ALREADY BEEN SAID A Fresh Path for Struggling Pulpiteers
C 2012, Doug Blair
And said better. There is a surfeit of teaching in today's churches. Needed prayer and testimony time will be sacrificed for the sermon (and also, painfully, the announcements). Pastor's plan is to take a very small portion of Bible text and load on the anecdotes and practical guidelines for "today's parishioner". Unfortunately there is a suspicion evidenced in many pulpits that if too much time is given to straight- out Bible exposition the message will be dusty. Hence all the current and charming extraneous stuff.
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Perhaps pastors need to reimagine their roles. Might more emphasis be given to counsellor, comforter, coach, corrector and conductor? What a shock! So much time goes now into the crafting of the sermon. I must confess that many of the messages sound as if they are being directed to new believers; the foundational message of Grace; the multi-faceted pitch to turn one's will over to the will of God. I ask myself, 'Do the listeners have Bibles of their own, and do they read them with interest, discuss them with trusted friends?' Let's stop the spoon-feeding. Perhaps go directly to the people and ask where their understanding needs help and clarification. "Surgical preaching" I would call it. Do not emphasize what we are going to do or say; focus rather on what Jesus has already done and said. This is the only legitimate approach to "what would Jesus do" (WWJD). Talk about lifestyle? Go to the Sermon on the Mount. Talk about learning of the Father's heart? Go to the Prodigal Son. Talk about spiritual equipment for challenges of holiness? Go to the Upper Room Discourse, and learn of His love, comfort, peace, Spirit and joy. Talk about the lateness of the hour and the burden for souls? Go to the Olivet Discourse and hear Jesus prophesy in the light of what is happening in our day. Talk about the wickedness of self-reliance and trusting in works? Go to the parable of the Vine or the parable of the Wedding Banquet. Talk about more effective prayer life? Go to John 17 or the incident of the determined Syrophenician mother. And in going to the first and best source we are sure to avoid detours and distractions. The Apostle Peter said that in his messages he was constantly "putting the people in remembrance". He was not going over his weekend at the lake, some interesting lifestyle book just completed or front page news from secular whirlpools. (Leave all of that to the lecturer in some other forum.)
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Easy Sundays
Are you caught in the snare Of the preacher? In the logical loop Of his art? In the comfort and ease Of the teaching? In the flow of his Overhead chart? Is the God you now serve Proving pliant? Are His ways now within Mortal span? Has the Bible become Less a mainstay. As you harvest the truth From one man? Will it prove your escape From the struggle? From the bleary nights Given to prayer? From the battle with Concepts of scripture? And the sense you are Getting nowhere?
Does the Cross now appear Isolated? And “reproach� just a word From the past? As you perch on the Threshold of victory, 3
Reassured current clear Skies will last? Such a joyful, new-found Revelation. And a quicker ascent To the height. And a confidence one Now is certain Both in grasp of the Good and the right. But I doubt such convenience Is Holy. Nor the path which, before, Saints have trod. For the trials which they bore In the night-time, Brought a richer sun- rise With their God.
Easy Bible Study
Yesterday I was out again doing errands in the company truck. I had the radio on and playing the local Christian station. A Chuck Swindoll broadcast was concluding a series of messages on the life of King David. At the end of the segment the listener was invited to order an audio series of teaching 4
helps on David - twenty-four messages! My spirit went CLUNK! Imagine any believer, new or seasoned, dedicating so much devotional time to the slant of a particular Bible teacher, and letting that one man "deliver it all". Chances are that such an effort would constitute the individual's entire devotional time for a series of weeks! Meaning no disrespect to Pastor Swindoll, or his good preaching, I must say that this is wrong. It tends toward laziness in spiritual exercise. It is like viewing the travelogue rather than making the rugged and exciting trek for one's self. Where is the liberty of being led by the Holy Spirit in scripture? Where the preparation of prayer? Where the regimen of sifting through the knotty points of the Word for one's self? Using central reference margin, concordance (Strong's), topical Bible (Nave's)and Bible dictionary (Smith's). Where the stimulus of a good exchange with a fellow believer after the study? I must admit that in the early days I wanted a good and simple Bible commentary at my side to give me the big picture, the over-view, the perspective on history and the common thread of redemption. For me it was a brief book by F. B. Meyer and the old "Jamieson, Fausset and Brown" volume. I was also emphatic for a couple of years about going through the Word from Genesis to Revelation, and not skipping around. This was necessary in order to lay the groundwork. But now things happen differently. I remember that quote attributed to Smith Wigglesworth: "Some read the Bible in Hebrew; Some in Greek; I like to read it in the Holy Ghost." This was a man who was functionally illiterate until his new wife taught him to read with a Bible. Ever after he carried a Testament with him and never read another book or newspaper. His spiritual insight was deep and sometimes cryptic. His ministry changed thousands of lives around the world. Today he probably would amend his statement as follows: "Some read the Bible in Swindoll or Stanley, Jakes or Copeland, Ladies Meyer or Moore. I like to read it in the Holy Ghost."
