chosen messengers when they have sought it at ,his hand1 meanwhile denying themselves1 taking up their cross and following ,him4 ,let us but obtain that baptism1 and all our crippling and alarming scepticisms will vanish1 and the full round tone of fearless confidence return4 ,such a return is the need of the present hour--spiritual certainty in an age of materialism1 the one sure antidote for all its cares4 ,thus only can come that revival of religion for which we have sighed and looked so long4 ,be assured that there can be no such work of grace as this unless the message of the pulpit be with definiteness and confidence4 ,here would the answer to many a question1 the solution of many a problem be found4 ,hearers would be conscious of a new tone in the delivery of the weekly word4 ,truth would be spoken as if it were truth indeed1 and in their very consciences men would know it to be true4 ,no longer would the way of life be pointed with trembling finger4 ,once again the ambassador would stand forth in all his royal glory and cry ,thus saith the ,lord1 and now ,sinai's thunders1 now ,calvary's gales of grace1 would give majesty and tenderness to his voice6 ,such is the way back to certainty1 if certainty in any of us have been lost for a little while4 ,yet1 even as we name it1 there comes again to our ears the old enquiry so often heard as an explanation of durance in ,doubting ,castle3--,how does all this accord with the advice constantly given to men to seek to win each a creed for himself8 ,is it not a man's duty to make his inherited beliefs and the things which are told him the subjects of his individual inquiry and of his own personal judgment and proof8 ,yes2 all this is true but other things are true as well4 ,the first of them is surely this3--,that a man should have won this creed for himself before he set out to provide a creed for other people4 ,once more1 preaching is not a public inquiry after truth but a declaration of it4 ,the man who has not got beyond the stage of inquiry has no right to be in the pulpit at all4 ,some preachers are always making confessions as to their difficulties4 ,it ought to be seen that the people do not come to hear of the preacher's difficulties1 but to be helped in their own4 ,another thing that is true is this3--,that it is surely not the best way of winning a creed to begin by doubting the truth of everything in order to get at the truth of something1 as many seem to do4 ,surely it is not the best way of winning a belief of one's own to conduct an inquiry with the object of finding how much is false of the things we have been taught4 ,why not begin with the purpose of finding out how much is true8 ,why not seek for confirmations as well as for contradictions8 ,it is surely something to the credit of the things instilled into us as children that unnumbered generations of great and holy and thoughtful men have found in them their spiritual sustenance and salvation4 ,it might have a helpful effect to ask why it should be left to you or me1 so late in time as the beginning of the twentieth century1 to make the discovery that the faith which has inspired saints1 apostles1 prophets1 martyrs1 which has saved its millions1 satisfying the deepest longings of the heart and the highest demands of the intellect2 the faith which has inspired the purity1 the benevolence1 the courage and endurance of a long1 long past--is only in a very limited and partial degree the truth of ,god4 ,a due appreciation of the significance of history ought1 it might seem1 to be enough to make it appear1 even to the youngest and most daring of us1 an impossible thing that teaching which has produced such triumphs can be false4 ,then as to this search for a creed for himself which1 we are reminded1 it is every man's duty to make3--,it also remains to be said that for success in this pursuit1 as for success in some other pursuits1 an observance of spiritual laws is needful4 ,a man should seek for his creed as prayerfully as he seeks for any help of which he ever finds himself in need4 ,the path of prayer is the path of light and of truth4 ,the mistake often made is this1 that we try to find this creed without seeking the help of ,god4 ,i will be inquired of saith the ,lord4 ,one more question3--,is the possession of this certainty consistent with progress8 ,are we not told to expect new light as years pass on8 ,has not every preacher the right to look upon himself as the possible organ of new revelations to his fellows8 ,even so2 but light will not contradict light4 ,as the glimmer of the dawn grows into the brilliance of the day1 the rays of the sun1 falling ever more brightly upon the landscape1 bring more clearly into view the features which at first were dim and dreamlike4 ,as the glory creeps over vale and hill1 touching here a winding river1 there a patch of vivid green1 yonder a window of some distant dwelling1 new points of beauty and interest are continually being revealed2 but the scene1 though better discerned1 is still the same as first burst upon our view at the moment when the sun leaped into the firmament from behind yon eastern hill4 ,further revelations we may indeed look for1 but they will only be new chapters of the old1 old story1 and continuations at that4 ,they are for confirmation1 not disturbance4 ,god cannot contradict ,himself4 ,no one was more sure of the law-givers than the prophets2 no one more in accord with the prophets than the apostles4 ,our ,lord came not to destroy but to fulfil4 ,so then certainty is consistent with progress2 with an attitude of receptivity toward new light4 ,a firm belief in what the ,lord told us yesterday is harmonious with an eagerness to hear what ,he may have to add to-day4 ,it is indeed to be regarded as proof of our faith in yesterday's communication that we hearken for to-day's word4 ,certainty is possible to the preacher1 and certainty he must have6 ,yes1 certainty he must have2 for the people ask for it1 and have a right to demand it from those who stand up in ,god's name to teach them ,his way4 ,we have read of blind guides1 blind leaders of the blind4 ,such a leadership is that of the preacher who has no sure word to speak4 ,for his own soul's sake the ambassador must have certainty1 for what life can be more wretched than the life of a man set up to proclaim a message doubted of his own spirit4 ,for ,god's sake2 for the sake of the ,gospel to be uttered2 for the sake of the high purpose of that ,gospel he must be sure4 ,without certainty there can be no truly effective and successful preaching6 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,individuality4 ,another essential quality of the effective and successful messenger of ,christ is individuality4 ,the preaching of the truth is1 after all1 man's work for the sake of man1 and the man is needful to the completeness of the definition4 ,it has ever been ,god's way to work ,his will and reveal ,himself to mankind through members of their own race4 ,he does not speak to the nations in a supernatural voice rolling over the land4 ,he does not write ,his word across the arch of the sky in any way plainer than in that language of which the stars are syllables4 ,it is true that everywhere the inscription of ,his power and ,godhead may be seen2 but neither in nature1 nor in history1 nor in human instincts does ,he declare ,himself on the deeper needs of the soul4 ,his way is to use men whom ,he calls1 trains and equips4 ,even ,jesus1 ,himself1 came in fashion as a man1 that ,he might speak with the speech of a man to the generations for whom ,he was to die4 ,one meaning of this must surely be that true preaching derives power from the man himself as well as from the truth expressed4 ,in ,his infinite resourcefulness the ,creator has made all men different4 ,wonderful it is1 but true1 there are no two men who are1 in all things1 each a duplicate of the other4 ,physically1 mentally1 morally1 spiritually1 every man is another man4 ,we speak of the average man2 really there is no such being4 ,no average can be struck which takes account of all that every man is and includes every quality and peculiarity of body1 mind and spirit4 ,each birth is a new creation4 ,here comes one into the world to occupy a new point of view4 ,he will see things with other eyes2 he will hear them with other ears4 ,he will relate them in his own way1 if only he be permitted to do so4 ,should he become a preacher1 the message will be new in his newness4 ,it will gather something for its commendation to the few or to the many1 in that this man looks upon it from his own standpoint and expresses it in his own tongue4 ,it is sometimes complained that in these days the pulpit is in danger of losing that which the individuality of the preacher should bring into it1 for the reason that such individuality is being improved out of existence4 ,there are few personalities that count nowadays1 we are told4 ,time was when there were more4 ,names occur to all of us1 each of which stands in our mind for someone who1 as we put it1 was a man of himself4 ,all ,churches have had such men2 our own was rich in them4 ,to-day1 they tell us1 we are all in real danger of becoming decorously1 decently1 conventionally alike4 ,we have conceived a typical preacher and we try to approximate to our conception2 a typical sermon1 and we try to preach it4 ,he is a typical curate1 a typical ,presbyterian minister1 a typical ,baptist pastor1 a typical ,methodist travelling preacher2 he is a typical local--how often we hear these expressions6 ,it may be well to give to this complaint at least so much consideration as to ask whether it is true4 ,at once we may say1 if it is the truth1 it is not the whole truth1 neither is it nothing but the truth4 ,there are still among us1 thank ,god6 preachers who bring the aroma of individuality into their ministrations1 and are a brand of themselves4 ,some turn of speech1 some tone of voice1 some distinctive way of putting a thing1 some mysterious1 but unmistakable1 difference of flavour they have managed to preserve1 and how grateful we are when we hear or see or taste or feel it4 ,it is like the discovery of a new flower in the woodland1 of a new star in the constellation6 ,it's no a'thegither what he says2 it's the way on't1 said the old ,scots woman in eulogy of her minister4 ,we could mention little traits1 which1 small as they are1 have been on the human side the success of ministries familiar to us all4 ,there was a message and there was a man4 ,but while the complaint is not all true1 it is not for us to say that it is made without reason4 ,it is possible that what many a preacher needs1 before the success he desires can be his1 is to recover nothing more1 nor less1 than his own lost self4 ,it may be that some of us present a ministry true to type1 but false to our own personality4 ,the fact is that willingly or unwillingly1 consciously or unconsciously1 everybody 7and everything7 seems to-day to be combined in a huge conspiracy to crush out the individuality of the individual4 ,this is seen in every department of life4 ,it is the inevitable result of all highly developed civilisation4 ,before society is formed the individual is everything and one of himself4 ,after society is formed he is one among many2 sometimes even rather less than one4 ,in the police-force men are known by numbers4 ,in the world of industry they are described as hands4 ,civilisation brings infinite advantages1 and life would be impossible without it2 but we have to pay the price thereof1 and it is part of it that the individuality of its subjects must be subordinate to the communal interest4 ,it will be well if1 in surrendering ourselves so far as is necessary for the public good1 we do not go beyond this requirement to a degree of sacrifice which involves the loss of our own individuality4 ,from this danger the preacher has hard work to accomplish his deliverance4 ,it is not only the peril of social life2 it exists in the ,church1 and the more highly organised the ,church the greater the danger4 ,referring again to our own denomination1 there was a time1 not so very far behind us1 when the preacher was largely left to work out his own development4 ,as a result1 individuality had in those days every chance to assert itself4 ,the tree grew much as it would1 for there was no one to lop off a branch here1 to bend one there1 or to graft upon this stem a shoot from some other variety4 ,of course the growth was often very peculiar2 luxuriant on the sunward side1 starved on the northern aspect1 disproportionate1 maybe1 though often on those curious branches fruit was abundant for those who sought4 ,probably we would train those oaks1 and cedars1 and apple-trees in the midst of the wood to more conventional shapes if we had them to-day4 ,hugh ,bourne might have to overcome that habit of putting his hand before his face as he talked1 and he would certainly have to use language much less lurid than he occasionally employed4 ,william ,clowes might have to abandon his practice of repeating a sentence over and over again in animated crescendo4 ,henry ,higginson might be instructed not to lapse into impromptu rhyme in his ,camp ,meeting addresses4 ,joseph ,spoor might be informed that if he wanted gymnastic exercises he must take them in private1 and never by way of standing with one foot on the pulpit seat and the other on the book-board the while he illustrated1 by means of a roll of bills1 his conception of the trumpet call to the ,last ,judgment4 ,these men and a host of others we might put into a correcter shape to-day4 ,now it is not contended that gifts are not to be trained1 or that it is undesirable to teach and practise a certain self-restraint4 ,no doubt buffoonery has often masqueraded as originality2 and the great results which have undoubtedly attended ministries in which extremely bad taste and irreverence have been prominent have not been in consequence of these things1 but in spite of them1 and by the power of a passion for souls underlying them all4 ,other times1 other manners1 is a proverb we must not forget4 ,that there are risks in courses of study imposed without distinction upon one and all alike cannot be denied1 but abundant and convincing reasons support their adoption notwithstanding the risks4 ,it is an old objection to ministerial colleges that they spoil able men and are unable to do much for feeble ones4 ,we hear1 often1 that such and such a man is not half the man he was when he left home to keep his terms4 ,there may be truth in it all2 but it is equally true that a polished instrument is better than a blunt one2 that in the hands of a wise man every atom of knowledge means more than an atom of power4 ,moreover1 it can never be proved that a man who comes from college to fail1 would not have failed1 even more terribly1 without the training he there received4 ,again1 it can be proved that out of our colleges have come men whose ministries have been of incalculable blessing to the ,church4 ,in the end1 after all1 the preservation of a man's individuality rests with himself4 ,the fact is that often we lack the necessary courage to be ourselves1 and as a result1 we give in too soon and too readily1 to what appear to us to be demands to sacrifice our soleness that1 thereby1 we may become something higher and better than we are4 ,in this way men degenerate into imitators and echoes4 ,such a man is a power and has such a manner4 ,he moves us deeply1 shows us heights we have never seen and reveals to us visions of which we have not dreamed4 ,we are not content to appropriate his donation of truth and rest satisfied with the intellectual and moral stimulus he bestows4 ,god did not make two of him1 but we think there ought to be another1 and we try to be he4 ,the attempt is always a failure4 ,the worst of it is that in our effort to be another we have ceased to be ourselves1 and after such a loss what do we still possess8 ,perhaps the disaster comes in another way4 ,conventionality has certain curious notions about the pulpit1 the fulfilment of which it paradoxically despises as it demands it4 ,the preacher is expected to speak in a different voice and wear a different expression in the sacred desk from his voice and expression in other places4 ,in some churches he is expected to read the ,bible in a strange1 archaic sort of way1 pronouncing the words which appear upon its pages with a pronunciation never employed under any other circumstances4 ,the newspaper is read1 the psalms are intoned4 ,it is a crime to be natural4 ,all the time men are sick of the whole fabric of artificiality1 and long for that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin4 ,another way of losing individuality is to allow oneself to be drowned in officialism1 buried beneath its trappings1 interred in its dignities4 ,many a man spends his life in a futile attempt to live up to some official tradition1 even as he might pass his time in a family picture gallery cultivating the expression of some ancestral portrait on the wall4 ,there is also to be remembered the possibility of a slavery to books4 ,there is such a thing as the spell exercised by a great author through the printed page4 ,we heard the other day of a contemporary literary man who is understood to pose as a second edition of ,william ,shakespeare on the strength of some asserted resemblance to a bust of the poet4 ,certainly it cannot be on the strength of any intellectual inheritance4 ,we could name men who have preached in a thousand times more pulpits than they have ever seen through the lips of others whom they have subdued to bondage by some famous volume4 ,we could name the books if we cared to do so4 ,perhaps we could recall periods in our own life when such a spell cast its glamour over us4 ,to resist all these influences successfully1 or1 rather1 to so appropriate what is good and helpful in them1 which it is our duty to do1 and still remain a full blooded1 virile individual1 will require resolution4 ,to give due meed of homage to the great1 due recognition--and there is a certain recognition due--to the conventions of our church life--to realise the office of the preacher1 to assimilate the book1 to grind and polish one's gifts--to do all this1 and yet be at the end of the doing of it our own natural1 unaffected selves1 is far from easy4 ,it can only be done as the preacher remembers two or three things which are all too often forgotten or ignored4 ,and the first of these is surely this3 ,that each and every man's individuality is a gift from ,god1 the basal talent on which the rest are built4 ,it was of the wisdom of ,god that you were born you and ,i was born ,i4 ,here is the one and only possession which is our very own1 and which none other can share1 however ready we be to barter it away for something of less value4 ,do you know who ,i am8 said the nobleman1 swelling with importance1 to the boy who failed to lift his cap in the lane4 ,i am the ,marquis4 ,an' does yer honour know who ,i am8 said the lad4 ,i am ,patrick ,murphy from the cabin by the bog4 ,within that ragged jacket was an inheritance which could not be measured as could land1 or counted as could money1 or appraised as are titles and coronets1 but which was as real as any of them and more valuable than all2 an inheritance to be improved1 perhaps extended1 ennobled1 but never changed into something other than itself4 ,let us remember this4 ,with all humility1 it is capital for pulpit business that we are what we are4 ,and another thing is written in our experience for our reflection1 and it is this3--,that it was for what we were that ,god called us into this preaching work4 ,he had discernment of natural qualities in calling even us1 and counted upon them to be serviceable in ,his ,kingdom4 ,there is surely no need to deny our manhood1 or become ashamed of this being that is ,i when ,he chose it for employment in ambassadorship4 ,it was for what ,peter was as ,peter1 dashing1 impetuous1 impatient1 full of driving power and combative energy1 that ,jesus called him from the fishing of ,galilee into the ministry of the word4 ,it was for what ,john was as ,john1 intense1 clear-eyed and trustful that he1 too1 was called4 ,thomas was also called--that ,thomas who found it hard to believe but easy to love1 and whose faith1 when once achieved1 brought a whole heart's devotion to its gracious object--even he was called1 not as another1 but as himself4 ,very different from them all was ,saul of ,tarsus2 logical1 incisive1 proud with the pride of ancient lineage and of high culture1 descendant of armoured kings1 citizen of the first of cities--he1 too1 was called for he1 for himself1 was needed4 ,so through the ages--what contrasts we behold1 what differences as between a ,chrysostom and an ,augustine1 a ,calvin and a ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 a ,wesley and a ,fletcher of ,madeley2 as between ,william ,booth and ,charles ,haddon ,spurgeon1 called1 every one of them1 because he was what he was4 ,then let us remember that if ,he chooses a man for what he is1 it is because ,he knows that the work needs just this very man4 ,many tools will be called into service before the brown pebble hidden away in the blue clay beneath the ,south ,african veldt becomes the glorious star of a monarch's crown4 ,one will tear it from its age-long concealment2 another will test and prove its value2 others will grind2 others polish1 and by others will it be set in its place of pride4 ,very mysterious1 again1 are the correspondences and affinities existing between human souls4 ,it is very curious how one hearer will respond to an appeal which would never touch another4 ,there is something about him that always gets at me1 remarked a hearer1 adding1 and ,i cannot tell what it is1 or how it does it4 ,the something was individuality4 ,why it did it1 was because1 somewhere in the soul of the hearer was a chord tuned to some string in the preacher's nature4 ,such ships are reached by a given set of wireless apparatus as have their instruments tuned to that apparatus4 ,there is something between men reminding us of this4 ,again1 for a man's own sake it is a pity to surrender this individuality of his4 ,for in holding on to it with grim resolve lies the only possibility of full self-realisation4 ,let a man cultivate himself along the line of what he is if he would come to his best and achieve any genuine success1 any real happiness in life4 ,the world is full of men who have failed1 simply because they left untrained what they were1 to try to be what they were not and never could become4 ,nowhere is this more true than in the pulpit4 ,many an excellent ,brown1 or ,jones1 or ,robinson has been spoiled by his attempt to become a ,beecher1 a ,joseph ,parker1 an ,archdeacon ,farrar4 ,many a ,david1 less wise than he of history1 has failed against his ,philistine because he discarded the sling he knew so well how to use1 the smooth stones from the brook he knew so well how to aim1 for the panoply and ordnance made for the greater limbs of ,saul4 ,along one line1 and one line only1 was victory possible to the son of ,jesse1 and from that line he would not be diverted4 ,it was a shepherd who came from the hills as a shepherd armed4 ,it was this same shepherd with this same weapon who1 resisting temptation1 went out to the apparently unequal conflict from which he returned bringing the head of his adversary4 ,this history is surely written for preachers that1 for their own sake1 they may be encouraged to give exercise to their own spiritual genius4 ,along one path alone lies1 if not greatness1 at least usefulness for every truly called messenger of ,christ4 ,it is along the path of faithfulness to self in the development1 the polishing1 the use of his own gifts in his own way4 ,only one other word remains to be added3--,that1 as already hinted1 the pew hails always with respect the man who is brave enough to be himself4 ,let no one imagine that he can try to be someone else1 or even that1 without trying to be anyone in particular1 he can surrender himself to a conventional ideal of clericalism without discovery and loss of the esteem and reverence of men and women of sense4 ,the pew is very quick to see through disguises1 be they worn never so skilfully4 ,no voice rings true in a man's throat excepting his own4 ,the people are sick of the cleric in the pulpit2 they want the man4 ,they had rather hear you when you are planned than any one1 or anything1 you may try to be4 ,here then is the true originality by which the gospel is made new by every new preacher of it and by every new telling of its wondrous story4 ,the old truths may be repeated in almost the same old words1 but here and there will come a new tone1 a breath of new influence1 a new personal aura4 ,oh1 for the individual in the pulpit1 the preacher who is not an echo1 but comes to relate the evangel as it has been unfolded to himself6 ,oh1 for the brother who will bring us1 not a sermon only1 but a man--a man discovered1 saved1 cleansed1 polished by ,god2 improved into value and profitableness1 but still a man6 ,in these words we express one of the greatest needs of the hour1 and define a quality absolutely essential to the successful and effective preacher4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,concerning ,understanding4 ,and the preacher had understanding1 so runs the ancient word1 and understanding the preacher must have4 ,this is only another way of saying that he must know what he is talking about4 ,so much as this1 at least1 is essential in every man who comes forth to teach others4 ,and this proposition has reference to more matters than such as are theological or ,biblical4 ,it ought to go without saying that the preacher should know as much as he can possibly learn about the book in which is written the revelation he has to hand on to others4 ,it ought to be equally well understood that he obtain1 at least1 a working knowledge of the theology of the church to which he belongs and for which he speaks4 ,again1 it is1 surely1 not unreasonable to expect that he will have some acquaintance with the evidences on which rests his appeal to his fellows4 ,a preacher should certainly be as well able to defend his faith as the average man is to attack it4 ,it must be frankly recognised1 of course1 that it is impossible for every preacher to be an expert on every question of ,biblical criticism and interpretation that may arise4 ,especially is this true in a ,church drawing the great majority of its preachers from classes untrained1 in the ordinary sense of the word1 for their work4 ,still1 it is possible for every man among us to have an intelligent grasp of the subject upon which he discourses4 ,it is possible1 we say1 and it ought to be required4 ,with so elementary a proposition we do not even tarry for discussion1 excepting to say that he who will not so far give himself to study as to secure this simple furnishing should not be surprised if the people cease to ask for his services4 ,it was a wise word of ,dr4 ,adam ,clarke3--,study yourself to death1 and then pray yourself to life4 ,for the purposes of this lecture we take it for granted that every reader is already so convinced of the need just set forth that there is no need to dwell upon it4 ,we do desire1 however1 to emphasise the need of that understanding which goes beyond what is particularly known as the ,gospel4 ,there is no department of life and experience which that ,gospel does not cover1 and1 therefore1 there is no one who needs to speak of so many matters as the preacher4 ,carlyle proposed a professorship of things in general4 ,the pulpit within certain limits is such a chair6 ,it has long been the reproach of the studious class to which the preacher belongs that its members1 in their devotion to book-learning1 too often remain ignorant of life1 that they live in a world of paper and print1 of speculation and theory1 which is seldom a faithful reflection of the real world of men and women and actual affairs4 ,such a man1 in short1 is apt to live in a world of his own--a very delightful world1 it may be1 intellectual1 idealistic1 spiritual2 but not the world of every day--the world in which the vast majority of men have to spend fifty-two weeks of every year4 ,very delightful1 too1 is the type of man thus produced--charmingly learned1 sweetly innocent1 guileless1 impracticable2 walking the path of life with head in air1 with eyes unseeing and ears unhearing the things that fill the thoughts of common men4 ,holding fellowship with the immortals1 eating the bread of philosophy1 doctrinaire1 drinking the wine of poetry--how good would it be to live with such men if only there were nothing else to do in this old world of ours4 ,dreamers of dreams2 watchers of the stars2 spinners of speculative webs1 in which they love to find themselves gloriously entangled2 ,rip ,van ,winkles asleep to the actual1 so wise among books2 so deliciously foolish among men and affairs--we know the type1 and we do confess we love it6 ,but1 delightful as is this kind of scholar or preacher1 he is often far1 very far1 out of it in dealing with the needs and perils of those around him4 ,that was a significant passage in the will of the ,south ,african ,colossus in which1 in forming a trust to administer the scholarships he desired to found at the ,universities of ,oxford and ,cambridge1 he provided that a number of men of business should find places upon the board1 in addition to the men of learning already nominated1 as the latter were often unlearned in the ways of business4 ,there is a statesman in this land who has lost the headship of a great party largely because of a confession that he does not read the newspapers and is a child in these matters4 ,even political parties require something more in their chiefs than an appreciation of the subtleties of philosophic doubt4 ,of course there is a place in the scheme of things for this type of man2 there is no doubt a use for him in certain fields of thought1 and it is our good fortune that plants amongst us men who are with us1 but not of us1 for to our ultimate advantage may be their sublime detachment of mind4 ,it is here simply pointed out that their place is not in the pulpit of a busy1 perplexed and burdened age4 ,their use does not lie in inspiring men to deal with urgent practical issues4 ,true enough1 the truth they discern may be of the highest value in the matter of leading men out to the light of day2 but it will be found that the lamp will generally have to be kindled and carried by other hands than his who found the wells of illuminating oil4 ,it needs genius to make discoveries and often quite other genius to apply them4 ,he is a preacher to preachers1 was said of one1 and said truly1 as many hearers could testify4 ,but this preacher to preachers1 as a preacher to the people1 failed6 ,and the misfortune is that often1 alas6 it comes to pass that just such men as these do make the attempt to guide men through a world of which they1 the preachers1 know nothing4 ,to change the figure1 they make the attempt to treat by means of remedies which they have studied a little1 patients whom they have not studied at all1 and of whose condition1 habits1 history and surroundings they know next to nothing4 ,there is much of this kind of doctoring and what is the result of it8 ,what but the oft-repeated criticism that the sermon had small practical application to the every-day side of things8 ,it answered no present questions1 though it did1 perhaps1 throw light upon some period of ,jewish history4 ,it solved no present problems1 though it did contain an interesting exegesis of a much discussed passage4 ,it dealt with no present difficulties1 though it did suggest an entertaining theory as to the authorship of such and such a psalm4 ,it opened out no heart before its own vision4 ,it neither created nor deepened nor satisfied a single desire4 ,it might as