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Til AIAKONIA TOT AOrOT IIPOSKAPTEPHZOMEN.
Acts vi. 4.

THE

MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

By
WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D.D.,
New York.

LONDON:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK.

PREFACE.

This book is not a Treatise on Homiletics. Neither is it
a ministerial autobiography. But it is an attempt to give
to my younger brethren in the pulpit, and to-lhose who are
preparing for the ministry, some practical hints which I
should have been thankful to have received twenty years
ago, and which have been suggested to me as much by the
blunders as by the successes of my public life.
To my seniors they may seem to be of little importance ;
but I was not writing for them. My aim has been to set
before my readers a few first principles emphasized by ex
perience; and if my book shall be to any young minister
like the hand of an elder brother held back to help him for
ward, I shall rejoice even more than he.
The course was prepared especially for the theological
students of Yale College, as the "Lyman Beecher Lectures"
for 1876; but selections from it were delivered also to the
members of Union, Princeton, and Oberlin Theological
Seminaries. To these young brethren with whom I have been brought
so pleasantly into fellowship, to the members of the Faculties

VI PREFACE.
of the Seminaries which I have named, and to all interested
in the education of " the Sons of the Prophets," I dedicate
this volume, with the prayer that He "whose I am, and
whom I serve," may make it largely useful to those who
are preparing to give themselves to "the ministry of the
Word." New York, April 1876.

CONTENTS.

I. THE NATURE AND DESIGN OP THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, I
II. THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER,  s3
ill. THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER — continued, ... 51
IV. THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT,  70
V. THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING — IN THE
SERMON,  105
VI. THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON — IN THE
PREACHER,  T20
VII. EXPOSITORY PREACHING,  153
VIII. ON THE USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN PREACHING, ... r8i
IX. THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — READING Or THE
SCRIPTURES,  205
X. THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — PRAISE AND PRAYER, 229
XI. THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION,  257
XII. THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT TO PRESENT QUESTIONS, 281

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE QUOTED OR REFERRED TO,  307
INDEX  309

LECTURE I.
THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE CHRISTIAN
MINISTRY.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

LECTURE I.
THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE CHRISTIAN
MINISTRY.

" TTTHAT can the man do that cometh after the
' * King ? " My two distinguished predeces
sors in this Lectureship, unmindful of the generous
order of Boaz to his reapers, to " let fall some of the
handfuls of purpose " for the poor Gentile gleaner,
have so thoroughly swept the field, that nothing is
left for me save here and there an ear. This would
be hard for anyone ; how much more for one who
has to confess that he is, as yet, a learner in the de
partment in which they are masters ! For two and
twenty years I have been striving to reach my ideal
of the Christian preacher, and it seems to me as if I
were to-day as far from it as ever. Always as I have
appeared to advance towards it, it has fled before
me, and still it hovers above and beyond me, beck
oning me on to some attainment yet unrealized.
Never did it seem to me so difficult to preach as it
does to-day. The magnitude of the work grows upon
me the longer I engage in it ; and with every new

2 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
attempt I make, there comes the painful conscious
ness that I have not yet attained. Twenty years ago,
I thought I could preach a little, and flattered my
self that I knew something about Homiletics. Now
I feel that I am but a beginner, and the thought of
addressing you upon such a subject fills me with dis
may. Still we may get on well together, if only you
will consent to regard me as a fellow-student, or
at least as an elder brother, striving with you after
the same end, and speaking* to you out of the full
ness of his heart, that he may warn you to avoid the
mistakes which he has made, and stimulate you to
aim after that efficiency on which his own heart is
set. The nature of this Lectureship requires that he
who holds it, for the time, should deal with the sub
ject, as illustrated by his own experience. It may
be well, therefore, in the outset, that I should men
tion one or two cautions which need to be kept in
mind by you, while we are proceeding with our ad
dresses. *
In the first place, it must be fully understood by
you, that no one can begin precisely at that point at
which another has arrived only after long years of
persevering effort. The son of the merchant entering
upon the possession of his father's fortune, may com
mence housekeeping on the same scale as his parents.
But, even then, it has been generally seen that he is
deficient in those qualities of character which were
most distinctive in his father, and which in him were
formed by the struggle through which he wrestled up

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 3
to his success. You may acquire a legacy in a mo
ment, but you cannot, all at once, step into that
homiletic habit which it has taken another long years
to form, and by which he is able at a glance to see
into the heart of a subject, and to know precisely how
to treat it so as to impress his hearers most deeply
with its importance. You cannot obtain, as one might
say, ready-made, that ease in work and fluency in ut
terance which it has taken him almost a lifetime to
acquire. Some, indeed, have, from the very first, mani
fested such skill in handling subjects, and such
eloquence in discoursing on them, that we may fairly
speak of them as men of genius, in this peculiar de
partment. But these are the exceptions. The great
majority of those who have become eminent in the
pulpit, have grown into their greatness. They have,
under God, made themselves for their position, by
watchful self - discipline, and steady perseverance.
Now, you cannot reach the end at which they have
arrived, without using means similar to those which
they employed. At first they were, as you are now,
inexperienced, and, perhaps, also somewhat censo
rious, more skillful in criticising the sermons of others
than in sermonizing for themselves. But at length,
inspired by love to Christ and to the souls of men,
they have been led so to train themselves for their
work, that they have become truly great.
Behind the present ability of such men as these,
there is a history which must never be lost sight of, for
if without their history you try to perform their work,

4 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
in their particular way, you will inevitably and igno-
miniously fail. Thus, one tells us that he prepares his
sermons on the Lord's day on which they are delivered;
and that he never writes more than the merest outline
of them ; and you know that thousands hang with
breathless interest upon his lips. But that is the
ultimatum at which he has arrived, after a lifetime of
such experiences as have rarely fallen to the lot of
any man, and after a discipline which has been in
some respects as thorough as it has been peculiar.
Now, if you begin by trying to do as he is doing now,
you will be as successful mistakes as David would have
been in the armor of Saul.
Another describes to us how he has discarded the use,
if not also the preparation, of a manuscript, and as you
listen to his stately eloquence, and see the magnificent
ease with which he appears to sway his audiences, you
may be led to attempt, at one leap, to vault up to the
height on which he stands. But he had to go up, by a
long series of single steps, the ascent of which involved
the labor of a quarter of a century, and what is your
puny jump to that ?
Let it be distinctly understood, then, that the value
of all such autobiographic glimpses as these friends
have given us, and as we may give, consists in the
unfolding of processes of self-culture, and in the stim
ulus which these impart, rather than in the commend
ing of the particular methods which in individual
cases have been adopted.
Again, it must not be forgotten that no one man can
merge his individuality into that of another. If one is to

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 5
do anything effectively in the pulpit, or elsewhere, he
must be himself. It is the glory of the Gospel of
Christ that it lifts into itself, and transmutes into ele
ments of power, the very personal idiosyncracies of its
preachers. No one of the apostles was cast precisely in
the mold of another. John, and Peter, and Paul had
their distinctive features, each of which was made in
strumental in bringing out some new phase of the
truth which they all alike proclaimed. And as it was
with them, so it is still. No preacher should try to form
himself after the model of another. If you make such
an attempt, you may depend upon it that what is
character in your exemplar, will in you degenerate
into caricature. There is something noble in a voice,
but however excellent an echo may be as an echo,
there is a hollowness and an indistinctness about it
which gives it unreality. The poorest wild flower
that blooms beneath the hedge, is better than the
richest waxen imitation of the camelia or the rose,
for it has a beauty and a fragrance of its own.
Artificiality is repulsive anywhere, but in the pulpit
it is worse than offensive ; for there it robs the jnan of
that distinctive and individual power which God has
given to him for the very purpose of ministering to his
efficiency. The preaching of the gospel has been com
mitted to men, that throughtheir very manhood it may
tell the better on those whom they address ; and as each
has his own particular characteristics, it will be found
that in so far forth as he gives them play, he will have
a power over his audience which no other man can
wield. Those who have risen to the highest useful-

6 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
ness have done so through the consecration of them
selves to their work. They have laid themselves —
not the poor imitations of other men — upon the altar,
and the lesson of their history is, not that we should
try to make ourselves into them, but that we should,
like them, use all our powers and develop all our in
dividuality in the noble work in which we are en
gaged. Once more : we must bear in mind, that in the min
istry, as in other pursuits, success results only from
continuous and systematic labor. Usefulness is not
a mere accident. Even of Paul and Barnabas it is
recorded on one occasion that they " so spake that a
great multitude of the Jews, and also of the Greeks
believed,"* implying that there was in their discourses
a special fitness to produce conviction in the minds
of their hearers. Now, the attainment of this adap
tation in our sermons requires study. It does not
come of itself. It is not in us as it was in them, the
result of a supernatural inspiration. It is the fruit of
work. True, there are some men so organized that
no amount of painstaking on their part will ever
make them effective speakers. True, again, there are
others who are by nature more highly gifted than
their fellows in the attributes of the orator; yet
even in their case the larger part of genius is perse
verance ; and to him who desires to succeed in per
suading men by his public utterances, it must still be
said " in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat " this
bread also.

* Acts xiv. i.

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 7
There will be many difficulties to overcome, and
many excellences to be acquired. Oftentimes hu
miliating failures will be ^made ; and not seldom
he will be tempted to give up the whole work in
utter hopelessness. But if he will only labor on,
with an entire devotion to his calling, an overmas
tering love to his fellow-men, and a sincere desire to
glorify his Lord, then he may look for some fair meas
ure of usefulness, and may even attain to that ease
and affluence of speech which, in others, he has so
often contemplated with the envy of despair. When
one reads of the confusion of face which attended the
first efforts of such a man as Robert Hall, or of the
ridiculous appearances which some of our greatest
political orators have made in the outset of their
careers, he will be encouraged to take heart again ;
for though we are not all endowed as Hall was origi
nally, yet we may all endow ourselves with persever
ance, and in the end that will tell in bringing out the
best of which we are capable.
Let it never be forgotten, then, that he who would
rise to eminence and usefulness in the pulpit, and be
come "wise in winning souls," must say of the work
of the ministry, " This one thing I do." He must fo
cus his whole heart and life upon the pulpit. He must
give his days and his nights to the production of those
addresses by which he seeks to convince the judgments,
and move the hearts, and elevate the lives of his
hearers. All this, I know, is opposed to the common view.
In the opinion of multitudes, the life of a minister is

8 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
one of ease and leisure. They see him only in the
pulpit ; and as they mark the apparent " abandon " of
his manner, and listen to the easy cadence of his
speech, they think that it has cost him little. So as you
look upon the accomplished gymnast flourishing his
Indian clubs to the time of the musician, he seems to
be making little effort, and you imagine you could do
as well yourself. But try it, and you will discover
that he has acquired that graceful ease only by long
and laborious training, and that, for all so simple as
it appears to be, he is straining every muscle to its ut
most, and the whole man is putting forth his energy.
Similarly in preaching, that which seems so easy, has
been made so only by strenuous exertion.
If, therefore, young gentlemen, you have chosen the
ministry, expecting to be carried to heaven " on flowery
beds of ease," you have made an egregious mistake.
With such ideas, you will never rise above the merest
drones, and you had better at once seek out some
other pursuit. But if with something like worthy
views of the design and reward of the gospel minis
try you give yourselves unreservedly and wisely
to its prosecution ; then, in spite of its arduous toils,
you may look for joys, the like of which this world
gives to no other laborers. " All other pleasures are
not worth its pains," and as you hear the cry of the
inquirer, " What must I do to be saved ?" or the song
of the convert whom you have brought to Jesus,
there will be to you " an over-payment of delight "
for all the exertions which you have made. Through
many bitter mortifications you may have to pass:

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINIS TRi. g
and not seldom you may be driven to your closet,
with the wailing cry of the old prophet, " Who hath
believed our report ?" But your very mistakes, wise
ly interpreted, will guide you to success ; and that
longing for results which yearns in your hearts will
stir you up to " be strong and play the men " for
Jesus and His truth.
Understand, then, that in the lectures which I am
now to deliver, I do not bring to you any " short and
easy method " to ministerial usefulness and success.
I have nothing but the good old message of " work."
You are not here, like so rnany tanks, to be filled up
by the professors, and from which week after week
the prescribed quantity is to be drawn for the supply
of the people. But you are here to put on those habits
of study which, though they, may sit more easily on
you as the years revolve, you must keep on you to
the very end of your course, if at least you would be
" workmen needing not to be ashamed, rightly divid
ing the word of truth."* But that is no hardship.
That will be your very life, for it will keep you from
the rust and must of decay, while at the same time it '
will minister to your highest happiness, provided only
your hearts be in your work : for " the labor we delight
in physics pain." I give you joy, therefore, in the pros
pect that is before you, and as one never labors so
effectively as when he sings at his toil — take this as
your life song :
" I must work, through months of toil
And years of cultivation,
* 2 Tim. ii. 15.

TO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Upon my proper patch of soil
To grow my own plantation.
I'll take the showers as they fall ;
I will not vex my bosom ;
Enough, if at the end of all
A little garden blossom."*
And now these preliminaries understood, let us ad
vance to the consideration of our theme. I begin with
the question, What is the nature and design of the Chris
tian ministry? and for an answer to that, I open the
New Testament, where I learn, in the first place, that
it is especially and pre-eminently a service. The first
minister is the Lord Jesus Christ himself; and these
are His words, " Whosoever will be great among you,
let him be your minister ; and whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant ; even as the son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minis
ter, and to give his life a ransom for many."f To
the same effect are these words at the supper-table :
" He that is greatest among you, let him be as the
younger; and h£ that is chief, as he that doth serve.
For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he
that serveth ? is not he that sitteth at meat ? but I
am among you as he that serveth."^: And in hafmony
with the principles thus enunciated, we find that when
the sons of Zebedee sought the highest places in his
kingdom, he said, "Can ye drink of the cup that
I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I
am baptized with ? "
* Tennyson's Amphion. t Matthew xx. 26-38.
I Luke xxii. 26-27.

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. \\
Now it is readily conceded that in these passages
there are some things which are distinctive of Christ
and in which we cannot perfectly resemble Him.
Thus it is true that we cannot, in precisely the
same sense as He did, give our lives as ransoms, for
many. Yet, it is none the less true, that this spirit
of self-sacrifice lay at the foundation of the excel
lence of Christ's ministry as a whole, and gave their
attractiveness to His discourses, as well as its re
demptive character to His death. If, therefore, we
may point to Christ's parables as models for illustra
tion in the matter of our sermons, we may surely
speak of the imitation of this consecration of Himself
to the service of others, as the great indispensable pre
requisite to eminence in the ministry. In doing this,
indeed, we are only enforcing His own words to James
and John, and urging that the drinking of Christ's cup
and the submitting of ourselves to His baptism, are
the only passports to real greatness in the work to
which we have devoted ourselves.
This principle is far-reaching. It tells us that it is
through manifold experiences of sorrow and pain that
Christ fits His ministers for their highest service. He
writes their best sermons for them on their own hearts
with the sharp "stylus " of trial, and they are then most
eloquent and effective when they read these off to their
hearers. Those whom He calls to His ministry, He
takes with Him into Gethsemane, and such as He
would make the most eminent He takes the farthest in.
How deeply true that is, the biographies of the most
eminent preachers will amply attest !

12 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
But that is not precisely the point which I wish at this
time to make out of His words. I want you to mark
that this willinghood to sacrifice self in the service of
others is the distinctive feature of ministerial great
ness.* The people are not for the minister, but the min
ister is for the people ; . and he is to lose himself in their
service and for their benefit. See how Paul had learned
this lesson,when he says," We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus, the Lord," i. e., supplying the ellipsis
" we preach not ourselves lords, but Christ Jesus,
Lord, and ourselves your servants, for Jesus' sake." f

* It may seem to some that this is to make the Christian min
istry only a higher form of ordinary discipleship. But is it, after
all, in the light of the New Testament, any more than that ?
Unless we are prepared to accept the doctrine of " orders '' with
all which that involves, we must come to the view which I have
here expressed. I had written the above lecture before I saw
the late Principal Fairbairn's posthumous book on " Pastoral
Theology,'' and therefore it was with great gratification that I
read these sentences. " It is a fundamental principle of Chris
tianity, that there is nothing absolutely peculiar to any one who
has a place in the tmie Church  If every sincere Christian
can say, ' I am one with Christ, and have a personal interest in
all that is His,' there can manifestly be no essential difference
between Him and other believers ; and whatever may distinguish
any one in particular, either as regards the call to work or the
capacity to work in the Lord's service, it must in kind belong to
the whole community of the faithful, or else form but a subordi
nate characteristic. The ministry itself in its distinctive prerog
atives and functions is but the more special embodiment and ex
hibition of those which pertain inherently to the Church, as
Christ's spiritual body.'' (p. 64.)
t 2 Corinthians iv. 5.

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

13

Nor was this a mere momentary outflashing of senti
ment with the apostle, for we find him describing
it as the principle of his life that he made himself
servant unto all that he might gain the more ; * and
even when he was explaining what seemed to his
readers to be a dereliction of duty towards them, he
said, " Not for that we have dominion over your faith,
but are helpers of your joy." f So also Peter in ex
horting the elders is careful to warn them to exercise
their oversight, " not as being lords over God's
heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.":]:
Now I put this in the forefront, because, as it seems
to me, misunderstanding here, goes very far to account
for the ministerial failures over which the churches
mourn, and for the partial character of the successes
which have been made by many who were' otherwise
admirably adapted for the work. I can never forget the
imrjression made on me in the early portion of my Liver
pool ministry, when a brother who had just come with
me from the study of a neighbor, where we had heard
him railing for a long time against his people, said to
me, " The truth is, he seems to think that the con
gregation exists for him, but the right-hearted minis
ter recognizes that he exists for the congregation.
Depend upon it, his work will be a failure." And a
failure it was. But all unconsciously to himself, the
brother who predicted that, preached a most power
ful sermon to me, for if I have been blessed with the

* 1 Corinthians ix. 19. t 2 Corinthians i. 24.
| 1 Peter v. 3.

