To us the presence and work of the Holy Spirit are the ground of our confidence as to the wisdom and. I will for the time being take it for granted that we are all of us conscious of the existence of the Holy Spirit.
But then, fourthly, the Spirit of God acts also as an anointing o//, and this relates to the entire delivery — not to the utterance merely from the
But, oh, to bum in our secret heart while we blaze before the eyes of others I This is the work .of the Spirit of God. Our ends can never be gained if” we miss the cooperation of the Spirit of the Lord.
Next we need the Spirit of God as the Spirit of supplications, who maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. A very
Next we need the Spirit of God as the Spirit of supplications, whomaketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. How blessed they are both to the minister and his people no tongue can tell I How full of power and blessing habitual prayerfulness must also be I.
Furthermore, it is important that we be under the influence of the Holy Ghost, as he is the Spirit of holiness; for a very considerable and essential
Furthermore, it is important that we be under the influence of the HolyGhost, as he is the Spirit of holiness; for a very considerable and essential.
Once again, we need the Spirit as a Spirit of discernment, for he knows the minds of men as he knows the mind of God, and we need this very
Sloth in the cause of the Redeemer is; a vice for which no excuse can be invented. Intermeddle with all knowledge, but above all things meditate day and night in the law of the Lord.
Brethren, we must be even more earnest to go forward in moral
The preacher should be great in the science of the heart, the philosophy of inward experience. Bask in his beams and you shall be vigorous in the service of the Lord.
Lastly, and here I am going to deliver a message which weighs upon me,
It is a fact that even for the colonies it is ‘very difficult to find men,, for I have had openings :in Australia which I have been obliged to decline. It is not enough for us to say, “Those Moraviaus are very wonderful people I” We ought to be wonderful people too.
THE NEED OF DECISION FOR THE TRUTH
We cannot leave the blood out of our ministry, or the life of it; will be gone; for we may say of the gospel, “The blood is the life thereof.”. We have not got into the condition of the Scotch minister who, when old John.
OPEN AIR PREACHING AND ITS HISTORY
George Wishart was one of the early preachers of the doctrines of the Reformers, and suffered martyrdom in the days of Knox. Our trust was in the arm of Jehovah, which was better than weapons of war, or the strength of the hills. We remembered the ark of the Israelites which had sojourned for years in the desert, with no dwelling place but the tabernacle of the plain.
The Chancellor of the Diocese having put impediments in the way of Whitefield’s preaching in the churches. Field-preaching was the wild note of the birds singing in the trees, in testimony that the true springtime of religion had come. Sir, they are full to the brim.” “Take some, then, to the master, at the head of the table,” he said.
It was nearly eleven o’clock at night when I first arrived on the border Of the camp. I left my boat at the edge of the wood, one mile from the scene; and when I opened upon the camp.
OPEN AIR PREACHING — REMARKS THEREON
- A good voice
- Naturalness of manner
- Self-possession
- A good knowledge of Scripture and of common things
- Ability. to adapt himself to any congregation
- Good]illustrative powers
- Zeal, prudence, and common sense
- A large, loving heart
- Sincere belief in all he says
- Entire dependence on the Holy Spirit for success
- A close walk with God by prayer
- A consistent walk before men by a holy life
I am afraid that the English which he acquired ‘was not of the very best, which. Infidels, also, are constantly yielding to the word of the Lord thus brought home to them. Let the dwellers in the valley of the shadow of death perceive that light has sprung up for them.
Even in the streets of London a concern for the convenience of your hearers is one of the things which conciliates a crowd more than anything. These trees cause a perpetual hissing and rustling sound, almost like the noise of the sea. The sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees” is all very well, but keep clear of the noise of poplars.
It is a fine sight to see the minister of the gospel marched off by the servant of the law. The man’s comrades for the very fun of the thing urged him on, but, as he declined, the dog in the manger fable was narrated and the disturber disappeared.
POSTURE, ACTION, GESTURE, ETC
Confinement in every lesser degree must be proportionally injurious to grace; thus the crowded bar is injurious to the action of the advocate, and the enclosed”. If any complaints, :are made of the hot-headedness, of our ministers, it is readily to be accounted for, since the apparatus for’ the purpose is arranged, with great care. Who, for example, can deny the eloquence of the hands in the Magdalens of Guido; their.