well have been a disquisition on the fate of the lost ten tribes of ,israel1 or a treatise on the properties of the differential calculus1 or a discussion of the politics of the planet ,mars for any application it had to the need of any one person1 young or old1 in the congregation sitting there and providing that example of patience which was the most edifying feature of the occasion4 ,it was eloquent1 learned1 poetic1 profound1 but it was not life4 ,it is because there is so much of this kind of preaching that it has come to be said that the pulpit is out of touch with the needs of men2 that it is too otherworldly1 and that it displays a knowledge of everything but the necessities it pretends to meet4 ,the criticism may be exaggerated and unjust1 but the contention it is meant to enforce is true4 ,preaching must be life4 ,preaching can only be life when the preacher has understanding6 ,understanding of what8 ,of the human creature to be preached to and by preaching saved1 ennobled and led up1 through almost infinite opposition1 to a glorious destiny4 ,that human creature must be studied at first hand4 ,it is not enough to know the heart of man according to theological classification and description4 ,consciously or unconsciously1 the effective preacher will be first a practical psychologist and afterwards a theologian4 ,if he cannot be greatly both he had better be a psychologist with small knowledge of theology than a theologian with small knowledge of psychology4 ,he has not to speak to abstractions2 not to speak to sinners merely1 nor to saints as he knows them through descriptions whereof the subjects were simply types1 but he has to preach to men and women1 men and women who all have their individual and peculiar tastes1 tendencies1 likes and dislikes1 desires and passions2 men and women looking at things in ways of their own1 influenced by such and such prejudices1 such and such hopes and fears4 ,every one has his own disposition1 his own history1 which began long e'er he came upon the earth in far-off ancestors1 who bequeathed to him the inheritance of themselves to be a blessing or a curse1 or1 what is more frequent1 both a blessing and a curse1 as circumstances and free-will may decide4 ,here are racial instincts1 tribal qualities1 individual idiosyncrasies1 and all to be studied with care and perseverance4 ,the preacher may preach to five hundred people to-night1 and he has so to preach as to bless them all4 ,the first study of the messenger1 then1 must be the study of men4 ,he must specialise in human nature1 and his understanding must go down into its very depths4 ,every addition to the volume and accuracy of his knowledge will mean addition of power and competence4 ,those writers who impress us most are those who understand us best4 ,the physician who most commands our confidence and1 as a consequence1 does us most good is he whose description of our symptoms most nearly corresponds with our own experience1 who1 we reason1 obviously knows our case4 ,putting his finger upon the painful spot1 the aching limb1 he says3 ,thou ailest here and here1 and we feel the cure begun1 for the diagnosis is nine-tenths of the treatment4 ,similarly when the man in the pew feels that the man in the pulpit understands him--and he soon makes the discovery--he listens for what has yet to come4 ,how often the true preacher hears the remark3--,sir1 your sermon was about me and to me6 ,that is a certificate of efficiency which may well make a preacher glad4 ,to attain to this understanding men must be studied in all the ways we can devise--individually and in the mass1 for1 strangely enough1 men in the mass often look at things very differently from the manner in which the individuals1 of whom the mass may be composed1 would look at them when alone4 ,in books1 too1 man must be studied1 but more especially face to face1 in constant1 earnest observation4 ,the preacher must get out and about4 ,a recluse he cannot afford to be4 ,pale-faced piety cultivated in the cloister may be admirably adapted for ,sunday exhibition1 but is apt to prove rather ineffective when brought into active service in week-day tasks4 ,wisdom waits to be gathered in every place where men do congregate4 ,earnestly must the preacher listen in those moments--and they come to all true teachers of the things of life--when some fellow-mortal1 compelled by very need1 opens to him the secret chambers of his soul4 ,great1 also1 is the knowledge the preacher may win from self-dissection4 ,let him analyse his own heart unsparingly1 his own motives and desires4 ,his doubts and fears1 his aspirations and longings are for his teaching that he may be able the more wisely to deal with those of other men4 ,commune with thine own heart and be still4 ,there is one man whom every preacher needs more frequently to meet1 and whose acquaintance he needs to cultivate to a point of greater intimacy1 and that one man is himself4 ,know him1 and so know his race1 for he is kindred1 bone of bone and flesh of flesh1 with all who live4 ,he who would explain a man to himself must first have explored the dark continent of his own soul6 ,and the preacher's knowledge of men must include as large a measure of information as can be acquired concerning the conditions under which their lives are spent1 and which so greatly influence a man's character1 and account1 so largely1 for what he is and does4 ,the preacher has to be ,greatheart to his hearers in relation to the temptations they are called upon to fight1 and often our temptations1 when not the immediate product of our own hearts1 grow out of the circumstances under which our lives are lived4 ,if1 again1 the temptation be not the direct result of these circumstances1 it is often aided by them in the undoing of the soul4 ,the poverty and wretchedness2 the low bodily state of the slum dweller1 have1 at least1 as much to do with making him the sot he often is as his intemperance has in bringing him to indigence and misery4 ,criminality1 we are beginning to see1 may be partly a vice1 partly the result of bad economic and social laws1 and partly a disease inherited with life itself4 ,the same may be said of many forms of sin which do not1 perhaps1 come within the scope of the law courts of the land4 ,not that any conditions1 or any personal history1 abrogate responsibility in the evil-doer4 ,the final consent lies ever with a man himself1 but the conditions of his life may explain how many things came to be1 and a knowledge of them may point the way to help4 ,the physician of to-day not only feels the pulse and uses the stethoscope2 he asks questions as to drainage and ventilation1 as to supplies of water and of light4 ,let us remember1 then1 that the preacher needs to be in a very considerable and general degree acquainted with the life of the world around him4 ,he should know something about business2 something about industry2 something of the every-day round of those sitting before him in free seat and cushioned pew4 ,ignorance of the world is worse than ignorance of letters1 or sciences1 or arts4 ,a preacher ought1 if possible1 to know something of ancient oriental manners and customs and languages2 but it is infinitely more important that he know something of the actualities of his own time4 ,history tells us of the great ,french lady who1 hearing the people clamour for bread1 remarked that surely they need not make so great a noise about bread4 ,was there not beef to eat8 ,how interesting are those articles1 with which our newspapers are sometimes enlivened1 wherein duchesses take in hand to teach the wives of working men how to keep house on thirty shillings a week4 ,we have seen ,a ,guide to ,cookery written by a countess for the use of families of moderate means1 and the book was very well worth buying if only for the sake of a little mild amusement when the spirit is in danger of growing too serious for mental health4 ,a great chapter in humorous literature is that in which ,mark ,twain places on record how for a few brief but exciting days he edited an agricultural paper while the editor was1 perforce1 absent from his chair4 ,good1 it is to read the answers he returned to rural inquirers who wished for counsel in relation to the difficulties of farm or garden4 ,this kind of thing in a newspaper is ridiculous2 in a cookery book or an article on domestic economy it is amusing2 but in the pulpit it is disastrous4 ,thus it comes to pass that while the preacher must not neglect his study1 he must just as certainly not fail to learn the lessons of the home and of the street4 ,he must talk often with his fellow-men4 ,he must drive conversation with the workman of the city and with the master for whom he works4 ,he must hold intercourse with the man of business as well as with the brother minister with whom it is so pleasant to chat on topics of mutual interest4 ,he must cultivate the friendship of the ploughman as he homeward wends his weary way4 ,he must even condescend to little children4 ,men can only learn from him as he first learns from them4 ,of course all this may mean some little sacrifice1 some self-denial4 ,the tastes of the preacher may lie in other directions4 ,they are such pleasant company--those writers who speak to us from pages waiting to open at our touch4 ,it may seem such a waste of good opportunity to leave the philosopher in half-calf for the society of the workman in fustian4 ,it may mean some coming down from one's stilts1 too1 some forgetting of what is called one's position4 ,it may involve1 to put it in a word1 the living of a human life among human beings2 still1 the results will be worth the winning4 ,again1 an understanding of the material conditions under which life is lived1 greatly helpful to the preacher as it is1 is not all that is needed4 ,the messenger must know in what direction runs the thought of his age4 ,the learned and able authorities dwelling within the covers of the precious volumes upon his library shelves form an interesting and inspiring society in which it is pleasant to spend his hours4 ,the religious people with whom the preacher mostly consorts form a more1 or less1 agreeable circle in which it may be pleasant to pass such time as he can spare for social enjoyment4 ,but the world has many men and many minds4 ,continually the ferment of intellect goes on4 ,thoughts ripen into tendencies with wonderful rapidity4 ,it is recorded of a great emperor that he was wont to disguise himself and wander at large among his people1 listening to the talk of common men4 ,as a result he knew1 even before his counsellors1 how set the wind4 ,hence he was beforehand in his government4 ,there is no rebellion that is not first a conspiracy1 and no conspiracy that is not first a smouldering1 and then a blazing1 discontent4 ,the preacher must hearken beneath the eaves for his people's sake4 ,he must stand sentinel upon the tower4 ,he must be a watchman in the night4 ,he must put his ear to the earth that he may detect the far-off tramp of approaching foes4 ,what is being said in a whisper to-day will be cried from every high place to-morrow1 and he who listens to the whisper may be found ready to answer or explain the cry--perhaps1 even1 to prevent it4 ,as those who watch for your souls1 so writes the ,apostle4 ,as those who watch4 ,behold the shepherd1 as he tends the flock1 sleeplessly gazing for the approach of lion1 or wolf1 or bear1 or prowling ,bedouin of the desert4 ,so must the preacher sweep the horizon by day2 so listen to the speaking silences of the night4 ,then to all this the messenger must add an intimate knowledge of the ,church1 of her condition and of her needs4 ,to know her history is well4 ,it is knowledge from which the ,christian worker of every name may derive many warnings4 ,it will be found to contain many lessons profitable for consolation and for inspiration4 ,it will suggest many an useful explanation of phenomena in the church life of to-day4 ,but the preacher must study the ,church as she is in this very hour4 ,how beat her pulses now8 ,how run the currents of her life in the days that are8 ,does her faith wax1 or wane8 ,does her love grow colder or warmer with the passing years8 ,is it well with her1 or is it ill8 ,in regard to all these things our friend will have--he must have if he seek to feed the flock of ,god with food convenient--true understanding4 ,he will know how the work of ,god is moving in the congregations4 ,he will be able to distinguish between true1 spiritual success and that success which is noise and show alone4 ,he will discern the difference between the rosy flush that signifies health and the hectic spot of burning red that speaks only of disease and death4 ,he must look deep4 ,he must look far4 ,he must look constantly4 ,he must look deep1 because truth lies often at the bottom of a well1 and the true state of the ,church is not always according to superficial signs4 ,he must look far1 because he is surely more than a mere denominationalist2 he belongs to the ,holy ,catholic ,church1 and he must know her life in other places in order to better judge her life at home4 ,he must look constantly1 for if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up4 ,for the effective delivery and application of his message1 then1 we insist that the preacher needs to be in touch with every aspect of the lives of those who come beneath the influence of his preaching4 ,he must know them2 the conditions under which they live2 the thoughts upon which they feed from day to day4 ,oh1 if only we knew more about the people1 how much more could we help and bless them6 ,there they sit before us as we speak4 ,if only we could look down into their hearts2 if only we could hear the questions asking themselves in their minds1 the doubts and fears1 the sad perplexities which1 even within sound of our voices1 darken our counsel and come between the soul and ,god6 ,if only we knew the struggle maintained1 the heavy burden borne1 from year to year by yonder man anxiously listening to our words6 ,silently he comes and goes between his home and this house of prayer4 ,he neither pines nor whines2 he does not rise to put the question which needs an answer before his heart can be at peace4 ,if we only knew--but oh6 our knowledge is so small at the best4 ,the more reason then why we should seek to make increase therein1 that from the worst results of ignorance in their teachers the people may be saved6 ,lest some may think that1 in emphasising the importance of that understanding which is not altogether gained from books we have under-valued the work of the study1 let us1 in closing our chapter1 describe what seems to us to be the highest type of training for the work of the pulpit4 ,it is the training in which the student gives to every means of furnishing its due and proportionate place2 in which he turns to books and to life for the wisdom he seeks4 ,we have spoken of the impracticable scholar1 but not all men of learning have been of this order4 ,among the most practical of preachers2 among those who have displayed the greatest knowledge of the human heart and of the times1 their conditions and their problems1 have been many renowned for breadth and depth of scholarship4 ,these men were mightier1 and not weaker1 for their learning4 ,they were able to apply the best of everything to the uses and necessities of the hour4 ,they brought out of their storehouse1 to quote a well-worn phrase things new and old4 ,so let a man be diligent at his books and diligent1 everywhere1 in using his eyes and ears1 and so let him go round the walls of the city and let him tell the towers thereof4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,passion4 ,there is a page in ,tyerman's monumental ,life of ,george ,whitefield1 which illustrates1 as few pages do1 the quality of that essential of true and effective preaching in regard of which we are now to speak4 ,it is that page in which are described the last hours of the great evangelist4 ,on ,saturday morning1 ,september #bith1 #aggj1 being exceedingly weak and ill1 but bent upon the continuance of his preaching work1 ,whitefield set out from ,portsmouth 7,u4,s4,a47 to ride to ,boston4 ,fifteen miles from ,portsmouth1 at ,exeter1 he was stopped and persuaded to preach4 ,a friend said to him1 ,sir1 you are more fit to go to bed than to preach4 ,true1 sir1 replied ,whitefield1 and then1 clasping his hands and looking up to heaven1 he added1 ,lord ,jesus1 ,i am weary in ,thy work but not of it4 ,if ,i have not yet finished my course1 let me go and speak for ,thee once more in the fields1 seal ,thy truth1 and come home and die4 ,at the commencement of his discourse he was unable for some time to speak1 but recovering himself he preached for two hours4 ,at ,exeter1 to pursue the story1 the ,rev4 ,jonathan ,parsons1 who1 for twenty-four years1 had been ,presbyterian minister at ,newbury ,port1 met the preacher4 ,the two friends dined together at ,captain ,oilman's1 and then started for ,newbury ,port1 a few miles further on4 ,on arrival there1 says the biographer1 ,whitefield was so exhausted that he was unable to leave the boat without assistance1 but in the course of the evening he recovered his spirits4 ,let us give the rest of the story in the words of ,mr4 ,tyerman3--,while ,whitefield partook of an early supper1 the people assembled at the front of the parsonage1 and even crowded into its hall1 impatient to hear a few words from the man they so greatly loved4 ',i am tired1' said ,whitefield1 'and must go to bed4' ,he took a candle and was hastening to his chamber4 ,the sight of the people moved him2 and1 pausing on the staircase1 he began to speak to them4 ,he had preached his last sermon1 this was to be his last exhortation4 ,there he stood1 the crowd in the hall gazing up at him with tearful eyes1 as ,elisha at the ascending prophet4 ,his voice flowed on until the candle which he held in his hand burned away and went out in its socket6 ,the next morning he was not1 for ,god had taken him4 ,now1 surely1 here is a picture worth the painting1 if only one could catch the true spiritual significance and lesson of it all4 ,imagine the scene3 the listening multitude crowded into the spacious entrance hall2 the preacher1 wearied and worn by disease1 and still more by his restless and sublime labours in preaching the word in field and temple for many a wondrous year4 ,the candle flickers and fails as the glorious voice1 which has made heavenly music for tens of thousands of seeking souls1 becomes weaker and weaker4 ,the feeble flame1 at last goes out1 and leaves the preacher still pleading the cause of the ,lord1 whose face he is so soon to behold4 ,history has no nobler scene to show in all its gathered years6 ,we have appropriated this story because it appears to us to hold an explanation of the meaning of the word at the head of this chapter4 ,possibly there has never been1 in all the years of the ,church1 a greater preacher than this same ,whitefield1 and ,whitefield's greatness has1 to a large extent1 its explanation in this1 the last scene of his ministry4 ,how many he led to ,god eternity alone can reveal4 ,his spiritual descendants are numbered by multitudes as the sand on the sea-shore1 the stars in the firmament1 for number4 ,when he died millions in both the old world and the new wept the going of one who to them had been the prophet of a great deliverance4 ,to this day the little ,new ,england village where he sleeps is the object of pious pilgrimage to numbers to whom the echo of his voice still comes across the breadth of intervening years4 ,the secret is largely hidden in this last scene of all4 ,in this mighty passion to preach the word1 a passion which neither persecution nor betrayal nor disappointment nor disease nor even the icy breath of approaching death could cool--in this lies the explanation of a ministry that shook the world6 ,and without this passion even ,whitefield's gifts of oratory would have left no record for our reading1 for it is absolutely essential to effective preaching2 absolutely essential to success4 ,without it the choicest gifts1 the profoundest learning will achieve but little4 ,with it1 even humble qualifications and limited scholastic equipment will accomplish--have often accomplished--great things for ,god and the lives of men4 ,and this passion for preaching will be a passion for preaching for its own sake4 ,to the true preacher preaching1 and everything connected with preaching1 will be things in which his soul delights4 ,he will glory in sermon making and sermon preaching more than in any of his life's other activities4 ,it is not implied that he will always approach his task without fear1 or even without shrinking1 or1 at times1 a passing desire to shun the duty devolving upon him4 ,there may be hours when1 as he truly realises the purpose of his work1 a sense of his responsibility will so surge through his spirit as almost to unman him4 ,other times1 again1 may come1 when even nerves may get the better of him1 for every preacher worth the name has nerves1 and should thank ,god for them4 ,there may be days in which1 seeing as in a vision something of the mighty issues dependent upon his faithfulness1 he will tremble lest he be1 indeed1 one of those fools who rush in where angels fear to tread4 ,all these experiences may be--most likely will be--his1 and yet he will find in the exercise of his art1 both in preparation and performance such a pleasure1 and such a sense of mental exaltation1 as nothing else can bring4 ,a born artist loves to paint for painting's sake2 to such an one there is something almost sacramental in the very mixing of the colours4 ,the true sculptor hears music in the tapping of the mallet upon the chisel as he shapes the marble into grace and beauty4 ,there is no drudgery in the calling that is yours by ordination of nature1 by right of true heartfelt affection4 ,the kind of preacher we mean would rather talk about preaching than about any other subject1 providing he meet with one like-minded with himself4 ,he is happy to the glowing point when he can discuss with some sharer of the call the latest homiletic creation of his mind or of the mind of his friend4 ,when his creation comes to the stage of delivery he is conscious of that perfect pleasantness which is always felt by a man when engaged in the labour which1 of all others1 he loves best to perform4 ,i'd rather preach than be ,king of ,england1 he will tell you sometimes2 and though1 on occasion1 he may have his hard times1 a form of discipline sent upon him for his soul's good1 he will generally be found within a single circling of the ,sun as eager as ever to return to the place of his humiliation4 ,many a preacher who has felt1 on ,sunday evening1 that the only thing left for him to do was immediately to send in his resignation to the proper quarter1 has1 before ,monday evening1 known what it was to hunger again for the ,sabbath's sweet return4 ,a strange thing is this preaching madness when it possesses a man1 as it often will1 body1 soul and spirit2 which no place can satisfy save the preacher's place1 no task save the preacher's task1 no honour save the honour of telling men about ,jesus ,christ4 ,without it there can be no grand success4 ,he who is not thus possessed should decline to be drawn for this duty4 ,of such as he there are more than enough already in the pulpit--in it1 but not at home in it1 not glad1 gloriously glad1 to be there--slaving to make a sermon because in three days ,sunday will be here2 taking with them at service time this so-called sermon1 strong with the smell of books and of midnight oil2 speaking it in pain of utterance1 and delighted when the ordeal is over1 with a delight most certainly shared by many who neither came to scoff nor remained to pray4 ,heaven help the man whom fate in the shape of foolish friends1 or parents1 or mistaken church-officials has sentenced to hard labour in the pulpit2 who is condemned to preach without possession of that love of preaching which makes for him in whose heart it dwells the business of declaring the ,gospel the noblest and most rapturous occupation in all the great1 wide world6 ,if preparation be invariably irksome--invariably1 we say1 for all men have their moods and no mere passing spell of depression is worth more than a little special prayer2 if preaching be always a pain and a cross--always1 we say--for ,god may cause the chariot wheels to run heavily for reasons of ,his own1 and the difficulty may not point to retreat1 but to supplication2 if preparation and preaching be invariably irksome and painful1 the fact ought to make the preacher ask whether a mistake has been made in his choice1 which ought to be rectified as soon as possible4 ,the true preacher will be in love with preaching for its own sake4 ,this love will be part of the great all-conquering passion of his life4 ,a part1 yes2 but only a part4 ,may we call it the human1 the temperamental1 dispositional part8 ,the passion we desiderate for the present-day pulpit includes something almost infinitely higher than this4 ,it must include the passion for ,christ4 ,it is the hunger to preach because ,jesus ,christ is the chief theme of preaching2 because it is in ,his honour2 because out of the fulness of the heart the mouth would speak2 because the soul's deep reverence for the ,redeemer must extol its object4 ,he is to be obeyed1 too1 in preaching4 ,it is a form of service rendered to ,him4 ,the truth is ,his truth1 the truth as it is in ,jesus1 and ,he gave the command which is honoured in its publication4 ,by this act of preaching ,he is pleased4 ,it is an evidence of the preacher's glad surrender to ,his will4 ,it moves others1 too1 to the same surrender4 ,it extends ,his kingdom2 increases the number of those who bear ,his name and sign4 ,it helps ,him to see of the travail of ,his soul and be satisfied4 ,it pushes further back the bounds of ,his empire2 widens the area of ,his sovereignty4 ,it crowns ,him with glory and honour4 ,so the preacher makes his boast in the ,lord1 and is glad4 ,thus it can be said that all true preaching is worship1 which is always the expression of awe1 reverence and love4 ,we sometimes speak of worship1 and preaching4 ,to the true preacher this distinction does not exist4 ,no act in all the service is more truly an act of adoration than is the preaching of such a man1 because it is the pouring out of his inmost heart's affection4 ,with the spirit with which he prays and sings2 with the spirit of the ,te ,deum and the ,magnificat1 will he preach2 and out of the same emotions toward ,him whom thus he serves4 ,such preaching is a bringing of the fruits of the mind and the spirit to the altar of sacrifice4 ,the whole ,doxology is in it6 ,yes1 preaching is worship4 ,we ,free ,churchmen need to emphasise this truth4 ,again and again have we heard the criticism that in our churches there is much sermon and little worship4 ,we have not only heard this criticism from the quarter whence it might be expected1 but1 also1 sometimes even from some of our own fellowship4 ,there is an answer to this complaint which proceeds from a misunderstanding of what true worship really is1 as well as from an underestimation of the true sacredness of the preacher's work4 ,it is this3--,that preaching is worship when offered in the spirit of worship1 and that neither song nor prayer becomes worship except upon the same condition4 ,further we would say that hearing is worship1 too1 when the hearer listens as in the spirit4 ,the hearer to whom song and supplication are worship1 indeed1 will also make an act of adoration of his hearing of the word which is sent unto him4 ,behind such preaching as this1 and producing the passion out of which it will proceed1 there must be high experiences of grace4 ,such passion can only proceed from a personal knowledge of ,christ and from that full surrender which such knowledge at once brings to pass4 ,love has caught the preacher in the way and led him to ,calvary1 where his heart has been set on fire4 ,he does but preach because he must1 the ,lord having done for him such mighty things4 ,as the memory of that divine arrest on the road to ,damascus abode with ,paul1 and so sustained a sense of the mercy of his ,lord that he could not help but preach the gospel1 so the recollection of the preacher will ever linger around the glad hour when the ,master met him in the path1 having come down from heaven to seek and to save even him4 ,in these remembrances has the passion of the preacher its origin and its reinforcement4 ,it is the first fruit of a melted heart4 ,the true preacher is--the word is not a pleasant one1 but it is the only form of expression that1 at the moment1 occurs--the devotee4 ,he is the slave of love to ,christ4 ,and without this whole-souled devotion--we say again--there can be no great moving and saving preaching4 ,eloquence there may be1 intellectualism1 sublimity of conception and description1 pathos--all the qualities which are needed in high public address1 but something will be lacking4 ,none can speak of a maiden as can her lover1 though others may describe her with a choicer diction than he4 ,none can speak of a child as can his mother1 to whom the little life is more precious than her own and every childish way of significance and beauty4 ,lovest thou ,me8 said the ,lord to ,simon ,peter on that grey morning on the sea-shore4 ,lovest thou ,me8 ,he asked again1 and yet again4 ,yea1 ,lord1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee1 cried the disciple1 his soul aflame with a living passion never more to be extinguished or bedimmed1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,then said the ,saviour1 ,feed ,my sheep1 ,feed ,my lambs4 ,peter's preaching hour was come now that this fire had been kindled in his soul4 ,in that confession rang the promise of all the after years1 of the ministry in ,jerusalem1 of his declaration of the ,christ in many a heathen city1 of the death he was to die in ,rome4 ,lack this flame of affection and preaching will be a task1 a penance1 a weary iteration and reiteration of things so often spoken as to render them threadbare and hackneyed to the speaker4 ,possess this all-consuming love and preaching will be as a song of the ,well-,beloved6 ,but the passion of preaching has in it another ingredient--if in this way the matter may be expressed4 ,to be effective and successful the preacher must have in his heart the passion of humanity4 ,true preaching is the supreme effort of a man burning to bless and save his fellow-men4 ,precious to him are the souls before him2 terrible to him the thought that any one of them should come short of the salvation he has been sent to proclaim1 that one life should wither and be wasted4 ,he is kindly affectioned toward them4 ,he loves1 therefore he preaches4 ,as long as there are souls to be warned and invited1 penitents to be enlightened and led into the peace of ,god1 hearts to be comforted1 powers to be taught a better way--as long1 in short1 as there are men to whom his message may bring help and hope and life he cannot hold his peace4 ,he will be all things to all men that peradventure he may save some4 ,now this is a harder thing--this passion for men1 as that man must possess it who aspires to preach the gospel with power and full accomplishment of the purposes thereof4 ,for the love he must feel must be a love not only for such as of themselves inspire it1 but for those whose life and character are hateful4 ,of what is called affinity between the man to be loved and sought and the preacher there may be none4 ,how can the ambassador of ,jesus ,christ1 who has looked upon the face of the ,son of ,man and in that look caught a conception of humanity in its fairest beauty1--how can he be in love with men and see1 as he must see1 their meanness and wrong-doing8 ,the lawyer and the preacher1 it is said1 see the seamy side of life1 and there