14

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

utmost harmony between my people and myself, and
if, in any measure, I have been useful to them, it has
been because I have tried to remember and lay to
heart these simple words.
The office of the preacher is that of a helper of his
fellows. His special duty is to lead them to Him
who is their Helper and Redeemer, and to assist
them in the understanding of His word, and in the
application of its principles to their daily lives. He is
not in the ministry, in order that he maybe fe"ted and
flattered, and made the altar on which the adulation and
incense of his people are to be laid. He is not set to
receive the sacrifices offered by his hearers, but rather
ought he to make himself a sacrifice on their behalf, aye,
even though sometimes his devotion to them may
be met with ingratitude ; yet, none the less is it to be
continued by him. Hardly can we find a more sub
lime spectacle in itself, or a more appropriate model
for the Christian minister, than that presented by
Paul, when he says, " I will very gladly spend and
be spent for yoai ; though the more abundantly I love
you, the less I be loved." *
And yet, all this abnegation of self is perfectly
consistent with a proper magnifying of the minis
terial office, and is, though it may seem .paradox
ical to say it, the surest means of obtaining the
affection and honor of the people. He who is
always hungering for these things, and watching
whether or not they will be rendered to him, never

* 2 Corinthians xii. 1 5.
(617)

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

IS

gets them ; while he who seeks to be the servant
of all — comforting the sorrowful, assisting the weak,
sustaining the burdened, directing the perplexed,
and cheering the disconsolate — will, as he is pursuing
his work, gather round him the love and confidence
of his people, so that in time of trial they shall be a
living wall of defence around him against all his adver
saries. Whosoever will be great in this field, there^
fore, must begin by renouncing self. If you make
yourself the end of your ambition, you will lose
your labor, and do no good either to yourself or to
others ; but if forgetting self, you seek the good of
your fellows for Christ's sake, you will bless them, and
have at last their happiness added to your own. In
all matters of meanness, or duplicity, or corruption,
stand upon your dignity, and do not let yourselves
stoop to perform them ; but in all matters of loving
service, seek your dignity through their' performance,
for usefulness and eminence, like wisdom, are " oft-
times nearer when we stoop, than when we soar."
Thus, the motto of the ministry is that of the high
est nobility, "Ich Dien," I Serve ; and he who most
worthily acts out its meaning is already in one of its
loftiest places.
But to complete our idea of the nature of the
ministry, we must take into consideration the end
which in his life of service the preacher is to keep in
view. Now, we find that, also, clearly set before us
in the New Testament, for Paul, in tracing up the
origin of the ministry to the gift of the ascended
(647) 2

1 6 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Christ, has said, " He gave some, apostles ; and some,
prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors
and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints ; for the
work of the ministry ; for the edifying of the body of
Christ : till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ;"* and in describing his own procedure,
he speaks after this fashion, " Christ whom we preach,
warning every man and teaching every man, in all
wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus ; whereunto I also labor, striving ac
cording to his working, which worketh in me
mightily." f
So also in the book of the Acts of the Apostles
we observe, that in all their public discourses the
first preachers of the Cross sought to carry con
viction to the hearts of their hearers, and used every
means to bring them to the acceptance of Christ, and
to the beginning of a new life in Him. Now it is
Peter on the day of Pentecost, or in the household of
Cornelius ; and now it is Paul in the synagogue of
Antioch, or on the top of Mars hill, and though like
men well skilled in the reading of human nature, they
varied their methods with the circumstances and
previous histories of their audiences, yet always they
had before them as their great aim the bringing of
souls to Christ, and the carrying of them forward to
higher attainments in Christ. Their constant design
?Ephesians iv. 11-13. f Colossians i. 28, 29,

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. \>j
was to move men to accept Him as their deliverer
from sin, and to persuade them to adopt His precepts
as the rule, and His example as the model of their
lives. They endeavored everywhere to mold char
acter through the presentation of " the truth as it is
in Jesus." Or, as Paul himself has phrased it, they
constantly attempted " by manifestations of the truth "
to commend themselves " to every man's conscience,
in the sight of God." *
In doing this, they did not care what happened
to themselves. They had no eye or thought for
anything but the benefit of their fellow-men through
the proclamation of the gospel. Hardship might
come upon them. They might be cast into prison
or stoned till they were left for dead. But "none
of these things moved them." They made ob
jection only when men sought to worship them as
gods. They did not measure their success by the
applause they evoked, or by the comforts they
secured, but only and always by the change which,
through the power of God working with them,
they produced upon their auditors. Not to display
themselves, or to win for themselves the reputation
of eloquence, did they labor. They could say to all
the congregations which they addressed what Paul
said to the Corinthians, " I seek not yours, but you ;"f
and their "joy and crown of rejoicing" was not in
the preaching of sermons which might secure admi
ration, but rather in the winning of souls for Christ.

* 2 Corinthians iV. 2. 1 2 Corinthians xii. 14.

t8 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
If they could succeed in that, they took joyfully the
spoiling of their goods; and when, as at Ephesus,
they saw conjurors renouncing their deeds of deceit
and burning their books of magic, they had a reward
which more than. reconciled them to the "jeopardy"
in which " every hour " they stood.
Now it is all-important that this one absorbing de
sign of the Christian ministry, as illustrated so glori
ously by the examples of those who were first invested
with it, should be kept constantly before the mind of
the preacher. For, partly owing to the public senti
ment at present existing, and partly, also, to the nec
essary rhetorical training through which all candidates
for the ministry must pass, there is great danger of
our exalting that which is only a means, into the place
which ought to be occupied by the end to which it is
subordinate. Among us everything runs to speech. The ex
ercises of a commencement day are mainly " ora
tions;" and eloquence at once opens the door to
office and eminence, both in the State and in the
Church. There is, besides, much that is gratifying to
human pride, in being able to move large masses of
people by the power of oratory. And so there is devel
oped one of the perils of the modern pulpit. The
preacher is tempted to aim at eloquence in itself, rather
than at that, the gaining of which is the true evidence
that he has been eloquent ; and the doing of things
according to strict rhetorical rule, is apt to be more
accounted of than the securing of men's hearts for
Christ, and the moving of them to strive after that .

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 19
holiness which he requires.* Now this is fatal, both as
respects eloquence and as regards the impressing of our
fellow-men. Oratory existed before rhetoric. He who
succeeds in persuading another by the power of speech
is, ipso facto, truly eloquent. And the rules of rhet
oric have been generalized from the observation of
the methods of those who have thus succeeded. It
is very far from my object now to undervalue these
deductions. On the contrary, they have a value in
their own place which can hardly be overestimated.
But that place is mainly for the pruning away of ex
crescences, and the correction of faults. They are
good when you have thoroughly mastered them, but
they are dreadfully pernicious when they have mastered
you. So long as you are consciously speaking by
rule, you will be hampered as really as if you were
trying to walk in chains. You will be stilted, arti
ficial, and unnatural. To strive after eloquence for
the sake of being eloquent, will destroy eloquence.
No man ever yet became great or effective in speech
until he lost consciousness of himself, and of every-

* Mr. Spurgeon somewhere tells of a conversation between
an eminent English surgeon and a. French doctor, which may
illustrate our meaning here. They were comparing notes regard
ing a certain very critical operation. The Frenchman averred
that he had performed it more than three hundred times, while
the Englishman said that he had attempted it only on eight occa
sions. " But how many did you save by it ?'' inquired the English
man. "Oh, none, at all!" was the answer; "but then the
operation was brilliant !" •• Ah !" replied the Englishman, " but
I saved seven out of the eight." The salvation first ! then let
the brilliancy of the operation take care of itself.

20 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
thing else, in the one overmastering desire to move
his hearers to adopt the course which he is advo
cating.* Here, as in the kindred pursuits of art and music,
comes in that gospel of unconsciousness which Carlyle
in one of his essays has so characteristically expounded.
" Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while
he talked with God,"f and evermore there is this same
" wist not," when any one reaches the mountain-top
of his peculiar power. He whose heart is so earnestly
set on the salvation of men that he travails in birth
of them "until Christ be formed in them," will, in
addressing them, be eloquent, either according to rule,
or in spite of rule, or above all rule ; but he who is
desirous mainly of following some scholastic prece
dent will degenerate into a pulpit pedant.
The effort to be eloquent will produce a rhetorician ;
the concentrated purpose to move men to live for God
in Christ, will produce, in the end, an orator, and the

* The example,of Mr. Jay, of Bath, in this respect, is most in
structive. •' I always found," says that preacher, " one thing
very helpful in the choice and in the study of my subjects. It
was the feeling of a Tightness of aim and motive, /. e. a simple
regard to usefulness, and a losing sight of advantage, popularity,
and applause. This, it may be said, is rather a moral than an
intellectual auxiliary. Be it so. But we know who has said,
' When thine eye is single thy whole body shall be full of light.
And is not even reputation itself better and more surely acquired
when it follows us, than when it is pursued?" — Jay's Autobi
ography, p. 140.
t Exodus xxxiv. 29.

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 21
two are as far from each other as the poles.* Young
men, " covet earnestly the best gifts, yet show I unto
you a more excellent way." Seek men, not the repu
tation of eloquence or the incense of applause. Let
your motto be the words of McAll, " I do not want
heir admiration, I want their salvation ; " and as you
^abor thus for their best interests, wrestling with God
for them, and with them for God, you will be led to
the best methods in a natural way, and eloquence will
come before you are aware of it, bringing its attestation
with it in the persons of those who have been, under
God, transformed and transfigured by your instru
mentality. *
Thus again, we come round to the truth which I
wish to strike as the key-note of these addresses, that
SELF-RENUNCIATION IS THE ROOT OF EXCELLENCE.
It is told of Pousa, the Chinese potter, that, being
ordered to produce some great work for the em
peror, he tried long to make it, but in vain. At
length, driven to despair, he threw himself into the
furnace, and the effect of his self-immolation on the
ware, which was then in the fire, was such that it
came out the most beautiful piece of porcelain ever
known.f So in the Christian ministry, it is self-sacri
fice that gives real excellence and glory to our work.
When self in us disappears, and only Christ is seen,

* Paraphrasing the words of Professor Blackie, we might say
here, " One may as well expect to make a great patriot of a
fencing-master, as to make a great orator out of a mere rhetori
cian." See Blackie on Self-Culture, p. 18.
t See Harper's Magazine for September, 1875, p. 502.

22 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD..
then will be our highest success alike in our own lives
and in the moving of our fellow-men. We get near to
the secret of Paul's greatness, when we hear him say,
" According to my earnest expectation and my hope
that Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it
be by life or by death ; " * and in the measure in which
we imbibe his spirit, we shall rise to his efficiency.
The worker, equally with the work, must be offered
up in sacrifice to Christ, if at least the work is to be
worthy of Him and of His cause.

* Philippians i. 20.

LECTURE II.
THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.

LECTURE II.
THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.
~| TAVING glanced at the nature and design of the
•* — *- work to which the preacher has consecrated him
self, we are now ready to inquire what are the pre
requisites to an efficient ministry.
And here, I take for granted that the preacher is
himself a sincere and earnest Christian, and that he
will constantly seek the co-operation with him of the
Spirit of God. These are first principles with us;
and, if I do not dwell upon them so fully as upon
others which I shall presently name, do not suppose
that I hold them to be less important. On the con
trary, they are of the greatest moment. They are
paramount and indispensable. But then, they are al
ready recognized as such by you, for you are not here,
I am persuaded, without having felt how essential these
things are to the life and power of your ministry. At
all events, if you have not that conviction, the kind
est thing I can say to you is, " Go no farther until
you get it."
It is only light that can enlighten. It is only fire that
can kindle flame. Hence if we would illuminate others,
we must have light in ourselves ; and if we would kin
dle the flame of piety in the hearts of others, we must

26 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
take the " live coal " with which we do so, from the
burning "altar" of our own spirit. ( Everrthe heathen
poet could say, "Si vis me flere dolendum est firimum
ipsirlibi."\ If we be ourselves uninterested, how can
we expect to interest others ? if we be ourselves in
sincere, how can we hope to bring others to the faith ?
if we be ourselves cold, passionless, and dull, how
can we expect to rouse others to enthusiasm ?
But, even personal sincerity will not avail without
the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, and so the con
nection between prayer in the closet and power in the
pulpit is of the closest sort. He preacheth best who
prayeth best. Prayer is to the minister what the min
strel's music was to Elisha, it prepares his soul for the
descent of the Holy Ghost upon him, and where He
is, there is power. Hence, the minister who neglects
prayer, does, in his sermon, but lay Gehazi-like a cold
staff upon the face of the dead ; and there is no quicken
ing result. It is only when, in the fullness of our love
for souls, and in the boldness of our faith in God,
we, as it were, stretch ourselves over them, and
wrestle with Him on their behalf, that we become to
them the conductors of new life. Ezekiel's prophe
sying produced a shaking among the bones, and an
external readjustment of them each to each, but it
was the breath of the Lord in answer to his prayer
that gave them life. When, therefore, God pours out
upon the minister the spirit of prayer, that is the
prophecy of a coming revival in his church.
These are things most surely believed among us,
and I have mentioned them now only that I may pre-

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.

27

vent them from being consigned to what Coleridge*
has called " the dormitory of the soul," and may keep
them from lying bed-ridden there " side by side with
the most exploded errors."
But I do not dwell longer upon them now ; neither
do I enlarge upon the necessity of that literary and
theological training which it is the proper business
of college and seminary to furnish. I would only say,
that in the interests of your future usefulness, you
will make a fatal mistake if you neglect to improve
to the fullest possible extent the advantages which
as students you here enjoy. Sometimes the tempta
tion may suggest itself to you, that as your main
business in after-life will be that of preaching, you
may safely put your present class duties aside for the
purpose of devoting yourselves to preaching engage
ments. But such " raw haste " will be indeed " half-
sister to delay." What you gain in the matter of
practice will be more than lost in that of efficiency.
Of course, I do not object to your fulfilling those
appointments which may come in your way, provided
your doing so does not abstract your attention from
the work which you come here to perform. Give your
first care to the discharge of the seminary duties.
Fill up to the brim the ordinary channel of your
student-work, and then let the overflow, if there be
any, go. to other engagements. This will be the true
economy in the end. You have facilities here, in the
shape of libraries, lectures, and advisors, the like of

* "Aids to Reflection.'' Aphorism I.

28 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
which in your after career you will never again enjoy.
Use them, therefore, to the utmost, and by doing so,
you will be " laying up for yourselves in store, a good
foundation against the time to come."
When you enter upon the work itself, you will find
that it will demand all your time and energies, and if
your lot should be cast, at length, in a large city with
its ceaseless demands upon you, there will be no little
difficulty felt by you in securing even so much seclu
sion as is required for the satisfactory preparation of
your weekly discourses; therefore, let this be your
gathering time. Lay everything in this institution
under tribute. Get the most you possibly can out of
every class. Master every subject that is brought be
fore you ; and especially, master the original languages
in which the Word of God was given, so that you may
read them, not with the stammering hesitancy of one
who barely knows their alphabets, but with the criti
cal appreciation of the scholar who recognizes the
minutest niceties in their construction. Continually
do I find myself in my work drawing upon the sav
ings, if I may so express it, which I accumulated in
my student-life, and few regrets have been so bitter—
alas ! that they are so unavailing — as those which I feel,
when I reflect, that if I had only been wiser in my gener
ation then, I might have been much more useful and
efficient now. Therefore, though I presume, not to
enter into the details of your studies, let me, from my
own experience, impress upon you the importance of
present devotion to ypur work here ; for though
David, fresh from the sheep-fold, did such wonders

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 2Q
with his sling, every warrior is not a David, and for
the average of men, it is better that they should sub
mit to the drill and discipline which will make them
expert in the use of ordinary weapons.
But, contenting myself thus with the merest refer
ence to these things, I would give special and pecu
liar emphasis to familiar acquaintance with the Scrip
tures, as one of the most important prerequisites to
pulpit power. You are to be ministers of the Word ;
and it is by the knowledge of the Scriptures that you
are to be thoroughly furnished for your work.* The
Bible is your text-book, and that not in the sense of
being a hunting-ground for texts, but in that of con
stituting the ground-work of your discourses. You
are looking forward to be "pastors and teachers,"
and the very thing which you are to teach is the
Word of God. You are to lead your people up to an
intelligent apprehension of its meaning, and a cordial
reception of its statements, and it will be impossible
for you to do that if you are not yourselves masters
of its contents.
Moreover, the Bible is the great instrument of your
power. The Spirit is in the word, as well as with the
word. It carries its own evidence with it, and in the
proportion in which you succeed in bringing your
hearers face to face with its truthful and unflattering

* See 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17, where the furniture of the "man of
God '' is said by Paul to consist in a knowledge of the Holy
Scriptures.

30 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
mirror, you will commend your utterances to their
consciences in the sight of God. The great purpose
of your office is to regenerate your hearers, and the
one means which you are to employ for this, is " the
Word of God which liveth and abideth forever."
Herein you differ from those who are the exponents
of a system of philosophy, and even from those who
are the teachers of morality. Admirably has Bishop
Wilberforce, said, " That which is the object of philos
ophy is the accident of theology. It does not aim at
answering speculative questions, doubts, and difficul
ties, though it does resolve them. It reveals the per
son of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
speaking at once to the highest reason ; to that
which apprehends by faith and not by the mere exer
cise of the logical faculty ; to the will in its most se
cret recesses ; and to all the affections in their highest
sealed fountains." And again, " Incidentally it is the
only real and efficient system of morality ; but it is
this only incidentally. Moral teaching by itself, with
no insight anrl sanctions from without, from the true
fountain-head of all being, is, amongst a fallen race,
little better than mental and spiritual anatomy ; a pur
blind poring into the nauseous revelations of disease
and death ; a groping darkly into the mechanism from
which life has fled. Christianity is the bringing the
mighty word of the Son of man to such an one, and
saying in the strength of His Omnipotence to that
dead corpse, ' Young man, I say unto thee, arise.' "*
* " Addresses to Candidates for Ordination," by the late Rt.
Rev. Samuel Wilberforce, D:D., pp. 48, 49.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.