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Friends, remember after all Who was given the task of inspiring Holy Writ. Peter gives us the answer in his Second Letter: Chapter 1: 19We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
A Most Needful Message
Keith approached the pulpit, looked at all the familiar faces and gulped: "Brothers and sisters, I was moved profoundly by something which I read last night about the priesthood of all believers. I am going to speak now from the heart. I love you. I want to see Jesus glorified in you. You will probably be upset by the following, but I am not deterred. A comfort has set in around here. A luke-warmness. A busy-ness without fruit. I see faces repeatedly which seem to say 'Pastor, pray for me. Pastor teach me what I must know. Pastor affirm me and reassure that I am in the heavenly flock. Pastor show me what I must really know from John's Gospel, or Romans, or Daniel, or Proverbs, or Revelation. Smooth out all the knotty points. Pastor win souls for me. Pastor bring in God's presence for me.' I can entertain this sort of thing no longer. I assure you that things are going to change. A coach demonstrates strategies, conducts fitness drills and then lets the team go out on the field... AND PLAY! I am going to release you to play ball. Basic Bible study. Yours. Regular use of concordance, dictionary, commentary. Yours. 6
Extended study hours in our Church Library. Yours. Regular burdened corporate prayer in the services. Yours. Regular testimonies of challenge and victory in our gatherings. Yours. Exercise of spiritual gifts for the edification of the Body. Yours. Regular efforts to invite the unchurched to more relaxed gatherings. Yours. Street witness teams on an ongoing basis. Yours. The training of such witnesses. Yours. The mentoring of new believers. Yours. So, lovingly, I repeat that things are going to change. Expect now to see in me more of the coach or conductor, and less of the surrogate. You are going to become increasingly a conditioned force for righteousness, comfort and truth in this community. Henceforth we will leave many of the other programs to the theatres, restaurants, gymnasiums and social clubs which abound. We are going to make the Body of Christ a vital issue which offers help and hope. We are going to make our Master smile. God help us."
Fragrance of Good Friday Prayer
"Lord, I was wakened by the cardinals singing. Day off work. I also heard the roar and clatter of the neighbourhood garbage truck. Some must still work. I imagine the churches meeting in observance. The larger number of the community still wondering why things must slow down. Still wondering why something so bloody could ever be named "Good". The "good", of course is in your intentions, Father. Is in the obedient record of your Son's earth mission. May the pause be pregnant for all of us today. May the scattered messages accumulate unto your glory. The cards, the hymns, the Passion films, the message of the Passover as counter-point, the pure white of the lilies, the regal purple and gold of the Easter merchandise. 7
I confess that I have often been too hard on the churches. Forgive me. They remain your pillar of truth; your lighthouse of rescue; your seed-bed of new family; your place of pause, praise and petition. May the messages go forth in these places today and Sunday to magnify and clarify what Jesus has done for us. May hungry hearts respond, even in some surprising places, to the call for repentance and re-focused commitment. You hurt so badly that day Father, as your Son was lifted up in shame, and you looked on the called out City turned rabid. You heard Jesus' cries of anguish and you held back for the greater harvest. You bound yourself yet again by your Word. I praise you and thank you Father for this "good" day and for the freedom to reflect. Please forgive the fleeting ways of my attention and imagination; the double-mindedness; the quickness of anger and lust to self-justify. I have been raised up by nothing but your grace. Move upon your churches Lord with sovereign glory. May this be a time of refreshment for Kitchener-Waterloo. In Jesus' name, Amen." Acts 17: 27. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel (grope) after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.