is no need for wonder if1 as has been reported1 the lawyer often becomes a cynic4 ,the wonder is if the preacher do not become a cynic too4 ,seeing what he must see1 knowing what he must know1 how is he to preserve that longing after the souls of the very vilest which alone can sustain him in his search for them away on the mountains cold8 ,can it really be done8 ,the answer to this question is1 and must be1 ,no4 ,it cannot be done if the preacher look at man only through his own eyes and try to love him for himself alone4 ,it will be found impossible to love one man because we do not know him4 ,it will be found even more impossible--if impossibility admit of degrees of comparison--to love another because we do6 ,our hearts have neither power to conceive nor life to sustain an universal affection4 ,and yet this love of man as man must be realised before ever we can hope helpfully to lift up ,christ and goodness for his acceptance4 ,the secret thereof must come as came the message itself2 as came our call to declare it1--through another love warming our hearts into living heat4 ,the passion for humanity comes to the preacher as a result of his passion for ,christ4 ,his love for ,christ goes beyond its divine object to all who are precious to his ,lord4 ,the worst of men is1 by right of redemption1 ,christ's man1 dear to the preacher1 because bought by the blood which is more precious than silver and gold4 ,the heathen are ,his inheritance and the uttermost ends of the earth are ,his possession4 ,urged1 sustained and comforted by this reflection1 the missionary crosses stormy seas1 ready to find1 if need be1 a grave in a foreign land far from home and friends that1 so going1 he may speak to ,his ,lord's beloved concerning ,his wondrous grace4 ,here1 and here only1 is the true missionary motive1 the one missionary argument4 ,we do not seek to save the heathen because of an eschatology which would consign them to the outer darkness4 ,we cannot receive as true any conception of ,god which includes belief in a doctrine involving so terrible an injustice as that men should be eternally punished for refusing that which has never been offered for their acceptance4 ,we think1 rather1 of the ,lord as robbed of the love of hearts ,he died to win1 hearts made precious by ,his death1 and in the passion kindled by our vision of the ,master looking from ,his cross away over tossing seas to those far-off lands and including every son of savagery to the last moment of time in ,his dying petition1 ,father1 forgive them1 they know not what they do4 ,we perceive upon every soul the sign of the cross2 and this sign makes every man a brother to the ends of the earth4 ,so the preacher is lifted by his love for his ,master into a love for all for whom ,he agonised and died4 ,and this1 from the beginning of his preaching to its end1 and in relation to all the experiences into which his labours shall bring him1 must be the true preacher's way of looking at his fellow-men4 ,the social reformer has his way1 too1 the politician his1 the scientist his4 ,this is the preacher's way4 ,each and every man is sanctified to him by the sprinkling of blood4 ,so he1 also1 will bear a cross for the saving of men2 so he1 too1 will carry the sorrows and sins of humanity4 ,he will have a ,gethsemane of his own1 be led to a ,calvary waiting for him1 for every saviour of men must tread this appointed way4 ,every shepherd who is not an hireling giveth his life for the sheep4 ,one word more4 ,we have named the preacher's passion for his ,lord4 ,we have also named his passion for those upon whom his ,lord has set the mark of ,his love4 ,there is something more needed ere the flame of passion burn with its fullest intensity4 ,it is the passion of the dream--the dream that is not a dream excepting to those who have only heard of it by the hearing of the ear4 ,to the preacher it will be a vision4 ,it is the vision of which we have already spoken1 and may speak again in pages yet to come--the vision of the divine ideal at last triumphant4 ,in this vision the preacher must live4 ,to lose it is despair4 ,no one has so many disappointments as the idealist2 but it is the glorious fact that no one cares about his disappointments less4 ,not that he does not see them1 but because he sees beyond them4 ,the true preacher--he is your incorrigible optimist4 ,some men form their expectations of the future out of material supplied in tables of statistics1 ecclesiastical ,blue ,books1 censuses of church attendance1 returns and percentages4 ,not so the true preacher4 ,he has seen the ,king in ,his beauty and the land that is far off4 ,columbus like1 he steers his barque toward the new world his faith has gazed upon1 and1 as with ,columbus1 the passion of the coming victory holds him1 heart in tune and head erect1 while others mournfully prophesy the disasters always by shortsighted people seen4 ,so by the power of his passion the preacher declares his message and this passion gives power to every word thereof4 ,in that same passion is his own sustenance in all the divers contradictions that preaching may bring upon him4 ,he needs it for his own preservation4 ,often the preacher who accomplishes the most is1 more than those who accomplish less1 rewarded with ingratitude1 misjudgment1 scorn4 ,the carnal mind is at enmity against ,god1 and is not reconciled to the law of ,god1 neither1 indeed1 can be4 ,this means suffering for the preacher as it meant suffering for the ,lord4 ,what can keep him in countenance among it all8 ,love and the passion of the vision4 ,in these will he conquer ever6 ,the prodigality of the younger son had long worn out the patience of the elder brother4 ,love kept the father waiting on and vision saw the lad's return while still he was far away4 ,in this love and vision he went forth the door2 in this love and vision he returned leading the late returning child back again to home and rest and peace and purity4 ,the parable is for preachers as well as prodigals4 ,oh1 for the passion1 the far1 far sight of this old history6 ,they are our greatest need to-day6 ,passion6 ,how is it with us now8 ,have we this absolutely essential possession in our hearts1 in our preaching1 as we have had it aforetime1 as our fathers had it8 ,are we so set upon giving glory to ,christ that we long for the opportunity to come to speak ,his name in the congregation8 ,are we so given up to the enterprise of saving men that we rest not day nor night for very longing for their salvation8 ,are we so full of the sense of the triumph drawing nearer that our hearts are already rejoicing with the joy of ,harvest8 ,these are questions for us all1 and we may discover the quality of our preaching from their answers1 if only we will whisper them to ourselves with faithfulness to ,god and men and our own souls4 ,,book ,,ii ,,the ,,message3-- ,,its ,,essential ,,notes ,,theory ,,of ,,book ,,ii4 ,the ,effectiveness of the ,message arises from the ,completeness with which it ,meets the ,needs of ,men4 ,we believe that the ,measure of the ,gospel is the ,measure of ,man's ,spiritual and ,moral ,necessity1 and we plead for a ,full ,statement thereof in order that it may ,prove its ,power unto ,life4 ,what are the ,essential ,notes of the ,message8 ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,note of ,accusation4 ,in a purely heathen country the first business of the preacher must naturally be concerned with the publication of the great historical facts upon which the ,christian faith is based4 ,in such a land as ours1 where these facts are already the subject of common knowledge1 his first service to every soul to whom he is sent is to bring home the truth of that soul's condition and necessity4 ,it is not a pleasant task4 ,it is not an easy one4 ,it forms a duty from which we instinctively shrink1 but no ministry is complete in which it is neglected4 ,no ministry that is incomplete can be effective and successful4 ,now an examination of the history of preaching will reveal to us that all the great preachers have been examples of faithfulness concerning1 not only the softer1 but also the sterner portions of their message4 ,before us are the ,hebrew prophets4 ,by them was ,israel arraigned at the bar of ,god4 ,could anything be more fearful than the indictment they laid8 ,kings1 priests1 councillors and commoners--against them all was the testimony maintained4 ,art thou he that troublest ,israel8 asks a conscience-stricken monarch of the seer from ,mount ,gilead4 ,troublers of ,israel they were1 exposing1 denouncing1 declaring judgment against evil doers4 ,such was their mission4 ,troublers of ,israel1 they were sent to be4 ,after the prophets1 when1 at last1 the fulness of time began to dawn1 he appeared who was to be the great herald of the ,redeemer4 ,in those days came ,john the ,baptist preaching in the wilderness of ,judea1 and saying1 ,repent ye1 for the ,kingdom of ,heaven is at hand4 ,john1 too1 was an accuser4 ,hark1 how he addresses the ,pharisees2 how he speaks of the axe laid at the root of the tree6 ,once more did ,israel hear of her rebellion and transgression4 ,again was the veil torn from her heart1 the trappings of ceremonialism1 the rags of hypocrisy4 ,again were men made to tremble by warning of the doom about to break4 ,wonderfully effective this ministry seems to have been--,then went out to him ,jerusalem1 and all ,judea1 and all the region round about ,jordan1 and were baptized of him in ,jordan confessing their sins4 ,to the preacher came martyrdom1 and that as the direct consequence of his faithfulness4 ,it is dangerous to play the accuser at the foot of the throne1 and for this1 in the lone dungeon of ,machaerus1 the ,baptist dies1 but not until ,he whom he announced1 and of whom the law and the prophets did speak1 has lifted up ,his voice to preach to the nations and the ages4 ,to the world came ,jesus also as an accuser1 and such accusations were ,his as men had never heard--accusations founded upon an infinite knowledge of mankind1 on an infinite hatred of sin1 on a perfect vision of the end of all wrong-doing4 ,to convince and convict the world--for this first of all was ,he made flesh4 ,over the land ,his ,woe unto you rang out as the thunder of a divine sentence1 blanching the cheek and smiting the soul with shame and fear4 ,for this testimony ,he died4 ,and after ,he had ascended up on high the apostles carried on this accusing work4 ,knowing the terrors of the law they persuaded men4 ,as ,paul reasoned of righteousness1 temperance and judgment to come1 ,felix trembled4 ,to him the prisoner of that memorable day spoke as the representative of outraged deity4 ,in his voice the hardened ,consul heard the echo of his own disregarded conscience1 and was reminded of his more perfect knowledge of that way which would one day make all the deeper the blackness of his condemnation4 ,the joints of his harness were undone4 ,and so in that time of beginnings was set forth for all after years on the stage of that ,eastern land the pattern of ,gospel preaching1 and its great copyists in all subsequent generations have come forth bearing1 as their first word to men1 the message of accusation4 ,all have sinned and come short of the glory of ,god2 such has been their opening announcement4 ,sin is rebellion against ,god2 such has been their all-embracing definition4 ,the soul that sinneth it shall die2--this certain fearful looking for of judgment they have held up before mankind4 ,thou art the man6 has been the constant challenge of the ,christian ambassador4 ,it would be an interesting employment to journey back across the past and listen for this note as it fell from the lips of the great preachers of bygone ages4 ,our own ,connexional fathers1 however1 as the figures most familiar to our minds1 may remind us how faithful the pulpit used to be in the execution of this hard task4 ,some of us are old enough to remember as common1 a phrase which now we hear only occasionally and in the out of the way corners of our ,church4 ,it was the expression black sermon as descriptive of a discourse in which the sterner side of the revelation was enunciated4 ,such sermons in those days formed part of every preacher's armoury4 ,they were sermons of accusation2 sermons about sin2 sermons diagnostic of the state of the human heart4 ,in these discourses the sinner was assailed through the gateway of his fears4 ,the old preachers believed there was such a place as ,hell1 and said so1--sometimes with a great wealth of staking1 figurative language which was perhaps used less symbolically than literally4 ,they believed in a final and general judgment in which the dead1 small and great1 with such as shall be then living upon the earth1 will be called to stand before the ,great ,white ,throne to give an account of the deeds done in the body4 ,clearly did they see this coming day and clearly did they proclaim that at any time its terrors may break upon a careless and prayerless world4 ,some of them gained celebrity by the vigour and colour of their descriptions4 ,in the ,north of ,england they still speak of the sermon with which ,joseph ,spoor transported multitudes into the circumstances of that awful hour4 ,hugh ,bourne1 it is well known1 gave himself to this kind of preaching to a degree which has made his name the more to be remembered on its account4 ,his language was literal indeed6 ,to our mind1 at the moment of writing1 returns something of the emotion with which in the days of boyhood we listened to a sermon on ,the ,pale ,horse and his ,rider from a local preacher not long since passed to his reward4 ,another discourse on ,the ,swellings of ,jordan has been with us vividly1 though forty years have flown since we heard it in a tiny chapel among the ,northern hills4 ,we can remember1 too1 an expression now used no more1 but which we have often heard as part of the final appeal with which such sermons were wont to close4 ,my friends1 the preacher would say1 ,i have cleared myself this day of your blood4 ,sometimes this declaration would be followed by a challenge in which the ungodly of the congregation were called to meet the preacher1 on that day when the books shall be opened and the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed1 there and then to bear witness of his guiltlessness as to their damnation4 ,it was very terrible1 no doubt1 very harrowing1 and often as unpleasant to listen to as to utter1 but such preaching was justified by its results4 ,many a sinner trembled as his heart was opened before him4 ,many a strong man broke into cries and tears as he saw himself a rebel against divine justice and mercy4 ,many an one smote upon his breast in terror as the veil of the future was lifted1 and he saw himself standing guilty before the last tribunal1 and praying for the mountains to fall and hide him from the eyes of an angry ,god4 ,in our time1 however1 such preaching has become a tradition4 ,it might be centuries since it was a fashion in the land1 for hardly does its echo reach our ears to-day4 ,and concerning this fact there emerges a curious thing4 ,confessedly the effect of such preaching was often the offending of the hearer4 ,it has ever been so--was so1 as we have seen1 with the prophets2 the apostles2 the ,lord ,himself--and yet there is complaint when accusation and warning are withheld1 and that1 strangely1 from the very people who would probably protest the most against it4 ,it is said1 even by these very people1 that nowadays the preacher does not hurt2 that he fails to find the conscience4 ,the fact is1 there exists in the heart of man an instinctive expectation that the messenger of ,god will do these things4 ,it is one of the criticisms of to-day that sternness has died out of theology4 ,the preacher is no longer the representative of a judge2 no longer in ,god's stead the accuser of men4 ,in every age the ,church displays favouritism in her doctrinal attachments4 ,in our time it is the doctrine of the divine ,fatherhood of which the most is heard4 ,this were well if the whole truth were told2 but what manner of fatherhood is that of which we all too often hear8 ,a fatherhood of colossal good nature1 of blind1 of foolish1 indulgence2 a conception of paternal wisdom and affection against which the conscience of the thoughtful instinctively revolts4 ,the man in the street is not satisfied1 and never will be satisfied1 with a merely sentimental ,god4 ,some day1 perhaps1 it may be discovered that he is outside the churches1 not because preaching1 asking too much1 has made him afraid1 but because preaching1 asking too little1 has left him contemptuous4 ,and how has the change come to pass8 ,some say that the lack of the hour is a sense of sin4 ,this sense1 they tell us1 has been lost as a result of our theorising about the origin of moral evil4 ,there are some1 indeed1 who talk as if the tragedy of sin was not really a tragedy at all1 but actually a blessing in disguise4 ,we have been assured that the only hope for humanity lay in a moral fall which had to come to pass that the race might achieve its destiny through its experience of what is only called wrong-doing1 and of the suffering resulting from it4 ,only by this rugged and shadowed road1 so are we informed1 can we ever come to perfection and reach the golden age for which our hearts are sighing4 ,others see in sin a proof that man is struggling to be better4 ,they regard his transgression as a hopeful symptom of divine discontent4 ,many do see tragedy in it all1 but the blame lies otherwhere than with the transgressor4 ,sin grows less terrible1 but more hopeless1 as they talk about heredity1 as they transfer the responsibility from the criminal to his circumstances1 his education1 the conditions of his life or the state of society4 ,not a sentence of punishment but a vote of sympathy should crime evoke if all that is said along such lines be true4 ,but not in any one of these things1 nor in all of them put together1 lies the whole reason of our modern tenderness in dealing with sin4 ,even preaching has its fashions1 and he is a bold man who dares to disregard the prevailing mode4 ,the convention of the time may decide that it is not quite the correct thing to lay too much emphasis on the harder teaching of the ,christian belief4 ,whether unpopular with the people or not1 this teaching may be unpopular with the preachers4 ,we do not speak of these unpleasant things1 for why be singular in direful prophecy8 ,of some preachers1 to summarise1 we will say that their need is a recovery of the sense of sin2 of others that a deepened consciousness of every man's power to triumph over his inherited tendencies1 his circumstances1 his training and the temptations of his age1 must precede the return of success4 ,to others we would venture a reminder that the preacher might1 perhaps1 be all the better for a little more personal independence1 and for the realisation that he is not responsible only to men for the manner in which his work is done1 but to ,him who sent him out to preach the whole message of ,his heart4 ,the thing for the preacher to do is to learn the truth and tell it1 even though it be bitter to the hearer and bitterer to himself2 even though it make short work of social respectability and conventional religiosity1 bringing the blush of shame to the cheek and setting the pulses throbbing with the fear of the lightnings of ,god4 ,faithfulness1 then1 is essential to the completeness of the message--faithfulness as to the true condition of the soul and its position in the sight of ,god4 ,as ,samuel stood before ,saul in that fateful hour when the king1 having disobeyed the commandments of the ,lord1 had brought of the sheep and of the oxen which he should have utterly destroyed2 as the prophets1 the apostles1 the ,master alike lifted up their witness against a corrupt and stiff-necked people1 so the preacher of to-day must bear his testimony against the sins of men2 must pronounce the penalties of ungodliness4 ,a revelation of the transgression of the individual1 of the lost state of every soul out of ,christ1 are part of the ,word received from ,him who sent him4 ,this declaration must not concern the individual alone4 ,to the age1 also1 he has a message of kindred truth4 ,the pulpit is erected as a witness against the generations as they come and go4 ,it is by the preacher that ,jesus ,christ speaks to successive centuries4 ,he is the true oracle of ,god4 ,against the carelessness1 the covetousness1 the debauchery and corruption of the nations1 ,god would speak through him4 ,against the oppression of the poor1 the robbery of the widow1 the exploitation of the savage2 against the crimes of the empires1 the ,almighty1 through his lips1 would make ,his anger known4 ,he has done so often and often4 ,again and again has the preacher turned back the tides of national iniquity1 again and again prevented the wrongful purpose upon which a people had set its heart4 ,the need is with us still4 ,this warning and accusing note of sternness must be regained4 ,to tell men of their sins and that they are lost unless ,god delivers them2 to tell the age of its iniquities and that the sure end of national vice is national destruction--here is our work to-day4 ,so there needs something in the nature of a reversion to the methods of days that are no more4 ,yet a full return to the mode of our fathers is impossible4 ,let this be acknowledged frankly and fully and at once4 ,those black sermons to which we listened forty years ago can never be preached again4 ,the day has gone1 at least within the area of civilisation1 for painting flaming pictures of hell1 for realistic and horrible descriptions of the tortures of the damned4 ,that kind of thing has had its day and can be done no more4 ,preachers could not do it2 hearers would not hear it4 ,the misfortune has been that the passing of our fathers' methods has not been followed by the discovery of others in which the truth they conveyed could be expressed in forms more suitable to different times4 ,even the man outside the ,church has left behind him the literal understanding of those old figures of speech4 ,few now think of heaven as our grandsires thought of it2 few imagine hell as they imagined it4 ,yet is there still a heaven2 yet is there still a hell4 ,and1 hard as it is to write it1 it is to the preaching of hell that we must return--the hell of degradation and of loss and of sure retribution4 ,that hell is the latter state to which every path of wrong-doing leads with the inevitability of eternal law4 ,sin is hell in the making4 ,hell is sin found out1 perhaps1 alas1 too late4 ,this word is needed in our churches this very day4 ,it is needed1 it was recently suggested to us1 especially by our young people4 ,with good reason the churches are all anxious as to the young people1 so many of whom1 alas6 show a disposition to leave the temples of their fathers4 ,it cannot be said that the ,church has not done her best along certain lines to keep the coming generation at home4 ,older men and women have been heard to murmur that too much has been done for the young person's sake1 too many things sacrificed4 ,religion has been made very easy--too easy1 it is said4 ,unpleasant demands have been kept1 it is suggested1 too much in the background4 ,we all know parents who confess that their children are permitted to do things at home of which they1 the parents1 disapprove1 lest they should go elsewhere and do worse4 ,it is alleged that the same thing often happens in the ,church for the same reason4 ,ah6 you must be careful what you say lest you offend the young6 ,this is an indulgent1 a good-natured1 a compromising time4 ,behind this solicitude the best reasons lie1 but is there no danger to these young people in all this amiability8 ,is it quite impossible for a young man to be put in peril by our very anxiety to save him8 ,yes1 there is such a possibility4 ,it arises when we shrink from that plainness of speech which is1 after all1 friendship's best service4 ,is it not better to offend1 even to wound deeply1 than to speak only the smoother things1 however kindly the intent1 and1 so speaking1 fail to produce that great renunciation1 that strengthening of bands1 that strong grasp of the ,eternal which alone mean safety in future years8 ,we know that the whole question is encompassed with difficulties4 ,it is hard to write it1 but the best friends of the young are not always those preachers who are most tender concerning their feelings4 ,and not for the sake of the young only is this note of sternness needed4 ,it may be recalled that1 some time ago1 the columns of a well-known religious weekly contained a discussion as to which are morally the most perilous years of a man's life4 ,the conclusion reached therein was startling1 but bore the test of reflection4 ,we have generally assumed that the dangerous years are those of early manhood1 the years that lie between leaving school and marriage4 ,in those years the youth has probably left the ,sunday ,school behind him1 probably hangs only loosely to the ,church4 ,he feels the vigour of his young manhood stirring within him4 ,he is drinking his first draughts of the wine of life4 ,restraints are being relaxed and companionships are being formed1 while there is a sense of freedom almost intoxicating in its exhilaration4 ,these are the days that we have commonly described as the most perilous of life4 ,probably1 however1 we have been wrong in this conclusion4 ,in the discussion referred to it was contended1 perhaps established1 that the period of greatest moral and spiritual danger lies a score or more years further along the road4 ,from forty to fifty1 and nearer fifty than forty1 was maintained to be the fateful age4 ,youth has innocence1 ambition1 enthusiasm1 ideals4 ,youth has generous impulses1 has not yet been soured by disappointments1 has not yet found out the cynicism of the world1 has not become infected by the canker of covetousness4 ,it has made no enemies1 is not corrupted by success1 is not daunted by failure4 ,a score of years later some or all of these things will have happened to a man4 ,harder has become the world1 fiercer the battle in which he is engaged1 lower burn the fires of life2 enthusiasm has faded as grey hairs have come4 ,these are the perilous years4 ,there is one thing the preacher must never forget3--,that the men and women before him go in constant peril from temptation4 ,not of the avowedly non-,christian only is this true1 but of all4 ,yonder man1 known for his respectability1 his regular attendance at the sanctuary1 falters1 perhaps1 this very day on the crumbling edge of a moral precipice4 ,ever and anon some one is missed from the means of grace4 ,where is he8 ,hush6 ,tell it softly and with tears4 ,he has fallen who but recently bade so fairly to carry his cross to the summit of the hill4 ,can it be that he fell because in the ,house of ,prayer no voice warned him8 ,can it be that he has committed the greater sin because no reproof was whispered in his ear concerning the beginnings of transgression8 ,was there no message committed to the preacher for that man as he drew near the parting of the ways8 ,did the messenger suppress the truth because it was hard to utter8 ,what1 then1 is it that is asked8 ,not1 of course1 a ministry of continual denunciation1 of constant reproach1 of endless accusation--not that1 but a ministry in which the witness shall be not one-sided but complete4 ,let us hear1 if you please1 of the sweeter things2 tell us again1 and again1 of that divine ,fatherhood in which must be our final trust2 whisper in our cars of the gentleness of ,god and the infinite tenderness of ,his ,son2 but tell us all1 for so wayward are we1 so presumptuous1 so prone to go astray that we need to hear of chastisement as well as mercy4 ,we must be reminded that the way of transgressors is hard as well as of the blessing that the ,lord has in ,his heart for us4 ,to the preacher1 then1 we would say3--,here is a task which must not be neglected however hard it be4 ,the word should be a hammer to break1 a sword to pierce1 an arrow in the heart4 ,here is something for us all to do3--,to cultivate the arts of the counsel for the prosecution4 ,in the exercise of those arts all our knowledge of human nature1 all possible learning in the word will be needed to their very last syllable4 ,it is not true that any one is qualified to wave the lamp that shall reveal the pitfall in the path of the over-confident disciple4 ,he must be a wise physician who has to diagnose the sickness of the soul4 ,he must be a lawyer learned in the law who has to explain the position of the rebel before his flouted ,sovereign4 ,he must have larger skill than most who has to bring home the broken will of ,god to the soul4 ,a reflection1 more important still1 has yet to be suggested4 ,for this work the preacher will need to be a man of holiness1 for1 though he speak to his brother only as a fellow-sinner saved by ,grace1 he must speak as one who has escaped from bonds4 ,thus comes character into the business4 ,woe is me1 said the prophet1 called to witness against the transgression of ,judah1 for ,i am a man of unclean lips4 ,only by prayer1 by the cleansing of the fountain1 by sustaining grace shall we be sufficient for these things4 ,for this manner of preaching one man alone can ascend into the hill of the ,lord3--,he that hath clean hands and a pure heart1 and hath not lifted up himself unto vanity1 nor sworn deceitfully4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,note of ,pity4 ,in the chapter just concluded we have tried to lay down that one essential of the preacher's message is the note of sternness1 that the preacher is1 on ,god's behalf1 the accuser of his hearers1 charging them before the bar of conscience1 declaring to the soul its state and condition1 pronouncing1 also1 the punishment which must follow persistent rebellion against ,god4 ,it becomes us immediately to say something as to another note which must be heard in unison with this of sternness1 and that is the note of pity4 ,it is time to insist upon this4 ,only that man can declare the terrors of the law who knows something of the spirit of the prophet who cried1 ,oh1 that my head were waters1 and mine eyes a fountain of tears1 that ,i might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people6 ,only he can cry out against ,jerusalem who1 when he beholds the city1 weeps over it as he sees its crime and shame and notes the tempest gathering to burst over its cloud-capp'd towers1 its solemn temples1 its airy palaces4 ,the preacher1 like his ,lord1 must be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief4 ,it must be true of him that for the hurt of the daughter of ,my people was ,he stricken4 ,his heart must have bled for the tragedy of the world6 ,and into the delivery of the message this pity must find its way and have expression1 if not always in word1 certainly in tone4 ,in tone1 we say1 for the tone of the preacher's utterance is almost1 if not quite1 as important as its words4 ,lacking the accent of pity1 the accusations of the preacher will degenerate into scolding1 and of all scolds the pulpit scold is the most objectionable4 ,without a pitiful heart his exposure of human nature will become mere fault-finding1 and a fault-finding ministry is a ministry of desolation4 ,again1 without a pitiful heart the preacher's utterance of the divine judgment will be but more or less terrifying threats1 and the pulpit is not set up to threaten but to pronounce4 ,we have heard preaching of this order4 ,i am not at all well to-night1 said a clergyman of whom we once read1 and ,i shall give it 'em hot4 ,men are sometimes reminded of their sins1 not out of a sense of duty borne in upon a reluctant spirit1 but because the wind happens to be in the east1 or the preacher's nerves are badly out of order4 ,the ,church is told of her coldness1 her