31

Now, this Christianity is revealed to us in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments — in the
former, through type and prophecy ; and in the lat
ter, through history and exposition ; if, therefore, we
are to teach it correctly and preach it effectively, we
must be thoroughly acquainted with these books.
As he who is to practice the healing art must have,
so to say, at his fingers' ends, the whole principles of
medicine, and be perfectly familiar with the nature
and effects of the remedies which he is to prescribe ;
or as he who gives himself to legal pursuits, should
master the great authorities in his department ; so
the preacher of the gospel should be like Apollos,
" mighty in the Scriptures."
Understand, therefore, that I am not now pressing
upon you the duty of using the Word of God for the
purpose of fostering habits of devotion in your own
souls ; though that, of course, you will not neglect.
Neither am I enforcing upon you the importance of
having your memories stored with its words, so that
they may come at your bidding to strengthen and
adorn your pulpit discourses. I am urging you to
the systematic and continuous study of its books,
that you may thoroughly familiarize yourselves with
those truths in the proclamation of which your life-
work is to consist. I wish you to have your minds
so saturated with its spirit, that the first and most
natural view you will take of any subject, wil" be the
Biblical. Form your system of theology from its pages. You
cannot get on without having in your minds some
(547) ' 3

32

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

systematic view of religious truth ; but go to your
system through the Bible, and beware of reading the
Bible merely through the spectacles of system. Be
the slaves of no system ; but be always the docile
disciples of the Word of God. That was an all-im
portant distinction which Whately drew, when he
said : " A desire to have Scripture on our side, is one
thing; the desire to be on the side of Scripture is
quite another." Be it yours to find out which is the
side of Scripture, and determine always to take that.
Mark very carefully the perspective in which it places
different truths, and when you preach these truths,
be sure always to put them in the same relative posi
tion as that in which you found them in its pages.
Read it as a whole, that you may have a compre
hensive survey of its contents. Read it inductively,
that you may gather together into so many different
centres all its utterances on particular matters of
doctrine or duty. * Read it book by book, that you
may discover the drift and purpose of each separate
contribution^which, under the guidance of the Spirit,
each writer has made to its aggregate unity. Resolve
that whatever else you read or leave unread, you will

* As specimens of the kind of induction to which I here refer,
let me mention the works of Smeaton and Crawford on the Atone
ment ; and as treating the same subject in a similar manner, but
on a different principle of classification, the recent volume of Mr.
Dale, of Birmingham. In this connection, also, I would direct
attention to some of the sermons of Thomas Binney, in the vol
ume entitled "Sermons preached in the King's Weigh-house
Chapel, London, 1829-1869." Macmillan & Co., 1869.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 33
at least master that which is for you professionally,
as well as experimentally, THE BOOK. And never
imagine that you have perfectly possessed yourselves
of all its treasures ; for, ever as you grow in intellec
tual vigor and in Christian experience, you will find
that you have grown into the capacity of discovering
just so much the more in its treatises and narratives,
its sermons and its songs.
When I was a student of theology, a cursory remark
dropped by one of my beloved tutors, to the effect
that " we read far too much about the Bible, and far
too little in the Bible," was for me a word in season.
It set me to such study of the Scriptures as I am now
enforcing upon you, and if God has given me any
measurcof usefulness in my ministry, not a little of
it has been due to my determination to become "well-
instructed in the oracles of God." Other attainments
were beyond my reach. I had not the means of pur
suing studies in many departments which were open
to my more fortunate contemporaries ; but this was
at my hand, and so I gave myself to it, and for years
I have been in the habit of gauging my mental growth
by the clearer apprehension which I have gained of
some portion of the Scriptures, than I had at the
time when it was last under my consideration.
You will see, therefore, that the acquaintance with
the Word of God which I am recommending to you,
is not that of the letter merely. I do not mean that
you are to become such prodigies of memory, that if
the whole Bible were to be destroyed, you could easily
restore it. Neither do I wish you to be walking con-

34

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

cordances, able at a moment's notice to give the chap
ter and the verse of every quotation that may be
made in your hearing. What I desire is, that you
should become as familiar with its modes of present
ing the truth, as you are with the text-books of your
classes. And if you will be advised from my expe
rience, I would urge you to make your study of it
at first hand, and for yourselves. You will find many
hand-books offered for your assistance, and many
analyses of its teachings pressed upon your attention.
But, in the first instance at least, make your own.
For while you are prosecuting your investigation for
one purpose, you will incidentally, and by the way,
pick up a great many valuable things which other
wise you might never have seen. Besides, that which
you discover for yourself, remains with you a perma
nent possession, while that which you take ready-
made from the labors of another, is very speedily
forgotten. " Search the Scriptures " then, my young
brethren. It is an old injunction, but it is as impor
tant now as if was centuries ago. " Read, mark, learn,
and inwardly digest " them, and you will grow into an
efficiency as preachers which you could not otherwise
acquire. Not without its lesson in this regard is that mar
velous spiritual movement which within the last two
years has stirred Great Britain to its depths, as it has
never been since the days of Whitefield and the Wes-
leys, and which has begun under the same instrumen
tality in our own land. Here are plain, unlettered
men, in many respects open to criticism in their meth-

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 35
ods, yet blessed to the revival of multitudes, and to
the conversion of still greater numbers; and when
you come to analyze their power — so far as it can be
submitted to mere human analysis — much of it is
found to consist in the fact, that they are skilled in
the use of that Word of God, which is " quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the hearts." * Let us learn
from their example. Let us not prefer the " wisdom
of words " to its words of wisdom. Let us teach our
people to bow before its utterances, by the rever
ence which we ourselves manifest in its treatment.
Yea, let us recognize the signs of the times in this
particular, and as everywhere the people are hunger
ing for the Word, and do eagerly welcome it when it
is faithfully and lovingly expounded to them, let us
furnish ourselves for the demand that is thus made
upon us, by gathering daily of its heavenly manna.
Another prerequisite to success in the pulpit is a
good knowledge of the human heart. The physician
must understand, not merely the nature of the reme
dies which he is to employ, but also the symptoms
and workings of the diseases which he desires to cure.
He must " walk the hospitals " as well as study the
pharmacopeia. Now, the gospel is a remedial meas
ure, and therefore it is essential that its preachers

* Hebrews iv. 12.

36 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
should be acquainted with the nature of man, as well
as with the means which, as the instrument in the
hands of God's spirit, he is to use for its transforma
tion and renewal. Hence, he who wishes to become
an efficient minister, will be a diligent student of men.
Begin here with yourselves ; for " as face answereth
to face in a glass, so doth the heart of man to man.''
There are distinctive peculiarities, indeed, in each
individual, but in their great outstanding characteris
tics, men everywhere are very much alike. Therefore
you may safely take it for granted, that what you find
in your own hearts, exists also in those of others. The
burden of guilt which weighed so heavily on your
consciences, will be found pressing also upon theirs,
if only you can succeed in bringing them to that
knowledge of God's law by which you were awakened
to a sense of your sinfulness. The blood of Christ
which cleansed you from your iniquities, will be as
efficacious also in their cases, if they will apply it to
themselves in simple faith. The struggle which you
have continually to carry on with the evil principles
that are yet within you, must be maintained also by
them, and whatever is felt by you to be helpful in
that holy war, will be welcomed, you may be sure, by
them. The besetments which encircle you, will in
some form or other environ them ; the weaknesses
which you feel so frequently, and in consequence of
which you yield so often to temptation, will be felt
by them ; and whatever has been to you the means
of revival, will certainly prove restorative to them.
The limitations within which you have to carry on

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 37
your labor on the earth, and which mar so much the
symmetry and completeness of your work, will be
similar to those which they have often felt so galling
to them, and everything which has tended to sustain
and comfort you under your humiliation, will be
equally valuable to them. They have their unsettle-
ments and trials in life just as you have ; they have
their emptyings from "vessel to vessel" just as you
have ; they have their sorrows, and sicknesses, and
bereavements just as you have ; and by telling them
how you have been upborne, you " may be able to
comfort them that are in any trouble, by the comfort
wherewith you yourselves -are comforted of God."*
Thus alike in the matter of warning and in that of
consolation, you will find that a strict watch over your
own hearts and histories will give you signal power.
The conflict with, and conquest over, one single bosom
sin, will give you here an influence which you will
seek in vain from any other quarter. Peter could
never have written his first Epistle, which is so full
of comfort to them who " are in heaviness through
manifold temptations," if he had not himself known
what it was to hang through days of darkness on
the memory of his Master's loving look. And those
are ever the most effective preachers to others who
are speaking from their knowledge of their own hearts.
On the day on which I was licensed as a preacher
of the gospel, my father, who was then suffering from
the disease of which he died, repeated to me a sen-

* 2 Corinthians i. 4.

38 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
tence which fifty years before he had heard in the
charge given at an ordination by an old pastor to
the- newly-installed minister. It was to this effect :
" Preach to the hearts of your hearers, and that you
may do that effectively, examine well your own heart,
and whatever you find there, charge home upon them."
Perhaps the circumstances in which this advice was
repeated to me, tended to give it more importance
than it really deserves. Yet, I am free to say, that it
has very seldom been absent from my thoughts when
I have been preparing for the pulpit ; and sometimes,
when some one of my hearers has alleged that I was
preaching most pointedly at him, I was, in reality,
preaching most solemnly to myself; while on other
occasions, I have been made the messenger of conso
lation to many, when I was seeking most earnestly
for my own comfort.
The poet has said that " one touch of nature makes
the whole world akin," and a minister thrills his hear
ers most when they feel his nature touching theirs.
There is something in the eye of a well-painted por
trait which makes every beholder think that it is
looking at him, and that no matter at what point he
stands. Now, this speaking from his own heart will
give a similar power to the sermon of the preacher,
and will make every hearer feel that it was meant for
him. Know yourselves, then, and use that knowledge
as a key for opening the hearts of others to your
words. Let your own hearts and consciences always
form a portion of your audience, and if you are af
fected, others will be also.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.

39

Have you observed how when God has called His
greatest servants to some signal service, He has be
gun by giving them a thorough revelation of them
selves, through the unveiling of Himself to them ?
Now it is Moses* at the burning bush, and when he
has discovered his imperfections, the commission is
given, " Go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach
thee what thou shalt say." Now it is Gideon f at
the threshing-floor, and when he has said, " O my
Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel, behold my fam
ily is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my
father's house;" he is then in a fit state to receive
the command, " Go, in this thy might." Now it is
Isaiah % in the Temple filled with the glory of Jeho
vah, and when he has found out that he is " a man
of unclean lips," and has received purification by fire
from the altar, he is ready to offer himself to the call
of the Lord, with the words of dedication, " Here am
I, send me ! " Now it is Peter, § on the shore of
Gennesaret, seeing the glory of the Lord through
the miracle of the fishes, and crying, " Depart from
me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord," and then he is
prepared for the reassuring words, " Fear not, from
henceforth thou shalt catch men." The knowledge
of his own heart, through and along with an experi
mental acquaintance with Christ — these are the
mightiest elements of the preacher's power. I have
seen a housemaid in one of our great hotels, take a

* Exodus iv. 10. t Judges vi. 11-15.
% Isaiah vi. 1-8, § Luke v. 1-16.

40 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
skeleton-key and pass into every chamber' in a spa
cious corridor, laying open the contents of each, and
setting to work on its purification. Now, such a skele
ton-key is the knowledge of his own heart to the
minister of Christ. It enables him to unlock the
hearts of his hearers and enter into them, and turn
out their hidden things, so that they cry, " Who told
him all that ? he seems to be reading out the inner
most secrets of my soul." Who told him? It was
Jesus, in the day when His divine light flashed into
his soul, and let him see himself!
But in this matter of the knowledge of human nat
ure, you will also gain much advantage from the
study of the biographies which the Word of God con
tains. The history of the first temptation is repeated
in every enticement to sin still, and the weaknesses
even of such men as Abraham and Moses, Aaron and
Elijah, Peter and Thomas, are continually reappear
ing among ourselves. Everywhere we may find those
who, like Balaam, " love the wages of unrighteousness,"
while they seek to obey the letter of the divine pre
cept. Daily we are meeting with men whose great
difficulty, when we urge them to a certain course, is
that of the Jewish king, who said to the man of God,
" But what shall we do for the hundred talents which
I have given to the army of Israel ?"* and the class
whom Demetrius so, moved when he said, "Sir, ye
know that by this craft we have our wealth,"f is not
by any means extinct among us. There are too many

* 2 Chron. xxv. 9. t Acts xix. 25.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 41
still like Herod,* who are "very sorry, yet," for the
sake of some fancied obligation to party, or to prom
ise, go and do what their consciences condemn. We
have yet our Diotrepheses,f who " love to have the
pre-eminence among the brethren," as well as our
Aquilas and Priscillas, who are our "helpers in Christ
Jesus." But why need I enumerate individual in
stances ? You will find in the characters described in
the Bible representatives of every phase of human nat
ure presently existing among .ourselves, and so, if
you wish to furnish yourselves fully for dealing with
men in the momentous matter of the salvation of
their souls, you will study well the portrait gallery of
the Book of God.
Let each biography here be to you a matter of sep
arate analysis, and let each character be regarded by
you as the type of a class, specimens of which you are
sure to meet with in your after lives. This will prepare
you for the actual work of the ministry, not only by
suggesting to you fruitful themes for your public dis
courses, but also by familiarizing you with the doub
lings and deceitfulnesses of that human heart, with
which, as the preachers of the Gospel, you will have
especially to dto.
In this department, also, you may be greatly bene
fited by the diligent study of the characters which
are described in human literature. The pages of his
tory will give you ample materials for coming to a
decision as to the motives by which men in general

* Mark vi. 26. t 3 John 9 ; Romans xvi. 3.

42 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
are actuated ; for though the transactions which are
there described are larger and more important than
those in which the average of mankind are engaged,
yet the principles by which they who took part in
them were animated, are the same as those which are
acted upon by the majority of men in the ordinary
affairs of life.
But better, perhaps, than any history, for the end
which I am now setting before you, are the dramatic
works of Shakespeare. To them, I, at least, must ac
knowledge my obligations, in the most emphatic
manner. They came into my hands during my sec
ond session at the University of Glasgow, and opened
up what was virtually a new world to me. For more
than two years I devoted to them every minute of my
leisure time. I read them not for the sake of the
stories which they told, or the plots which they unrav
elled, but for the insight which they gave me into the
workings of the human heart. I was especially fas
cinated with those plays which manifest the power
of conscience ; and long before I knew of the writ
ings of Schlegel and Coleridge, I had made for myself
an analysis of the characters of Macbeth, Richard III.,
Brutus, Hamlet, Iago, and others. The productions
were crude enough, no doubt ; yet, the mere attempt
at such work was valuable to me beyond most
other things ; and to this day I look back with no or
dinary pleasure on the hours which I spent in such a
delightful manner.
It is not without a measure of trepidation, indeed,
that I venture to mention this, for I have still vividly

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.

43

before my mind the consternation of my father, a
worthy elder in the Presbyterian Church, when he
discovered the nature of my studies at that time.
Sitting up one evening until far past midnight at my
favorite pursuits, I happened to burst into a long,
loud laugh over a ludicrous passage which I was read
ing, and' to make some noise by the movement of my
chair. This disturbed my venerable parent in his
slumbers, for my room was immediately over his, and
in a few minutes I was confronted with the vision of
a man in white, who, on finding out how I was en
gaged, very gravely said to me, " My man, if you are
going to preach Christ's Gospel, you had better be
doing something else at this time in the morning than
reading a play-actor's books." I fear, therefore, lest
some exemplary Christian people may think that I am
giving you perilous advice,- when I recommend you to
make yourselves familiarly acquainted with the char
acters which the great dramatist has so powerfully
depicted. But I am reassured when I remember that
if I err here, I err in good company, since I find that
Dr. Guthrie wrote, " I never tire of reading Shakes
peare. I have always considered him the greatest unin
spired genius that ever lived ; and I remember how glad
I was when reading the biography of Dr. Chalmers, to
find that he was of the same mind."* In spite, there
fore, of the prejudice which many friends entertain
against the class of works to which Shakespeare's

* Autobiography and Memoir of Thomas Guthrie, D.D. Vol.
II., p. 310.

44

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

writings belong, I would urge you to make a study
of these noble productions, for though occasionally
you will meet with some things which indicate that
according to his own plaintive confession, his nature
had become " subdued to that it wrought in, like the
dyer's hand."* Yet every candid critic must agree
with Sir James Stephens when he says,f " In his soul,
as in a mirror, were concentrated all the lights radiat
ing from every point of human observation, and from
his soul as from a mirror these lights were reflected
back in every possible combination of beauty and
sublimity, of wisdom and wit, of pathos and humor."
But while you avail yourselves of all these means of
acquiring a knowledge of human nature, do not
forget to mingle much among men themselves.
Keep your eyes and ears open wherever you are,
whether in the streets, or in the cars, in the ex
change, in the stores, or in the household, and be
closely observant of everything which indicates
or illustrates character. Seek to become acquaint
ed with persons in every profession and pursuit,
and study especially the temptations to which they
are most open, and the weaknesses which they most
commonly manifest in their ordinary avocations.
Beware, however, of prosecuting such investigations
in a spirit of cynicism like that which comes out in
the pages of Vanity Fair ; or with a view to the pro-

* See his cxi. Sonnet.
t Lecture on Desultory and Systematic Reading, by the Rt.
Hon. Sir James Stephen, p. 25.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 45
duction of such comic effects as those which have
made the cartoons of Punch so famous. You stand
upon a higher platform than that of the moralist or
the satirist. Your mission is to be the helpers of
your fellow-men into the life of peace and purity
which Christ has revealed to them and made possible
for them, and therefore all your observations must be
made with a benevolence like that which " stirred "
the spirit of the apostle when he passed through the
streets of Athens, and marked how the city was
" wholly given to idolatry,"* and with the view of
leading them as he did, from the very inscriptions on
their own idol-altars, up to the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus. We can never hope to reach the excellence of the
Redeemer Himself, yet it may not be irreverent to
say here, that one of the sources of His power as a
preacher, lay in the fact that " He knew what was in
men." f He had " the tongue of the learned " that
He should " know how to speak a word in season to him
that is weary.'-' % Hence, there was a perfect adaptation
in His words to the characters and circumstances of His
hearers. To some He would not fully "commit Him
self;" and He had one way of presenting His message
to the formal Pharisee, and another to the weeping
penitent. He brought the same salvation to the ruler
Nicodemus, and to the woman at the well of Sychar,
but He approached each in the way that was best
suited to gain His end with each ; while in His public

* Acts xvii. 16. t John ii. 24, 25. ,J Isaiah 1. 4.