Word By Revelation
Peter in his First Epistle said something that caught my attention. Look in the first chapter: 23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 8
25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Were not the word and the gospel the same thing? No, it would appear that the gospel includes something about the way the message is rendered and something about the experiences, character and personal illumination of the speaker. By the time of Peter's writing the correspondents knew of his challenges, victories and shortcomings in the Galilean ministry and in the darkening final year leading to Christ's passion. They also knew or would soon know something of the transformation in the Big Fisherman - from impetuous, self assured, quick-fused to humble, longsuffering and persevering. This gave real veracity to the "born-again" message of which he spoke. This was a new man on fire with the revelation given to him from the Lord. And this should be the power of our testimony, a revealed word, and not An apologetic word; An anecdotal word; An allegorical word; An alliterated word; A systematized word; A chain-referenced word; An inductive word; A histrionic word; A contemporary word; A moralizing word. We have all heard teachers use these styles to pleasing effect, but the messages we really remember as impacting our spiritual growth are the ones in which the speaker's heart, struggle and mettle are involved. As we leave the gathering we are heard to say, "He really got into that one didn't he?" No pastor or teacher can have such insight or verve for every message. It should not be expected of him. You will notice the dip in impact, when in the teaching series he comes to the place he has not traversed. Sad that he must forge ahead when perhaps someone else in the room has placed a milestone of life experience on that very passage of God's truth. We expect too much of "Pastor So-and-So", and perhaps miss some of the 9
real gems remaining un-noticed and unheard from the pews. But convention has always required the staff-speaker and lay-audience format. Pity.
Glengarry Meeting House
"Brothers and sisters, it is a delightful day of celebration for us as we dedicate this building. Fifteen months of hard work bringing us to this autumn day in the year of our Lord 1889. Remember all the expenditure of effort -logging, trimming, hauling, milling, framing, caulking, plastering, painting and adorning. You are all to be commended and thanked. No less than twenty-five families from the Township coming together in this fashion. I must also give thanks for the efforts in the assembly which preceded this kirk- the meetings in house, yard and barn over the years. And now, thankfully we have this place of worship. I would also report that in about ten days we should expect our shipment of Psalters from Montreal. So much from me. You know the other brothers seated up here with me: Cameron, Robert and Graham. We are happy to introduce to you on behalf of the district Brother Alistair who brings the morning's message." With that Stewart took his seat with the three other elders on the platform. A general rumbling, shuffling and clearing of throats followed as the grizzled old visitor rose from the first bench and came forward. There was a surprising spring to his step although the back was significantly stooped. As Alistair turned to face the happy congregation, one's attention was instantly taken by the vivid light blue eyes beneath bushy gray brows: "As some of you know, it was my decision after the death of my dear wife in '85 to leave my pulpit in Kingston and to launch out in itinerant ministry, comforting, reminding and exhorting where possible. I have been able to visit this site on two other occasions and I must say that I did not anticipate 10
such a grand conclusion. You are all to be commended on your fine work. I see that Rufus' leg is coming along well and I remember that week of the accident when it was so seriously in question. God bless you Rufus, and your good wife Dorothy... May we pray a few minutes together friends? (What followed could only have come from Highland stock. Such articulate giving of thanks. Such beseeching of God's presence and continued mercy. Such warning to the flesh to remain abased in the presence of the Most High. Such intercession for the precious and wandering souls of neighbours down the concession roads. Near weeping. Near laughing. Near visions of the Heavenly City brought close to this lovingly interlocked wooden structure.) Upon conclusion the speaker turned again to Stewart: "Brother, would you please give me your chair and go down to sit with your Missus and the others." Without speaking another word Alistair raised the bulky chair heavenward, kissed the head of its backrest and quietly placed it on the platform about seven feet to his left. "Friends may that chair never stray from that location during service. May it never be occupied by any of you. Just a simple unexceptional wooden chair. Henceforth it is reserved for the Lord Jesus. When you look at it you are to be reminded of our Saviour's presence in this place by the Spirit. This Meeting Hall is a place for meeting with Him much more than for meeting with each other. As you arrive may you be able to confirm that your previous days' activities, words and observances have been sweet before Him. If before Him you are convicted of any stumbling, repent of it quickly here on bended knee. Do not hide it. Do not play the hypocrite. Others will understand and get under your need. The Lord is here. He is the One with whom you have to do. His returning smile will be like a dozen sun-rises. Now in making this adjustment on the platform I realize that I am discommoding one of your elders each service. This is a good thing. Each of them should spend service occasionally in the pews. We all know the stuff of which we are made. In need of much searching, humiliation and affliction. Let no man be exalted. I know. I opted for this wandering new life of mine away from the kirk in Kingston because the people were looking too much toward me. I am no mediator. CHRIST IS THE MEDIATOR! I realize that soon you will be selecting one of these four as senior shepherd. It is a good thing that the responsibility be circulated among them to a certain 11
degree. All of these men have farms to work and families to raise. I know from personal acquaintance that as in the case of the deacons in Acts Six all of these brothers are full of the Spirit, but also humble and willing. Pray for them often, that no candle be extinguished in this place. Now with your permission I would give a few brief thoughts on the lowly ministry and service of Our Lord as portrayed by Paul in the second chapter of his epistle to the Philippians...."