indolence and unfaithfulness1 her narrowness1 bigotry and greed1 not because1 after a struggle to win permission to tell a more flattering tale1 the preacher comes forth under a divine compulsion to cry aloud and spare not1 but because his digestion is upset1 or his temporal concerns are awry1 or even because his personal ambitions have been disappointed and himself unappreciated4 ,there is such a thing as bad-tempered1 ill-natured preaching1 in which the weapons of the ,bible armoury are borrowed for the expression of the preacher's chagrin and spite4 ,in a literal sense every word he speaks may be true1 but the spirit of the message destroys all possible good effects and turns the word of ,god into an angry snarl4 ,it might1 therefore1 be well to decide to preach along lines of accusation1 exposure1 judgment or warning only on those days when the heart is happiest1 when life goes well and the cheek of health glows with its brightest bloom4 ,perhaps the resolution might take such a form as this3--,resolved3 ,never to preach a hard sermon when ,i feel like doing so4 ,all this is no fancy picture1 and the peril indicated is not imaginary but real4 ,the story of ,jonah is left to all time for the warning of the preacher4 ,seated yonder in his booth1 biting his nails in vexation1 he is the type of the preacher whose righteous indignation1 because of its lack of that element of unselfishness1 and that spirit of pity by which moral anger should always be qualified1 becomes simply grim and merciless wrath4 ,doest thou well to be angry8 the eternal voice asks of him and of all who follow in his prophetic line4 ,it was not thus that ,jesus looked upon the multitude4 ,they despised ,him--many of them4 ,that ,he knew4 ,they accused and slandered ,him one to another and in their own secret hearts4 ,some of them said ,he was a glutton and a wine-bibber1 others that ,he had a devil1 others1 again1 that ,he was the friend of publicans and sinners4 ,they ate ,his bread1 accepted ,his healing kindness1 and all the time were making ready to cry1 ,not this man1 but ,barabbas1 when opportunity should arise4 ,all this ,he understood1 but when ,he saw the multitudes ,he was moved with compassion on them1 because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd4 ,all ,his words are music1 ,though they make me weep1 ,infinitely tender1 ,infinitely deep4 ,and the absence of this undertone of pity from the message of the preacher always destroys the effect of his warnings and causes the hearer to be less afraid than angry1 as is always the case when men are captiously scolded and found fault with and threatened4 ,on the other hand1 its presence gives power and penetration to the terrors borne upon its breath4 ,it is instinctively felt that the hard words of the preacher are spoken as by one who weeps before he speaks4 ,he does but speak because he must1 because it would be cruellest cruelty to be silent4 ,for ,zion's sake ,i will not hold my peace4 ,zion's sake--here1 then1 is the motive of all this unfolding of the secret history of the hearer's heart and life4 ,from very pity this man cannot speak of health when he sees the canker in the rose which blooms upon the cheek1 when he perceives that1 despite the appearance of strength and vigour1 the whole head is sick1 the whole heart is faint4 ,he has not told us pleasant things to-day1 though we would have liked to hear them1 and he would have been glad to tell them1 because he is too deeply concerned for us to prophesy golden groves at the end of a journey whose every footstep is taken upon the broad road leading to destruction4 ,with meekness can we receive the reproofs of a parent knowing that1 however hard his word1 his heart is tender4 ,whom ,he loveth ,he chasteneth1 was written of the ,lord4 ,when it can be written of the ,lord's ambassador1 then again it will be true that although no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous1 yet will it yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby4 ,let us take it1 then1 that pity is an essential of the preacher's message1 and must make its presence felt1 if not in word1 at least in accent1 or tone1 or atmosphere4 ,is it too late in the argument to ask what this pity really and truly is8 ,in ,theodore ,hunger's volume1 ,the ,freedom of ,faith1 a book which will be found in many of our libraries1 there is a chapter on the pity of ,jesus ,christ which would probably repay us for another perusal4 ,very powerfully the author maintains that pity is a deeper and sublimer passion than love4 ,in ,the ,alchemist1 ,balzac1 depicting an ideally perfect affection makes the object of it deformed1 indicating that love has not attained its highest height until it has become pity4 ,thus the mother's love for her child is never so noble as when expressed in ministering to its sickness4 ,how near to the little one does she come in those painful1 anxious hours when1 perchance1 all the reward her love seems like to bring is the blighting of her dearest hopes4 ,she loves her child in health1 but that love is rewarded with joy2 she loves it as it triumphs in its little tasks of intellect1 but that love is rewarded with pride2 its moral achievements awaken her admiration2 its spiritual victories arouse her gratitude1 and in admiration and gratitude1 love has compensation2 but none of these emotions so carry over her soul into fellowship with the soul of that dear one1 none bring her into a touch so close1 or give such gentleness to the fingers1 such softness and tenderness to the voice as does pity1 when pain and sickness wring the brow4 ,and what of the parental feeling for that other child--the child1 we mean1 whose name no one speaks in her ear1 who has gone out from the family circle1 who is away in the far country1 wasting his substance in riotous living2 who1 indeed1 has wasted it1 and who is now feeding the swine of the stranger1 and longing to fill his belly with the husks that the swine do eat8 ,behold1 now1 the father standing upon the threshold shading his eyes as longingly he gazes along the road which climbs the distant hill4 ,a world of trouble is in his eyes4 ,yonder young fool who has wandered away is not worth a single sigh of this grand old man1 we say4 ,he is reaping as he has sown1 we moralise4 ,time was when this youth went brightly to and fro in the homestead1 when innocence sat throned upon his forehead1 when truth shone brightly from his eyes1 when purity and modesty mantled with blushes his boyish cheek4 ,the old man loved him then4 ,but this watching from the threshold1 this long1 long tearful look down the road winding away to the land of profligacy and shame1 these are the glories of his love4 ,here is pity4 ,this is affection glowing in its fairest flower1 its most precious fruit4 ,before us is a dim adumbration of the pity of ,god1 the highest manifestation of ,his love for man4 ,similarly the pity of man for man is the highest manifestation of our love one for another4 ,it is by pity1 and by pity only1 that humanity can be brought into true unity4 ,it is by pity that the preacher comes into oneness with his congregation4 ,there is a sense in which he comes nearer to his hearers through their sufferings and their sins than through their joys and their virtues1 for suffering and sin give occasion for compassion4 ,only let the man in the pulpit feel this emotion toward the man in the pew2 only let the tragedy of his wrong-doing1 the poverty of his soul resultant from his neglect of higher things1 the awful fact that he is without ,god and hope in the world come home to the preacher's heart2 only let the shadow of this man's fate cast its darkness upon the preacher's soul and oh6 how precious does that man become1 sinner though he be4 ,let the man in the pew but feel that the heart of the man in the pulpit is almost breaking for the longing it has toward him and how differently will he receive the reproof that man may bring2 with what new reverence will he attend to the solemn warning he may utter4 ,at last a brother seeks his soul6 ,for another result of pity will be that the ,gospel of reconciliation will be preached indeed4 ,if from the compulsion of compassion the preacher declared the terrors of the law1 from the same divine concern he will glory to declare the way of return1 the counsel and invitation of mercy4 ,even as none but a pitiful man can declare the words of the law so only a pitiful man can declare the provisions and conditions of the ,cross4 ,if the words of the ,law1 without pity are mere scolding and fault-finding and threatening1 the words of the ,gospel without pity must be cold1 perfunctory and lifeless4 ,calvary was the expression of infinite compassion4 ,in its own spirit alone can its message be set forth4 ,you may preach even the justice of ,god in such a way as to make ,his judgments seem full of the kindest intention to the heart4 ,on the other hand1 you may preach the sacrifice of love in such a manner as to make the story hard as judgment thunders4 ,you may throw a pardon at a man in such a fashion as to make the forgiveness it expresses more bitter than a curse4 ,but how are we so to abound in pity as to be able1 at all times1 to fill our message with its gracious influence1 for pity is not always easy1 in which fact is one element of its high nobility8 ,the sins of men1 their vices with their results in life and character1 often make it hard to pity them4 ,a horrible thing is sin1 and so horrible its effects that it seems1 at times1 almost impossible to look upon those in whom these effects are evident with any emotions save those of loathing and disgust4 ,it was no very natural thing for ,jonah to look with any sort of tenderness on that great1 debauched1 besotted ,nineveh1 reeking in its vileness1 foul with the accumulated moral filth of many generations4 ,out of a man's own righteousness1 too1 his jealousy for ,god and his reverence for goodness1 there may grow a certain hardness and1 from very loyalty to ,god1 it may not be easy to look with compassionate eyes upon the transgressor4 ,we cannot but remember that every blessed purpose of the ,kingdom is delayed by sin4 ,by this black impediment every golden dream of devout saints1 of moral and spiritual reformers is held back from happy fulfilment4 ,it is difficult1 indeed1 to feel pitiful when the heart for ,christ's sake is longing to behold the glories ,he died to bring to pass and sees those glories thus wantonly postponed4 ,yes1 the note of pity is often hard to strike4 ,the more we think of all that is involved the more emphasis we throw into the question--how has it to be done8 ,the truth is that pity for such a service needs to be earnestly and constantly cultivated4 ,it only follows as the result of spiritual processes in the preacher's own soul4 ,it is not the mere outflowing of a natural kindliness of disposition1 of inborn good nature4 ,it is more than mere sloppy sentimentality4 ,that kind of pity1 if you may call it by such a name1 never tells the truth excepting when it is pleasant1 never preaches a sermon of rebuke1 never reasons concerning judgment to come4 ,there is no such word as ,hell in its vocabulary2 there is no accusation in its programme4 ,the pity we mean blazes up into moral anger1 smites and wounds1 and compassionates the while4 ,this pity requires cultivation4 ,quoting an old phrase1 it never grew in ,nature's garden4 ,an understanding of men is absolutely essential to attainment herein4 ,some one has said that if we knew all we would pity all4 ,god does know all and does pity all4 ,the compassion of ,jesus was aided by ,his knowledge of the multitude2 so must ours be4 ,it is a terrible story--this story of transgression--but those who know it best water it with tears4 ,nothing is served by closing our eyes to facts1 though the temptation is great to exercise the mistaken charity of declining to know4 ,is there no danger of a cowardly refusal of vision1 of making the fellowship of saints a hiding place whither we can escape from the sights and shames of the world8 ,are we quite guiltless of seeking in the ,christian ,society a forgetfulness of the things that wither and blast human souls without8 ,do none of us make of the ,church a little garden walled around1 where the sound of crying and of cursing breaks not upon our peace as we dream our happy dreams8 ,we are sent to look steadfastly upon the sore1 to behold and analyse the very truth1 for it is in the measure in which our souls are pierced that we compassionate4 ,but the greatest school for the learning of pitifulness is yonder at the feet of ,jesus4 ,in ,his company hearts grow hard to sin and tender to sinners4 ,is there any sorrow like unto ,my sorrow8 ,he cries1 and we know that ,his sorrow was not for ,himself1 but for those who spurned ,him4 ,father1 forgive them1 they know not what they do1 ,he prays1 and1 lo6 the cry is for ,his very murderers1 and the music of it melts our spirit toward the transgressor while the transgression becomes more hateful in our eyes4 ,where do you abhor sin as you abhor it upon the slopes of ,calvary8 ,where do you pity sinners as you pity them there8 ,there is the fountain of judgment4 ,there is the fountain of forgiveness4 ,yes1 the greatest school of pitifulness is in the presence of ,christ4 ,from ,him1 in ,temple court and city street1 on mountain brow and sea-shore1 in the wilderness and in the domestic circle of ,bethany1 the preacher catches that new tone which shall give his accusation commendation and power4 ,but there is another teacher1 still1 who will greatly help to fix the lesson in his heart if only he be heard4 ,that teacher is ,memory4 ,memory is always waiting to whisper in the preacher's ear4 ,and such were some of you1 writes ,st4 ,paul to the ,corinthians1 but ye are washed1 but ye are sanctified1 but ye are justified in the name of the ,lord ,jesus1 and by the spirit of our ,god4 ,ah6 the preacher1 himself is but a sinner saved by grace4 ,there was a time when he1 also1 was in the far country1 when he1 also1 was a rebel against law and love1 when even he was lost already4 ,can he forget those days of darkness and of shame8 ,can he forget how the warning ambassador of his hitherto despised ,redeemer came to him8 ,can he forget the mire and the clay and the horrible pit from which a strong hand brought him forth8 ,let him think on these things as he looks upon his congregation1 as he rebukes their contumacy4 ,let him remember that he has come into the pulpit only by the steps of mercy1 by the long-suffering grace of a sin-pardoning ,god4 ,here1 then1 is an essential part of the preacher's training--the training of his own heart to tenderness4 ,if he fail in giving attention to this1 all other education will be worse than fruitless4 ,the age needs the pitiful ,church4 ,the age and the ,church need the pitiful ministry4 ,this is not to say that men look to the pulpit for nothing but softly spoken indulgences4 ,conscience has taught them that the message should hurt where hurt is salutary4 ,they will not recognise as kindness the withholding1 or the dilution of any truth4 ,on the other hand they give to the motive of the preacher who does these things a less flattering name4 ,they will say--have we not heard the criticism8--that the preacher is afraid to be faithful1 afraid to offend for reasons that are selfish and cowardly4 ,the offence of unwelcome truth is covered when that truth is watered by a preacher's tears4 ,so let us preach--declaring the whole counsel concerning sin for pity's sake1 preaching the whole truth concerning salvation too4 ,something is in our mind to ask concerning our presentation of this last-named portion of our message3--,are we always quite faithful as to what we call the conditions of salvation8 ,in the presentation of these conditions great skill and great care are required4 ,it is so easy to under--or over--emphasise1 so easy1 out of jealousy for ,god1 to make the way too hard or1 out of a desire to win men1 to make it too easy4 ,perhaps in the latter possibility lies1 in our time1 the greater danger4 ,do we always ask for penitence as unmistakably as we ought8 ,there should be repentance toward ,god as well as faith in our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,we may at least suggest the question3--,whether we do not sometimes call for the latter1 saying too little of the former4 ,again1 in calling for faith in our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 is it not easy to appear to demand a mere belief in historic facts when what is required is the trustful surrender of the soul to the ,redeemer8 ,we have seen fifty people hold up their hands1 at the request of a preacher1 to signify their turning to ,god1 and we have noted that no outward sign of deep emotion accompanied the act4 ,we have watched a multitude pass through an inquiry room where1 though inquirers were many1 tears were few4 ,that there are diversities of operations we know4 ,old times are changed1 old manners gone4 ,all this we admit1 and1 perhaps1 we should not demand to see again such things as ,time has cast behind him4 ,but1 oh6 those were great days when the returning rebel smote upon his breast and would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven1 as with sobs and groans1 he cried1 ,god be merciful to me1 a sinner4 ,those were glorious scenes when1 in one and the same hour1 he broke for ever with old habits1 old companionships1 old loves and1 with eyes still streaming went forth exclaiming1 ',tis done1 the great transaction's done6 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,note of ,idealism4 ,the ,christian preacher is not only the accuser of men and the ambassador of reconciliation2 he is also the ,prophet of a new order4 ,go1 preach1 the ,kingdom of ,heaven is at hand1 so runs his commission4 ,his message must convey more than the promise of a deliverance from the consequences of sin4 ,it must proclaim new possibilities for the individual4 ,it must point to higher altitudes for the race4 ,the preacher announces a ,new ,jerusalem descending out of heaven4 ,his ministry is not to lead to the better only1 but to the best4 ,for such preaching as this there is1 deep down in the heart of man1 a great hunger and thirst4 ,sordid and materialistic as is the life of the age1 engrossed as the multitudes appear to be in the pursuit of mammon1 of vain glory and of pleasure1 there still lingers in the human breast a suspicion that men were fashioned for something higher than the things that1 so often1 first engross and then exhaust their powers4 ,the millionaire is not satisfied with his millions and1 of late1 has told us so4 ,the man of pleasure is not satisfied with his pleasures1 and1 when he unburdens his secret mind1 confesses his disappointment and disgust4 ,corn1 wine and oil1 houses1 lands and station are all the objects of loathing as well as of pursuit1 to those who1 having won them1 have found out their real quality4 ,it is a primal instinct of the race that the life is more than meat and the body than raiment4 ,to the student of our times there is nothing more pathetic than to observe the struggles of those upon whom materialism casts its spell to escape from their bondage4 ,to aid them in this endeavour they call the painter1 the sculptor1 the dramatist1 the man of letters1 the player skilled in the language of music1 and to one and all they say1 ,idealise6 ,idealise6 ,periods of realism in art never last long1 though1 in a sense1 realism is easier to the artist than idealism4 ,the explanation is that it is not realism that is really in demand4 ,the artist must give us not man as he is1 but as he ought to be2 not life as we know it1 but life as we would know it and live it1 too2 not the human face scarred and seamed by vices inherited from a thousand tainted years1 but fresh1 and sweet1 and beautiful as it came from the hands of ,god1 new washed in the dews of ,his infinite affection4 ,even nature must be idealised1 and the painter struggles to produce the perfect landscape1 the sculptor to represent the perfect form4 ,the artist who mixes no imagination with his colours never holds for long the public honour4 ,the heart of man asks for the ideal2 the actual is not enough4 ,and to the preacher1 also1 these unsatisfied spirits bring the same request4 ,if it is not upon their lips1 you may read it in the deep longing of their unquiet eyes4 ,the age is not a happy age1 and its lack of happiness does not arise1 alone1 from its sicknesses1 its bereavements1 its shattered hopes1 the cruelties of offence's gilded hand4 ,some one has said that men would be happy if it were not for their pleasures1 and the saying contains a profound truth4 ,in this unhappiness they turn to see if1 peradventure1 the preacher can show them higher and clearer heights of joy4 ,sometimes1 thank ,god6 the vision splendid is spread before them4 ,it is a vision no poet or painter1 save such as have been to the springs of the ,eternal1 can depict1 and if the glory of it find its way into the seeker's soul life for him is never the same again4 ,but sometimes1 alas6 he is disappointed4 ,the voice in the pulpit is little more than a sanctimonious echo of the voices of the street4 ,then goes the sorrowing seeker hence1 and lo1 the tiny glimmer of hope with which he came has all but been put out6 ,for it is a criticism one all too often hears1 that the modern preacher1 instead of asking too much1 asks too little1 and that1 when he does ask for much1 his asking is more for great faith than for great living from both the individual and the age4 ,it has been remarked that almost the whole of the difference between the ,christian preacher and the heathen moralist is expressed in the statement that the preacher adds to his teaching a flavour of ,jewish history and sweetens with the promise of a future life4 ,otherwise the heathen moralist points as far up the mountain side as he4 ,there is such a possibility as that of preaching along too low a level4 ,it is an ill thing when the preacher becomes content with the straw and forgets the crown4 ,for the preacher like the rest of men may become enslaved to things and powers material4 ,where there is no vision the people perish1 and of vision1 in the larger sense1 the preacher may share the general poverty4 ,after all1 even he belongs to the age into which he was born1 and it needs qualities that are none too common to resist the influences of the times and of environment4 ,beside all this1 are there not personal experiences in the lives of all of us which make it hard to keep our eyes upon the stars8 ,we think of the local preacher spending his week in the market or behind the counter1 in office or mine or factory or in the field wrestling with ,nature for the bread that perisheth4 ,we think of the minister often worried1 almost distracted1 by the care of the churches1 by the crabbed foolishness and miserable jealousies of contentious men and women4 ,we must remember that for many a preacher life is not a ,may ,day festival1 but a question and a struggle4 ,surely the wonder is not that sometimes the man in the pulpit speaks in a minor key1 but that1 under all the conditions of his life1 we hear from him so much of the higher music as we do4 ,the memory comes to us as we write of a man who preached the ,gospel for years with the cruel disease of cancer gnawing at his vitals4 ,we can recall others who came to proclaim the golden year from domestic circles blighted by the debauchery and vice of children but too well beloved4 ,did these men sometimes speak falteringly1 and with hesitation1 the message in which they asked and promised glorious things8 ,did they1 from the very darkness of the clouds lowering above them1 see only the lower slopes of the ,mountains of the ,lord8 ,who could wonder8 ,the preacher is but a man6 ,yes1 the preacher is but a man1 and as a man finds out something else3--,that1 after all1 it is not out of his experiences of life1 nor from the influences of his time1 nor from both together that the greatest hindrance to altitude of tone in his preaching arises4 ,as a man is in heart and life so in some degree he preaches4 ,the call of the ,gospel is to perfection1 and the perfect man is not yet1 though many there are1 even in these days1 whose lives are a constant and noble struggle to reach this far-off mark4 ,is it strange that sometimes a preacher's own failure to gain the wished for heights should cause him to put before others possibilities1 not1 indeed1 according to his own low level of attainment1 but still far below those he is sent to declare8 ,living on low levels means inevitably preaching on low levels1 though1 as a man's preaching is derived from higher sources than are found in his own soul1 his call to others ought always to be of higher things than he has1 himself1 attained4 ,here1 then1 are some of the reasons why it often happens that our preaching lacks the elevation of high idealism4 ,this idealism is none the less needed that there are reasons for its absence4 ,along these lines lies one of the great struggles of the preacher's life1 which is so triumphantly to resist the influences of his day and the depression of his personal experiences1 so to live his own life that he shall always be able to act as a joyful guide to the ,alps of ,god4 ,and what are these higher heights to which he has to point his fellows8 ,we ask the question first as concerning the individual and then as concerning the nations4 ,we shall surely find it easy to obtain an answer to the inquiry in both its forms4 ,easy6 ,yes2 for the heights designed for us to reach are so clearly mapped out in the teaching1 and especially in the life of ,him whose word the preacher comes forward to declare1 and whose example it is his glorious employment to put before the world4 ,the prize of the mark of our high calling is the utter conquest of sin in the heart1 its eradication not only in branch but in very root4 ,our goal is the utterly blameless life4 ,it is more glorious1 even1 than this4 ,it is the realisation in their perfection1 not of negative virtues alone1 but of virtues positive1 active1 aggressive4 ,it is in brief the perfect man in ,christ ,jesus4 ,and of what use is any lower understanding or interpretation of the purpose of ,christ8 ,indeed1 is any lower interpretation possible on the face of things8 ,we cannot bring ourselves to believe that ,he would of set purpose come to secure a partial triumph in the subjects of ,his grace4 ,we speak of the difficulties of this our doctrine1 but1 after all1 greater difficulties would have to be overcome in consenting to any lower conception of the divine intent4 ,try to imagine the ,master effecting the saving of a soul with the design that it shall still hold to some remains of former vices1 to some of its old lusts1 of its ancient enmities4 ,imagine ,him1 again1 agreeing that a man shall continue to be the prey of evil tempers1 of covetousness1 of jealousy1 of pride and falseness4 ,imagine ,him entering into a tacit compromise with the forces of evil1 that ,he will take so much and expect no more in the worship and ownership and conquest of those for whom ,he died4 ,the idea is unthinkable6 ,jesus ,christ came1 suffered1 bled1 died1 rose again1 and ascended up on high that once more the eyes of ,god might look upon a perfect man4 ,now1 all this sounds very old-fashioned and very much like the teaching that we have heard1 and perhaps in varying degrees disparaged1 from the lips of those whom we call1 sometimes with a slight1 but none the less real1 touch of sarcasm1 holiness men4 ,how afraid we are that any one should ask us to be too good6 ,but the teaching of ,scriptural holiness was once one of the glories of ,methodism and clear in the forefront of her preaching4 ,to-day1 perhaps1 we hear less concerning that gospel than once we did4 ,is it absolutely certain that this fact always works out to the advantage of the preacher and his people8 ,to-day1 also1 we hear less concerning the joy of the ,christian life than formerly2 less concerning new triumphs in the conversion of sinners than in days it is glorious to remember4 ,to-day men complain1 as we have already heard1 that the preachers ask too little and do not bid them look so high as something in their bosoms tells them they ought to look4 ,the preaching of ,scriptural holiness has been discredited1 it must be confessed1 by the language into which it has often been thrown2 by a disposition to censoriousness in those who have given it a large place in their ministry2 by a disposition1 too1 on the part of its preachers to label as sins many things which were capable of innocent use and enjoyment1 to cut out of life more than they sought to put in1 dealing rather in prohibitions than in inspirations4 ,this doctrine has suffered1 again1 more than most1 from the inconsistencies of its apostles1 as was indeed inevitable and should have been expected1 for the higher a man's preaching the more clearly his personal imperfections are brought out by force of contrast1 which may be rather to the glory of the preaching than to its discredit4 ,say1 however1 all that can be said in this direction concerning the doctrine of ,christian ,perfection2 the ideals of the ,gospel for human living are no lower than the highest word the ,perfectionist has ever uttered4 ,these ideals1 as put before us and required of us1 are part of the message of the ,cross1 and the preaching which does not include and enforce them is incomplete and cannot become1 in the highest sense1 effective in the accomplishment of its divine purpose4 ,when a man's preaching presents ideals higher than those of the ,sermon on the ,mount2 when he asks for a whiter purity1 a more embracing charity1 a nobler style of living than are required by ,jesus ,christ1 then will have come the time to call a halt4 ,up to this point he has behind him not only divine permission but divine command4 ,by his ears1 if he but listen1 may be heard1 also1 the voices of men who are weary of the valleys and the swamps1 and who long to climb the heights and pierce the clouds that hold their vision from the skies4 ,we need a new ,puritanism1 and it must not be a ,puritanism principally of prohibitions1 as was the old4 ,it must be a ,puritanism in which all the glories possible to heart and mind and soul are set forth in charm and beauty4 ,but the preacher has a message for society1 as well as for the individual1 and it is essential to the highest uses of that message that sublimer notes should be struck than are commonly heard4 ,jesus ,christ showed an interest in trade1 and the sellers of doves and changers of money heard from ,him1 one day1 words of such a sort as made their ears to tingle4 ,the preacher must not be afraid to insist on perfect integrity1 perfect honesty1 and even perfect brotherhood in commerce4 ,we have heard somewhere the story of a business man in ,brighton to whom1 one day1 a customer chanced to speak concerning ,f4 ,w4 ,robertson--perhaps1 taking one thing with another the most influential preacher of the ,victorian era4 ,leading his client into a little room behind the shop he pointed1 with these words1 to a portrait upon the wall3 ,that is ,f4 ,w4 ,robertson1 and when1 standing behind the counter1 ,i feel a temptation to do a dishonest thing in trade1 ,i come in here and look up at that face4 ,what a tribute this to a great ministry which had its message for the office and the shop and turned commerce and handicraft into great religious acts4 ,to the world of industry the messenger of ,christ must also bring the new ideals he has learned4 ,why should the relationships of master and servant1 of capital and labour1 be poisoned by suspicion and marred by covetousness1 oppression1 evasion of mutual obligations8 ,the problem to be solved in this twentieth century is probably this of the relations between the man with money to spend and the man with work to sell4 ,ah1 if only ,jesus ,christ were ,president of the ,board of ,trade6 ,paul was not afraid to lift up his voice on these extremely practical subjects1 and even now1 the sixth chapter of ,ephesians is far from out of date3 ,servants1 he says1 turning to the one class1 be obedient to them that are your masters 4444 not with eye-service as men-pleasers1 but as the servants of ,christ1 doing the will of ,god from the heart4 ,to the masters also1 he has something to say3 ,and1 ye masters1 do the same things unto them1 forbearing threatening1 knowing that your ,master also is in heaven2 neither is there respect of persons with ,him4 ,st4 ,james1 that great practical homilist1 could not be silent here4 ,of all who ever addressed the capitalist upon his responsibilities surely never one spoke more strongly than did he4 ,go to1 now1 ye rich men1 weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you44444 ,behold1 the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields1 which is of you kept back by fraud1 crieth3 and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the ,lord of ,sabaoth4 ,here is denunciation hot and stirring1 and the preacher may at times have to denounce1 and when the time comes1 must face that duty manfully for the sake of ,god and men4 ,on this page1 however1 we plead not for denunciation but for idealism1--idealism supported by the truths of the ,fatherhood of ,god and the ,brotherhood of ,man1 and enforced by all the tender meanings of the ,cross4 ,for the world of statesmanship1 again1 the preacher has a teaching of idealism1 which is a very different thing from the preaching of party politics1 which has done more harm a thousand times than any good it has ever effected4 ,in the nation as ,christ would have it there should be no jealousy between class and class2 no oppression of the poor by the rich2 no reproach for either honest poverty or honest wealth4 ,in such a state there would be a chance for every man4 ,government would not mean tyranny2 liberty would not mean licence4 ,there would be purity of administration4 ,there would be consecration of national resources to the good of all4 ,war1 by such a state1 would be as impossible as it is now imminent4 ,in such a state1 again1 sermons on the text1 ,our country right or wrong1 would neither find preachers to deliver them nor audiences to listen to them4 ,when the ,new ,jerusalem is built in ,england1 the slum1 the gin palace1 the workhouse1 and the gaol will be things of the past4 ,thus saith the ,lord of ,hosts2 there shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of ,jerusalem1 and every man with his staff in his hand for very age4 ,and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof4 ,oh1 the dream is overpowering in its glory2 and it is not a dream1 but a prophecy from ,calvary to the sorrowing nations of a sinful world6 ,so the errand of the preacher is to declare the ,golden ,age for which men have longed with1 oh1 such longing6 amid the sins1 and crimes1 and miseries which have made up so much of human history4 ,of this so greatly desired time have they dreamed4 ,to bring it in they have schemed and laboured1 bled and died4 ,they have thought to hasten its dawn by the founding of ,utopias1 of ,merrie ,englands1 by many a promising1 but disappointing device4 ,there is but one man who can tell them how it must come--how indeed it will come--and he is the man who has sat at the feet of ,jesus ,christ2 who has seen ,his arms extended wide upon the ,cross and learned those politics in which eternity is set4 ,the ,golden ,age will come when the world shall listen to him1 and give itself to the practice of that old doctrine which is to be the creation not only of a new ,heaven1 but1 also1 of a new ,earth4 ,but the preacher must do more than formulate the divine command2 more than paint glowing pictures of glorious possibilities4 ,it is required that his idealism shall be shown to be practicable4 ,it is of no use to tell a drunkard that ,christ wants sobriety1 or a liar that the ,lord wants truth in the inward parts2 it is of no use preaching about the conquest of temper and of passion2 about the crucifixion of covetousness and envy and jealousy2 about patience1 gentleness1 kindness1 love1 unless1 along with the demands of this new scheme of living1 the great evangelical watchwords and promises ring strong and true4 ,the glory of the preacher is that he1 alone of those who bring forth programmes for the lives of men1 can tell us how his programme may be carried out4 ,he has a wonderful authority given unto him in his dealings with the weak and erring4 ,he can make to every man who gives himself to ,christ1 and to the living of the life ,he asks1 the promise that ,christ will give to him nothing less than ,his own very self4 ,to any man who tremblingly1 tearfully makes up his mind to try1 the preacher may pledge his ,lord in guarantees which will be honoured to the very uttermost4 ,power6 ,there is ,god's for his promising4 ,grace6 ,there is ,christ's for his disposal4 ,he is the almoner of an infinite bounty4 ,then to the preacher there comes from his own vision a courage which he can communicate to others4 ,no other man sees such possibilities in human nature as he1 for he looks on man in ,jesus ,christ1 and discerns better things in him than man had hoped for in himself4 ,he beholds1 also1 the ,spirit of ,god at work in the world2 hears ,his footsteps as ,he goes to and fro in the land4 ,hence he can cry to the nations to lift up their head1 knowing that the ,lord ,omnipotent reigneth4 ,he is the idealist whose ideals--more impossible than all the dreams of moralists and poets--are the true practical politics of individual and national life4 ,the time is ripe for a new preaching of the possibilities of humanity1 for a new setting forth of what life and character1 personal and national1 may be1 and must be1 to please ,him and realise the blessing the ,creator had it in ,his heart to give to man when first ,he sent him forth in the glory of ,his image4 ,for such preaching1 we have already said1 men are waiting1 listening1 longing4 ,they wait1 too1 for a new declaration of the high provisions of help available for human endeavour4 ,men instinctively anticipate that the ideals of ,god concerning them will be high1 but they anticipate1 also instinctively1 that the provision for the realisation of these ideals will be sufficient4 ,they do not ask that1 for the sake of human weakness1 ,god shall make honesty less than honest2 truth less than true2 purity less than pure1 but they do ask that for all these things ,he shall give grace and guidance4 ,does our preaching answer these instinctive expectations1 these deep longings1 these inborn hopes in those to whom we are sent8 ,do we truly put before them that high life their spirits yearn to live8 ,do we show them the path o'er moor and fen1 o'er crag and torrent1 to the heights that kiss the stars8 ,if we do1 well2 but if not3--,then1 perhaps1 we should not wonder1 nor be astonished1 if pews are empty1 if church membership declines1 if men say that there is little profit in coming to hear thoughts no higher than their own4 ,they look for the preacher to ask for better1 higher1 harder things than all their other leaders4 ,if he fail in this his church has but little to draw them within its doors4 ,practical idealism is essential to effective and successful preaching4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,note of ,edification4 ,the preacher is appointed for the upbuilding of the ,church and of the individual believer upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets1 ,jesus ,christ ,himself being the chief corner stone4 ,upon this foundation1 with almost infinite care1 with untiring labour and solicitude and prayerfulness1 has he to rear a temple fitly framed together of gold1 silver and precious stones2 upon this foundation he has to build the fabric of saintly character in men4 ,only that preacher is truly successful who1 in the end1 is able humbly to claim to have been in this sense a wise master-builder2 who can point to the results of his labours in the beauty and strength of the churches in which he has toiled1 in the saintliness of the men and women to whom he has spoken the re-creating1 re-edifying word4 ,now1 in our day1 it is1 perhaps1 specially needful that this part of the preacher's duty should be particularly emphasised4 ,of the ,church it has to be said that she has fallen on somewhat evil times1 for there is evidence of the growth of a tendency toward a ,churchless ,christianity4 ,many there are who take the view that union with the ,church is of small importance to the development of ,christian faith and character4 ,there are more who regard such union as something which1 while it may have certain advantages1 is nevertheless entirely optional with the ,christian believer4 ,again and again have we been told that ,christianity consists of belief in ,jesus ,christ resulting in an attempt to imitate ,him1 and that1 as this belief and this attempt can be achieved outside of any organised religious community1 a man may be essentially a ,christian without being a member of the ,church4 ,the reasons for this attitude are not far to seek4 ,among them are a selfishness which fears the sacrifice that membership of the ,church might involve2 a slothfulness anticipating with apprehension the possible demands for ,christian service which the ,fellowship might make1 and a lack of real intensity and enthusiasm in conviction1 which hesitates to make an out-and-out stand for ,christ and truth4 ,from the same causes1 in all ages1 men have kept outside the organised flock of ,god and1 therefore1 such reasons as these need not greatly alarm us4 ,but there is another objection to joining the ,church which1 alas6 is often heard1 which peculiarly concerns the preacher and ought to lead him to much careful inquiry4 ,it is that objection which quotes against the ,church her own condition4 ,it is alleged that1 nowadays1 the faith of the ,church is in a state of flux2 that her enthusiasm has cooled to the point of chill2 that her members are in such small degree better than the men and women outside their society that their company does not promise any moral and spiritual help to a man in search of saving and ennobling companionships4 ,it is said1 moreover1 that the ,church is so divided1 sub-divided and sub-sub-divided that it is impossible to be sure as to where the true ,church may be found4 ,finally1 we are told that in all probability if ,jesus ,christ came to earth in the flesh1 ,he would in these times be found outside the sanctuaries in which ,his name is supposed to be honoured4 ,now1 many of these assertions may surely be shown to be the result of misunderstanding1 of delusion1 even of prejudice1 and so should not be taken too much to heart4 ,they may serve1 however1 to remind us of two truths which ought to be often in mind4 ,the first is that ,christianity needs the ,church2 the second1 that the ,church needs ,christianity4 ,as to the former proposition3--,the ,church is the ,christian organism4 ,it is principally through her agencies and activities that the purposes of ,christianity are to be realised4 ,this is true not only of those universal purposes which include the ideals of world-wide sovereignty1 but1 let men say what they will1 it is true of those which relate to the realisation of ,christ's will in the individual soul4 ,it is not the fact that men find it as easy to live the ,christian life outside the ,church as within4 ,this is sufficiently demonstrated by experience4 ,personal religion grows in the fellowship and the sacrifice1 in the labours1 the strength and inspiration consequent upon membership in a great and imperial family4 ,but the ,church needs ,christianity1 and this1 too1 the preacher1 for her sake1 must deeply and constantly realise4 ,the best antidote to the tendency toward a ,churchless ,christianity will be found1 not in argument or command2 certainly not in denunciations addressed to those who are outside the fold1 but in the realisation by the ,church herself of her glorious possibilities both as to character1 labour and conquest4 ,what is needed to save the ,church from the opposing influences of our times is simply more of what she may have if she will4 ,she needs a definite and not a nebulous belief4 ,she needs a living and burning enthusiasm2 a joy that will not be silent1 and a hope that will not cower before the pessimism of the age4 ,she needs such a piety as shall furnish a splendid contrast to the lives of all around her4 ,in short1 she must realise the ideals of her ,founder1 and every glorious prophecy shall be fulfilled4 ,all the nations of the world shall flow into her4 ,kings shall come to the brightness of her rising4 ,men shall flock to her courts as doves to glowing windows from the cold and darkness of the wintry night4 ,so1 for the sake of the world which cannot spare the ,church1 and for the sake of the ,church which cannot dispense with what the preacher has to give1 it is required that this duty of the ,christian ministry be emphasised4 ,another reason must be stated that it may be underlined3--,faith1 piety and enthusiasm1 labour1 sacrifice and victory are vital to the inner health and joy of the ,church herself4 ,this1 too1 the preacher must remember4 ,solemn1 indeed1 is the obligation resting upon him1 and solemnly have the great preachers of all ages taken this responsibility to heart4 ,the care of the churches6--how heavily it lay upon the shoulders of those early ambassadors whose confessions of fear concerning failure are written in the epistles4 ,how it has driven to the ,mercy ,seat for help and guidance those whose work it has been in troublous times1 to keep the flock of ,god committed to their custody6 ,the feeding of the sheep in the wilderness1 the care of the lambs1 the strengthening of the weak1 the endless1 patient1 prayerful striving needed in the pursuit of erring1 foolish1 falling ones1 that all may be presented perfect in ,christ ,jesus--what demands do these make upon the preacher's noblest powers6 ,in the dressing and polishing1 to change the figure1 of each quarried stone that the result may be seen in a building after the similitude of a palace1 flashing in the light of ,god--here has lain the task in which many a glorious life has been gloriously spent2 for even ,jesus could not entrust to a man a grander or more onerous task than this6 ,and what manner of preaching is needed for the service of this saving and edifying end8 ,it must surely be a preaching of the ,church to the ,church4 ,it is to be questioned whether we have not largely failed to place before our people the ,new ,testament doctrine of the ,church4 ,with such a failure may be associated another3--,to emphasise duly the importance of those sacraments which are the inheritance of the ,church from age to age4 ,can we deny that there is among our members a tendency to view very lightly the privileges and obligations of their membership in what we call--we have sometimes thought unhappily and with unfortunate effect--our societies8 ,again1 can it be denied that amongst us as a people the ,sacrament of the ,lord's ,supper is undervalued8 ,faithfulness to the ,church and to her sacraments run together4 ,how many are there who have but the dimmest possible conception of what the ,church is and of what membership in the ,church really signifies and involves8 ,there is much work to be done here--spade work we might almost call it--for the ground has hardly yet been broken amongst us4 ,may we venture a suggestion that1 among things inherited from an earlier day1 the word societies as signifying churches should be dropped in favour of the nobler word1 and that the preacher1 in particular1 should cease to use it in this relationship8 ,unless we are wrong in our reading of history this use of the term grew out of the view1 long held by the founder of ,methodism1 that while the ,anglican community was the ,church1 the assemblies collected by himself were merely groups of people meeting for mutual help in spiritual things4 ,the time came1 no doubt1 when he would have been willing to allow to these assemblies1 as to the great community of which they were the individual congregations1 the title for which we plead2 though he himself it must be remembered1 remained a member of the ,church of ,england until his death4 ,let the preacher take very high ground on this matter4 ,this little band of lowly men and women meeting in their humble sanctuary by the wayside for intercourse on spiritual things1 for the hearing of the word of life1 for mutual encouragement in the celestial pilgrimage1 for praise and prayer and breaking of bread2 this little company gathered together in ,my name1 ,jesus being in the midst2 this little circle upon which is shed abroad the ,holy ,ghost for the teaching1 comforting1 sanctifying and anointing of the heavenly ,bride--this little company1 we say1 is more than a society4 ,its members form a church1 and theirs are the glory1 the privileges1 the obligations of that upper room of eternal memory4 ,let them be told this--kept in remembrance of it--led to delight in it--encouraged to glory concerning it4 ,let it be laid down that it is not for this village fellowship to thank any man or woman1 however exalted his or her social station1 for condescending to membership therein1 but that the honour of the association lies in being permitted an entrance into the fold1 small as is the number of the flock and lowly as its members may be4 ,we are confident that the scattered churches of our name need lifting into a realisation of their high dignity in ,christ ,jesus4 ,of all the subjects waiting for earnest study1 and to which we as preachers1 both ministers and laymen1 need for the sake of present day necessities to turn our minds1 none is more important than this4 ,the ,church can only retain1 or rather1 perhaps1 we ought to have said--can only enter into her power through self-realisation4 ,here is need for a systematic educational work1 and1 should it be left undone1 we must not be astonished if our members wear the bonds of their union lightly1 and easily find ways out of a fellowship whose true significance they have never understood4 ,another eventuality1 too1 must not astonish us3--,the ,church of ,england does hold and preach a doctrine of the ,church1 preaches it diligently2 preaches it1 sometimes1 with such limitations of application as we may well resent4 ,the ,roman ,catholics do the same1 and with limitations that are still more uncompromising4 ,we of the ,free ,churches must not be astonished if1 as a result of definite and positive teaching within other walls and a lack of such teaching within our own1 the people drift away from us4 ,to build up the ,church we must preach the ,church4 ,she needs the sense of herself4 ,important1 however1 as is the enunciation of the doctrine of the ,church1 the work of her edification will demand that the preacher have many other things to say4 ,we have already referred to the presentation of a high idealism as essential to the completeness of the ,christian message4 ,it is indispensable to the adequate accomplishment of this duty that the preacher give himself to a systematic exposition of the ,scriptures4 ,may we even dare to say that it will be necessary for him to devote much of his strength to what has been termed doctrinal preaching8 ,that these words will have a terrible sound in many ears we are aware4 ,it is very unpopular1 nowadays1 to lay emphasis on the necessity for creed as well as for conduct--for creed1 indeed1 for the sake of conduct4 ,we will1 nevertheless1 make bold to remark that one of the great desiderata of the day is a revival of expository preaching1 while another1 equally great1 is a renaissance of doctrinal preaching4 ,there is not too much theology taught in the churches1 but too little4 ,we are told that the preacher's first business is to treat of what are called living issues2 that he should1 above all1 exalt conduct and charity as the great concerns of the soul4 ,it is contended that men need guidance on public questions and that the preacher1 as the representative of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and of the ,church1 should endeavour to meet that need4 ,of course there is truth in it all1 but it is also true that men need1 most of all1 the knowledge of ,god1 and that1 whatever bewilderment may exist in relation to public questions and moral issues1 there is bewilderment1 even greater1 as to the faith once delivered to the saints4 ,there is no truly edifying preaching that is without theology4 ,by such knowledge is the ,church built up1 and the preacher will teach it to his people in the form in which it can be assimilated4 ,one thing he will surely not forget3--,that upon him rests a great responsibility1 not only in regard to the ,church of to-day1 but also concerning the ,church of to-morrow1 as now gathered before him in the persons of the young people preparing for life and service4 ,he ought1 certainly1 to provide strengthening food for them in view of responsibilities to come4 ,it is a great charge1 this of building up the body of ,christ1 and it is upon us all to ask ourselves to what extent we have endeavoured to discharge this obligation4 ,we admit that the temptations to evade it are many4 ,doctrinal and expository preaching require so much thought1 such careful preparation1 such scrupulous exactness in expression4 ,it is little wonder that1 wearied by other activities1 the preacher sometimes seeks for subjects which can be treated with greater ease and less expenditure of intellectual effort than those we have indicated4 ,and such wonder as we may have is further diminished when we recollect that the idea is very commonly held that the people do not want preaching of this type2 that1 even within the churches indeed1 they prefer being pleased to being taught4 ,possibly this is not so true as has been assumed4 ,perhaps again1 in that degree in which it is true1 the lesson to be learned from the fact is not that such preaching should be withheld1 but rather that an effort should be made to invest it with elements of interest and attractiveness which have possibly too often been lacking4 ,on this point we will have something to say later on4 ,meanwhile we are open to maintain that people do not dislike exposition and theology as such4 ,the late ,doctor ,mc,laren was an expository preacher1 and his sermons were as charming as fairy tales1 multitudes flocking1 through a long course of years1 to hear them4 ,c4 ,h4 ,spurgeon was a doctrinal preacher1 and untold thousands hung entranced upon his lips4 ,each man built up a great congregation1 in which the fruits of the spirit flourished in a perpetual harvest of virtues1 works and sacrifice4 ,to-day the greatest churches in ,london are1 almost without exception1 those whose members sit at the feet of great preachers who are also1 according to their separate schools1 great theologians and masters in the art of interpreting the ,scriptures4 ,we remember as we write a cold and depressing ,sabbath evening last autumn when we turned into ,westminster ,chapel4 ,only a few years ago this great sanctuary was a wilderness in which might be realised the tragedy that is contained in the phrase a down-town church4 ,at this moment it is the home of a mighty spiritual fellowship4 ,on the night of our visit the immense temple was crowded from floor to ceiling4 ,the congregation had obviously been drawn from all ranks and conditions of society4 ,professional men sat side by side with horny-handed sons of toil1 fine ladies with servant girls1 the old with the young4 ,what new device of sensationalism had brought them together8 ,what startling announcement had been flung out over the city to attract this mighty concourse8 ,absolutely none6 ,the sermon was a closely reasoned doctrinal address1 full of quotations from the ,scriptures and of comparison of passage with passage4 ,it was a sermon to tax attention4 ,we mention this experience to show that doctrinal preaching need not mean empty sanctuaries1 as is often asserted4 ,here was a great congregation and1 better still1 here was a living ,church4 ,a further duty of the preacher1 that the message may become approved in the building up of the ,church1 is that of impressing the demands of ,jesus ,christ upon those who bear ,his name4 ,preaching needs to be more exacting than it is4 ,there are vast multitudes in the ,church whose religious life--if indeed they have such a life--is absolutely parasitical4 ,they render no service2 they offer no sacrifice2 their only confession of faith is a more or less intermittent attendance at the public sessions of worship4 ,by such people1 one has humourously said1 the ,church seems to be regarded as a ,pullman car bound for glory4 ,their chief desires are that the train may run so slowly as to enable them to enjoy the scenery by the way2 that the time-bill shall allow of frequent and lengthy stoppages on the journey1 and especially that the conclusion of the trip shall be postponed to as late an hour as possible1 as they labour under no extravagant anxiety to come to its end4 ,are we uncharitable in suspecting that the chief reason many of these people have for making some degree of preparation for ,paradise is that they cannot remain on earth and that ,heaven is1 on the whole1 to be preferred to the only other country available8 ,ah6 the preacher has much of this kind of material on his hands and1 notwithstanding its quality1 the commission to build it up into strength and beauty still applies4 ,clearly1 in such cases1 the duty of the edifying preacher is not to hide1 but to emphasise the demands of ,jesus ,christ for active participation in some form of ,christian service4 ,the harvest truly is plenteous but the labourers are few1 and altogether apart from the advantages to be gained by the ,church from the bringing in of the sheaves1 there is a benefit to be won by the reaper as he garners the grain1 which is entirely beyond calculation4 ,our fathers made it their business in the case of every new convert to find him something to do4 ,sometimes the results were unfortunate1 in that men were put to work they were not qualified to attempt2 but the new employment kept many a man from falling1 and often helped to make useful and polished instruments out of very unpromising material4 ,nearly a thousand years ago ,peter the ,hermit passed like a flame of fire across the provinces of ,europe calling upon men to wrest the ,holy places from the hands of the ,saracen4 ,in countless thousands they responded to his call1 even little children arising and pressing eastward on the great emprise4 ,surely there is need enough for crusading to-day4 ,surely1 too1 there are multitudes who1 for their own souls' sake1 and for the sake of the ,church1 would be all the better for the health and vigour which a little crusading would bring4 ,upon us rests the obligation in ,christ's name to call these hitherto unemployed and ineffective ones to the standard of the ,cross4 ,and to this demand for service it is the preacher's duty to add1 in view of the advantages to follow in the life and character1 the faith and influence of the ,church1 an equally strong demand for sacrifice4 ,it is no kindness of the pulpit to cut down the requirements of the ,lord upon the time1 the strength1 the comfort and the substance of those who profess themselves ,his followers4 ,he that would have life eternal let him go and sell all that he hath and give to the poor4 ,he that will be ,my disciple1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross and follow ,me4 ,he that would save his life the same shall lose it4 ,in these figurative words lies one secret of spiritual growth and health4 ,so then it comes to this3--,that the edification of the ,church and of the individual believer1 so far as it forms part of the task of this1 our messenger1 is to be accomplished by the faithful preaching of such things as the ,master has left on record for the learning of ,his followers1 and by calling them to make proof of truth in the exercise of ,christian activity1 self-denial1 sacrifice and self-culture4 ,we believe1 notwithstanding all that may be said to the contrary1 that the ,church and her children long to hear this message and that they will respond to it4 ,once more we admit that to the preacher1 it may not be the easiest kind of preaching to attempt1 for here he will soon be among the deep things of ,god1 and he will have to ask for great endeavours and great surrenders4 ,but the divine commission is in his hands1 and has he not undertaken to speak what ,god shall teach him ,till we have built ,jerusalem ,in ,england's green and pleasant land8 ,,chapter ,v4 ,the ,note of ,cheer ,the chapter now to be added is written under the influence of a ,sabbath afternoon service in which1 a few hours ago1 we occupied a pew4 ,the scene was a village chapel among the mountains of the ,north of ,england4 ,the preacher was a layman well advanced in age1 who told us that1 for five-and-forty years1 he had been coming from the head of the circuit to take appointments in the village4 ,the sermon was not eloquent4 ,it was neither learned nor profound4 ,it gave no evidence of any great acquaintance with modern thought4 ,there was absolutely no attempt at exegesis4 ,indeed1 the discourse would have failed to satisfy most of those elementary canons upon which the homiletical professors lay such stress4 ,yet1 one great excellence it had1 which1 to its simple-minded auditors1 more than atoned for all its many imperfections3--,it was effective2 it was successful4 ,we came away thanking ,god for the testimony we had heard4 ,and herein lay the success of this local brother's unpretentious discourse3--,it cheered us1 one and all4 ,faces brightened and drooping heads were lifted up as the old man pursued his way4 ,the last hymn was the heartiest of all1 not because1 as is sometimes the case1 the people were encouraged by the thought of approaching liberation1 but because of the spiritual uplift they had realised4 ,we heard a happy buzz of pleasant talk from young and old as they poured through the door to assemble in friendly groups for mutual good-days on the pavement in front of the little temple4 ,with most of them we were well acquainted4 ,some were aged and infirm4 ,others found the struggle of life a hard one4 ,one pew was filled with mourners who1 during the latest week1 had stood around an open grave4 ,there were ,christian workers to whom recent days had brought disappointments and weariness--labourers in the vineyard who had much to try their faith1 for religious work in the villages has many difficulties in these days when the great towns attract so many of our most hopeful young people from the lanes to the streets4 ,the widow was there1 the orphan1 the poor1 the man who had failed in life4 ,ah6 those people had come together bringing with them to the sanctuary much doubt and care and perplexity and fear4 ,it was good to watch them as the preacher went on2 good to feel that these hearts were losing their loads1 these minds their anxieties4 ,not a great discourse1 the critic would have said4 ,perhaps not--from some standpoints4 ,having reached the end of fifty years of preaching1 this white-haired patriarch had long given up the idea of great discourses4 ,to him the ,master had said1 ,comfort ye1 comfort ye ,my people1 and he had walked long1 long miles up the mountain side to do it4 ,pace the critic6 ,this preaching was the very thing for those needy folk this wintry afternoon4 ,and now1 in recollection of that blessed sermon1 and under its gracious influence1 we are strengthened to assert that it is an essential of the message that it contain good cheer for those who need it4 ,the preacher is more than the accuser of men in ,christ's stead2 more1 even1 than