46 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD. %
addresses He rose with perfect naturalness from the
occupations of men's daily lives to the contemplation
of things unseen and eternal. He called men at the
receipt of customs to " follow " Him, and they obeyed
by leaving their occupations and attending Him
through His journeyings. It is ours to go to them.still in
their business pursuits, and persuade them to follow
Him, while yet they sit at their accustomed work. So
the nearer we can attain to that acquaintance with the
human heart which He possessed, the more effective
ever will be our appeals. In Him that knowledge
was the omniscience of godhead, but in us it must be
laboriously acquired by the observation of our fellows.
To this then, gentlemen, give yourselves with all your
earnestness. There is a way to every man's heart if
you can only find it. Study him, therefore, until you
discover it, and then enter in by it, and take posses
sion of him for your Lord. Let him feel and know-
that you come to assist him in his conflict with him
self; that you are in alliance with those aspirations
after something higher and nobler than he is, which
are the strongest yearnings of his heart ; that you
are desirous of helping him to withstand those tempta
tions with which every day he has to contend, and
you will gain not his ear only, but his heart, almost
before he is aware of it.
On my way to the pulpit, and as a means of self-
help, I spent a year in the editorial chair of a news
paper ; and I question if any of my college classes
was more valuable to me, so far as my after life-work
has been concerned, than the experience of dealing

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER.

47

with men which I then obtained. If anybody wants
to know human nature, all round, within and with
out, and through and through, let him be for a time
the editor of a newspaper ! and if, as was the case
with me, a contested election should happen to occur
during his term of office, he will have ample oppor
tunity of studying every variety of character !
I was helped in this department also, by some time
devoted to public teaching, a work in which the
monotony of the class was varied by watching the
peculiarities of the children, and sometimes, too, by
the opportunity it gave of insight into the petty am
bitions and schemings of the parents. And though
these observations were made in another land, I have
not found that human nature in New York is differ
ent from that which manifests itself in Scotland.
My advice to you in this matter, then, my young
brethren, is that you should avail yourselves of every
opportunity which offers itself, in your various en
gagements, for the study of your fellow-men. Be
always taking notes, without seeming to do so, and
let the results of your observations shape your public
discourses. It makes little or no difference how you
acquire it ; only somehow get a knowledge of your
fellows, so that when you preach to them, you shall
not seem to them like " one who beateth the air,"
but may speak as one who knows the difficulties with
which they have to contend, and the dangers by
which they are environed. " When I listen to some
preachers," said a ship-builder on the Tyne once, to a
minister of my acquaintance, " I can build a whole
(6»7) 4. .

48 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
ship ; but this morning I declare I could not lay a
single plate." " How was that ? " asked my friend.
" Because," was the reply, " you spoke like one who
kivew just what I needed, and I could not withdraw
my attention from you for a moment." That is the
sort of sermons which a knowledge of human nature
and daily life, -rightly applied, will enable you to
preach, and which you ought always to try to preach.
For I do not think that merchants, or indeed, for that
matter, any class of busy, struggling men or women,
receive nearly as much sympathy, encouragement, or
assistance from' the pulpit as they ought. The dis
courses they hear may be good enough as theological
discussions, or as moral essays, or as beautiful illus
trations of some little facet of truth, but they do not,
nearly so often as they should, touch the inner his
tories and experiences of men, living as we are doing
now, and the reason is because the preacher is too
frequently a respectable recluse, knowing little or
nothing of the battle which human souls are daily
fighting, in their homes, in the streets, or in their
stores. Stucfy men, therefore. Find out the " weights"
by which they are hindered in their daily race, and
the dangers to which they are most liable. Then
preach so that the wave of your speech shall flow into
their hearts and lift them up above the sandbanks on
which the work of the week had left them stranded,
and you will never be without their attention. Nay,
as the week advances, they will long for the recurrence
of the Sabbath that they may be strengthened through
your ministry once more, and when the service is

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 40,
ended they will retire with the feeling that in spite
of the down-dragging influences that are depressing
them, there is something worth striving for after all,
and with the resolution that they will begin anew to
live for Christ.
It is true, indeed, that as "ministers, you will be your
selves removed from the sphere of m'any of the diffi
culties with which men in business have to contend ;
but your very exemption from these will enable you
the better to help them, provided you know enough
about them. As described by Mr. MacGregor, in one
of his " Rob Roy" books,* the process of adjusting
the compasses on board ship in the river Thames, is
something like this : The vessel is moored in the
bight at Greenhithe, and by means of warps to cer
tain government buoys, she is placed with her head
towards the various points of the compass, one after
another. The bearing of her compass on board, in
fluenced as that is by the attraction of the iron she
carries, is taken accurately by one observer in the
vessel, and the true bearing is signalled to him by
another observer on shore, who has a compass out of
reach of the local attraction of the ship. The error
in each position is thus ascertained, and the necessary
corrections are made. Now in the church your people
are like that observer on board ship. Their con
sciences have been all the week affected by the in
fluence of things immediately around them, so that
* The reference is to " The Voyage Alone In The Yawl Rob
Roy," but I have not the volume at hand and cannot quote the
page.

50 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
they are in danger of making serious mistakes even
in their reading of the book of God. But in the pul
pit, you are like the observer on shore. You are
away from the magnetic agencies — mostly metallic —
which so seriously affect them, therefore you can signal
ize to them their " true bearings," and thus prepare
them for the voyage of the week that is to follow. You
can read the directions of God's- Word with an un
biased mind, while from your acquaintance with their
circumstances, you will know, what directions they
need for their daily guidance. Get such a knowledge,
my young brethren, on the one hand of the book of
God, and on the other of the characters and sur
roundings of men, as will enable you thus to be of
service to them, just where they are, and you may
be sure that you will always have numerous, inter
ested, and grateful hearers.

LECTURE III.
THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER — CONTINUED.

LECTURE III.
THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER, CONTINUED.
A MONG those things which are needed to the
-*-•*- furnishing of a successful preacher, I would give
an important place to the study of the works of stand
ard authors. Paul said to Timothy, " Give attendance
to reading," and the advice is even more needed in
modern times than it was in the days in which he
lived, for now "many are running to and fro, and
knowledge has been increased." If the minister is to
be a leader of men, he must keep ahead of them, or
at least abreast with them in ordinary intelligence,
for, if they detect him blundering in matters of his
tory, philosophy, or literature, or if they discover that
he is comparatively ignorant in these departments,
they will have little respect for his opinions and small
confidence in his judgment, even when he is speaking
to them of things that lie within his proper province.
But, over and above this negative advantage, the
effort to master the writings of great thinkers will
strengthen your own minds, while the truths which
they proclaim, will suggest to you trains of thought
which otherwise might never have occurred to you. Ab
solute originality, nowadays, is all but an impossibility
The most we can hope for is that we shall be able to

54 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
give freshness and point to our own thinking, as we
go over the subjects oil which men have exercised
their intellects from the beginning until now; and,
for my part, I know no method by which that can be
secured more thoroughly than by the wise use of
good books.
Some, indeed, have affected to despise their assist
ance, but the result of such a course is, in most in
stances, mental barrenness. We all know how stimu
lating it is to come into contact with a great man.
His talk is extraordinarily helpful. There is that in
his words which makes them seminal and germinant,
so that they take root in our minds and spring up,
and bring forth fruit which is a joy to us, and a bene
fit to those with whom we share it. But a similar
effect is produced in the diligent student by a great
book. In reading such a production we are, as it
were, listening for the time to the conversation of its
author, oh those subjects on which he was most at
home, and we become possessed of that which if he
had been questioned regarding it, he would have
valued more highly than all his other attainments :
thus, pigmies though we may be ourselves, in perus
ing the writings of those standard thinkers who have
enriched the world with their works, we stand on the
shoulders of earth's intellectual giants, and behold all
that was visible to their searching gaze. Cultivate
an acquaintance, therefore, with good books ; for as
one has beautifully said : " They are the masters who
instruct us without rods or anger ; if you approach
them, they are not asleep ; if you inquire of them,

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 55
they do not hide themselves ; they do not chide if
you err ; they do not laugh if you are ignorant. It
matters not in what mood we are, they are ever the
same ; Milton's Paradise knows no winter ; and the
bells of Bunyan's New Jerusalem are always ringing
joy."* But you cannot read every book, and it would not
be desirable that you should do so, even if you could.
Here, therefore, selection is necessary, and for making
that, no better direction can be given you than that
addressed the other day by Dean Stanley to the stu
dents of the University of St. Andrews : " Read the
great books, and let the little ones take care of
themselves." Richard Cecil said : " I have a shelf in
my study for tried authors ; one in my mind for tried
principles, and one in my heart for tried friends."
Now there are certain tried books, which by common
consent have been placed apart from all others in our
language, and elevated to a quasi-peerage in our litera
ture ; and these you ought to study, not through the
medium of abridgments or other make-shifts, but in
the original productions. What these are will imme
diately suggest themselves to you in connection with
the departments to which they severally belong, and
I wiH not stay to attempt to enumerate them ; but I
may say that it would not be creditable to any minis
ter using our mother tongue, if he were ignorant of
Shakespeare and Milton among the poets ; Gibbon,

* Religion : Its Influence on the Working Man at his Leisure,
a Lecture by Rev. William Graham, Liverpool, p. 9.

56 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Macaulay, and Motley among the historians ; Locke,
Reid, Hamilton, and Mill among the philosophers;
or Butler, Edwards, and Chalmers among the theo
logians. While in the various branches of natural
science, after having made yourselves familiar with
the elements, you will find it of advantage to go at
once to the writings of those who are the acknowl
edged masters in each.
But never forget that the manner of your reading
is as important as the matter. Samuel Johnson used
to say, "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth
doing well." And if a book be worth reading at all, it
should be perused with care and attention. Simple,
however, as. this statement looks, many never act
upon it. They are mere devourers of books, and so
suffer from literary dyspepsia. They never attempt
to digest and assimilate the thoughts of others, for
their one care seems to be to get over the pages, so
that they may add another to the list of works which
they can say they have read. And there are multi
tudes more, who do not give even so much attention
to them as tlrat. They glance over the preface, read
hurriedly the table of contents, dip here and there
into the work itself, and then go away professing that
they understand the whole. Dean Swift complained
of some, in his day, that they did with books what
others did with great Lords in the peerage, namely,
learned their titles, and then went away and boasted
of their acquaintance ; and it is to be feared that not
a few are guilty of the same pretensiveness in our own
times. Let it not be so with you. When you take

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 57
up a work, resolve to understand it thoroughly. The
ancients had a proverb — ¦ Cave hominem unius libri
(Beware of the man of one book) — in which they
noted that he who had perfectly mastered one book
was a tougher antagonist by far than the mere helluo
librorum, who " bolts " books by the dozen, as a
Dorset laborer " bolts bacon." Thomas Fuller has
quaintly said, " I judge of good housekeeping not by
the number of chimneys, but by the smoke." So you
may gauge your intellectual strength not by the
number of books which you have perused, but by
that of those which you have digested and made
your own. One standard author, pored over until he
has become a part of ourselves, will do more for the
cultivation of our minds than a whole library super
ficially glanced at.
And that you may know what I mean by thorough
reading, let us take the case of such a work,
for example, as " Butler's Analogy." As you lift
the volume, you must be warned not to expect
that you have an easy task before you. There is
very little that is pleasing in the style, and there is
much that is intricate and involved in the argument,
so that you must keep yourselves constantly alert,
and make every sentence a study. But if you will
only prosecute your investigation with wisdom and
perseverance to the end, you will rise from the perusal
of that book with a sense of satisfaction such as rarely
fills the soul. No doubt authors, since Butler's day,
have so drunk into his spirit and developed his views,
that, unconsciously to ourselves, we have on many

5 8 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
subjects been breathing the atmosphere which he
created, and this may prevent us from having the
same sense of novelty in the study of the " Analogy "
as those must have felt who first read its pages, but
still, he was to ethics and Christian evidences al
most what Bacon and Newton were to the physical
sciences ; and much that is best in our moral philos
ophy and theology for the past hundred years, is but
the development of " way-side seeds " which fell from
his full hand as he went forth to sow in the field
which he had chosen. But, more than most other
books, the "Analogy" is a study, and to master it
thoroughly, you must take it by degrees. Read a
chapter at a time, carefully marking on the margin the
various steps of the closely-compacted argument,
and at the close comparing your own analysis with
the summary which he himself gives at the end of
each section. In this work, as well as in weighing
the precise force or estimating the legitimateness of
his several arguments, you may receive some useful
hints from the notes in Bishop Fitzgerald's admirable
edition, and also from the criticisms of Chalmers on
each chapter, which are. to be found in one of the
volumes of his posthumous works. Thus furnished,
you will make your way slowly, but surely, along ;
and when you reach the end, you will have become
so accustomed to the style and method of reasoning,
that you will be able to return and reperuse -the
earlier portions of the work, not only with ease, but
also with positive enjoyment. Such a book, so
studied, will make a man a thinker, and " set him up"
in philosophy and theology for life.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. Jg
Other examples might be given, but this must suf
fice ; and, from my own experience, I feel warranted
in saying that, if you will only set about something
of this kind, with some of our standard books, it will
do more for you in the way of furnishing you with
mental strength for the pulpit than all the education
of all the schools.* I do not prescribe any particular
method, only let it be understood to be essential that
in some way meditation should be secured along with
reading. What mastication and digestion are to food,
in the process of the nourishment of the body, that
meditation is to reading, in the development of the
mind. Hence it was a good rule which was given by
a scholar to a friend, f " Proportion an hour's reflec
tion to an hour's reading, and so dispirit the book
into the student." And your own Dr. Dwight often
said that the weakness of his eye-sight was attended
with this advantage, that it compelled him to think
much. It is a good plan to compare notes on your read-

* To those who wish more minute directions on this subject, I
would recommend the lecture of Dr. Channing on " Self-Cul
ture," to be found in his collected works ; also the recent valuable
little book of Professor Blackie, of Edinburgh, on " Self-Culture,"
and the exhaustive and every way admirable treatise of President
Porter on "Books and Reading." Willmott's "Pleasures, Ob
jects, and Advantages of Literature," though sketchy and in
some degree fragmentary, is often very suggestive ; and the
chapter on Books in Mr. Emerson's " Society and Solitude" is
full of nuggets of the purest gold.
t Willmott, as above, page 38.

DO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
ing with a brother, like-minded with yourself, and so
in your daily walks you may combine the advantages
of physical exercise with those of mental culture. In
the early years of my Liverpool pastorate, I was
greatly beholden to a beloved friend, still in the
ministry in that town, whose fine taste, extensive
information, boundless humor, and kindly heart made
our weekly conference along the shore of the Mersey
a stimulus and a joy to me. Reading had made him
a full man, and conference a ready man. I dare not
add that writing had made him an exact man ; but
he was to me one of the best of teachers, for he let
me see how to get at the kernel of a book without
breaking my teeth upon the shell.*
But if, from the isolation of your position, you can
not have such brotherly assistance from another, then
talk to yourself on the subject with your pen. Write
a criticism of your own upon your author, and if you
think him wrong on any point, try your strength
against him, in the shape of an exposure of his error,
and an enforcement of that which you believe to be
the truth. This will be a capital intellectual exercise.
even if no human eye should ever see your essay but
your own ; while, perhaps, the sending of it to your
author,f or the giving of it to the press in some
* The reference here is to my much-loved brother, the Rev.
William Graham, whose fellowship for sixteen years was one of
the dearest privileges of my life.
t The publication of his essay on the " Philosophy of the In
finite," in which, while yet a student, he criticised the system of
Sir William Hamilton, has resulted in the elevation of Professor

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 6 1
periodical, may often furnish stimulus or give direc
tion to your whole after-career. But, quocunque modo,
anyhow, compel yourself to think on what you read,
if you would make your reading minister to your
pulpit efficiency.
The remarks which I have just made have prepared
the way for the announcement of the next prerequisite
to ministerial efficiency on which I would insist, name
ly, the free and constant use of the pen in the work of
original composition. I enter not now on the con
sideration of such questions as whether sermons
should be written, and if so, whether they should be
read from the manuscript or delivered memoriter or
otherwise ; these will come up at a later stage ; mean
while, however it is to be with your preparations for
the pulpit in after-days, I am disposed to insist upon
it as positively essential to your success, that, you
should now acquire facility in writing. I do not care
very much what subjects you may treat, or what the
immediate object may be which you have in view,
only I would urge it upon you with all the emphasis

Calderwood to the chair of Moral Philosophy in Edinburgh ; and
for the sake of the lesson which it points, I may be forgiven for
saying that the writing, while I was but a youth of nineteen,
of a review of an article which had appeared in the Journal
of Sacred Literature, and the sending of it to Dr. John Kitto,
while he was the editor of that Quarterly, was my first entrance
into the field of authorship. I wrote it for my own improvement,
and sent it to him by the advice of others, much against my own
inclination ; but when I saw it in actual type, the very letters
danced before my eyes !