Hard-Hat Pastor
Craig had writer's block. He had been at the keyboard for two hours but with very little in the way of results. This was to be message three in a series on turning around the stranglehold of conformity to the world. The tuna fish sandwich was only half-eaten. Deb was in the front office doing books and keeping away phone calls or other disturbances. The side wall of the study looked like a battle station with bulletin boards containing architect's renderings on the renovation. Sheets of figures from the recent meeting of the Board were thumb-tacked. Also tallies on the first six months' return of pledges. For a moment Craig's imagination drifted to the enhancements to program which had been emphasized for weeks now from the pulpit. It seemed overwhelming but worth the shot. Millions of dollars. Economy pretty shaky. He had not imagined that he and his assistant Eric would be so intensely involved. But they were the staffers. A Board of volunteers had only so much time to give. 12
Additionally Harry had dropped a bombshell by informing them that his own tax business was entering corporate year-end season. His could be only a "surgical" or "strategic" involvement. They had thought that he and three other people of business would carry the reins. It was looking much different now. Deb popped her head in the door. "Your wife just called to remind you to drop by the dry cleaners. Also, to give yourself a good ninety minutes leeway. The Johnstons are expecting you at six-thirty... How goes the message from the Mount?" "Not so hot, Deb. I have the foundation text. But the inspiration? Right now I'm looking over an outline of a similar sermon given four years ago. Could possibly doctor it over in a pinch. There's just been so much..." Right then they both heard some commotion at the door to the outer office. Deb stepped outside. Craig took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It was Stan Wallace. Deb knew that he had been talking with Craig about some tensions with Claire. "Is Craig in? I have to speak with him." In this atmosphere of urgency she could only point her thumb at the open door. As he entered, she thought that she heard something like " She's packed a bag. Gone to her sister's. Taken David with her." Deb was totally out of the loop for the next fifteen minutes. Only some mumblings. A voice raised a couple of times. A pause of silence which was probably prayer. Then the door opened and Craig came out alone. Eyes red. Chin quivering. Something was different with her cousin. These were not tears of compassion. And Craig had shed many. These were tears of exhaustion and self-pity. Acts 6: 2Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, 13
full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Just Jesus There
So take away The Christmas choir, The banquets and the books. The Holy Cup, The Holy Days, The cheerful hugs and looks. The mission trips, The Pastor's quips, And all the other fare. I ask you, saint With Gospel quaint Would Jesus still be there? Would Jesus still Be there for you, Your portion and your power, Your daily friend Right to the end, Not just at worship hour? Your inner voice, In each tough choice; Your solace in the test. Unspoiled by sham, The wondrous Lamb, Your brightest and your best.