the mouthpiece of a divine invitation4 ,his task is not completed in the edifying of churches1 in the building up of individual souls in faith and doctrine and righteousness4 ,jesus saw the sorrow of the world1 anticipated the afflictions through which men would have to pass and the burdens they would have to bear4 ,he was touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 ,he drank of our bitter cup4 ,our griefs were in ,his mind when ,he sent ,his preachers forth4 ,to be the agents of a great purpose of consolation1 ministers of cheer and encouragement to hard-pressed and burdened men and women to the end of time were they sent6 ,and for this work of consolation ,he not only gave a commission but ,he furnished1 as well1 an example to all who should ever preach ,his word4 ,surely one great secret of the wondrous effectiveness of that brief ministry lay in the fact that while1 as we have seen1 it spoke to the consciences of men1 bringing home the truths of righteousness and judgment2 while it set before them the way of spiritual salvation and formulated the demands and conditions thereof1 indicating the higher path1 the strait gate and the narrow way1 it was also directed to the bruised hearts and broken spirits of those who attended ,his steps4 ,we are told1 after all1 but very little of the words and deeds of ,jesus during those eventful years in which ,he trod the highways and byeways of the land breaking the bread of life from city to city4 ,of the period passed in ,nazareth in preparation for the strenuous days to come we are told nothing at all4 ,the world1 it is said1 would hardly contain the books if all had been written down4 ,but enough is told to give us visions of those unrecorded days1 and to show that ,he was a cheering ,christ1 a messenger of comfort--this ,saviour of ours4 ,healing was in ,his words4 ,did not our hearts burn within us while ,he talked with us by the way1 and while ,he opened to us the ,scriptures8 said1 one to another1 those two disciples who1 with saddened countenances1 had set out together to ,emmaus on that troubled day4 ,watch ,him yonder in the house at ,bethany1 what time bereavement casts its shadow upon the dwelling4 ,and ,he took little children in ,his arms and blessed them4 ,here1 again1 is a whole history of tenderness4 ,from this one act a flood of light streams backward and forward upon ,his whole earthly life1 and we can see the kindly glance that brought the little ones around ,him4 ,we can hear the gentle voice that dispelled their shyness and gave confidence to their hearts4 ,even in that old time1 and in the quiet and dreamy ,east1 life had many cares4 ,there were push and drive and hard and grinding rivalry even then4 ,those days had their economic questions as well as ours4 ,it was only by hardest struggle that many a cupboard was furnished and many a table spread2 for poverty is no new thing1 and sorrow1 affliction1 oppression1 dread and death are as old as the hills4 ,we read of the beggar by the wayside1 of ,lazarus writhing in hunger and smitten with sores on the threshold of ,dives1 who wore purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day4 ,the widow's house was robbed2 the orphan was cheated of his small inheritance2 life1 even for the fortunate1 went much as it does now--the music of gladness to-day1 the solemn tones of the dirge to-morrow4 ,how gracious to many a hearer would be that ,sermon on the ,mount with its passages for the special blessing of perplexed and worried souls1 spoken1 also1 for the teaching of all who may be called to stand before the children of grief and want4 ,therefore take no thought1 saying1 ,what shall we eat8 or1 ,what shall we drink8 or1 ,wherewithal shall we be clothed8 4444 ,for your heavenly ,father knoweth that ye have need of all these things4 4444 ,take therefore no thought for the morrow3 for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself4 4444 ,and why take ye thought for raiment8 ,consider the lilies of the field1 how they grow3 they toil not1 neither do they spin3 ,and yet ,i say unto you1 ,that even ,solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these4 ,wherefore1 if ,god so clothe the grass of the field1 which to-day is1 and to-morrow is cast into the oven1 shall ,he not much more clothe you1 ,o ye of little faith8 4444 ,are not five sparrows sold for two farthings8 ,and not one of them is forgotten before ,god3 ,but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered4 ,fear not1 therefore3 ye are of more value than many sparrows4 4444 ,consider the ravens3 for they neither sow nor reap2 which neither have storehouse nor barn2 and ,god feedeth them3 how much more are ye better than the fowls8 ,think of it all6 ,imagine that great multitude gathered out of the cities and villages round about4 ,it was a hard world from which they had come to hear this man of ,nazareth1 and1 even as they came1 care had tugged at their skirts2 fear had rattled upon the doors of their hearts4 ,think what music would be in that sweet new ,gospel of divine providence and affection1 spoken in that calm and gentle voice whose every tone was vibrant with understanding1 sympathy and love6 ,can we not see the people as darkness throws its veil across the blue ,syrian sky turning once more to their distant homes1 new hope and courage enthroned upon the forehead so recently seamed by care8 ,can we not follow them to the dawning of another day1 and behold their going forth1 once again1 to the tasks of life brightly1 bravely1 cheerily8 ,to them1 indeed1 had come glad tidings of great joy6 ,and if the ,master so gave ,himself to this ministry of brightening the lives of men1 ,his first preachers caught the lesson and went forth1 the same good purpose lively in their hearts4 ,to lift up the hands which hang down1 and the feeble knees2 to heal that which was lame1 that it be not turned out of the way2 to visit the widow and the fatherless2 to speak peace to the people--in these happy duties lay a large part of their work4 ,dark1 indeed1 were those early days for the infant ,church2 heavy the clouds above her2 terrible the storms of hate and persecution which spent their fury upon her and scattered abroad her fellowship1 but amidst it all more songs were heard than sighs1 more triumphs than complaints4 ,in the midnight hour a strange new music ran through the prison1 for ,paul and ,silas prayed and sang praises and the prisoners heard them1 and so1 to crushed and bleeding souls1 even there1 a breath of heavenly comfort came4 ,we have sometimes heard people talk of ,st4 ,paul in such a way as to picture one who was above the tenderness wherefrom sad hearts are blessed--the great theologian1 the mighty logician1 the lone1 strong1 sublime man whose self-mastery lifted him above sympathy with common men4 ,great he was1 but great in compassion as well as in mind4 ,among the watchwords of encouragement you will find none more inspiring than those written by his fettered hand4 ,was it not he who wrote that assurance which has so often come between us and despair3--,and we know that all things work together for good to them that love ,god8 ,from him1 also1 came that glowing word which has shed radiance upon many a couch of pain3 ,for our light affliction1 which is but for a moment1 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory4 ,there is a more noble picture of the great ,apostle to the ,gentiles than that above referred to4 ,the ship is driven up and down in ,adria4 ,euroclydon roars through the rigging4 ,mighty billows come crashing over the bulwarks4 ,neither sun1 nor moon nor stars have for many days appeared4 ,nearer and nearer the helpless craft is being swept to the cruel rocks of yonder savage coast4 ,the ship's company is in an agony of dismay4 ,suddenly from the cabin comes he of ,tarsus4 ,wherefore1 sirs1 be of good cheer1 he cries1 above the blast1 for ,i believe ,god4 ,thus does he summarise in one great assuring word the message learned at the foot of the cross4 ,behind it is all the authority of ,god's revelation to his soul upon the ,damascus road6 ,so ministered the ,master1 and so1 ,his first preachers1 and hence it came to pass that the early disciples of the infant faith were known for their calmness1 their courage and their joy4 ,men took knowledge of them that they had been with ,jesus4 ,this was the very age of which the poet has told us3-- ,on that hard ,pagan ,world disgust ,and secret loathing fell2 ,deep weariness and sated lust ,made human life a hell4 ,but the servants of the ,galilean1 more persecuted than any other men1 walked abroad with a gladness which was at once the perplexity and the condemnation of the time4 ,rejoice evermore was a sacred command and a glorious possibility of the new religion1 for they were taught to believe that ,all things are yours and ye are ,christ's and ,christ is ,god's2 they were assured that ,nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of ,god which is in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord6 ,that was the first century1 and with us now is the twentieth2 and it is said that the burdens of men become more numerous and more heavy as the years pass on4 ,older grows the world1 but there is no lessening of its care1 no relief from its perplexity1 its pain1 its sorrow4 ,as civilisation becomes more complex the drive of life waxes ever more and more fierce4 ,along with this complaint1 it is said by some1 that in the ,church there is less joy than in those old days--less1 indeed1 than in times within the memory of the grey-haired among us4 ,we who are ,methodists are often reminded of a former ,methodism which was vocal with praises and electric with joy4 ,they whisper that it is different with us now2 that even the pulpit has lost its note of gladness4 ,care sits upon the preacher's brow4 ,the songs of ,zion are timed to the throb of hearts that lag for very weariness4 ,some are sick and some are sad4 ,cares of to-day and burdens of to-morrow haunt us in the very means of grace1 and little is said to make us forget4 ,fightings without and fears within1 from these we seek deliverance in vain4 ,the prophet has forgotten how to comfort or1 if he have not forgotten1 he thinks the task unworthy of hours which might be more learnedly and impressively employed4 ,if we admit1 as perhaps we may1 the existence of a measure of truth in this complaint1 it will only be to claim that there is some excuse for those whom it asperses4 ,the intellectual problems bred of a materialistic age have so compelled the preacher to the defence of the walls of ,zion that it may well have come to pass that the inhabitants of the city--the men and women down in the streets and dwellings1 for the security of whom he has been contending--may have had to go short of many things2 a time of siege is a time of deprivations and hardships for citizens as well as soldiers4 ,the great social questions of the present day have also claimed much of his thought and effort4 ,he has felt1 and justly1 that these questions ought to receive more pulpit recognition4 ,it is possible1 and should not be thought surprising1 that in the ardour of the social crusade the preacher may have sometimes given to these things time and strength which might have been better spent in ministering to the personal griefs and perplexities of such as sat before him for their need's sake4 ,it may be well for us each to make inquiry concerning ourselves in these matters4 ,as a result we will realise again1 no doubt1 how numerous and insistent are the demands made upon us to turn aside in our ministry to treat of a hundred things which once upon a time we did not think of as pulpit questions4 ,be this as it may1 here lies work for the preacher which he must not neglect4 ,it is as certainly his duty to cheer and encourage the heart of the individual as to indicate the path to better conditions of life for the multitude4 ,and this he can only effectively do as he perfects himself in his understanding of their needs4 ,of this understanding1 and of the ways in which it must be sought1 we have already written and will say no more1 except to point out how every new discovery concerning the preacher's duties furnishes additional illustration of the absolute necessity that he study not books only1 but also men and the conditions of their lives4 ,it is of little use knowing the contents of well-filled shelves if we have never read the living volumes before us in the pews4 ,again we say1 if we only knew4 ,still knowledge is not the whole of the preacher's need in order that his message may contain this cheering quality4 ,it is even more needful that he shall1 himself1 be one of those who abide in the comfort of ,god4 ,he must have learned the efficacy of the great consoling and gladdening verities by experience of their application to his own soul4 ,he only can surely cheer others who himself is cheerful1 and no man who has ever felt the pressure and care of life can be cheerful excepting in so far as these great guarantees have become real to his own spirit4 ,only with the comfort wherewith he is comforted of ,god will he comfort others6 ,and what are the verities whose application he must have experienced8 ,there is not one of all the glorious circle of revealed truths that is not of use for the strengthening and encouraging of men2 but there are some of these truths which might almost have been designed for this special use4 ,do we receive--do we preach them as we ought8 ,there is the doctrine of ,divine ,providence4 ,surely this truth should be preached more frequently than it is4 ,surely1 too1 it should be preached in such a way as to link its meanings to the common hours1 the common needs and anxieties of life4 ,for the vast majority of men life is actually a struggle for bread for themselves and their dependants4 ,we had almost said that it is a constant escape from ever threatening evils4 ,the question of food and raiment is full for them of the direst probabilities4 ,many a man listens to the preacher whose life is1 indeed1 from hand to mouth4 ,fierce competition seeks at every turn to rob him of his little opportunity of bread winning4 ,such a man had rather be told of a providing ,god than of the newest discoveries in ,biblical criticism4 ,if we forget his need and suffer him to go from the ,sanctuary no more hopeful and brave than when he came--then1 so far as he is concerned1 we have surely failed4 ,there is again the doctrine of the ,divine ,presence4 ,i will be with thee in the six troubles1 and in the seventh ,i will not leave thee4 ,the wonderful truth of ,jesus ,christ in living1 constant1 saving nearness to every man1 ready to help1 to deliver and guide--here is a doctrine1 mighty to comfort all the world4 ,before us are men who1 morning by morning1 go forth with trembling to spend the day in associations full of such temptations and dangers as are undreamed of by us4 ,here are men and women haunted by bitter memories1 whose midnight solitude is disturbed by the ghosts of buried years4 ,there are many lonely people in the world1 many from whom lover and friend have been put far away4 ,for such is this treasure of promise committed unto us4 ,send yonder man back to his conflict2 yonder stranger to his loneliness2 yonder memoried soul to his solitude to face again the spirits of his bygone days1 with this thought3 that every step of the way--whether in the city or in the desert--,jesus ,christ will be by his side4 ,such a preaching will be sweeter to him a thousand times than perplexing metaphysical discussions4 ,then let us not forget to apply the promises by which the ,master has strengthened the exhortations given to ,his servants in all times to labour in the fields of ,christian service4 ,of such promises there is surely a varied and glorious store1 and for all of them there is need enough4 ,never do we preach but before us is some toiler almost ready to give up because of long delay in the appearance of the first signs of harvest4 ,encourage him6 ,tell him that the ,god of the sowing is also the ,god of the reaping4 ,tell him not to be weary in well doing1 for in due season he shall reap if he faint not4 ,tell him that he that goeth forth weeping1 bearing precious seed1 shall doubtless come again rejoicing1 bringing his sheaves with him4 ,tell him this4 ,he has heard it all before1 of course1 or else he had not so long struggled on in the work4 ,tell it him again and again1 for again and again the need to hear it all will come4 ,tell it him gloriously1 confidently4 ,he will go back to his ,sunday ,school class1 back to his labour among the poor1 out to his next appointment on the plan1 with a new hope which will be also a new power6 ,and let us remember that there has been given unto us for the comforting of ,his people the revelation of the glory laid up for them that fear ,him4 ,to the writer a little while ago an able and spiritually minded ,unitarian minister made this statement3--,in every service ,i conduct ,i announce1 at least1 one hymn on immortality4 ,the people need to hear of it4 ,there is food for thought in such a confession from such a source4 ,once upon a time it was common in ,methodism to hear sermons on ,heaven4 ,to-day how infrequent such sermons are6 ,yet surely the ,king has not withdrawn this portion of the message from our hands4 ,and surely there is occasion for such reminders to be given4 ,how many there are to whom ,earth's but a sorry tent2 how many1 again1 who go in bondage to the fear of death all their days2 how many more who look mournfully after departed dear ones and wonder how it goes with them across the stream4 ,to all such people is the preacher commissioned1 and they look wistfully toward him for the word that may let the glory in6 ,and that word we do not speak nowadays as often as we might1 perhaps not as often as we ought4 ,here1 again1 is something to be recovered by the present-day preacher4 ,possibly when he comes to talk of the glories laid up1 this same preacher may find need for some new forms of expression4 ,perhaps he will not find it possible to speak with the old literalism of his predecessors4 ,but the living core of the message is still his as it was theirs4 ,the divine example1 too1 is before him every time he harks back to his ,master's presence4 ,in that great day of sorrow when ,he spake to the disciples of ,his early departure1 ,he1 seeing their grief1 said1 ,in ,my ,father's house are many mansions 4444 ,i go to prepare a place for you4 ,preach ,heaven6 ,this very day there are hearts breaking for the story6 ,to cheer the souls of men by the use of this1 or any other material1 and in any legitimate way we can--to this must our preaching be absolutely and resolutely bent4 ,to make brighter the lives of men2 to take out of the future its dark dreads and fears and to fill it with beckoning blessings2 to make the sanctuary a place of healing1 a house of bread1 a rock of cooling streams2 to make of every service a season of refreshing--for all this are we responsible to the ,king who sent us out to ,his suffering children4 ,the message ,he entrusted to us contains the sufficiency for it all6 ,but more1 we repeat1 than the mere letter of the message is needed4 ,the best of words may be so spoken as to bring but small assistance to such as hear4 ,again we say that the preacher must1 himself1 live in the comfort and courage he preaches to others1 or else there will be somewhat in his voice that will spoil it all4 ,the word and also the tone6 ,the tone must be the tone of absolute realisation and assurance4 ,pronounced in any other accent the words of the ,gospel of joy sound impossible2 the blessings they promise seem dim and far away2 the fact of providence becomes a mere theory2 the future harvest of holy sowing a pious but foolish hope2 the sweet fields of ,eden a fair but airy dream4 ,nothing is colder than perfunctory1 official1 professional consolation and encouragement4 ,when fear whispers ,courage6 the chattering of his teeth makes our terror worse6 ,so1 once again1 the preacher's success and effectiveness are found largely to depend upon his own heart's condition4 ,the message will carry little more cheer than the messenger can pour into it out of the stored up happiness and confidence of his own breast4 ,in the cheer of ,god must he abide who would scatter a little comfort among his fellow men6 ,,book ,,iii ,,the ,,message3-- ,,its ,,form ,,and ,,deliverance ,,theory ,,of ,,book ,,iii4 ,we have spoken of the ,effective ,preacher and of the ,effective ,message1 but this ,message must have ,effective ,form and ,expression in order to command the ,largest ,measure of ,success4 ,what are the ,essentials of ,effectiveness in the ,form and ,delivery of the ,message8 ,,chapter ,i4 ,on ,attractiveness4 ,having now given some little thought to a consideration of the essential qualifications of the ,christian messenger1 and also to the content of his message1 it remains to name certain qualities of form and expression equally needed for success in the publication of the truth4 ,the first business of the preacher is1 of course1 to secure the friendly attention of his hearers and his next business is to retain it until he makes an end of speaking4 ,to accomplish these things it is obviously needful that he possess some skill in the putting of things in such a way as first to attract1 then to enlighten1 and finally1 to persuade4 ,in beginning then1 a very brief inquiry concerning these qualities1 it may be assumed that in the sermon as we know it we have by far the best vehicle for the conveyance of the preacher's message4 ,from time to time experiments with other media have been tried1 but the sermon has not been superseded4 ,a few years ago trial was made of what was called the ,sermon-story--a religious novel read by the preacher in weekly parts4 ,song services and lantern addresses have been well-intentioned attempts to enlist the ear and the eye in the interests of the soul4 ,in the miracle plays of the ,middle ,ages1 ,scriptural truth and incident were thrown into dramatic form for the benefit of the ignorant classes4 ,the sermon still holds the field4 ,no form of preaching has use and acceptance so general1 nor so lends itself to meet changing times and differing circumstances as does this4 ,the thought is no less true than wonderful1 and no less wonderful than true1 that of all who appeal to the public ear1 none1 even in these days of comparative indifference to religion1 draw so large an audience as do the preachers of the ,christian faith4 ,the sermon is still the most popular form of public address6 ,it will be wise therefore for the preacher not only to ask as to whether he possesses within himself a preaching mind and heart and knowledge and designation2 whether he can say that he seeks to present the truth in all its completeness1 but also whether his sermons are of such a sort as most readily to secure the entrance of the truth they contain4 ,god's truth may be--and often is--hindered in its saving errand by reason of the form and manner in which it is presented1 though1 behind such ineffective presentation1 there may be sincerity of motive and sublime enthusiasm4 ,the preacher may fail as a messenger by failing as a sermoniser4 ,he may fail as a sermoniser from neglect of principles which so wait upon his discovery that it is nothing less than a mystery when they are not seen4 ,and yet1 obvious as these principles are1 the art of the sermon maker needs learning1 and even the study of methods of delivery is of immense importance to success4 ,we have spoken of the born preacher2 even he must cultivate his gifts in order to realise his highest possibilities4 ,we speak sometimes of diamonds in the rough2 the value of these precious stones increases as the art of the lapidary is carefully exercised upon them4 ,if it be only to prevent the formation of false methods and bad habits of thought and utterance1 a preacher should give attention to the study of ,homiletics4 ,he may1 as the end of all his studies1 feel led deliberately to reject much of what he has been taught in favour of original methods of his own4 ,as the years go on he may forget many of the rules laboriously learned4 ,neither of these circumstances should be held to prove that time spent in the sermonising class has been wasted4 ,it is a fact that most of us have forgotten the greater part of what we learned at school4 ,the dates which made up so large a part of our historical lessons1 the rules we slavishly committed as we struggled to master the difficulties of syntax and prosody1 our latinity1 our grounding in the tongue of ancient ,greece so hardly won--who amongst us1 having grey hairs in abundance1 could face to-day the examination room where once we triumphed in these things8 ,yet in a sense they are all still with us4 ,we reproduce them in effectiveness in the daily battle2 in the thousand and one duties forming the work of life4 ,it may be much the same in the case of homiletics4 ,we may reject2 we may forget2 but we cannot altogether fail to profit richly in many ways from studies the object of which is to make the student more skilful in the use of the powers bestowed upon him4 ,had these pages been written for young men only1 they would have contained more than one chapter devoted to an effort to enforce the absolute necessity of bending the mind1 and with the mind the heart1 to the earnest pursuit of all that can be learned about the actual building-up of discourses from the foundation of exegesis to the topstone of application4 ,we do not refrain from emphasising this necessity because of any thought that even the elder brethren will find such studies without profit4 ,to read once more some of the homiletic manuals of our far-off days1 would not be for many of us a foolish method of spending a quiet hour between the mount and multitude6 ,to these books1 with others more recently published1 we refer the reader who is on the lookout for rules4 ,in our youth there were many of them3--,kidder1 ,phelps1 ,broadus1 ,beecher1 ,parker's ,ad ,clerum4 ,add to these ,phillips ,brooks1 ,dale1 ,the ,cure of ,souls1 and as many more as can be remembered2 their name is legion--all helpful to wise men and good4 ,our present duty seems to be that of naming certain principles which must be remembered by all who would attain to effectiveness in pulpit expression4 ,and the first of these principles seems to be this3--,that the sermon should have the quality of attractiveness1 that it ought to be so interesting that the man in the pew will wish to listen to it1 find it harder not to listen than to attend to its every word4 ,you will never save or help a man if you never interest him6 ,now1 whether there be need to emphasise this very obvious consideration we may judge from the talk we hear about sermons in general4 ,we have already spoken of the wonderful popularity of this form of public address2 but this popularity is not unqualified by complaints1 the most frequent of which is1 perhaps1 about the preacher's dulness4 ,as dull as a sermon is a familiar expression--so familiar that no one troubles to protest against its use and application4 ,one of our most hoary and patriarchal anecdotes tells of the minister who1 finding a burglar in his study1 held the man in deep slumber by the reading of last ,sunday's discourse while his wife slipped out for the policeman4 ,an ,american humorist1 who has laid us under life-long obligation for hours of honest laughter1 tells us1 in the history of his courtship of ,betsy ,jane1 that her folks and his slept in the same meeting house4 ,again and again have we heard of the risks run by insurance companies in granting fire policies upon the houses of the clergy1 because of the immense quantities of very dry material they contain4 ,all these humorous stories and sallies find appreciation because there is1 alas6 a certain amount of truth at the heart of them4 ,then there is also that demand for shorter sermons in which some see so ominous a portent4 ,we demur to the assumption that this demand invariably grows out of dislike for the subjects upon which the preacher dilates4 ,it is objected that no one grumbles greatly concerning the length of a ,shakespearian representation1 nor when a prominent and eloquent politician occupies the platform for an hour and a half4 ,a little while ago1 in a crowded hall in ,london1 we heard a well-known statesman speak for two hours and a quarter on a busy ,saturday afternoon1 and1 at the conclusion1 hundreds were heard to express surprise on learning that the address had been half so lengthy4 ,if we preached as long as this what would happen8 asked a friend as we left the hall4 ,what1 indeed8 ,but suppose that we preached as interestingly as the politician spoke8 ,suppose we had learned something from the great dramatist of the art of assailing and winning the attention of the men and women to whom we speak8 ,it must not be forgotten1 when we find fault with the demand for short sermons1 that there are some preachers from whom their hearers demand not short sermons but long6 ,perhaps this demand for brevity may not result so much from the depravity of the pew as from the dulness of the pulpit1 by which we mean the sermon and not its subject4 ,at this very moment1 there is no subject--we dare to say--on which the average man can be so deeply moved as on the subject of his spiritual needs and questions4 ,it can still be said that more people attend the churches and chapels of ,london than are to be found in all other places of popular resort4 ,the things of the spirit are still the things most thought of1 and should those whose business it is to speak of them fail to win1 at least the ear1 if not the heart1 of those they seek to influence1 they ought to ask themselves very faithfully whether it may not be possible that some of the fault may lie in the form1 or wording1 or delivery of the message4 ,they should inquire whether sermon and delivery are such as to make it easier to listen than to sleep4 ,they should ask1 ,can it be that even ,i am guilty of being dull8 ,for the truth must be confessed that some preachers--brethren with golden truth to publish1 and possessed of good natural gifts and a real and deep desire to bless the people--are dull--drearily1 dreadfully1 deadly dull6 ,they are dull with the most interesting1 the most wonderful--may we not say the most sensational8--subject in the world to talk about4 ,and what is the cause of this dulness8 ,again we say it does not lie in the nature of the subjects committed to the preacher4 ,to this denial we will add another to the effect that1 in almost every instance1 the dulness of the sermon does not proceed from a quality of dulness in the preacher4 ,there are few men who1 in conversation1 are unable to interest us in subjects of intrinsic attractiveness4 ,many a man1 dull to boredom in the pulpit1 becomes a delightful personality in the social circle4 ,why the startling difference8 ,to answer this question fully might involve the use of many words1 but it may1 at least1 be suggested that preaching is often dull because the preacher has inherited a notion that reverence for the truth and for the sanctuary demands it4 ,there still remain traces of a feeling1 said to have been common in old time1 that dulness is a virtue4 ,this same feeling was wont1 in other days1 to fill the homes of the godly with a gravity and a solemnity which almost effected the banishment of laughter and drove forth music as an outcast from the domestic hearth4 ,dominated by this sense of things1 men shut their eyes to the joyfulness of life and the beauties of nature and literature and poetry and art4 ,the ,sabbaths of such men were days to be feared2 their sanctuaries places without a gleam of sunshine4 ,what wonder if the pulpit came under the yoke of bondage1 or that1 having been once enslaved1 it should even now have hardly attained to perfect freedom8 ,then