62 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
I can command, that you should accustom yourselves
to composition.
This will give definiteness and precision to your
thinking. What you can write on any subject is
really all that you know concerning it, and the char
acter of your composition will infallibly indicate the
quality of your knowledge. The pen is a wonderful
crystallizer, and if the work of meditation be suffi
ciently advanced, its employment will be all that is
needed to give solidity and arrangement to your
thoughts. If, however, your ideas are crude and ill-
digested, your composition will be hazy and dis
jointed, and you will be tempted to make up for the
lack of more valuable materials by the importation
into it of high-sounding verbiage. Thus you may
test with unerring accuracy the completeness of your
thinking by the character of your style. When your
words are clear, simple, strong, you are treading on
ground with which you are familiar; when your
language is vague, indefinite, and obscure, you may
depend upon it that you have not yet attained to a
thorough understanding of your subject. Hence,
even as a means of study, the use of the pen is indis
pensable. But copious composition is also valuable as minis
tering to readiness of expression. As preachers, you
will have to discourse week by week to your hearers.
Now whether your sermons are to be written or
spoken merely from careful thinking beforehand, you
will equally need facility in the art of clothing your
ideas in words. If you. write your discourses, then

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 63
you will never get through your work, if you should
proceed, as his friends used jokingly to say John Foster
did, at the rate of a sentence a day. If, again, you
are to speak from premeditation merely, then, unless
you have acquired the habit of easily giving verbal
shape to your thoughts, you will be hesitating and
hampered in your utterance, or you will be borne
along by a fatal fluency, in which reiteration will take
the place of argument, and sound will be made to
serve for sense. The only preventive against these
dangers lies in acquiring the habit of giving definite
expression to your thoughts by frequent composition.
It will not come of itself. It is the result of practice,
for, as Pope has^said :
" True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance."
Let the pen, therefore, be always in your hand, or at
your hand, and seek to acquire the art of expression
so thoroughly that when you have a thought to utter,
the language appropriate for its communication will
come to you as naturally as, when you are writing
a word, the letters required for the spelling of it
rise to your remembrance.
Aim at the securing of a style which shall
present your thoughts forcibly, clearly, and elo
quently to the minds of your hearers ; and do not
suppose that you can accomplish that without long
and laborious practice. Cultivate acquaintance with
the writings of those who have been famous for this
peculiarity ; for, as one can acquire the manners of
(647) 5

64 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
good society only by mixing in it, so we can catch
the ease and elegance of a good style only by read
ing first-rate authors. I do not mean, of course, that
you are to imitate them in your compositions, but
merely that from the insensible influence of their
example upon you, their beauty and simplicity may
repeat themselves through you. No one will charge
John Bright with imitation. He is the most natural
of orators ; and yet, when we are told that for many
years he has been in the habit, before retiring to rest
after the excitement of a night in the House of Com
mons, of reading for an hour from one of the poets,
taking a new one each winter, and that he has thus
gone over most of the classic poetry of his native
land, we think we have discovered one of the factors
which have gone to produce that wonderful com
bination of simplicity and power, of beauty and
strength, by which his speeches are distinguished.
Seek to get the best words and to put them in the
best places. Yet do not suppose that the biggest are
necessarily tjie best. The vice of much of the writing
in these days in newspapers, periodicals, and even in
sermons, is pretensiveness. The authors are ambitious
to show their learning, and common words, which are
common simply because they are the most expressive
and intelligible, are treated as if they were vulgar, and
forced to give place to others which have nothing but
their learned origin or their unusual length to recom
mend them. Remember that in every sort of com
position perspicuity is more than half the battle, and
that a meaning which does not stare a man in the.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 65
face is as bad as no meaning at all, since he will most
likely never trouble himself to attempt to discover it.
Let your rule be to write not merely in such a way as
to be understood, but rather so plainly that it will be
impossible for any one of average intelligence to mis
understand you. Guthrie* tells us that an intelligent
member of his first congregation at Arbirlot declined
to take a second volume of Chalmers' works out of
the library of the parish, on the ground that he had
to look up for the meaning of so many of that author's
words in the dictionary, and very often did not find
them there, after all. Let not the lesson of such an
incident be lost upon you. Choose the simplest and
most familiar terms, and if at any time a word should
recommend itself to you because of its novelty or its
rarity, draw your pen through it, and put in its place
the plainest substitute you can command. Never say
" hebdomadal " when you mean " weekly,"f and do
not lament that men have " perverse proclivities to
prevarication,'" when you might express the same
thought in Falstaff's words, " Lord, how this world is
given to lying." Abjure all technical terms which,
however familiar they may be to you, are utterly un
known to those who shall be your hearers. If you
wish to remind men that conscience is God's voice
within the soul, do not say, as I heard a young
preacher say last year, that " conscience has its roots

* "Autobiography and Memoirs," Vol. I., p. 139.
t See further on this point, " The Preacher's Lantern," Vol.
II., pp. 606-615.

66 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
in the soil of the absolute." All these modes of
expression look very learned, but they are in reality
only ridiculous. The end of communicating our
thoughts to others is, that they may be moved there
by to purer and nobler lives ; but, to secure that end,
they must understand our words. And " I had rather
speak five words with my understanding, that by my
voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand
words in an unknown tongue."*
Be not allured, either, by high-sounding adjectives.
The business of an epithet is to give prominence to
some quality the mention of which is needed to bring
fully before the hearer's mind the matter of which we
speak. But, as commonly employed by writers and
preachers, adjectives are the merest expletives. They
are inserted to ballast, or balance, the clauses of an
antithesis, or to give padding to an ill-constructed sen
tence. They have an appearance of strength, but they
are really the evidence of weakness. They are the in
flated currency of rhetoric. Wealth of speech consists
not in them, but in the ringing gold of thought. Use
them only when there is something in the thought that
corresponds to them ; and when you come to ask
yourselves concerning each, " Is this absolutely need
ful to express my meaning ? " you will be surprised
to discover how seldom they are required. In fact,
it might be a good thing if one could have a waste-
basket by his side, into which he could throw three
out of every four epithets that rise to his pen. They

* I Corinthians xiv. 19.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. fy
give an\ exaggerated character to one's style, as if all
the while he were straining on tip-toe or walking upon
stilts. Nay, worse than all, they are many times false,
and the employment of them is apt to foster an un
reality in our speech, which is akin to hypocrisy in
conduct. There is an ethical element in composition
as in other things, and Ruskin's canons in regard to
architecture hold equally in the building of our ser
mons and other compositions. Let your style be
true to your thought — that is, let it be a clear
medium for the transmission of your thought — and
then the individuality of your thinking will character
ize its expression also.
Take heed also of circumlocution. Go straight at
your thought. When a man is in earnest, he will
take the shortest way. Sometimes, indeed, it may
be well to detain the mind of the auditor over your
statement for a moment or two by judicious amplifi
cation, and so make sure that it is perfectly under
stood ; for, as Whately has said, bulk is necessary to
digestion. Occasionally, too, one may indulge in that
sort of reiteration for which Chalmers was remarkable,
provided he can make it, as Chalmers did, the whirl
ings of the sling, which give swiftness to the stone
that he is about to launch from it ; but, in general,
the briefest and most direct expression we can give
to our meaning is the best. Go forward steadily
toward your goal, and keep just a little way ahead
of your hearers. Do not gallop so quickly that they
shall have difficulty in keeping up with you, and do
not loiter so long over the flowers by the way-side or

68, THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
with the travelers whom you may chance to meet
upon the road, that they shall be tempted to go on
before you.
All this will require much study on your part, while
yet you may get from the unthinking but little credit
for your toil. That which by dint of patient effort
you have made easy for others to comprehend, will not
appear to them to be great. The clear is not often
counted deep, and the " drumley " is very frequently
reckoned profound. But then, that will be of no con
sequence to you if you be a true minister of Christ,
for you have crucified self, and what is a reputation
for learning or for depth to you if only you succeed
in making plain to men the way of life, and persuad
ing them to walk therein? Set to work, therefore,
with your pen, and labor on, in season and out of
season, that you may acquire the habit of giving
simple, effective, and direct expression to the thoughts
that arise within you.
Much I might say to you here from my own expe
rience, for the pen has been almost constantly in my
hand since I»was thirteen years of age, but I prefer
to bring before you the history of one of the ablest
preachers of his country and his age. You have all
heard of Thomas Binney, late minister of the King's
Weigh-house Chapel, London, — that Archbishop of
English Nonconformity, as one might. call him — who
so nobly moulded much of the Christian thought and
legislation of his times. A few years before his death,
in addressing the young men of his church, he gave
them this interesting autobiographic sketch : " You

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 6g
are all young men, engaged in business, but have to
improve your minds as best you can in your leisure
hours. Well, I was once in the same position. I was
seven years in a bookseller's concern, and during that
time my hours were, for two years, from seven A. M.
to eight P. M., and for five years from seven to seven ;
under great pressure, I have sometimes been engaged
from six A. M. till ten p. M. But, somehow, all the
time, and especially from my fourteenth to my twen
tieth year, I found opportunities for much reading
and a great deal of composition. I did not shirk,
however, my Latin and Greek, for I went for some
time two evenings in the week to an old Presbyterian
clergyman to learn the elements of the two languages,
and could read Csesar and St. John. But my great
work was English. I read many of the best authors,
and I wrote largely both poetry and prose, and I did
so with much painstaking. I labored to acquire a
good style of expression as well as merely to express
my thoughts. Some of the plans I pursued were
rather odd, and produced odd results. I read the
whole of Johnson's ' Rambler,' put down all the new
words I met with — and they were a good many —
with their proper meanings, and then I wrote essays
in imitation of Johnson, and used them up. I did
the same with Thomson's 'Seasons,' and wrote blank
verse to use his words and also to acquire something
of music and rythm. And so I went on, sometimes
writing long poems in heroic verse ; one on the ' Be
ing of a God ;' another, in two or three books, in blank
verse, in imitation of ' Paradise Lost.' I wrote essays

7°

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

on the immortality of the soul ; sermons ; a tragedy,
in three acts, and other things, very wonderful in
their way, you may be sure. I think I can say I
never fancied myself a poet or philosopher, but I
wrote on and on to acquire the power to write with
readiness ; and I say to you, with a full conviction of the
truth of what I say, that, having lived to gain some
little reputation as a writer, I attribute all my success
to what I did for myself, and to the habits I formed
during those years to which I have thus referred."*
Few ministers had the power of Mr. Binney, wheth
er in the preaching of sermons from a manuscript or
in extempore delivery ; and the foundation of much
that he was and did was laid during these nights of
work. But his experience is not by any means singu
lar. Many of his brethren alike in England and
America have, like him, " while their companions
slept," been " toiling upwards in the night ;" and
something of the same self-discipline is essential to
the success of any preacher. Go to work, then, young
men, in a similar spirit, and very soon you wUl forget
the labor in the delight which it will bring with it.
Your interest will never flag ; your enthusiasm will
never tire. Ever new beauties will open up before
you ; ever new allurements will beckon you on ; for
in such pursuits you will find what Milton has called
" the hill-side where is the right path of a virtuous
and noble education, laborious, indeed, at its first

* " A Memorial of the late Rev. Thomas Binney, LL.D."
Edited by John Stoughton, D.D., pp. 12, 13.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 71
ascent, but else so smooth, so green, so full of goodly
prospect and melodious sound on every side, that the
harp of Orpheus was not more charming."f
All the things which as yet I have mentioned would
be required, even if your business were to be the
moving of men through the press. But your special
work is to be that of preaching. You are to seek to
sway your hearers by the living voice, and for this
you have opportunities such as are accorded to no
other profession. By common consent your people
will give up a portion of every Lord's day for the
very purpose of placing themselves under your guid
ance. They will come to the house of assembly with
minds and hearts, in some measure, already prepared
to listen to your words ; but this, far from making you
indifferent to the work of addressing them, will only
spur you on to make the best of your opportunity.
Accordingly, my treatment of the prerequisites to
ministerial success would be signally incomplete, if I
did not give prominence to the acquirement of facility
and distinctness in public speaking. Without that,
the arch which you build will lack the key-stone,
which gives stability to all the rest. Without that,
the arrow which you have constructed with such skill,
and the bow which you have bent with such force,
will be merely ornamental ; it is effective utterance
alone which can place the one upon the other, and
give to the polished shaft the full momentum of the
bow, so that it shall go whizzing to its mark.

t " Milton's Prose Works." Bohn's edition, Vol. III., p. 467.

72

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

I would not go so far as to say that articulate and
earnest delivery is everything in a sermon ; for truth
is in words as well as in manner, and far more in the
former than in the latter. Yet it is undeniable that
effective utterance will give force even to a feeble ser
mon ; while careless, hesitating, and indistinct speech,
will make the finest composition fall flat and power
less upon the listeners' ears. In itself the manner
may be far less important than the matter ; but it is
valuable, as giving its full force to the matter, and
ought not to be lightly esteemed. You will do well,
therefore, to cultivate elocution. But here, as in
other things, you must be on your guard against arti
ficiality. What you have to do is not to imitate an
other, but to cultivate yourselves. Do not covet
" the stare and stark theatric practiced at the glass,"
but aim rather to cure yourselves of any awkward
nesses that may adhere to you, and to acquire any
qualities in which you may be deficient. Do not
make yourselves into lay-figures, which are the paint
er's poor substitutes for living men, but be yourselves,
only yourselves, purged from your faults, and clothed
with as much power as you can acquire by laborious
exercise. Seek first distinctness of articulation. Do not
mistake loudness for clearness. No doubt a certain
amount of volume is needed, if, as the phrase is, your
voice would fill a large house. But hearers generally
will tell you that they follow a speaker better when
he is addressing them in moderate tones, than when,
in impassioned mood, he is exerting his voice to the

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 73
uttermost. The true secret here is to take sufficient
time, and to give to every consonant its own proper
sound. The vowels can take care of themselves. It
is a mistake, therefore, to dwell, as some do, at inor
dinate length upon them. Such a habit always pro
duces indistinctness. It is the province of the conso
nants to embank and confine the river of sound which
a vowel makes, and if you do not keep them in good
repair, the vowel will overflow so as to inundate the
ear of the hearer, and make him unconscious of every
thing besides. They who are conversant with theat
rical matters, tell us that by merely attending to this
rule, an actor will make his slightest whisper audible
to all in the building ; and though our churches gener
ally — the more's the pity — are not so well constructed
for acoustical purposes as the theatres, yet by following
this method, you may greatly increase your effective
ness, without making any larger expenditure of force.
Again, be not too rapid in your utterance. Do not
put your hearers out of breath in their effort to keep
up with you. This is the common vice of young ora
tors. Therefore, be on your guard against it. Be
not too slow either. But let your speed be regulated
by the nature of that which at the moment you are
saying. If you are laying down an important princi
ple, then take time to give it weight ; if you are pros
ecuting an intricate argument, then go forward leis
urely, that your hearers, may mark well every step.
But if your are nearing your goal, and feel that you
have thus far carried all before you, then give yourself
full swing and rush on until you reach it.

74

THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.

Cultivate the art of appropriate emphasis. Do not
let your sermons be like the letters of a school-miss,
in which every other word is underscored. But study
how to mark by the voice, the various points which
need to be thereby denoted for the hearer's attention.
Observe how in ordinary speech one unconsciously
punctuates his sentences with emphasis, and seek to
do the same in addressing your people. Above all,
shun monotony as you would the plague. It is bad
for the voice ; it is bad, also, from its reflex influence
on the composition of your sermons, for if you speak
on a dead level, you will come at length to think on
a dead level ; and it is especially bad, from its soporific
effect upon the audience. Rest your voice by vary
ing skillfully its tones ; give direct narrative in an
easy and familiar style. Rise to a higher note when
you become admonitory. Let pathos and solemnity
be marked by the seriousness of your tone. Pause
a moment and change your key when you wish to
introduce an illustration ; and as you pass from one
division of your subject to another, give your hearers
time to gather themselves up again before you make
a new demand upon their attention.
For this purpose you will need thorough self-posses
sion ; and nothing but practice will give you that.
Have yourself well in hand, so that you can always
command your powers ; and beware of letting your
self be carried away, up into spme shrieking falsetto, by
which for the whole remainder of your discourse your
voice will be destroyed.
It is easier to give you these counsels than it is to

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 75
follow them. But drill and culture will do much.
Read frequently aloud. Embrace every opportunity
that offers, whether in the debating society, or else
where, for the practice of speaking. Be your own
most remorseless critic ; and lay well to heart the ad
monitions of any friend whose love to you permits
you to see yourself through the eyes of one who is
deeply interested in your welfare. Be not discouraged
though the work be arduous, for so long as the story
of Demosthenes and the pebbles shall be told, no one
needs despair. His perseverance in these details, in
deed, did not make him an orator, but it did enable
him to overcome defects of utterance, which would
have made all his other powers comparatively worth
less, so far as eloquence was concerned. You may
not attain his greatness, but, by perseverance, his ex
ample warrants you to hope that you may acquire
distinctness and energy of speech.
I have dwelt so long on these points, that I have
left myself but little space to speak of one prerequi
site to pulpit efficiency, which is as important as the
others, but which now I can do little more than
name. I mean that quality which we call common
sense. Alas ! how many preachers otherwise admira
bly equipped have failed for lack of that ! And yet it
is difficult to give a definition of it. We may describe
it as an intuitive perception of the fitness of things,
so that he who is endowed with it will always do that
which is appropriate to the circumstances. It is dif
ferent from caution, or what is generally known as pru-

76 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
dence ; inasmuch as that is the result of calculation,
while common sense is rather an immediate percep
tion. It keeps a man from making, as people say, a
fool of himself, either by stupid speech in the pulpit,
or by ridiculous conduct out of it. The breach of it
may not be precisely an immorality, but it is an inde
corum, the commission of which stamps him at once
as an ass. He who lacks this quality has no right to
be a minister, for he turns the most sacred things into
a laughing-stock, and makes a burlesque of the office
itself. Nor can this defect be easily supplied. The story
goes that when a Scottish farmer went to his pastor to
consult him as to sending his son to college with a view
to his becoming a minister, the good man sought to
dissuade him from his purpose, and on being asked for
the reason, said, " I tell you, man, he wants common
sense. Now, if a man want wealth he may get that ;
if he want learning, he may get that ; if he want the
grace of God, he may get that ; but if he want common
sense, he'll never get that." This witness is true ; al
beit, the youth concerning whom these words were
said, was very far indeed from having no common
sense, for he was none other than George Lawson, who
afterwards became distinguished as a professor of the
ology, and was known over all the country as a Chris
tian Socrates. Still, it is true, that common sense
cannot be acquired. Yet in those who have it, it may
be cultivated and increased ; and presuming that you
already possess it, let me urge you to give good heed
to its suggestions.

THE PREPARATION OF THE PREACHER. 77
Do not set yourselves to shock the feelings of
your hearers by your wanton defiance of all their
prepossessions, or if you will, their prejudices.
Become all things to all men, that you may by
all means save some. A mountebank may be in
his place in the ring of the circus, but he has no busi
ness in the pulpit ; and all the learning he may pos
sess, or all the eloquence he may display, will not
make amends for the lack of propriety which he
evinces. I know that some will be ready to fling at
me the quotation about being " content to dwell in
decencies forever." But I protest that it is not need
ful to be dull in order to be decent ; and I altogether
deny that in order to do men good, one must put on
the cap, and ring the bells of the fool. " It is pitiful
to court a grin, when we should woo a soul ;" and,
however much one may enjoy the witicisms of the
clown in other places, common sense says that the
preacher, with the Word of God before him, and im
mortal souls seeking life and comfort at his lips, should
be at least serious.
But I may not conclude without reminding you,
that even these prerequisites which I have enumera
ted, will not make a preacher. I do not believe that
any one can rise to the highest efficiency in the pulpit
without them, but still alone they will not suffice.
They must be all vitalized and concentrated on one ob
ject by the consecration of the man to the service of
Christ, and of his fellow-men in the work of the min
istry. They are the separate strands, but they must

78 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
be spun together into one by the intense love which
the preacher has, on the one hand for the Lord Jesus
Christ, and on the other for human souls. Thus
" the cords of a man," manifold though they be, be
come unified into " the bond of love " wherewith the
hearers are to be drawn to God. Let this never be
forgotten by us, for it is this only that can bring our
natural talents or acquired abilities to bear upon our
work. Still, the question addressed to him who would
become a preacher, is that which was three times
pressed upon the humble Peter, " Lovest thou me ?"
not, observe, Lovest thou the work ? but, " Lovest thou
me f" and when we can answer, " Thou knowest all
things, Thou knowest that I love Thee," we have at
once the commission and the qualification to feed the
sheep. and the lambs of the flock, for that love will
consecrate the whole man, and make him all magnetic.