Age Twenty-Nine And Taken
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"There is nothing more surprising to an attentive reader of the gospel than to notice the little success Christ had in the conversion of sinners. Although he speaks with love such as never man spake with, yet for all that, Christ had to complain, just as we have, "Ye believe not." O brethren! is it to be wondered at, then, that there are so few believers among us, when there were so few converted under Christ? We are always to expect this, then. Observe still further that the more that Christ opened out his mind to them, they seemed to hate him the more. They said, "He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? They were pulling one another away from hearing him. Brethren, it is the same now; the more that ministers have Christ in their sermons — the more faithfully they preach — the more you will say they are mad, and have a devil. Is the servant greater than his master, or the disciple than his Lord? Still farther, observe, when Christ pressed the truth hard upon them, they could not bear it; verse 31, They were not content with disbelieving what he said, but they stoned him; and he asked this question, "Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of these works do you stone me?" Brethren, the same is true still; the nearer we come to your conscience — the nearer we bring the Word home to you, if you are not converted by it, no doubt you hate us. If it is not the savour of life unto life, it will be the savour of death unto death. "Am I become your enemy, because, I tell you the truth?" And yet, brethren, it is sweet to notice that Christ had his sheep for all that. "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." Although it is a world of adversaries, yet there is a sheepfold." This is a portion of a sermon by Robert Murray M'Cheyne entitled "The Marks and Blessings of Christ's Sheep". It is taken from the volume entitled "A Basket of Fragments". For years I have enjoyed the fruit of this powerful but short ministry in Dundee, Scotland. M'Cheyne was the less likely of two brothers to enter the ministry. The elder brother, John was stricken with a fatal disease and his final months in prayer for the soul of young Robert bore remarkable fruit. The whole story is told in Andrew Bonar's volume "Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne" The brilliant education; the poetry; the early call to a pulpit; the strikingly intense sermons; the warm approach to household visitation; the letters of comfort and admonition; the convicting fencing of the Communion Table; the worsening health; the Mission of Inquiry to the Holy Land; the feverish nights in a desert tent; the prayers for revival for a distant flock and the surprising answers to prayer; the final months and the awesome funeral for 15
the well-loved pastor. Quite a record for twenty-nine years. (1813-1843) "One of these days I'm gonna sit down and talk with Robert."
The Nature of His Teaching
(Taken from The Life of Jesus Christ by James Stalker) 91. The most prominent of them seems to have been Authority: 'The people were astonished at His doctrine, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.' The first thing which struck His hearers was the contrast between His words and the preaching which they were wont to hear from the scribes in the synagogues. These were the exponents of the deadest and driest system of theology that has ever passed in any age for religion. Instead of expounding the Scriptures, which were in their hands, and would have lent living power to their words, they retailed the opinions of commentators, and were afraid to advance any statement, unless it were backed by the authority of some master. Instead of dwelling on the great themes of justice and mercy, love and God, they tortured the sacred text into a ceremonial manual, and preached on the proper breadth of phylacteries, the proper postures for prayer, the proper length of fasts, the distance which might be walked on the Sabbath, and so forth; for in these things the religion 16
of the time consisted. In order to see anything- in modern times at all like the preaching which then prevailed, we must go back to the Reformation period, when, as the historian of Knox tells us, the harangues delivered by the monks were empty, ridiculous and wretched in the extreme. ' Legendary tales concerning the founder of some religious order, the miracles he performed, his combats with the devil, his watchings, fastings, flagellations; the virtues of holy water, chrism, crossing, and exorcism; the horrors of purgatory, and the numbers released from it by the intercessions of some powerful saint-these, with low jests, table-talk, and fireside scandal, formed the favourite topics of the preachers, and were served up to the people instead of the pure, salutary, and sublime doctrines of the Bible.' Perhaps the contrast which the Scottish people three and a half centuries ago felt between such harangues and the noble words of Wishart and Knox, may convey to our mind as good an idea as can be got of the effect of the preaching of Jesus on His contemporaries. He knew nothing of the authority of masters and schools of interpretation, but spoke as one whose own eyes had gazed on the objects of the eternal world. He needed none to tell Him of God or of man, for He knew both perfectly. He was possessed with the sense of a mission, which drove Him on and imparted earnestness to every word and gesture. He knew Himself sent from God, and the words He spoke to be not His own, but God's. He did not hesitate to tell those who neglected His words that in the judgment they should be condemned by the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba, who had listened to Jonah and Solomon, for they were hearing One greater than any prophet or king of the olden time. He warned them that on their acceptance or rejection of the message He bore would depend their future weal or woe. This was the tone of earnestness, of majesty and authority that smote His hearers with awe. 92. Another quality which the people remarked in Him was Boldness: 'Lo, He speaketh boldly.' This appeared the more wonderful because He was an unlettered man, who had not passed through the schools of Jerusalem, or received the im0primatur of any earthly authority. But this quality came from the same source as His authoritativeness. Timidity usually springs from self-consciousness. The preacher who is afraid of his audience, and respects the persons of the learned and the great, is thinking of himself and of what will be said of his performance. But he who feels himself driven on by a divine mission forgets himself. All audiences are alike to him be they gentle or simple; he is thinking only of the message he has to deliver. Jesus was ever looking the spiritual and eternal realities in the face; the spell of their greatness held Him, and all human distinctions disappeared in their 17