there are preachers whose great concern is to maintain the dignity of the pulpit1 and this concern is allowed to crush out their naturalness and brightness and humour--every quality that is human and pleasant and alluring4 ,it is on record that even so great and wise a preacher as ,dr4 ,dale of ,birmingham had to confess that his own mighty ministry had suffered because of a certain stateliness of composition and delivery which had militated against the attractiveness of his sermons1 especially so far as the younger and less educated of his hearers were concerned4 ,from this solicitude for the dignity of the pulpit have come the pulpit manner1 the pulpit tone1 the pulpit vocabulary1 all of which1 as being departures from honest ,nature's homely plans1 have helped to spoil the charm and prevent the triumph of holy1 lovely truth4 ,still another may be dull from intellectual pride4 ,not unknown is the man who may often be heard explaining the success attained by other brethren but denied to himself1 by references to what he calls playing to the gallery or catering for popular applause4 ,he1 forsooth1 will not so demean himself as to be guilty of practices so degrading4 ,thought is his provision for those who come to hear4 ,he appeals to thinkers4 ,alas6 for him1 his thinkers1 if only he knew it1 are human and have a mind to be pleased4 ,very intellectual1 may be the verdict with which they leave the church1 but people cannot always be on the intellectual rack1 and both the ,sabbath and the ,sanctuary were designed for rest for weary brains4 ,we have known a very learned man to admit1 as he came away from hearing an exceedingly thoughtful discourse1 that1 to him1 the preacher's address to the children had been the most enjoyable part of the service4 ,the sermon was very clever2 but--well1 he had had a hard and trying week of it1 and came to church with a tired mind and a troubled heart4 ,so it has come to pass that many a preacher has fallen into a homiletic dulness quite foreign to his own disposition4 ,in the home1 the social circle1 in every place saving the pulpit he was human and natural4 ,he had a jest to cheer the depressed1 a tear for sorrow4 ,he could rejoice with those who rejoiced1 weep with those who wept4 ,he was responsive to the piping of gladness4 ,in pain or pleasure he was ever a welcome guest1 but in the temple he condemned by tone and manner every bit of humanity into which he had been unwittingly betrayed1 and atoned for his every lapse into naturalness by dreariness growing drearier4 ,not so did ,jesus ,christ preach1 else the common people had not heard ,him gladly2 not so1 else the little children had not gathered around ,his feet1 nor shouted their ,hosannas as he rode up to the city gate4 ,not dull were those sermons that drew the multitudes from the towns to the wilderness1 and held them so entranced that the time for bodily refreshment passed unheeded by4 ,never man spake like this ,man1 they said1 as they spread their garments in the path by which the preacher came up to ,mount ,zion4 ,he revealed ,god2 ,he rebuked sin2 ,he poured ,his denunciations upon the age2 ,he tore off the mask from the face of hypocrisy2 not one jot or tittle of truth did ,he bate for the sake of applause1 yet all ,judea went out to ,him1 and all the regions beyond ,jordan4 ,in ,his preaching there was not only everything to save the soul1 there was everything to charm the ear6 ,from this divine example1 if from no other consideration1 let us set ourselves to preach attractively2 and let us begin by resolving to preach naturally4 ,the best preaching is talk at its best in subject and in style1 and provides exercise for every talent of preacher and hearer alike4 ,right here1 as the ,americans say1 let us remember that talk is always spoken and never read4 ,for the production of the effect of dulness2 for the sure spoiling of good thought nobly conceived and nobly phrased1 commend us to a manuscript slavishly read to an audience assembled to be spoken to by a man who was appointed to speak4 ,there may be churches which1 through long suffering1 have become so used to being read to that they have learned to endure it1 perhaps even to fancy they like it4 ,but watch the congregation in such a church4 ,note when for a moment the preacher lifts his head and ventures a brief excursion from the sheets before him1 how obviously their interest quickens and their eyes brighten4 ,even they1 in the depths of their hearts1 would rather be spoken to1 though such a practice might mean1 now and then1 a little looseness in expression1 a little breakdown in the preacher's grammar4 ,more than this may be said3--,it has seemed to us1 as the result of attending many churches1 that in such sanctuaries as we have referred to reading is going out of fashion4 ,we have listened of late months to many well-known preachers of various denominations and not one of them read4 ,on the other hand1 we have heard it asserted that while the method of reading becomes less common in these churches1 it tends to become more usual in ,methodism4 ,alas6 for ,methodist preaching if this startling assertion be really true4 ,methodism does not want the read sermon--is not likely1 unless it ceases to be ,methodism1 to learn to want it--will only endure it when it cannot help itself1 or when1 for other reasons1 it has great reverence and affection for the man who weakly offers it2 or again1 when the preacher is old and has outlived his intellectual nimbleness1 in which case sympathy may so plead his cause as to secure him a reluctant hearing4 ,methodism grew to greatness under the preaching of men who spoke1 and that method is traditional to her pulpit2 some day she will crystallise her tradition into a law that the speaker alone shall stand in her high place4 ,to attract and hold the people the preacher must speak6 ,and let him speak in the voice and manner with which it is most natural for him to speak to his fellow men4 ,there is as yet no organ sweeter than the human voice in its own natural tones1 none so adapted to reach the heart4 ,the pity is1 that so often1 from simple ignorance1 this fine instrument is spoiled4 ,gladly would we see a course of voice tuition included as a necessary part of all pulpit training4 ,so would the spoiling of many a gracious utterance be prevented4 ,it is faulty methods of speech rather than overwork that are responsible for many a clergyman's sore throat4 ,speaking is as natural an exercise to the voice of a man as is walking to his feet1 or handling to his hands1 but it must be done naturally2 and the use of training is found in its bringing home this lesson4 ,the pulpit voice must become a yesterday's blunder4 ,to attractiveness in delivery must be added1 if people are to be kept in audience1 an attractiveness in treatment2 here1 again1 the method of success is to let ,nature have her way4 ,let the preacher permit himself to devote all his gifts to the setting forth of his theme4 ,the great thing is to get the word right home and to that end all considerations as to style1 language1 arrangement1 should be subordinate4 ,there be some highly intellectual persons who affect contempt when a preacher tells a story4 ,there are very solemn persons who gravely disapprove when the sermon contains a touch of humour which causes a ripple of laughter in the holy place4 ,some people1 again1 hate an epigram1 and say the preacher is trying to be smart4 ,it is impossible to please all the critics4 ,the great business of the preacher is to get his work done2 and if by a story1 a touch of humour or of sarcasm1 the use of any gift1 he can1 keeping within the limits of that good taste which should guide him at all times1 entice men to listen1 the critics may be ignored4 ,one more paragraph may be added before bringing this chapter to an end4 ,after all1 the great secret of being interesting lies in being interested4 ,the really enthralling preacher is he who is himself enthralled by his subject and who realises1 also1 a deep interest in the people before ,him4 ,should it ever come to pass that the subject grow stale1 worn and hackneyed to the man in the pulpit1 it will not be a hopeful quest to look for much interest in the pew4 ,again should it ever come to pass that the preacher lose interest in those before whom he stands1 and this has been known to occur1 there will remain small reason to listen to him for preaching of the sort we most desire4 ,may it not be possible that the sermon-box is responsible for much of the dulness we deplore4 ,whitefield1 it is said1 used to contend that a man could preach the same discourse forty-nine times with ever-increasing effect4 ,there may be some who have not this power1 but who faithfully toil to prove the truth of the dictum4 ,it was such a good sermon and went so well when we preached it the first few times1 the while our hearts were fired by the truth it taught4 ,so we whispered to ourselves as we turned over the contents of that precious box4 ,other days had come1 other circumstances1 other people1 other needs and other views1 but forth came the well-worn and faded manuscript once again4 ,a baptism of holy madness in which every preacher should make a fire of all his sermons dry enough to burn might not be a bad thing for the ,church and the world4 ,such a baptism may1 perhaps1 be too great a thing to pray for2 such a sacrifice as it would involve1 may possibly be too much to ask--and some sermons are worth preaching over and over again1 even long after ,whitefield's maximum has been exceeded4 ,still there is a dangerous temptation in the possession of hoarded sermons from which we will do well to pray to be delivered4 ,to that petition thousands in all the churches would be glad to say ,amen6 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,on ,transparency4 ,there is one quality of such vital importance to the effectiveness of our sermons as to merit more than passing mention1 and that is the quality of lucidity4 ,the business of the preacher is to make his meaning understood1 to make his audience see what he sees1 understand what he understands4 ,it is laid upon him as a special instruction to present the truth with such plainness that a wayfaring man1 though a fool1 need not err therein4 ,failing here1 he fails badly4 ,it is possible1 perhaps1 to excite a hearer's admiration without clearness4 ,there is to be found in some men a curious liking for being puzzled2 and they will credit with high talent and deep learning him who is able thoroughly to mystify them4 ,we have more than once heard a man described as far learned because of a style in which polysyllables1 not always correctly chosen1 did duty for thought1 as polysyllables often do4 ,but the mere winning of ignorant admiration is a poor result of pulpit work1 and no manly man will set such an end before him as the goal of his ambition4 ,admit that hearers may receive a measure of blessing out of all proportion to the degree of their understanding--a friend of ours tells us that he has had wonderful times in listening to sermons in the ,welsh language of which he knows not a word1--it still remains true that men are saved through the knowledge of the truth4 ,in joining himself to the ,eunuch from ,ethiopia who1 sitting in his chariot read the ,prophet ,esaias1 ,philip asked1 ,understandest thou what thou readest8 and all his effort went to make the dusky stranger comprehend4 ,to make men understand1 is our bounden duty still4 ,and to accomplish this necessary achievement is not invariably the easiest thing imaginable4 ,indeed1 it may well be contended that in none of his aims does the preacher fail more frequently than in this4 ,often would we be greatly surprised and deeply discouraged had we the means of comparing the idea received with the idea we meant to convey4 ,the reticence of our hearers is wisdom in them and mercy to us4 ,for it is absolutely certain that most preachers overestimate--we do not say the intelligence of their congregations1--but their ability to grasp the truth presented at the speed1 and in the way in which it is brought before them4 ,because the trained mind of the preacher can readily and easily understand religious literature and speech1 it does not follow that the hearer has the same power2 nor does it follow that the lack of it proves him a person of smaller intellectuality than the man whose utterances bring perplexity to his mind4 ,the preacher should remember that what are matters of daily thought and research to him are not so familiar to his hearers4 ,to him they form a well-known country4 ,he should not assume that the man who turns to him for direction as to the points and places of this holy land will always be able to comprehend these directions as easily as he gives them4 ,we speak from experience when we assert that it is much easier1 in a land one knows very well1 to direct the traveller on his way than it is to understand such directions when1 from strangeness in the path1 we have in turn to seek them ourselves4 ,not only is this true1 but it is also true that we are too apt to take for granted that what is knowledge to the preacher is knowledge to the hearer4 ,it is to be feared that in these days the average church-goer is not so well versed in ,biblical knowledge as the assumptions of our sermons might suggest4 ,most men nowadays live in a hurry1 and are busy about many things1 and it cannot be pretended that the ,scriptures receive that reading and study which give such advantage to the hearer of preaching4 ,probably an examination of any ten men chosen without discrimination out of the congregation of one of our churches would reveal a state of things both startling and sad4 ,it is so easy to be misled by appearances4 ,the congregation is well dressed1 respectable1 keen4 ,there are the usual signs of education1 even of culture4 ,all these things are consistent with great shallowness of sacred knowledge4 ,men are careful to till their own fields1 but common land is generally sorely neglected4 ,there is a scientist in yonder pew2 in his own science he is supreme4 ,near him sits a politician2 few there are who know the questions of the hour better than he4 ,in the pulpit stands the preacher2 he is--shall we venture the assertion8--a man mighty in the ,bible4 ,it is his book4 ,it is1 in a general way1 the book of the scientist1 of the statesman1 of every person in the congregation1 but the preacher specialises in it and in all that relates to it4 ,he will make a mistake if he assumes too much either to the credit of one man before him or another4 ,here a memory of many years ago rises to the surface4 ,having to preach one ,sunday to an audience which usually contained two or three men of positions rather above the common run1 we confessed great nervousness to an aged minister of our church now no more4 ,never bother a bit1 lad1 was the reply2 remember one thing3--,you will know more about that subject than any man in the chapel1 because you will have been working at it4 ,the doctor will have spent his week mixing physic1 the lawyer his in mixing law4 ,you will have spent yours in getting to know all about this text of which1 like as not1 neither of them has ever heard4 ,there was consolation in the old man's assurances1 though they recognised a sorrowful fact too often forgotten4 ,probably if we knew everything we should come to the conclusion that one fault of our sermons is that they are not half sufficiently elementary4 ,along the same line follows the remark1 that it is also a mistake to assume that the terminology familiar to the preacher and conveying to his mind certain ideas1 must of necessity be equally familiar and convey the very same ideas to every other man4 ,much of this language is technical2 much of it consists of words and phrases which have long been obsolete so far as daily use and wont are concerned4 ,let the preacher set himself to listen to a professional man who elects to speak upon the subjects in which he is most interested in the language of his profession2 or let him hearken to an artisan who talks about his craft in the terms in use at the bench1 or in the factory1 and then he will in some degree comprehend the effect of technical language in mystifying the uninitiated hearer4 ,we recall in this connection a sermon in which1 years ago1 we heard a very young preacher declaiming to an audience of labouring men and women concerning a certain anthropomorphic passage4 ,as we say he was very young1 and probably no longer uses the word outside the study4 ,another worthy man in our hearing solemnly advised a congregation largely composed of factory girls to make their lives ,christo-centric4 ,we acknowledge our indebtedness to the ,rev4 ,w4 ,l4 ,watkinson1 himself a splendid example of the excellence for which we plead1 for two humorous illustrations of the mistake now being considered4 ,one is that of a local preacher who1 during a revival of religion1 most earnestly counselled his auditors to exercise fiduciary faith2 the other1 of a learned divine whose appointment in a certain village coincided with the visit of a travelling menagerie4 ,i perceive1 he said1 in sensational tones1 that a spirit of ,german transcendental ratiocination is creeping into the ,church4 ,the congregation1 remembering the adjacent caravans1 left at once in hurry and alarm4 ,in that very interesting volume in which the proprietors of ,the ,daily ,news tabulated the results of a census of church attendance in the metropolis1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,c4 ,masterman1 writing on the religious problem of ,south ,east ,london1 has the following words3-- ,the prevailing theology1 even more perhaps than the prevailing liturgy1 is wrapped up in an ancient language4 ,the very terms are technical--grace1 justification1 conversion1 perseverance4 ,they flow out glibly from the student who has soaked himself in their historical meanings2 they are ,greek to the general4 ,they were once living realities for which men fought and gladly died2 they still symbolise realities1 the permanent elements of the life history of the soul--but they are wrapped around in cobwebs and the complications of a technical system1 frozen into sterility2 and they have no more meaning and no more appeal to the audience at whom they are thrown in such profusion than the details of the performance of the ,mosaic ritual1 or the genealogies of the legendary heroes of the ,hebrew ,bible4 ,we want neither edifying lessons drawn from the wanderings of ,israel or the ,book of ,joshua2 nor brilliant 'word-painting' of some of the scenes described in the ,bible with a more appealing eloquence2 nor the exposition of the machinery of schemes of salvation once real from which the life has departed2 but some message concerning the things of the spirit1 delivered in simplicity and humility and sincerity to men who would fain be simple and humble and sincere4 ,these are weighty words1 and many a preacher might do worse than take them seriously to heart4 ,such an event might mean the blessing of many who have so far been mystified rather than edified4 ,mr4 ,masterman represents1 we are sure1 multitudes who could add proof to his words from frequent experience2 he speaks1 also1 for many more who1 because of similar experience1 come no more to the house of the ,lord4 ,but the difficulty does not always arise from the preacher's terminology alone4 ,it is possible to fall into the fault of over-condensation in our preaching4 ,highly concentrated foods are proverbially hard of digestion1 and the same may be true of highly concentrated sermons4 ,words packed with profoundest meanings are apt to pass over the mind carrying much of their meaning with them undiscovered4 ,a highly sententious style may have some of the qualities of a thunder shower1 in which the rain falls so fast as to be of little use in watering the thirsty ground1 over which it courses unabsorbed to join the brook down yonder in the vale4 ,the maxim multum in parvo may be an admirable one for an author whose book will lie in the reader's hand the while he has time to grasp the full significance of every well-filled sentence4 ,by a public speaker1 however1 packing may easily be overdone2 and here is one of the dangers of the written sermon as compared with one in which the preacher1 having gathered together his knowledge and his thought upon a matter1 leaves the choice of words to the hour of delivery4 ,a little wise prolixity may be necessary to the speaker4 ,a little repetition2 the putting of a truth1 first in this way1 then in that1 and again perhaps in quite a different fashion1 so that different minds may have in turn their chance--even this may be needed1 and though the preacher's impatience may find such a method irksome1 duty may lie that way while inclination turns to a more sententious and expeditious mode4 ,when all has been done that can be done to render every argument and lesson absolutely transparent there will still be some who will not have quite understood4 ,the simplest of preachers must some day encounter the old lady who accosted1 so it is said1 a former ,bishop of ,chester1 who1 at great pains to be lucid1 had unfolded the argument against the errors of atheism1 with the words1 ,well1 my lord1 ,i must say as ,i think there is a ,god after all you've told us4 ,another thing to be remembered is1 that much depends upon the order and arrangement of a sermon whether it is easy to follow or not4 ,we are old-fashioned enough to believe rather strongly in the method according to which the preacher divided his subject into heads4 ,we had heard that this method was falling into disuse1 but have been surprised during recent months to discover how many of the more acceptable and successful preachers still find it the most effective plan4 ,of course there are those who vote the method out of date2 and we have listened to the preaching of some who hold this view and act upon it4 ,our experience teaches us that in respect of clearness and1 perhaps especially1 of memorability1 the method of distinct division has many advantages4 ,it is easier to the preacher2 much easier to the hearer4 ,only1 let it be remembered that an introduction should introduce2 that divisions should divide1 and sub-divisions sub-divide4 ,needless and trifling majors or minors are irritating and confusing4 ,firstly1 ,secondly1 ,thirdly1 and--under very special circumstances--even ,fourthly may contribute to the making of the dark places plain1 but the days have long since passed away in which ,ninthly and ,tenthly could be borne2 though there have actually been such days4 ,we have read1 or tried to read1 discourses whose major divisions ran to eighteenthly with minor divisions grouped under each like companies in a regiment4 ,people came to preaching early in those days and stayed late4 ,can it be one result of their experiences that we1 their posterity1 have inherited that strange weariness which so frequently attacks us as ,one word more is announced from the sacred desk8 ,simplicity in language1 and in putting things2 as much repetition as may be needed2 great care not to assume more knowledge in the hearer than he possesses2 much allowance for the fact that the minds addressed may not be trained in the theme under discussion1 and that there is a wide difference between the catching of an idea which waits upon a printed page and of an idea in flight of spoken discourse2 clear and memorable arrangement of the whole address--all these concessions must be made if men are to be sent away from the sanctuary carrying with them any considerable part of the provision with which the preacher climbed the pulpit stair4 ,and after all these concessions have been allowed the great effort to make things plain has yet to be begun6 ,this great effort for the attainment of transparency will be made1 we need hardly say1 along two lines1 the line of illustration and the line of application4 ,possibly it may be held by some that these two lines are really one4 ,and concerning illustration3--,the greatest preachers1 and the most effective1 have been those who have shown the greatest mastery of this art4 ,the writing of these words brings to our minds names sufficient to establish their truth4 ,who can forget the illustrations of ,c4 ,h4 ,spurgeon2 the illustrations of ,mc,laren of ,manchester1 whose expositions of ,scripture received illumination in this way at every turning of the path along which the preacher led us1 happy and entranced8 ,it has been pronounced by some a mistake to class ,d4 ,l4 ,moody among the great preachers4 ,the answer will depend upon our definition of a great preacher4 ,we would support the inclusion and our reason lies here3--,we heard the man in boyhood and so clear1 by simplicity and aptness of language1 of phrase and of illustration did he make his every contention1 that we understood him from beginning to end4 ,an example happily still with us has already been named in the earlier part of this chapter4 ,every preacher should hear the ,rev4 ,w4 ,l4 ,watkinson1 if he walk a score of miles to do it6 ,but the art of illustration1 excepting in those rare cases where a man brings to its learning a natural gift waiting only to be brought into use1 is not easily acquired4 ,every preacher of experience will be prepared to testify that in attempting to illustrate it is not only easy to make mistakes but difficult to avoid making them at times4 ,sometimes an illustration1 intended to light up a subject1 rather takes away the thought of a congregation from that subject than otherwise4 ,sometimes1 again1 the illustration may be found to carry other suggestions than were intended4 ,the lad1 to whom the wisdom of early rising was sought to be illustrated by the good fortune of the early bird in securing the first worm1 drew precisely the opposite moral1 holding that the fate of the worm taught the wisdom of remaining in bed until a later hour4 ,then an illustration may be even less clear than the argument to be illustrated4 ,we have heard scientific illustrations of this character1 from which the hearer derived a supplementary dose of mystification rather than an elucidation of the problem with which he was already manfully grappling4 ,an illustration may be too pathetic1 and people may weep from the wrong cause1 an event which often occurs in church4 ,it is one thing to shed tears over a touching story and another to shed them from penitence4 ,an illustration should not be more sublime than the lesson to be taught lest there follow a swift descent with loss of reverence by the way4 ,there is a place for humour in the pulpit1 if it be natural to the preacher and flow spontaneously1 but a humorous illustration requires to be very carefully chosen1 lest1 instead of the healthy and holy laughter often so fatal to anger and meanness and pride1 you have the guffaw in which blessing is lost in excess4 ,other reflections as to illustrations are the following3--,first1 the illustration1 if a story1 ought at least to contain the element of probability4 ,no preacher can always satisfy himself as to the literal truth of a story he may hear and wish to use1 but he can1 at least1 consider whether the event recounted was possible4 ,we have heard stories from the pulpit which were so hard to swallow as to leave no room for the moral4 ,we have heard illustrations in sermons which have led to criticisms wherein the strength of the preacher's imagination has not been passed over unrecognised4 ,further1 an illustration derives power from being drawn from sources familiar to those to whom it is addressed4 ,in some confessions regarding his early ministry1 ,henry ,ward ,beecher enforces this very lesson in telling of his failure to impress the people until he turned for his illustrations to fields well known to them4 ,who has not seen a farm-labouring audience lift their heads when a preacher1 saying1 ,it is like1 has led his hearers into the fields where they had toiled during the previous week8 ,often have we seen a mining congregation captured en bloc when some brother miner1 speaking in native doric from the wagon at a camp meeting1 has taken them doon the pit1 or in bye4 ,we have watched the faces of sea-going men gleam with a new interest as the preacher drew a simile1 or caught a metaphor from the mighty deep4 ,only1 in using such illustrations as these1 let the user be quite certain that he is accurate4 ,one mistake about the farm1 the mine1 the sea1 and all is over6 ,with accuracy as a quality constantly present1 those illustrations are most effective whose material is most homely and familiar4 ,things startling1 novel and foreign1 may arouse interest and excite wonder1 but it will probably be at the expense of that realisation of truth which was sought to be created4 ,jesus said ,like unto leaven1 ,like to a grain of mustard seed1 ,behold a sower went forth to sow1 ,consider the lilies of the field4 ,his hearers saw these things every day4 ,perhaps they were in view as ,he spoke4 ,finally1 the less hackneyed our illustrations are1 the better4 ,if this were more generally remembered we would miss1 and that with a sense of relief1 a few grey-headed similes which1 having haunted our youth1 threaten to haunt also our age2 and which have assailed us so often as to create the kind of familiarity that breeds contempt4 ,in how many ,sunday school addresses--and a ,sunday school address is preaching in a way--in how many such addresses have we seen the twig bent2 in how many the giant oak which none can train8 ,how often have we heard of that boy in ,holland who saved his country by the simple expedient of pushing his finger into a hole in the dyke through which the dammed-up waters had begun to escape8 ,there is that other lad1 too1 who has come down in history by reason of his insane resolve to climb one niche the higher--how often have we been told his thrilling story8 ,these two boys are no longer young and have surely earned an honourable superannuation4 ,that little incident of ,michael ,angelo and the block of marble from which he let the angel out--even that improving narrative might with advantage be pigeon-holed for a generation or two4 ,the reason why these hardy perennials are seen in the gardens of so many preachers must surely be1 that every ,treasury of ,illustrations contains them4 ,we have nothing to say in praise of such treasuries4 ,we have none to recommend for purchase4 ,the best treasury of illustrations is the memory of that man who keeps his eyes and ears open and has a preaching mind4 ,following the naming of illustration as a means of lighting up the sermon comes the mention of application4 ,truth must be related to be understood4 ,how wonderfully the application of a truth to familiar circumstances makes it clear4 ,it may be laboriously defined and leave but a dim and indistinct impression upon the mind2 but apply it to the age1 to the life of men2 show its relation to the passing days1 to daily duties1 daily trials1 daily sins1 and how deeply is it impressed4 ,in the greater shops are models whose business it is to show off the gown the shopkeeper wishes to sell by wearing it before the possible purchaser4 ,the advantage of the plan is obvious4 ,we must show truth in the wear to make it understood6 ,after all these reflections1 the fundamental word still remains to be said3--,clear preaching can only come from clear thinking4 ,what we see ourselves we may1 by great effort and rare good fortune1 make others see2 but when the preacher only beholds men as trees walking1 how can he make clear their features to his fellows8 ,the foggy sermon often proves the preacher's possession of a foggy mind4 ,if the light that is in thee be darkness1 how great is that darkness1 so said ,one of old4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,on ,appeal4 ,it is set before us in this last chapter of our lecture to say something in reference to appeal as an essential quality