LECTURE IV.
THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULFIT.

LECTURE IV.
THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT.
f~PHE special work which as ministers we have
-*- to do, is the preaching of the Gospel. We have
been " allowed of God," like Paul, " to be put in trust
with the Gospel ;"* and to us also, is committed " the
ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imput
ing their trespasses unto them."f It is of the highest
importance, therefore, that we should rightly under
stand the theme which we have to treat, and the
range which it commands.
The Gospel is a message of good news. It takes
for granted that men are sinners, under sentence, and
carrying in themselves a nature that is prone to evil,
and averse to good ; and it brings to them an assur
ance that they may be forgiven and renewed, through
faith in Jesus Christ. Thus the Lord himself said to
Nicodemus, " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever

* i Thessalonians ii. 4. t 2 Corinthians v. 19.

82 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever
lasting life."* And again in connection with the in
troduction to Him of the Greeks at Jerusalem, He
said, " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me."f
Similarly, Paul defines the Gospel to be the setting
forth of Christ Jesus by God, " to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteous
ness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God, to declare at this time His
righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier
of him that believeth."^: So also, in describing the
substance of his preaching to the Corinthians he says :
" I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins, according
to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and
that He rose again the third day, according to the
Scriptures."§ And if one should ask what he means
by the phrase, " Christ died for our sins," he is an
swered by this declaration made elsewhere, " God
hath mada Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him."|| So important did the great apostle deem this
truth, that he says to the Corinthians, " We preach
Christ crucified ;"T and affirms that when he went to
them at first, " he determined not to know anything
among them, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."**

* John iii. 14-16. t John xii. 32.
| Romans iii. 25-26. § 1 Corinthians xv. 3-5.
| 2 Corinthians v. 21. IT 1 Corinthians i. 23.
** 1 Corinthians ii. 2.

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT. 83
While to the Galatians he says, " God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I
unto the world."*
Many more passages might be quoted to the like
effect, all going to show that the central interest of
the Gospel is in a person, namely, Jesus Christ ; in a
certain fact about that person, namely, that He was
crucified ; and in the relation of that fact on the one
hand to God, and on the other hand to men, so that
human sinners believing in Jesus, may be righteously
forgiven, and renewed in the spirit of their minds.
This, then, is the message with which we are en
trusted, and which it is alike our privilege and our
duty to proclaim to men. But if we have rightly
described it, then it must be evident at a glance, that
if we would proclaim it intelligibly, we must have
much to say both about the nature of Christ's person,
and the character of His death. To call upon men con
stantly to "come to Christ," or to repeat perpetually the
words of Paul to the jailer, " Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ," without at the same time telling them who
Jesus is, and what it is to come to Him, and believe
on Him, is the merest mockery. It is using the name
of Christ as if it were some cabalistic charm, and re
ducing the Gospel message to a mere empty formula.
If, therefore, we would be effective preachers, we
must be ready to give an answer to him that asks us,
" Who is Jesus, that I may believe on Him ? and what
was there in His dying that has any relation to me ?"
But the attempt to answer these questions, will bring
* Galatians vi. 14.

84 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
us at once into the region of doctrine, and there we are
met with the popular cry, " Preach Christ, and leave
doctrines alone." But how is it possible to do anything
of the kind ? The word Christ is not a mere abstraction.
It is the name of a person, and if we attempt to tell
who or what He is, we are giving forth a doctrine
about His person. Equally if we endeavor to describe
what the significance of His death is, we are put
ting forth a doctrine of the atonement. Thus, not
only those of us who are styled evangelical are guilty
of doctrinal preaching. If we shall say that Jesus
Christ was only a man, that is a doctrine of His per
son, as really as is the assertion that in Him the eternal
Word was made flesh. If we shall affirm, that His
death was nothing more than that of a martyr, that is
a doctrine about Christ's crucifixion, as really as is the
declaration that He died the just in the stead of the
unjust. If, again, we should try to explain what it is
to come to Jesus or to believe on Him, the effort,
if successful, will issue in a doctrinal sermon on the
nature of faith.
In truth, gentlemen, there is nothing more absurd
than this clamor against doctrine, for they who raise
it do not seem to see that there is beneath the cry
itself a doctrine, to the effect that it makes no matter
what a man believes, if he only say that he is resting
upon Christ. But the Christ that saves, is the Christ
that is revealed in the Gospels, not the mere idea of
Him which a man may form in his own mind. It is
not believing on Christ as I have shaped Him for my
self, but rather believing on the Christ that is set be-

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPJT. 85
fore me in the Gospel, that saves me ; and so it is of
immense consequence that I should have a right view
both of His person and work. If, therefore, you mean
to be successful preachers, you will do well to shut
your ears to all that senseless outcry against doctrine
which has become a part of the most fashionable cant
of the day. One of the most eloquent of living Eng
lish nonconformists, has said very truly here : " It is im
possible to preach Christ without preaching dogma,
unless I confine myself to a bare recital of the mere
externals of the history : and if I could do that, it were
no Gospel. For what of goo.d news is there in the dry
chronicle that He lived and died, any more than in
the same bald record about any other man ? Is the
mere story of His death a gospel ? Does it not need
a commentary explanatory of the fact to make it that ?
The history becomes a gospel by the presence of the
doctrine as touching His person, that He is the Son
of God : as touching His death, that it is the sacrifice
for the sins of the world. Without so much of dogma,
the facts are not seen ; without so much they are
powerless to bless ; and our Gospel is of another sort,
or rather it is not one at all, unless we too can declare
this as ' the gospel which we preached, how that
Christ ' — the very name being the condensation of a
whole system of doctrines — ' died for our sins accord
ing to the Scriptures.' "*
* " The Gospel for the Day," being the President's address be
fore the annual meeting of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and
Ireland, by Rev. Alexander Maclaren, Manchester. Reported
verbatim in "The Baptist," April 30, 1875. One of the noblest
discourses of a verv noble man.

86 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Unless, therefore, you are prepared to say some
thing very definite, both concerning the nature of
Christ's' person, and concerning the character and effi
cacy of His death, you had better never enter the
pulpit. The notion of many seems to be that vague
ness is the prime excellence in a sermon. They are
always dealing in the indefinite. You cannot make
out from their words what, according to their view,
Christ is, whether incarnate God, or simply the high
est style of man ; and though they can speak of the
"cross of Christ," and of "Christ crucified," you can
not but feel that the words to them are mere empty
symbols. Now, all such preaching is a waste of
words. Gentlemen, it is the positive element in your
teaching that will, through God's spirit, be powerful
with your hearers ; and if you cannot give any distinct
utterance as to who Christ is, or what He has done,
then all your criticisms of the ordinary evangelical
doctrines will be valueless to the anxious inquirer, and
may be even injurious in unsettling the mind of some
one who has been but slenderly ballasted with bibli
cal knowledge.
Preach doctrine, therefore. Do not proclaim
it as if it were the Saviour, but let your doctrine
define the Saviour to the minds of those who wait
upon your ministry. Do not make your treatment
of doctrine an occasion for metaphysical display,
but seek rather by your dogmatic teachings to give
clearness and force to the apprehension which your
hearers have of truth. Above all, seek to have your
doctrines vitalized by their connection with Christ, so

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPI'l. 87
that they may appear either to flow from Him, or to lead
up to Him, and then they will give to your discourses
a .symmetry and a strength which otherwise they
could not possess ; and save them from degenerating
into soft, molluscous, and plastic things, which may
be squeezed by the hearer into any shape, or turned
by him into any direction. " He who teaches," says
Bautain, " has always a doctrine to expound."* It is
impossible to give a pupil any correct idea either of
philosophy or of any one of the natural sciences, unless
there be connected with the facts which are set be
fore his mind, a commentary of doctrine. The name
of Kepler is a name and nothing more, until we have
associated it with those laws, that is doctrines, of mo
tion of which he was the earliest exponent ; and the
place of Newton in the history of science cannot be
described by us, unless we give an exposition of that
doctrine of gravitation which was his generalization
from the facts of nature. Nay more, we cannot en
force the plainest moral precept without finding our
selves ultimately in the region of doctrine ; for if we
urge upon a man the duty of honesty, and he should
ask us on what ground we do so, then, whether we re
ply, " because honesty is the best policy," or " because
honesty is commanded by God," or " because honesty
is required by the greatest good of the greatest num
ber," our answer is a doctrine. Every practical
precept must stand thus upon some doctrine ; and so
we are forced to conclude that this modern antipathy
* "The Art of Extempore Speaking," by M. Bautain. Scrib
bler's edition, p. 141.

88 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
to doctrine is not so much an opposition to doctrine
in itself, as to those doctrines which evangelical preach
ers love to set forth. And in that aspect of it, the
prejudice is not so modern after all, for it had an ex
istence even in the days of Paul, whose doctrine of
Christ crucified was to the Jews a "stumbling-block,"
and to the Greeks " foolishness."
In spite, therefore, of all that is said by the superfi
cial to the contrary, let your preaching to sinners be
an exposition to them of the doctrine of the cross.
Be not content merely with the presentation to them
of the incarnation. Paul did not say, " I determined
not to know anything among you but Jesus Christ,"
and then stop there ! He added with special empha
sis, " and Him crucified," for in the union of the two,
and the blessing which flowed therefrom, the Gospel
in his view consisted. Even if we accept the incarna
tion as a fact, the Lord Jesus could have had no sav
ing relationship to us, if He had not died for our sins ;
while again, His death could have had no value as an
atonement for sin, if He had not been incarnate God.
It is not dimply that one died for us, but it is that He
who so died was such an one as the Son of God. This
is the essence of the atonement, which " declared God's
righteousness," even in the forgiveness of a believing
sinner. Here is mercy righteously manifested to the
guilty. Wherever else you look, in air, on earth, or in the
sea, there is law — hard, remorseless law — good as long
as you obey it, but relentless the moment you run
counter to its requirements. Combustion has no

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT. 8q
mercy if you thrust your finger into the flames;
gravitation has no consideration for the consequences
on you if you step over a precipice ; the sea knows no
compassion if you fall into its depths. Nowhere in
nature can you discern anything of mercy to the law
breaker. Its aspect is, in this regard, very terrible.
But in the cross of Christ there is a provision made
for showing mercy to the sinner ; while yet the law
which the sinner has broken is honored and " estab
lished."* There is love in it that "passeth knowl
edge." And we must take heed so to preach it, that
men shall recognize that it flowed from the heart of
God as He yearned for their deliverance from the con
sequences of their sins. The death of Christ did not
purchase God's love for the world ; but it opened up
a way in which that love could be righteously exer
cised in the forgiving of sin. Thus these two princi
ples, love and righteousness, are. the two great ele
ments of the power of the cross. The love fills and
melts the sinner's heart ; and the righteousness satis
fies his conscience, so that as soon as he believes the
truth which is in Jesus Christ and- Him crucified, he
is filled with a joy which is unspeakable, and a peace
which is perennial. ,
That very faculty within him which before up
braided him with his guilt, now rests satisfied in the
assurance of a pardon which is sealed by righteousness.
Without that seal, however, he could have no abiding
comfort, and so, even if the atonement had not been

* Romans iii. 31.

go THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
needed to meet the demands of the divine law, it would
be required to satisfy the conscience of the sinner him
self. He cannot have permanent peace ia a pardon
that ignores justice. But because through the cross
the love and righteousness of God are seen harmo
niously working out his forgiveness, he is at rest.
Let us take care lest in our preaching we " put
asunder " those two things which in the Gospel God
has so thoroughly "joined together." We must not
exalt the love without making mention of the right
eousness. Indeed, if there were no righteousness,
making the death imperative in order to the salvation
of men, it is hard to see how there could be love in
the dying. But neither, on the other hand, must we
exalt the righteousness in such a way as to obscure
the love. In the one case the Gospel will be made to
wear an aspect of indifference to evil, and the hearer
may fall into the terrible mistake of supposing that
the more he sins, the more the grace of God will
abound toward him. In the other it will be made to
assume an appearance of terror, which will make men
" exceedingly fear and quake," like the Israelites at
the base of Sinai. But when we give each element
its proper prominence, the love attracts to God, and
the righteousness restrains from sin. The man of
science takes a piece of limestone, and bringing two
different kinds of gases to bear upon i't, he makes it
glow with a brightness that turns night well-nigh into
day. Something like that, only in a spiritual way, is
wrought on the stony heart of the sinner when he
understands and believes what the cross of Christ

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT, qt
proclaims to him, for as the love and righteousness
which it reveals come streaming in upon him, they
dispel the darkness of his misery, and irradiate him
with the light of heaven's own joy.
This was the Gospel which, as proclaimed by Paul,
was demonstrated to be the power of God unto salva
tion. This was the Gospel which, as preached by
Luther, roused Europe from the slumber of centuries
and shook popery to its centre. And if we to-day
would re-clothe it with its ancient might, we must
hold and teach it as Paul did. They tell us, indeed,
that we must adapt our sermons to the necessities of
our age ; but, while in some minor respects the advice
is good, we must beware of supposing that we are
either to add to, or take from, those essential ele
ments in which the Gospel, as revealed in the New
Testament, consists. The preaching most adapted
to any age is the preaching of the Gospel, not in dry,
dogmatic formulae, nor in fierce and controversial
spirit, but in the way of simple and positive state
ment. Let us tell men that " Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners ; " let us commend to them
the love of God " in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us." Let us teach that they are to be
saved, not by sacramental efficacy, or ritual observ
ances, or even moral worth, but simply and alone
through faith in Him who loved them and gave Him
self for them. That is the Gospel which every age
needs, and its adaptation to the human heart is made
gloriously apparent wherever it is earnestly pro
claimed.

q2 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
We may learn much here from the example of Paul
on his visit to Corinth. There he found two classes of
minds, the representatives of two opposite tendencies.
The one sought a philosophy, and the other a sign.
Yet Paul preached to both " Jesus Christ and Him
crucified." That which they did not wish, was yet that
which they most needed. And so to-day ; in the face
of rationalism and ritualism, whose supporters are the
legitimate successors of the Greek and the Jew in
apostolic times, we shall find that all our power in the
pulpit will lie, not in fierce controversy, nor in trim
ming concession, but in the plain, earnest enforcement
of the good old truth that " Jesus Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day accord
ing to the Scriptures." As Mr. Maclaren has said, in
the address from which I have already quoted, " There
is as true adaptation in rowing against or athwart the
stream as in going with it ; and unless this age has
got rid of the one-sidedness which has always hitherto
affected the current beliefs of a period, perhaps the
truest adaptation of a message to its wants, is to bring
into prominence what it overlooks, and to emphasize
the proclamation of what it does not believe."* Preach
the Gospel as Paul preached it, and you may look for
a success similar to that which crowned his labors.
Just as I was entering on my ministry at Liverpool,
I fell in with. a copy of Spenser's " Pastoral Sketches,"

* Maclaren's Address at the Annual Meeting of the Baptist
Union, as before.

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT. 93
with an Introductory Essay. on the Preaching of the
Gospel, by the late Mr. James, of Birmingham. I
was in a mood to be impressed, and a severe domes
tic affliction through which I was then passing made
me more susceptible than even the beginning of a
new pastorate would of itself have rendered me.
So I was profoundly moved by Mr. James's arguments
and appeals. I have since read them, again and
again, and have seen little remarkable about them ;
but, as perused then, they led me to set my whole
ministry to the key of the cross. I tried simply,
faithfully, and affectionately to tell " the old, old
story of Jesus and His love." Very soon inquirers
came to talk with me. I was cheered and encour
aged by receiving new converts at every communion.
This kept me from ever yielding to the temptation to
turn aside from the great central themes, and my suc
cess, such as it was, in that sphere, was owing, I am
thoroughly persuaded, to the fact that I tried always
to keep the cross in sight, and sought always to hide
myself behind my Lord.
When, again, I was crossing the Atlantic to take
charge of my present congregation, not one of whom
I had ever seen, I found the " Life of Chalmers " in
the library of the ship, and amid the anxiety and
suspense of my heart, as I felt that I had not " passed
this way heretofore," I was greatly cheered and en
couraged by the account of the effects produced by
the preaching of that great man in his later life at
Kilmany, and in his glorious ministry at Glasgow.
This led me to resolve anew that in the ministiy

94 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
of the Broadway Tabernacle, I would, as in Liverpool,
seek to preach so that my hearers "should see no
man save Jesus only," and if I have had any measure
of success, this is the secret of it all. I feel almost
as if it were an impertinence to speak thus. Why
should I presume, as it were, to endorse the Gospel
thus ? and yet, as an elder brother, I may surely tell
you of my limited experience, in the hope that in
after years you will have to say to me, " Now, we
believe it, not for thy saying," but because we have
tried it ourselves, and we know that it is " the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."
But the minister of the Gospel in these days is a
pastor as well as a preacher, and so he has to do with
those who are already Christians, as well as with
those who are " ignorant and out of the way." It
will be his business not merely to stand at the " wick
et-gate " and help men through that as they set out
on their pilgrimage to the " celestial city ; " but also
to make up to them afterwards at their several stages
on their journey, and to give them such assistance
and direction as they need. The "Evangelist " who
goes from place to place may content himself with
performing the office of John the Baptist, esteeming his
joy fulfilled when he has introduced the sinner to his
Saviour. But the Christian pastor has to " go before
his flock," and " lead them out " and " find pasture "
for them appropriate to their nourishment. He has to
watch over and encourage the development of char
acter in the Christian, as well as to call on the sinner

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT, gt
to " repent and be converted ; " and while, of course,
he will greatly rejoice over the conversion of sinners,
he will rejoice no less over the growth in grace of
those who are already in Christ. He must be on his
guard against devoting himself to either of these de
partments of his work to the exclusion of the other,
for only in the proper prosecution of them both, the
symmetry and completeness of his ministry will be
secured. •
Judging from my own experience, you will be
most apt to set yourselves in the beginning of your
career, to secure the conversion of sinners ; while,
perhaps, as you advance in the work, you may be
tempted to run into the other extreme, and preach
only to those who are already in the Church. But
in neither case will there be a " right division " of the
word of truth ; and your aim ought to be, on every
occasion, to give to each " his portion in season."
Still, as there is a tendency in these days among
many to restrict the ministry to one phase of truth
merely, I may be forgiven if I dwell for a moment
or two on the importance of seeking in your dis
courses the spiritual profit of that large class of your
hearers who have made an open confession of their
faith in Christ, and who are needing either to be
warned against dangers which threaten to impair
their strength, or to be encouraged under trials that are
pressing heavily upon their hearts. It has come to be
taken for granted in many quarters, that the success
of a ministry is to be gauged simply by the number of
conversions which have occurred in its course ; and
(S47) 7

g6 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
this has led too many churches to bend all their
energies toward the securing of such accessions to
their membership, as if that were the sole end to be
attained. Pastor, Sabbath-school teachers, office
bearers, members, labor and pray in public, and ex
hort in private, in order that they may lead men to
Christ, and to a public confession of Him, and then,
when they have got their names on the communion
roll, they leave them to take care of themselves, and
they go and look after others. But, in reality, this is
only the beginning with them, and to leave them
thus untended is the greatest possible mistake.
We cry out against the heedlessness of those
parents who so neglect their offspring as to leave
them an easy prey to the diseases which make such
havoc on little children. But " infant mortality " is
by no means unknown in our churches, any more
than in our cities, and I fear that the disappearance
of many who were once written down as " hopefully
converted " is due to the fact that so many of our
ministers and their coadjutors never concern them
selves with any other topic than conversion. Now
that is unquestionably a most important theme, and
the direction of inquirers is an interesting and in
tensely exciting department of ministerial labor ; but
it is not the whole work of the pastor. " Doth the
ploughman plough all day to sow ? doth he open and
break the clods of his ground ? When he hath made
plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the
fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the prin
cipal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT.