The second form of the grotesque is not unlike the first, and may be best distinguished as the regular and mechanical. This is to be witnessed very frequently, and consists of a long series of jerkings of the arm, meant, perhaps, to increase emphasis, but really doing nothing whatever. What was the peculiar use of the noise I could not tell, for we were all awake, and his.
There are some in the ministry of all the churches who would be marvellously benefited by a little of the very candid if not savage criticisms which have been endured by budding orators at your hands. The arms “akimbo,” I think they call it, and the very sound of the word suggests the ridiculous rather than the sublime. A hundred years ago the dressiness of the clergy was about as conspicuous as it is now, but it had no doctrinal meaning, and was mere foppery, if Lloyd is to be believed in his “Metrical Plea for Curates.”’.
All tricks and stage effects are unbearable when the message of the Lord is to be delivered.
GARNESTNESS: ITS MARRING AND MAINTENANCE
It is not in the order of nature that rivers should run uphill, and it does not often happen that zeal rises from the pew to the pulpit. One of the excuses most soporific to the conscience of an ungodly generation is that of half-heartedness in the preacher. We must be earnest in the pulpit because we are earnest everywhere; we must blaze in our discourses because we are continually on fire.
Nothing but truth may appear in the house of the Lord; all affectation is strange fire, and excites the indignation of the God of truth. If we have not exercised ourselves in the word of God, we shall not preach with the fervor and grace of the man who has fed upon the truth he delivers, and is therefore strong and ardent. We need a constant renewal of the divine impulse which first started us in the way of service.
Abide under the shadow of the Almighty, dwell where Jesus manifests himself, and live in the power of the Holy Ghost. There is enough of evil to be seen even in the best streets of ore’ great cities, but there is an unnutterable depth of horror in the condition of the slums.
THE BLIND EYE AND THE DEAF EAR
In such a case you are not to be censured, you ought even to be commended. The blind eye and the deaf ear will come in exceedingly well in connection with the gossips of the place. Turn your deaf ear to what you judge to be his harsh criticism, and endeavor to preach better.
How few reports there are of any kind which, when they come to be examined, we do not find to be false. In any case it is: all about yourself, and this is a poor theme to be anxious about; play the man, and do not demean yourself by seeking compliments like tittle children. Besides, it is a crime to be taken off from your great object of glorifying the Lord Jesus by petty.
Your blameless life will be your best defense, and those who have seen it will not allow you to be condemned so readily as your slanderers expect. Do not consider yourself to be the bishop of all the neighboring churches, but be satisfied with looking after Lystra, or Derbe, or Thessalonica, or whichever church may have been allotted to your care, and leave Philippi and Ephesus in the hands of their own pastors.
ON CONVERSION AS OUR AIM
Let him show that sin is a breach of the law, that it necessitates punishment, and that the wrath of God is revealed against it. The doctrine of election and other great truths which declare salvation to be all of grace, and to be, not the right of the creature, but the gift of the. You are doing .right when you mention your own experience of the goodness of God in Christ Jesus, and plead with men to come and taste the same.
A few crumbs of the feast are thrown to the dogs under the table at the close of the. Why should the warning word be always at the }.tinder end of the discourse when hearers are most likely to be weary. It may be very well as a nile to seek the edification of the saints in the morning discourse, but it would be wise to vary it, and let the unconverted.
If we ourselves doubt the power of the gospel, how can we preach it with authority. It should be our ambition, in the power of the Holy Ghost, to work the entire church into a fine missionary condition, to make it like a Leyden jar.
FOOTNOTES
The Library consists of books and other literature of enduring value to the Christian community. Our goal since the beginning has been to “make the words of the wise available to all —inexpensively.” We have had in mind the student, teacher, pastor, missionary, evangelist and church worker who needs a high quality reference library, one that is portable, practical and low in cost. The AGES Digital Library hopefully will reflect — as its components are released — the necessary breadth and depth for a solid personal library.
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In the process of preparing the Library, we at AGES Software have taken the liberty to make certain edits to the text. As we discovered errors in spelling, certain archaic forms, typographical mistakes or omissions in the original we have done our best to correct them.