of the sermon4 ,the discourse1 it must always be borne in mind1 is not an end in itself1 but a means to an end1 and that end the bending of the human will to repentance toward ,god1 and faith toward our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,to the full and perfect surrender which this implies men are found to be opposed in every possible way4 ,pride is against it2 selfishness is against it2 self-indulgence and the lusts of the flesh are against it4 ,often1 in addition to these natural elements of opposition1 a man's reluctance to yield himself to ,god will be fortified by tradition and strengthened by association4 ,a hundred circumstances affecting his life1 his comfort1 his general well-being may seem to encourage1 almost necessitate his refusal4 ,then1 again1 the teaching of all scripture goes to create and establish the belief that there are supernatural prompters of the sinner in his rebellion against ,god2 that the warfare of the preacher for his deliverance is not against flesh and blood only1 but also against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places4 ,we do not always quite realise all that it may mean to a man to take the step to which we invite him--sometimes so lightly4 ,to begin the following of ,christ1 or1 having already begun that following1 to arise from slackness to whole-hearted service1 may involve the snapping of long cherished ties and an absolute revolution in every habit and mode of life and thought4 ,by many men the ,kingdom of ,heaven can only be entered at the cost of what seems to them a stupendous sacrifice and the facing of what appears an appalling risk4 ,against all these forces and considerations has the preacher to prevail1 and that1 through no compulsive power1 but by exercise of such gifts of persuasion as are given unto him to be cultivated to that end1 ,god's ,spirit helping his efforts4 ,he is here to make men do--do that which on every earthly account they had rather not do4 ,unless he accomplishes this result his work has been in vain4 ,now1 it is well that the nature of the work1 its greatness and the hardness of it1 should be fully realised and constantly remembered4 ,there is always a danger of being misled by the shows of incomplete1 or false1 success4 ,in no branch of service is this more true than in preaching4 ,it is such a glorious thing to be able to gather great congregations2 but even this may be done and the messenger fail4 ,it is such a delightful thing to a preacher to watch a multitude waiting spellbound beneath his eloquence in rapt attention1 or swept by waves of emotion2 but that multitude may disperse1 the great end of preaching still unwrought and the whole attempt a splendid failure4 ,it is possible to attract people to your preaching1 possible to win the crown of their approval1 and yet come short of accomplishing the very results for which you were commissioned from on high4 ,to please is one thing2 to prevail against the heart of sin another4 ,and with the recollection of this much-to-be-remembered truth it will be well that a sense of the difficulty of the real task should abide continually with us4 ,some of these difficulties1 we have already mentioned4 ,the hardest to overcome are the obstacles within the mind and heart of the hearer himself4 ,it is always finally the man who has to be conquered4 ,this1 we surely know through our own spiritual experiences4 ,he is bone of our bone1 flesh of our flesh4 ,here is surely one reason why the ,master sets men to preach to men3--,because every preacher has been himself a rebel and knows the way rebellion takes in heart and brain4 ,ours also was once the stubborn will2 ours the stiff neck2 ours the evil heart of unbelief4 ,we1 as well as he whom we now assail for ,jesus' sake1 have said1 ,i will not have this man to reign over me4 ,once upon a time we1 also1 bore ourselves proudly and contemptuously4 ,never are we weary of thinking of the wonder that ever we were brought to ground our arms at the ,master's feet4 ,will the winning of others be easier than was the victory won over ourselves8 ,now that we battle against what once we were and did1 we should understand from memory the immensity of the task4 ,once realised1 it should never be forgotten4 ,there is no miracle in all the ,gospel history greater than the miracle of a broken human will4 ,yes1 the preacher's work is at the best a supremely hard one4 ,the sense of this hardness must get into his soul1 or else all hope of success will be vain4 ,should there ever come to him a moment in which it shall appear an easy thing to preach1 or when his knowledge of the congregation awaiting him shall seem to indicate that anything will do1 then let him1 in that moment1 consider himself in peril of missing the true end of his calling4 ,anything will not do4 ,the very best will hardly do6 ,think of the hardness of the heart6 ,think of the arguments of the tempter6 ,think how fair and sweet sin often seems6 ,think of all the sacrifice and self-denial and self-surrender we are asking from men6 ,here is need for the utmost diligence2 for the development of every latent power of persuasion2 for the employment of every ounce of energy1 of every resource of skill2 for the expenditure of every volt of passion the soul can contain4 ,we can only hope to capture the citadel when the utmost possibilities of attack are brought to bear upon it4 ,even then the garrison may hold out against us6 ,and the ultimate possibilities of attack are the ultimate possibilities of appeal4 ,we speak of appeal as a quality that must pervade the whole of the sermon4 ,we have heard counsels on preaching in which advice was given about the appeal or the final appeal1 whereby were meant certain perorative paragraphs2 the remainder of the discourse being divided into introduction1 exegesis1 argument1 illustration1 application4 ,we remember some of these perorative paragraphs1 and sometimes we have been tempted to ask whether the same note is struck in the preaching of to-day as was sounded forth in their stirring words4 ,in spite of the homilists the sermon was generally better than their advice concerning its making and its form4 ,the paragraph in question1 though1 perhaps1 neither the preacher nor his adviser suspected the truth1 was only powerful because it formed the climax of all that had gone before4 ,it was the final assault following upon processes of sapping and mining1 bombardment and fusillade4 ,the appeal must commence with the first word of the sermon4 ,the very introduction must be persuasive4 ,the motif of the whole composition must be the wooing note4 ,obviously this note will need to be struck in many keys4 ,the appeal will have many expressions2 and in their variety and form the skill of the preacher will have such room for exercise and such need for it as no other duty of his life displays4 ,to mention some of the elements of this appeal1 of which1 again1 the whole sermon is the expression3--,there is first1 that gift1 or endowment1 or talent--call it what you will--which we speak of as ,tact4 ,in some men this power amounts almost to genius4 ,of such an one we say1 he has a way with him4 ,he is the man to bring about settlements4 ,his very voice1 his very manner1 bring disputations to an end4 ,in political conflicts1 in social misunderstandings1 in labour troubles he is invaluable4 ,in the church he is a treasure4 ,in the ,sunday school his price is above rubies4 ,in the pulpit he enjoys an immeasurable advantage4 ,happy the congregation whose preacher has a way with him4 ,we have known such men and envied them4 ,their gift defies analysis4 ,it is an element6 ,of men such as these there are1 alas1 comparatively few6 ,they are born into the world with a genius for always doing the right thing in the right way4 ,most of us enter into life with a genius for doing everything in the wrong way1 and we can only look enviously upon our more richly endowed brethren and learn from them to practise as an art what they do as the result of an inheritance4 ,we can do this and1 indeed1 we must do it if it be any part of our life's work to influence men to courses against their minds4 ,the sermon must be tactful or else1 though it possess every other excellence1 it will most surely fail4 ,how often have we heard1 as a criticism1 the one word tactless1 which meant that the truth had been expressed in such language1 or in such a manner as to accentuate1 rather than allay1 the opposition of the hearer2 that1 instead of getting round the prejudices of the congregation by a flanking movement1 the preacher had assailed them by a frontal attack1 and so called to the ramparts every sleeping power of opposition4 ,many a well conceived and convincing sermon fails from just this cause4 ,so then we feel inclined to urge that the cultivation of tactfulness should be reckoned an indispensable part of every preacher's training1 for there is no prevailing with men without it4 ,for this1 among other things1 he will require that thorough understanding of men of which we spoke in an earlier chapter--an understanding which must include a familiarity with their tastes1 their prejudices1 their weaknesses and infirmities4 ,to this understanding must be added the fruits of much self-study and criticism4 ,to be able so to speak as to secure acceptance for the ,word of ,life is worth it all4 ,the basis of appeal is conciliation4 ,the instrument of conciliation is tact6 ,and having1 through the exercise of this gift of tact1 secured for himself and his message the toleration of the hearer1 the preacher will proceed to make the best of the advantage thus obtained4 ,he has made his man a listener but the great work still remains to be done1 and again we say that it is of all work the hardest to accomplish4 ,at once1 let us acknowledge the impossibility of outlining a method that will be effective in every case4 ,at once1 too1 let us say that in no branch of ,christian service is so much left to the inventive and initiative faculties of the worker as in preaching4 ,still some principles there are which may well be named as worthy of remembrance in the day of action4 ,and the first of these may well be this3--,that the first assault should be made through the intellect4 ,the sermon must contain1 at least1 a solid foundation of good reasoning4 ,come now and let us reason together1 saith the ,lord1 was the prophet's invitation to ,israel in the day of her rebellion4 ,the preacher should see to it that he render a reason4 ,it is no compliment to an audience to fail to recognise its mental powers4 ,it is something less than a compliment merely to pretend to argue1 as is so often done4 ,that is not only to fail to produce the result we desire but to estrange the hearer still further and so make his case more hopeless than before4 ,it is one of the many accusations made against the modern pulpit1 that it has fallen into the habit of begging the question and basing its appeals upon assumptions4 ,men of mind come to hear the preacher and go away disappointed4 ,the good man declaims1 but makes no real attempt to prove the truth of his declamation1 or to anticipate the mental difficulties into which his statements may lead the hearer4 ,he makes statements1 but does not substantiate them4 ,how often we hear of the intellectual barrenness of the modern sermon6 ,how often we are told that men are asked to take the most important steps1 and make the most astounding sacrifices upon arguments which would not convince a seventh standard schoolboy4 ,in speaking of a certain orator1 some one said1 ,there was physical power1 for the preacher shouted2 ho7a7rse power1 for in his roaring he fortunately lost his voice2 water power1 because he wept most copiously2 everything but brain power4 ,we cannot proceed on the exploded fiction that ignorance is the mother of devotion4 ,the schoolmaster is abroad4 ,more than this1 the denier is busy1 and1 though his reasoning may be packed with fallacies1 he can only be answered by arguments as sound as his are false4 ,perhaps there was never a time in which the literature of unbelief had so great and general a currency as it has to-day4 ,it circulates in our workshops in unnumbered pages1 for its special attack seems to be directed against our working men1 especially the younger members of the class4 ,here1 undoubtedly1 is one of the causes of the apparent drift of the toiling masses from the churches4 ,a preaching that is merely declamatory1 visionary1 emotional2 that takes its stand upon tradition1 the authority of great names the dim antiquity of its far-off past1 failing1 meanwhile1 to recognise the eager questioning of the modern man1 must be prepared for non-success1 though there may come from certain quarters1 even in the hour of its failure1 the meed of popularity and applause4 ,let this1 therefore1 be laid down3--,that the appeal of the sermon must at the beginning be the appeal of intellect to intellect4 ,let no one be made afraid by this statement4 ,it is not contended that every sermon must be an elaborate argument of the case for the ,christian demand4 ,this would necessitate that every preacher be a specialist in theology and apologetics1 which is obviously impossible4 ,happily1 the situation1 strained as it is1 is not such as to render it needful that only experts should venture to preach the gospel4 ,but it is needful that the sermon stand the test of common sense and1 in that way1 carry in it its own defence4 ,it is needful that1 as the preacher proceeds to develop his subject1 the hearer shall find cause to assent to the positions taken up4 ,otherwise it will be useless to invite him to forsake his own ground in order to share that from which he has been addressed4 ,of course it must be conceded that even this modest demand will mean much study for the preacher and a careful preparation of the sermon4 ,surely1 however1 the end is worth the labour4 ,in no work is proficiency gained without some taking of pains4 ,that preacher who is afraid of a little toil in order that he may thereby improve his usefulness1 and increase his success1 should find proof in this fear of effort that his commission--if ever he had one--has expired4 ,one thing is sure3--,that a sermon which fails to satisfy the intellect--we do not say of the atheist or the agnostic1 to whom1 by the way1 we are hardly ever called to preach1 but of the average hearer--will ask in vain for the surrender of men to ,god4 ,it may be full of sentiment and overflowing with emotion2 it holds no true appeal6 ,but the intellect is not the whole of a man4 ,the sermon that contains no appeal to a hearer's emotions will fail1 just as certainly as one that contains no address to his reason4 ,if sermons are full of emotion1 and empty of arguments1 they are invertebrate and produce but transient effects4 ,if the sermon be simply and solely an intellectual effort it will be cold and nerveless and ineffective4 ,you may convince a man beyond all possibility of contradiction or protest1 and at the same time utterly fail to bring him to the decision you desire him to register4 ,probably an analysis of most of our congregations would prove that so far as merely intellectual agreement is concerned the great majority of hearers are already on the preacher's side as a result of years of hearing while1 as yet1 undecided to attempt the path so plainly stretching away before them4 ,the preacher must address himself to all the emotions of the heart for any one of them may be the means of carrying his message to that innermost chamber whither he desires that it shall come4 ,fear and courage1 doubt and confidence1 all should be assailed1 for the awakening of any one of them may bring to pass the accomplishment of the preacher's glorious purpose4 ,of course we have become familiar with all that is said by superior persons about what they are pleased to decry as mere sentiment4 ,we know1 but too well1 the man who at once1 and invariably1 characterises any preaching that touches the hearts of men as playing to the gallery1--the man whose one and only demand is for intellectualism4 ,him we know in his superiority to feeling1 his scorn of smiles and tears4 ,we know him and1 thank ,god6 we generally ignore him2 as we must learn to do more and more4 ,the city of ,mansoul has many gates--more1 indeed1 than honest ,bunyan saw--and happy may the preacher be if he can gain admission by any one of them6 ,then1 although the hearer is a sinner1 and must be approached as such1 the sermon that will lead him furthest along the upward way will be one in which it is recognised that he is not so utterly depraved as to be without some lingering1 or latent1 good to which appeal may1 and ought to be made4 ,find the good in a child and by the use of it lead him to the best1 is a sound principle in the training of the young4 ,it is equally sound as a rule for dealing with their elders4 ,find the good in a man if you would save him wholly and for ever4 ,for good there is1 and that in the very worst of men4 ,no doctrine of human depravity that theologians may teach can alter the fact1 that1 deep in the heart of man1 may be found a starting point whence the highest heights may be gained if we have but the skill to lead him forward4 ,we may speak of him as being sick in head and heart1 as full of wounds and bruises and putrifying sores4 ,it is all true and yet1 paradoxical as it may appear1 there are still in him the power to love2 some gift of gratitude2 some sense of fair play2 an elemental idea of justice4 ,there is still some secret reverence for purity and modesty and truth4 ,the preacher1 notwithstanding all the schoolmen may tell him1 must believe this1 or else he will not effectively preach4 ,there is much to be gained by every one in believing the best of human nature4 ,for the preacher such a belief will provide ways into the city1 the inner fortress of which he means to capture for his ,lord4 ,he will call upon the best qualities in his hearer to help him as he pushes home the siege4 ,there is a power of loving4 ,surely he will enlist the aid of this by reminding the wanderer of the love wherewith ,he has loved him4 ,we love ,him because ,he first loved us1 so wrote one whose will had been brought low what time his affection was entreated4 ,there is a sense of gratitude4 ,surely this will be called to look upon that sacrifice on which the ages gaze6 ,that sense of justice2 that elementary instinct of fair play--they1 too1 may be rare colleagues of the messenger1 if he will but enlist them on his side4 ,for this method of prosecuting his saving warfare he has precedent enough in the prophets3--,and now1 ,o inhabitants of ,jerusalem1 and men of ,judah1 judge1 ,i pray you1 betwixt ,me and ,my vineyard6 ,what could have been done more in ,my vineyard1 that ,i have not done in it8 ,wherefore1 when ,i looked that it should bring forth grapes1 brought it forth wild grapes8 ,here is an appeal to the inborn sense of equity which still lingered in the heart of the chosen people4 ,the claims of honesty and chastity1 of truthfulness and benevolence and gentleness will not always be in vain1 if the preacher will remember that some reverence for these things still lingers in the heart of even the most abandoned of men and address himself thereto4 ,he is the wisest of all campaigners who enlists the enemy against himself4 ,to all these elements of human nature1 then1 the preacher will address himself4 ,he will do more3--,he will study times and seasons and events1 for times and seasons and events often produce moods which infect a whole people4 ,we have examples of this in the moral influence of the festivals of the ,christian year4 ,they were wise men who1 for all futurity1 connected with certain dates the outstanding events of the sacred history1 the memory of great saints1 confessors and martyrs4 ,probably we of the ,nonconformist pulpits might here learn a lesson in homiletic tactics from our friends of the ,roman and ,anglican churches4 ,there should only be one subject for ,good ,friday2 one for ,easter morn2 one for ,christmastide2 one for the hour wherein the old year dies4 ,it is not merely a tribute to convention to observe these seasons4 ,it is strategically wise to do so4 ,the preacher should use ,whitsun as an opportunity of leading the ,church to prayer for new pentecosts2 harvest time to stir the slumbering thankfulness of men4 ,he who neglects these ready-made chances throws away precious advantage for his appeal and misses the psychological moment4 ,so much for the seasons and their memories4 ,we have experience1 also1 of the way in which the watchful and tactful preacher will profit from the occurrences of his time4 ,in the events of the day much material for the pointing of appeal may often be found4 ,the calamities which befall2 the happenings which arrest the attention of the multitude and often hush a whole nation with the hush of awe--he will find in these things an opening to be entered on behalf of the enterprise he has in hand4 ,very watchful must he be1 for everything that touches the heart may mean a way in which it were a misfortune to miss4 ,he must look for the very slightest change of mood in his people1 for so his long-hoped-for chance may come4 ,with all he may do2 after every plea he may still find that the victory is unwon4 ,he has gained the intellect it may be or moved the heart2 but the stubborn will still holds out against him4 ,yes1 notwithstanding all he may do the will may resist him still1 but this fact1 instead of causing the preacher to give up in despair1 should move him to still greater efforts4 ,the more difficult the task1 the greater the honour laid upon him who is sent to attempt it4 ,this is the understanding of military life1 and this should be the understanding of the preacher4 ,he will not fail with all4 ,some there will be who will ground their arms at ,jesus' feet2 some who will give themselves to the living of the new life1 who will accept the invitation to climb the hills of ,god4 ,in every one of these the preacher will have ample reward for all his work of faith and labour of love2 for he who converteth a sinner from the error of his ways saveth a soul from death and hideth a multitude of sins4 ,to know that he has done these things for one brother man will be better than the breath of popularity4 ,sweeter than all the compliments of men will be the far-echoing ,well done of ,christ in that day when the messenger lays his commission at ,his feet4 ,,conclusion ,and ye are witnesses of these things4 ,and1 behold1 ,i send the promise of my ,father upon you3 but tarry ye in the city of ,jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high4 ,and he led them out as far as to ,bethany1 and he lifted up his hands and blessed them4 ,and it came to pass1 while he blessed them1 he was parted from them1 and carried up into heaven4--,luke4 ,,conclusion4 ,we approach1 at last1 the end of our poor attempt4 ,its purpose has been to furnish a reminder of some things that are absolutely essential to the effective preaching of the ,gospel4 ,let us recall the steps by which we have come thus far upon our way4 ,and first1 it appeared to us that for true preaching you must have the true preacher2 and the true preacher is he who1 designated by ,nature and by ,divine calling1 endowment and baptism1 has come to personal certainty in respect of the great and vital truths committed to his keeping4 ,surrendered to ,god and his work1 he nevertheless realises that among the trusts of which he holds stewardship is that of his own individuality to be used for the ends he is sent to consummate4 ,he is a man of understanding gathered in the study of truth2 of men2 of the ,church2 of his own heart2 of many other fields of knowledge4 ,he lives in constant realisation of the greatness of his calling2 the sublimity of his message and the certainty of victory for ,israel's side4 ,his soul is aflame with the passion of his labour2 with devotion to his ,master2 with a love for his fellows learned at the foot of the cross4 ,the supreme fact of his life is the fact of his own spiritual experience and in holy1 happy memories he finds continual evidence of things ,divine1 and constant inspiration to prosecute his mission to the end4 ,he is a man whose heart ,god has touched for the sake of the world4 ,he is the chosen1 qualified1 and sworn ambassador of the ,king of ,kings4 ,he is the very representative and mouthpiece of ,god and of the ,church to all with whom opportunity shall give him speech4 ,in all this he is the successor of the first-called and qualified of the preaching band1 making proof of his succession by faithfulness1 holiness and success4 ,such is the true preacher1 whether separated altogether to the work of the ministry or working with his hands1 as did the greatest preacher of the ,apostolic band1 that he may not be chargeable to any4 ,from speaking of the messenger we turned to mention what seem to us to be the notes essential to a complete rendering of the message confided to him for transmission4 ,the notes of accusation and of pity1 of idealism and edification and cheer all need to be sounded by the preacher who would go back1 at last1 to the ,lord who sent him with the joyful boast that he has not shunned to declare the whole counsel of ,god4 ,not only this1 but we heard1 as we came along our way1 from the lips of those to whom the preacher would speak1 enough to prove that it is for a message in which these notes are heard that they wait and listen4 ,the world longs for a ,gospel which shall satisfy the mind1 guide the conscience and comfort the heart1 the while it shows the way to the best in the life that is and the life that is to come4 ,such a ,gospel we have4 ,it remains only that we preach it in all its plenitude and promise4 ,that we preach it3--,of this actual preaching we have also had something to say1 both as to its form and as to certain great principles to be remembered by the messenger always and everywhere4 ,it does matter much as to the manner in which the truth is expressed4 ,it is possible to prevent the glorious results the message should produce by avoidable faults in the presentation of it4 ,it is the preacher's duty1 for the truth's sake1 to make his sermons so attractive and so interesting that hearers shall not be repelled from partaking of the ,divine provision for hungry and thirsty souls4 ,it is his duty to make his sermons so simple in phrasing1 so intelligible in arrangement1 so luminous by illustration that the average hearer shall readily understand them4 ,to the arts of persuasion and appeal he must devote special attention1 for the purpose of the sermon is to induce men to believe and to act upon that belief4 ,he must be a master of argument and of tact4 ,he must learn to use every occasion2 to find and enter every door2 to turn everything to the advantage of his one great end4 ,the sermon must be at once a work of wisdom1 of grace and of art4 ,it is the preacher's weapon in the warfare of his ,lord4 ,how carefully it should be fashioned2 how bright it ought to be1 how sharp1 to reach the heart of the ,king's enemies6 ,and all these things we have brought to remembrance that1 having them before us1 we may be the better able to answer the question with which we started out3--,whether this preaching of ours is in any way to blame for that spiritual and moral slide of which we hear so much8 ,are we such men as we have seen that preachers ought to be2 so surely designated for our ministry2 so wise2 so sure2 so full of the passion of our calling8 ,has the message we have sought to deliver expressed the whole that ,god has taught us and provided an answer to the deep questions and strange perplexing needs of those to whom we have ministered8 ,have the sermons in which our message has been set forth always been the best attempt we could make to reach the ear1 subdue the mind and win the hearts of those who waited upon our utterance8 ,is there any need for self-reproach on our part1 or can we answer all these questions with a gladness increasing with each successive reply8 ,the reader will have a rejoinder ready4 ,we do not ask to hear it4 ,it will be enough that he whisper it to his own soul and into the ear of ,god4 ,it might be of infinite service to the ,church and to our fellows if1 one and all1 we pushed such an inquisition to an end in our secret hearts4 ,there remains now only one word to be added1 and that word1 the reader will perhaps have looked for earlier1 for in every such discussion as the present it must come to utterance4 ,for two reasons we have withheld it until the last and they are these4 ,it is a word with which every reader will agree1 and it is the most important word which can be spoken or written upon the subject4 ,is it necessary to say that it has reference to the deepest and most constant of all the preacher's needs--the need of the ,holy ,spirit as an abiding presence in his heart1 his mind1 his work8 ,little did the ,master say1 as ,he charged those early preachers1 concerning the methods of their preaching2 little also as to its substance1 but many were ,his words concerning the ,holy ,ghost who was to be their teacher1 their remembrancer1 their comforter and support4 ,for ,him they were to tarry until the promise be fulfilled4 ,and they did so tarry1 and lo1 ,he came and the young men saw visions and the old men dreamed dreams6 ,then1 through the lips of plain1 unlettered1 toiling men there broke forth a new evangel upon the age which turned all the currents of the world4 ,new things were spoken2 new ideals lifted up2 new hopes proclaimed1 but the secret energy of it all was the new power that thrilled in every word4 ,new things the world had often heard1 hopes1 ideals1 philosophies2 some one was always bringing such wares to market1 as they bring them to market still2 but scarce a ripple on the sea of life did they one and all produce4 ,these words lived and burned4 ,life was in them1 and fire6 ,that life and fire were ,his whose coming had filled the upper room with wind and flame6 ,the ,holy ,ghost in the heart of the preacher1 and therefore in his message1 filling every sermon with unction1 spirituality1 throb1 life--can there be effective and successful preaching without ,,this8 ,no1 never2 study you never so hard2 train you never so carefully2 bring to the work never such talents1 such grace of diction1 of construction1 of delivery4 ,it is not by might nor by power1 but by ,my spirit saith the ,lord6 ,and yet there is a duty of study and an obligation of training1 and it is incumbent that the most precious of our gifts be polished and dedicated1 that the best possibilities of argument1 illustration and delivery be attained4 ,in preaching1 as in all the works and ways of life1 ,god helps those who help themselves and nothing is worthy but the noblest and the highest4 ,the ,holy ,ghost in the heart of the preacher honoured by the grandest effort the preacher can make1 the utmost faithfulness he can display3--,can it be possible that in these words the twofold need of this very hour finds definition8 ,can we be sure1 that if such a sentence were turned into a prayer1 and came back upon us as a gracious answer to cries that would not be denied1 the multitudes would not turn to us once again8 ,what preaching would there be then2 how warm would be the sanctuary2 what a house of healing would it become2 what a place of consolation and encouragement for hard-pressed men2 how many problems would find solution2 what visions would form themselves upon the darkened clouds overhanging many a human life6 ,preaching would be a living thing4 ,can it be possible that here and now ,,life is its greatest need and that the only way to obtain this life is by a return to that upper room of long ago8 ,so we end with a question1 as with a question we commenced4 ,since the world began it has been by the asking of questions that men have come to truth4 ,,the ,,end4