97

their place ? For his God doth instruct him to dis
cretion, and doth teach him."* Something more than
ploughing is required for successful husbandry ; and
more is needed in the culture of a parish than the
preaching of conversion, or the saying to men, " Be
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved."
Faith is good ; is, indeed, indispensable, but it is
only the first round of the ladder, and we ought not
to be content until our hearers have added to it,
courage, and knowledge, and temperance, and pa
tience, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and
love, for in that way alone can they " make their
calling and election sure."
Thus in our ministry we have not simply to make
known to men the way of salvation, as Peter did on
the day of Pentecost, and in the house of Cornelius,
and as Paul did to the jailer, and to his hearers in Thes-
salonica and Berea, but we have also to do a work
not unlike that which these apostles performed in the
Epistles which came afterwards from their pens. Or
as Paul has said to Timothy, we have to " reprove,
rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doc
trine, "f We are to expose prevailing sins, warn against
existing temptations, incite to higher holiness, and
stimulate to the performance of " works of faith and
labors of love."
Yet, not unfrequently, when a sermon has been
preached exposing some social evil, and unfolding
the remedy by which alone it can be removed, the

* Isaiah xxviii. 24-26. t 2 Tim. iv. 2.

98 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
minister will be told that he is going aside from his
proper work as an ambassador for Christ, and some
earnest but narrow soul may say to him, " Preach
the Gospel, and leave these subjects alone ; remember
him who said, ' I determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.' "
Now, as is abundantly evident from what I have
already said, I find no fault with the sentiment of
these words. Nay, rather when rightly understood,
they strike the key-note of every evangelical minis
try ; but my complaint is, that those who quote them
for our benefit, seem to have no correct idea of the
meaning which Paul himself attached to them. He
did not intend to say that every time he opened
his lips, he would tell over again the story of the
Cross, but rather that as the means of saving men
from their sins, he would set nothing else before them
than Jesus Christ and Him crucified ; and further,
that the Cross was to be the great centre of his teach
ing, from which he claimed and exercised the liberty
of treating, every subject in the whole circumference
of human duty and experience.
I wonder what those who would restrict us to the sim
ple invitation of sinners to come to Christ, as if that
alone were evangelical preaching, would say to the
Apostle James, if he were to occupy a modern pul
pit and give his epistle as a sermon. Nay, I wonder
what they make of the very Epistle of Paul, from
which their quotation is taken, for within the short
compass of its sixteen chapters he discusses such ques
tions as the propriety of marriage in a time of peril,
the eating of meat offered to idols, the going to Jaw

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT, gg
before heathen tribunals, the right manner of con
ducting public worship, the evil of ecclesiastical divi
sions, and even so commonplace a matter as a benev
olent collection. Were Paul and James unevangeli-
cal ? No ; they were in all this most truly preaching
the Gospel, because they were bringing the principles
which underlie its message, to bear upon the circum
stances and conduct of those whom they addressed.
The truth is, that the Gospel is related to every
thing which affects the happiness and the holiness of
men ; and its minister not only may, but ought to
show its relations to these things in his discourses.
Only let him see to it that when he is seeking to
elevate men, he uses the Cross as. his lever, and then
while his discourses are helpful to believers, they will
at the same time be the means of awakening and
converting sinners. There is a way of getting at the
hearts and consciences of the unconverted, even when
we are furnishing guidance and encouragement to the
true Christian ; and on the other hand, we may deal
with sinners in such a way as shall also stimulate and
quicken saints.
Indeed, if we care to study true wisdom here, we
shall aim at having in every sermon a word for every
hearer; and if you ask me how that is to be attained,
I will set you to the study of those Epistles to which
I have already so frequently referred. Whatever
may be the immediate object which Paul is seeking,
he tries to attain that object by the Cross.
Thus, in reproving the unseemly divisions that had
sprung up in the Corinthian Church, he says : " Is
Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for you, or were

IOO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
you baptized in the name of Paul ?" * Now, weighty
as that was as an argument for union and brotherly-
love, it has in it, also, an incidental preaching of the
Gospel so simple, yet so full, that some poor sinner
might have caught at it with joy.
Again, in enforcing the duty of maintaining purity
of discipline in the Church, he uses this plea : " Purge
out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lump as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our
passover is sacrificed for us; therefore, let us keep
the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven
of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth." f Now, there is a whole
syllogism wrapped up in the illustration that is here
employed ; but what I wish you particularly to observe
is, that the centre of the illustration itself, is a decla
ration of the Gospel. So that while aiming after the
purifying of the Church, he does at the same time
clearly and simply, unfold the great truth that Christ
is sacrificed for us.
In a sirrylar manner, while denouncing the sin of
fornication, he puts the matter thus : " What ? know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye .
are not your own ? for ye are bought with a price :
therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God's." % Here again, you observe, while
exposing sin, he does it in such a way as at the same
time to preach " Christ crucified." They say that
when one of the most interesting ruins in the city
* I Corinthians i. 13. f 1 Corinthians v. 7, 8.
X 1 Corinthians vi. 19, 20.

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT, ioi
of Rome was in danger of destruction, because the
neighboring inhabitants were continually removing
stones from it for their own buildings, the reigning
Pontiff put a stop to the vandalism of the people, by
consecrating the venerable remains and setting up
the Cross in the midst of them. Now, similarly here,
Paul has put the Cross in the centre of human life,
and so has made it sacrilege for the believer to take
any portion of his being, or any fraction of his time
and give it to another than his Lord. But he could
not put the Cross there without letting it be seen,
and so here again, he has preached the Gospel most
effectively, even when he was seeking specially to
warn his readers against a particular sin.
But to mention only. one more instance; when he
is pleading the cause of the poor saints at Jerusalem,
he is careful so to do it, as at the same time to give a
very striking and comprehensive summary of the Gos
pel. Thus he writes : " For ye know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet
for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His
poverty might be rich." * It is singular that such an
expression — so beautiful, so suggestive, and every
way so worthy of the sacrifice it describes— should
have come thus incidentally from the pen of the
Apostle. He was presenting a motive to the Cor
inthians to induce them to give a good collection,
and lo ! at the same time, he preaches the Gospel in
language which is, even with him, unusual in its en
ergy and elevation.

* 2 Corinthians viii. 9.

102 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Now, all this shows us what Paul meant by preach
ing " Christ and Him crucified;" and lets us see how,
even when we are dealing with those " called to be
saints," we may have also words " in season " for the
sinner. For the Epistles to the Corinthians are not
singular in the characteristic which I have endeavored
to point out to you. The other letters of Paul, and
those of his fellow-apostles, John, Peter, and James,
are equally remarkable in this respect ; and if, with
the instances which I have particularized, in mind,
you study these productions, you will see that evan
gelical preaching is something far more important
than the mere iteration to men of the Gospel invita
tion to "come to Jesus."
The Gospel, as Paul preached it, was far-reaching
enough in its application to touch at every point the
conduct and experiences of men. The Cross, as; he
used it, was an instrument of the widest range and
of the greatest power. When, therefore, I insist that
you like him should "preach Jesus Christ and Him
crucified," I do not mean to make the pulpit for you
a battery, of such a nature that the guns upon it can
strike only such vessels as happen to pass immediately
in front of its embrasures. On the contrary, I turn it for
you into a tower, whereon is mounted a swivel-cannon,
which can sweep the whole horizon of human life,
and strike down all immorality, and ungodliness, and
selfishness, and sin. I do not shut you into a small
chamber having but one outlook, and even that intoj
a narrow court ; but I place you in an observatory!
with a revolving telescope that can command the*
landscape round and round, and sweep, besides, the

THE THEME AND RANGE OF THE PULPIT. 103
hemisphere of the stars. I do not mean that you
should keep continually repeating the words of " the
faithful saying" like a parrot-cry, until every particle
of meaning has dropped out of them ; but rather,
that you should make application of the great princi
ples that lie beneath the Cross, to the ever-varying
circumstances and occurrences of life, and that in such
a way as at once to succor the Christian and arrest
and convert the sinner. I do not mean that you
should disdain the aids of literature, or refuse to use
such illustrations as science may supply ; but rather
that, while employing all these, you should make them
always subservient to this central theme, and ever turn
their light upon the Master's face. I do not mean
that you should decline to venture with your hearers
for a voyage over the ocean of truth ; but rather that
while sailing forth, you should be careful still to have
your first parallel of longitude passing through Cal
vary, that so you may judge of all things else by their
relation to the Cross, and that, ever as you have
opportunity, you should beseech sinners to be recon
ciled to God.
Is there anywhere, gentlemen, a finer field for use
fulness than the pulpit is when thus employed ? Is
there anywhere a more powerful instrument for good
than the Cross of Christ when thus applied? Go
forth determined to use them both to the full, after
the pattern of the great Apostle ; and though you
may not have at any time such seasons of excitement
as men commonly call revivals, your ministry will be
a constant revival, for you will be always gladdened
by the occurrence of conversions, while at the same

104

THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.

time you are encouraged by beholding your children
"walking in the truth."
He will never find the pulpit either a narrow place
or a useless place, who enters it in the spirit in which
the Lord Himself began His ministry, and feels that
ne, too, can say, at least with some measure of truth,
" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; because
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek ; He hath sent me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; '
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the
day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that
mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to
give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness, that they might be called trees of right
eousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might
be glorified."* Go, gentlemen, and do that work,
using the Cross of Christ as your great instrument,
and you will find a sphere ample enough for all your
energies, and success large enough to fill your hearts
with joy.

* Isaiah lxi. 1-3. I cannot quote this passage without direct
ing attention to the volume written in exposition of it, by my old
friend and neighbor, the Rev. Alexander Macleod, D.D., Birken
head, England. His work on these verses, entitled " Christus
Consolator," is a most valuable treatise, vindicating successfully
the liberty of the pulpit to deal with social questions, and furnish
ing an excellent example of the best way of handling very deli
cate subjects.

LECTURE V.
THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING— IN THE
SERMON.

LECTURE V.
THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING — IN THE
SERMON.
n^HAT is effective preaching which convinces the
-*- intellect, stirs the heart, and quickens the con
science of the hearer, so that he is moved to believe
the truth which has been presented to him, or to take
the course which has been enforced upon him.
This result cannot be produced, in any case, with
out the agency Of the Holy Ghost ; yet it is never to
be forgotten that, in bringing it about, that Divine
person works by means, which have, even in them
selves, a fitness to secure the end in view. Now of
these means, so far as they are connected with the
Christian ministry, the sermon is the most important ;
and the preacher ought always to seek that his dis
course shall have in it special adaptation to effect the
result which, at the moment, he has set before him.
There is no inconsistency between his faith in the
necessity of the agency of the Spirit, and his exertion
to have his sermon such as shall be signally fitted to
impress his hearers ; nay, rather the more intelligently
be believes that he is a " laborer together with God,"
the more diligently will he work to make his discourse
as excellent as possible. The husbandman knows that
he cannot make the seed grow ; yet while he looks to

108 THE MINISTR F OF THE WORD.
God for the increase, he is himself careful to treat
each sort of soil as its nature requires, and to give to
each kind of crop the peculiar attention that its char
acter demands. And in like manner, though the
preacher is aware that God alone can make his ser
mon effectual in the spiritual profiting of his hearers,
yet " because he is wise," he seeks " to find out ac
ceptable words" which shall be "as goads, and as
nails fastened by the masters of assemblies." *
There are, indeed, extremists who affirm that all at
tention paid by the preacher to the preparation of his
discourse, is just so much dishonor done to the Holy
Spirit ; but such an opinion is utterly opposed to the
fundamental principle of the ministry of the Gospel.
The peculiar glory of that service is, that it is a sacri
fice. The preacher lays both himself and his sermon
upon the altar, that his Lord may use them for the
highest and holiest purposes. Now, every sacrifice
should be the very noblest we can offer. Hence,
just because the minister feels that he is consecrated
(not by any formal ordination, but by his own volun
tary dedication and by the anointing of the Holy
Ghost) to Christ, he seeks to make himself "thor
oughly furnished " for his work ; and because he
makes his sermon an offering to Christ, he labors to
have it the best he can produce. Out of the very
love of his heart he endeavors to make his discourse
the very finest tribute which he can lay at his Mas
ter's feet, for
" Love still delights to bring her best,
And where love is, her offering evermore is blest."
* Ecclesiastes.xii. 10, n.

QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING.

log

When, therefore, he is acting on this principle, he is
not to be told that he is dishonoring the Spirit. It
seems very pious to be thus jealous for the honor of
the Holy Ghost, but it is in reality very impious, and
the minister who seeks to glorify God by systemati
cally neglecting the preparation of his discourses,
will find in the end that he has only covered himself
with disgrace. In the work of " winning souls," as in
other departments of human activity, it is " the hand
of the diligent " that " maketh rich."
There is, therefore, no reason, so far as the prerog
ative of the Holy Ghost is concerned, why we should
refuse to consider the question, What are the quali
ties of an effective sermon ? That is the topic which
I have chosen for the present Lecture, but as I at
tempt to treat it, do not expect that I shall enter
upon minute details concerning such technicalities
as exordium, division, discussion, peroration, and the
like. These belong to the work of the class of homi
letics, and they have been already handled by a whole
host of writers — by none more ably than by your own
excellent Professor. You will not misunderstand me,
either, if I should not repeat here what I have already
said so emphatically about the importance of preach
ing " Christ and Him crucified." My present inquiry
concerns not the matter, but the medium through
which that matter is to be conveyed ; and my aim
will be to give you a few general principles, empha
sized by experience, which may guide you so to preach
as to present the truth in the most winning and im
pressive form.