presence; men of every class were only men to Him. He was borne along on the torrent of His mission, and what might happen to Himself could not make Him stop to question or quail. He discovered His boldness chiefly in attacking the abuses and ideals of the time. It would be a complete mistake to think of Him as all mildness and meekness. There is scarcely any element more conspicuous in His words than a strain of fierce indignation. It was an age of shams above almost any that have ever been. They occupied all high places. They paraded themselves in social life, occupied the chairs of learning, and above all debased every part of religion. Hypocrisy had become so universal that it had ceased even to doubt itself. The ideals of the people were utterly mean and mistaken. One can feel throbbing through His words, from first to last, an indignation against all this, which had begun with His earliest observation on Nazareth and ripened with His increasing knowledge of the times. The things which were highly esteemed among men, He broadly asserted, were abomination in the sight of God. There never was in history of speech a polemic so scathing, so annihilating, as His against the figures to which the reverence of the multitude had been paid before His withering words fell on them-the scribe, the Pharisee, the priest and the Levite. 93. A third quality which His hearers remarked was Power; His word was with power." This was the result of that unction of the Holy One without which even the most solemn truths fall on the ear without effect. He was filled with the Spirit without measure. Therefore the truth possessed Him. It burned and swelled in His own bosom and He spoke it forth from heart to heart. He had the Spirit not only in such degree as to fill Himself, but as to be able to impart it to others. It overflowed with His words and seized the souls of His hearers, filling with enthusiasm the mind and the heart.
Battling Declension
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(Taken from An All Round Ministry by Charles Spurgeon) Dear brethren, have we ever reached our right condition as compared with our early ideal of what we hoped to be? Do you recollect when you first entered the College or the ministry? Do you remember what a high standard you set up for yourself? You did well to fix the mark high; for, if you aim at the moon, you will shoot higher than if you fired at a bush. You did well to have a high standard, but you do not well to fall short of it; and, yet, who does not fall short even of his own ideal? Do you not wish to hide your head when you contrast yourself with your Lord? He saved others, and therefore could not save Himself; but we are keen to guard ourselves and our reputations, and often act as if we thought self-preservation the highest law of nature. Our Lord endured great contradiction of sinners against Himself, while we are provoked if we are thwarted in any degree. He loved His sheep, and followed them when they went astray; but we have far too little pity even upon those who gather at our call. We are far, far, far below the true glory of the Well-beloved, and even fall short of our poor ideal of Him. Neither in private in His prayers, nor in public in His life, or His ministry, or His teaching, do we approximate to Him so nearly as we should; and yet, to fall short of likeness to Him, ought to make us blush and weep. We cannot afford, therefore, to run down. Indeed, if we do not compare ourselves with our Master, but only with our brother-ministers (for certain of them have done right noble work for Jesus), we shall come to the same conclusion. Some of our brethren have held on under fearful discouragements, serving the Lord faithfully; others have won souls for Christ, to whom the winning of one soul has cost more self-denial than the winning of hundreds has cost certain of us. I could sit with delight at the feet of such consecrated brethren as I am now thinking of, and look up to them, and glorify God in them. Such have been found among men of inferior abilities, slender powers, and small attainments; but how they have worked, and how they have prayed, and how God has blessed them! It may be that, with ten times their ability and opportunity, we have not done anything like as much as they have. Do we not mourn over this? Can we afford to decline? Beloved brethren, we cannot afford to remain in any state lower than the very best; for, if so, our work will not be well done. Time was when we preached with all our might. When we began to preach, what preaching it was for zeal and life! In looking back, it must increase our self.-humiliation if we perceive that, in our younger days, we were more real and intense than we are now. We preach much better, so the critics say; and we know that 19
there is more thought and more accuracy in our sermons, and that we use better elocution than we did in our young days; but where are the tears of our early ministry? Where is the heart-break of those first sermons in our first sphere? Where is the passion, where is the self-annihilation that we often felt when we poured out our very life with every syllable we spoke? Now, sometimes, we go into the pulpit resolved that we will do as we did then, just as Samson went out to shake himself as he had done aforetime. He had snapped the cords and bands before, and he was going to do the same again; but the Lord had departed from him, and he was weak as another man. Brethren, what if the Lord should depart from us? Alas for us, and for our work!
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