IIO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Now, in analyzing the qualities which go to make
a sermon effective, I find some in the discourse itself,
and some in the preacher, and though those which
are in the sermon must have been first in the preach
er, yet it will contribute to simplicity and tend to
keep us from confusion, to adhere to this arrange
ment. Taking those which are in the sermon itself, I
name as the first, definiteness of aim. Every sermon
should have a distinct object in view. One must
preach, not because the Sabbath has come round,
and he has to occupy the time somehow, but rather
because there is something pressing upon his mind
and heart which he feels impelled to proclaim. Some
doctrine has taken hold of him with peculiar power,
and while he is under^he spell of it, he seeks to ex
pound it to his hearers. Some phase of experience has
come under his observation as he has been visiting
from house to house, or has left its mark upon him
self as he has been passing through it ; and while yet
the impression is distinct, he makes it the theme of
public discourse. Some sin has broken out with more
than usual virulence in his neighborhood, and he sets
the trumpet to his mouth that he may sound a timely
alarm. Some department of Christian duty has been
neglected by the members of his flock, and with all
fidelity and tenderness he seeks to show them its im
portance, and to set before them the blessed results
which would flow from their attention to it. And so
as week after week revolves, each Lord's day's address

Q UALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREA CHING. \ t j.
has its distinct individuality since he has exerted
himself in each to do one thing. This, as it seems
to me, is the ideal of the ministry.
Ever, therefore, as you sit down to prepare your
discourse, let your question be, " What is my purpose
in this sermon ?" and do not move a step until you
have shaped out before your mind a definite answer
to that inquiry. This will save you from that vague
ness which chloroforms so many sermons and sends
so many hearers to sleep. Set up your goal, and keep
it always in sight, so every step you take will bring
you nearer to its attainment, and your audience will
be at no loss to see what you are driving at. The
way to walk in a straight line over a trackless field, is
to fix the eye, and keep it fixed, on some object that is
stationary and sufficiently elevated, and then to move
towards that ; and the great preventive of diffuseness
and digression in discourse is to have, high above all
other things in your mind, the perception of the pur
pose which your sermon is designed to fulfill.
But any purpose will not do. You must seek to
have an aim whose importance will be sufficient to
stimulate your own mind and to retain the attention
of your hearers. Avoid all diminutive themes — such
as may be discussed and settled in a few sentences ;
for if you try to make a whole sermon on one of
these, you will be tempted to fill up the time with
vapid declamation, and will continue to spin away
with the wheel of verbal fluency long after the " tow "
of thought has been exhausted. That was a wise ad
vice of Dr. James W. Alexander, " Preach on great
(547) 8

H2 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
subjects." There is something in them to inspire
the preacher and to subdue and impress the hearer.
Leave the lesser topics for minor occasions — such as
the chair of the prayer-meeting or the table of the
lecture-room will supply. But let your sermons be
elevated in their subjects, and they will be elevating
in their influence.
Yet, when you are dealing with a great theme, do
not aim at being exhaustive. Leave something for
again. Try, rather, to be clear, simple, instructive.
You are not writing a treatise which is to contain
everything that can be said on every branch of your
subject ; you are going to address a company of fel
low-men, to whom, in all likelihood, you will have
many other opportunities of speaking, so leto your
endeavor be to give one distinct aspect, of your theme,
leaving other views of it for other occasions. I be
lieve it is a common fault with young preachers to
overweight their discourses with a superabundance of
material. Their tendency is to put all they know on
any subject into the discourse which is treating of
that subject. So, in a very short time, they exhaust
their own resources, and even before they have done
that, they have exhausted the patience of their hear
ers. I well remember after I had preached my first
sermon in a country church, there was reported to
me a criticism which a plain, blunt man had made
upon my discourse, which had a world of meaning in
it in this connection. My text had been the first
verse of the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Ro
mans, " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have

Q UALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PRE A CHING. \ \ 3
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," and
I had dealt with justification, with faith, and with
peace with God, as if I had resolved not to leave any
thing unsaid that could be said upon them. On com
ing out of the church, one of my hearers being asked
what he thought of the discourse, replied, " These
young preachers are like young delvers, they take
thundering big spadefuls ! " That witness was true,
in my case, and I tried ever afterwards to lighten my
discourses. Next to the evil of having nothing in a
sermon at all, is that of having too much in it ; for
in neither case does the hearer carry much away.
As another quality of an effective sermon I name
precision of language. In a passage which I have
already quoted it is said, " The preacher sought to
find out acceptable words." He did not take the
first which came ; but he selected those which best
expressed his meaning, and were most suited to the
people whom he was addressing. The relation of
style to thought is of the closest kind ; and the aim
of the preacher should be to get the clearest possible
medium for the transmission of his thought. That
is the best glass which most fully admits the light.
The paintings which the artist produces are very ex
cellent in themselves, but in a window they are out
of place — if, that is, the end of the window is to let
in the light. So, if the end of language is to trans
mit thought, then everything in it that, withdraws
attention from the thought to itself, or dims the lus
tre of the thought, is a blemish. Hence the preach-

114

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

er's study should be to have every sentence luminous
with the thought which it is designed to express.
But how is that to be secured ? Only, in my judg
ment, by the careful writing of every discourse. I
have very strong convictions upon this point, and as
a different opinion has been recently advanced by one
whose views must be always received with deference
and respect, you will forgive me if I seek, with some
measure of fullness, to set forth my reasons for the
advice which I have ventured to offer.
It seems to me that the importance of the work
we are engaged in demands this exactness of written
preparation at our hands. We are to speak to men
about the most momentous matters that can occupy
their attention, and a word thoughtlessly uttered may
carry in it consequences of which at the moment we
little dreamed. Nor is this an improbable contin
gency, for the right regulation of the tongue is the
last attainment of Christian perfection. What says
the apostle James ? " If any man offend not in word,
the same ig a perfect man," and it is surely significant
that this assertion of his comes in immediate connec
tion with the injunction, " Be not many masters ;"
i. e., teachers.* He would, dissuade his readers from
the consuming ambition to become teachers, by set
ting before them the difficulty that must ever be felt
in regulating the tongue, which is the great instru
ment which a teacher employs. He, in effect, says
that the diddoicaXog attempts to perform the most im-

* The word in the original is Sid&amhoi.

Q UALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PRE A CHING. r j. 5
portant function, namely, that of instruction, with
the most-difficult-to-be-managed instrument, namely,
the tongue. . But this suggestion, which was meant
to dissuade the incompetent from pushing themselves
into the teacher's office, is valuable also to those
already in it, or preparing for it, as indicating to them
a danger to which they are peculiarly exposed. It
means for you and me, that we should take every
possible precaution to secure that our public utter
ances shall be neither hasty, nor unadvised, nor- of
such a sort as shall bring reproach on the Gospel
whose ministers we are.
Now the surest means of guarding against this
danger is the use of the pen. Even those who advo
cate careful premeditation of the line of thought
which the preacher proposes to follow, while yet the
language is left to the prompting of the moment,
insist that the constant practice of written compo
sition is essential to success. But what is a young
minister to write, if he do not write his discourses ?
He has not, except in very rare instances, the entree
into the religious papers, much less into important
magazines and Reviews. The request to contribute
to these publications is commonly the consequence
of a success already achieved, and so there is little
prospect that he will .be able to find continuous em
ployment for his pen in any such way. How, then,
is he to obtain it ? Every student knows that while
the love of truth may stimulate him to investigation,
the incentive of some sort of publication is required
to urge him to composition. But what kind of publi-

u6 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
cation has in it more of inspiration for a preacher
than that of the pulpit? To say, therefore, that a
young minister should refrain from writing his ser
mons, and yet give himself to other compositions, is
to bid him abstain from that which will most effectu
ally furnish him for his work, while you commend him
to other pursuits less fitted to give him the discipline
he needs. If he do not write his discourses, the
result, in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, will
be that he will write nothing at all, and then his ser
mons will become like Gratiano's reasons, having about
a grain of thought to the bushel of words.
Moreover, as the minister is to speak on special
themes, it is in reference to these subjects that he
particularly needs to cultivate precision of language.-
But how will the composition of a literary essay give
him definiteness of terminology, say for a doctrinal
sermon, or even for a discourse exposing some preva-
' lent evil or enforcing some neglected duty ? Facility
in sketching is very good, but that alone will not
make an architect. To become an adept in that pro
fession, one must study mainly the art of construction.
Similarly trie practice of composition in other depart
ments will not make a man produce good sermons ;
that has to be learned by practice, and the thing to
be practiced is the making of sermons.
But there is another reason why a sermon should
be written out with care. We are able to secure
thereby, that each portion of the discourse shall
receive its due measure of attention. Even the most
skillful extemporizers are in danger of enriching the

QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING. wj
earlier parts of their sermons at the expense of the
later. They do not seem to have got quite above the
fear that haunts the young orator, that he will never
find enough in his theme to fill out the time allotted
for his address, so they put a great deal into the intro
duction and the sections which immediately follow,
and when they come to the closing portions, where all
their resources should be brought into operation, they
have no time left for the effective presentation even
of the thoughts which they have premeditated, and
are obliged to hasten over them so rapidly that the
hearers lose all sense of their importance.
Repeatedly, as we have listened to such a preacher,
\ve have seemed to ourselves to be driven by him up
a long and winding avenue toward a spacious and
hospitable mansion. But he has been diverting our
attention ever and anon to interesting objects that
line the way ; here was an umbrageous elm, whose
luxuriant foliage carpeted the ear.th with shade ;
there was an opening through which a beautiful
glimpse of a delightful lake was seen, and yonder was
a view of the distant mountains smoking under the
sunshine. At length we reach the door of the house,
but before we enter we have to survey the entire
panorama from the piazza, and even as we pass
through the hall we must pause a moment to admire
some wonderful picture that hangs there ; then, just
as we gain a vision of the banquet which is laid out
for us in the dining-room, we discover that we have
barely time to reach the station so as to obtain the
train for our return journey, and we have to leave the
good things largely unenjoyed.

U8 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
In a sermon of an hour's length I have more than
once heard an introduction occupying five and twenty
minutes ; and on one occasion the preacher, not con-
tent with one introduction, made another as long as
the first. Now, I do not say that such serious offences
against the rule of proportion could not be committed
in a written discourse, but I do affirm that they would
be discovered, and opportunity would be afforded for
their removal before the preacher attempted to sub
mit it to the attention of his auditors.
Again, it ought not to be overlooked, that those
extemporizers whose success is most frequently refer-
red to as a reason why sermons should not be writ
ten, have generally had something which corre
sponded to sermon-writing after all. Thus in refer
ence to Robert Hall, this testimony has been borne
by Dr. Leifchild, who was his friend and neighbor in
Bristol for some years : " I learned from him that
most of his great sermons were first worked out in
thought, and inwardly elaborated in the very words
in which they were delivered. They were thus held
so tenaciously in the memory that he could repeat
them verbatim at the distance of years. He ridi
culed the delusion of those who supposed that the
perorations of his sermons were delivered impromptu,
observing that they were the most carefully studied
parts of the whole discourse." * Now this was compo.
sition of the most difficult kind, and was resorted to,

* A Memoir of Rev. Dr. Leifchild, by his son, J. R. Leifchild,
M.A., p. 137.

QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING. \ ig
we may believe, because the physical infirmity with
which Hall was afflicted made it agony for him to use
the pen.
Again, in the case of F. W. Robertson ; while it is
true that he delivered his sermons without having
written them, yet that is only half the truth, for he
wrote them out on the Mondays after they had been
preached, and thereby he had the " discipline of the
pen " as really as if he had written them on the Fridays
before they were spoken. If, therefore, his example is
to be good for anything, it must be taken as a whole,
for there is little doubt that as he looked back on
what he had said, he would discover faults from which
he would carefully abstain in his subsequent dis
courses. Nor should we fail to observe that if he had
not written them, these wonderful sermons would
have been completely lost to the world at large, and
could not have been so widely useful as since his
death they have become.
Similarly, in conversation with Mr. Spurgeon I
once elicited from him the confession that the cor
recting of the proof of his Sunday morning sermon
gave him, on every Tuesday, the same sort of whole
some discipline which we meaner mortals derive from
the writing of our discourses. Only it gave it to him
in a stronger measure, since faults always appear more
glaring in the printed page than in the manuscript.
He said that sometimes after he had gone over it
with care the proof looked very black indeed, and
though on such occasions he was apt to think
that the reporter must have been asleep, he com-

T.20 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
monly discovered that the drowsiness had been in
himself, and he was thereby stimulated to greater
watchfulness in the future. But all such after-writing
or correction is but " a light in the stern of the ship."
The errors have been committed, and careful writing
might have prevented their commission.
So again, when I hear my distinguished friend Dr.
Storrs affirm concerning himself, that he has no
verbal memory, and give that as a reason why in his
preparations he cannot premeditate the words — which
is only writing without the pen* — I am disposed to
question the accuracy of his own self-judgment. I
have read as a written article from his pen the very
same words which, eighteen months before, I had
heard from his lips in an apparently extemporaneous
address, and I have heard it told that in a lecture
delivered without notes, he gave, without either
hesitancy or mistake, such a number of dates, that on
the following morning a friend sent him a box of
dates, accompanied with a note to the effect that " after
the expenditure of the previous evening he judged he
must be quite out of the article." These incidents,
therefore, lead me to believe that, unconsciously to
himself, that eloquent preacher has in his study so
fixed his train of thought in his mind, that he has no
difficulty in presenting it to his hearers in the very
words in which he had before elaborated it. The
recollection is so spontaneous that it seems to be

* See " Conditions of Success in Preaching Without Notes,"
by R. S. Storrs, D.D., LL.D.

QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING. I2I
reconstruction. But whether this be so or not, one
must have his great mental excellences, and in
addition, the drill of writing first-rate sermons for a
quarter of a century, if he would faithfully follow the
example which he has set.
It is, therefore, with the strongest conviction that I
am giving you the best possible advice, that I say to
you, write your sermons. This will give precision to
your language more effectually than any other pro
cess, while when you are in an emergency and com
pelled to extemporize, some former train of thought
will come at your call, clothed in the words in which
you had before arrayed it*
But I pass now to another quality of effectiveness
in a sermon which is of not less importance than those
already mentioned. I mean clearness in arrangement.
In every discourse there must be method in order to
movement, and one portion should succeed another
in such a way as to carry forward the hearer gently yet
inexorably to the conclusion. Arguments are like
soldiers, they must be massed and marshalled in such
a way as to overcome all opposition. Resting upon
a broad base, they must be made to bring all their
force to bear upon the main purpose which the
* " I should lay it down as a rule admitting of no exception, that
a man will speak well in proportion as he has written much, and
that with equal' talents he will be the finest extempore speaker,
when no time for preparing is allowed, who has prepared himself
most sedulously when he had an opportunity of delivering a pre
meditated speech." — Brougham's Inaugural Address as Lord
Rector of Glasgow University.

122 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
preacher has in view. , Like as in a pyramid, the figure
rises, narrowing as it ascends, until it terminates in the
apex ; so a discourse should become, step by step, more
elevated, increasing in intensity as it rises, until it
kindles into one burning point, and that point should be
made to touch the soul of every hearer. Or as in arch
ery, the marksman draws back the string on which he
has fixed his arrow, in order that the full strength of
the bow may go into the flight of the weapon, so the
preacher should be all the while gathering energy for
the truth which he designs at last to send quivering
home to the heart of every hearer. To this method
of unity Jay has very seriously objected, affirming his
preference for textual division ; but it seems to me
that it is not impossible to combine the two. And
though it be true as he suggests, that " in preaching
it should be remembered what diversities of persons
and cases there are before us at every service, and how
unlikely these diversities are to be reached by the very
same thing," yet, it is not to be forgotten that in every
good senrjrjn which follows the plan of unity, the first
part of the discourse gathers the hearers up and brings
them together to the very point which is put before
them at the close, so that each is made to feel that he
has a personal responsibility in reference to it. I have
seen a shepherd gathering his flock upon the High
land hills. He sent his trusty dogs far away out
upon the mountain-side, and they, running round and
round in ever-narrowing circles, brought the bleating
multitude together, until each one in it was compelled
to face the entrance into the fold. So in a sermon,

QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING. 123
the earlier portions should be employed in encircling
the audience, until at length, by the converging force
of its ever-increasing pressure, the discourse brings
each hearer up to the "strait gate," and compels him
to face the question, " Shall I enter in? "
The principles on which such an arrangement is to
be made are set forth with sufficient fullness in the
books on homiletics. Only let it never be forgotten
that arrangement is essential to effect. It contributes
to perspicuity. It helps the memory of the hearer to
recall the various stages of your argument. It satis
fies his judgment and carries him on without either
effort or fatigue to a conclusion, which he feels to be
a result, and not simply a cessation of speaking on
your part.
When George Stephenson, the famous engineer,
was beaten in argument by Buckland, and a few days
afterwards Sir William Follett instructed by him,
thoroughly vanquished his antagonist, he is reported
to have said, that " of all the powers above and under
the earth, there seems to be no power so great as the
gift of the gab."* But I suspect that the burly engi
neer had mistaken the marshalling of arguments for the
command of words. The great lawyer knew how to
arrange his materials, and in that, rather than in his
readiness of utterance, was the secret of his success.
The nine digits may be so placed as to mean less than
a unit, and, again, they may be put into such order as

* " The Life of George Stephenson and of his son, Robert
Stephenson," by Samuel Smiles, p. 467.

124 TIIE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
shall mean a great deal. So it is with words and ar
guments, and he is the most effective sermonizer who
makes every phrase, and illustration, and proof tell
with all possible force.
Thus far, all are agreed, but there is a difference of
opinion among authorities on the question whether
this arrangement should be set before the hearers by
the distinct announcement of the separate steps. On
the one hand some have affirmed that "in many
cases the divisions that are so formally announced are
little better than a disguise of the heaviness of the
discourse;"* and on the other it is alleged that "to
the mass of hearers, concealed method is much the
same as none."f It must be admitted, too, that the
practice of formally giving out firstly, secondly, etc.,
has become rather unfashionable. Still it has many
advantages to recommend it, but though it is my
own general custom, my advice would be that you
should not bind yourselves by any inexorable rule on
such a matter. What is most of all to be avoided in
the ministrations of the pulpit, is leaden uniformity.
The sermon should never be stereotyped either in
matter or in form. The preacher must vary his methods
with judicious frequency ; and while he has always the
virtue of arrangement, he may sometimes allow it to
exercise its force so irresistibly, that it will not need
to be fore-heralded by announcement ; and sometimes
he may give out his heads without any danger of be-

* Blaikie's " For the Work of the Ministry," p. 184,
t Jay's " Autobiography," p. 138.

Q UALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREA CHING. I 2 5
ing dull. It is not the announcing of the heads that
makes a discourse heavy, but rather the fact that after
they are announced, they are found to have no
brains !
No man can be a sculptor without a competent
knowledge of anatomy ; but there is a marvelous differ
ence between a skeleton and a statue. No preacher
can succeed who has not in his discourse some princi
ple of arrangement, but a syllogism is not a sermon.
If the order is all in all, the discourse will be a syllabus ;
but if there be no order at all, it will be an aimless
harangue ; and in either case, it will be a failure.
The guerilla soldier may now and then do a dashing
thing, which harasses the enemy, and helps to secure
success; but in a war the main reliance must be
placed on the regular army, and for its operations or
der is essential. So, now and then an impulsive and
energetic man may carry all before him by the force
of mere explosiveness ; but for constant effectiveness,
there is nothing like method — only, the method must
ever be your servant, and never your master.
I only add, in this connection, that a sermon, to be
effective, must not be inordinately long. When
weariness begins to be felt by the hearer, edification
ends, and sometimes the latter portion of a discourse
only effaces the impression which the earlier has
made. No matter how many other excellences a
preacher may have, they will all be neutralized if he
habitually err in this respect. Even such eloquence as
that of Edward Irving could not hold an audience
Sabbath after Sabbath for the two hours and a half

126 THE MINISTRY OF. THE WORD.
which he was resolved " he would have the privilege
of;" and there is such a thing yet in the pulpit as
flailing away at over-threshed straw, until the ears of
the hearers, deafened by the din, seek refuge in the
unconsciousness of sleep.
But while we condemn inordinate length as fatal,
it does not therefore follow, that brevity is in and of
itself an excellence. " How long did I preach ?"
said a young man to the venerable pastor whose pul
pit he had been occupying for the morning. " Just
twelve minutes," was the response. " I am glad of
that," replied the elated freshman, " for I never like
to be tedious." " O ! but you were tedious," said the
old man, with a quiet irony, which extinguished him.
It is possible for one man to be even more dreary in
ten minutes, than another would be in an hour
and a half; and in these days when the demand is
that discourses shall be measured off by the hour
glass, as the merchant disposes of dry-goods by the
yard, and when it is almost an unpardonable sin if a
preacher sjiall require the attention of his audience
for more than thirty minutes, we need to give em
phasis to the truth that the length of an address,
whether in the pulpit or elsewhere, ought to be de
termined by the nature of the subject to which it is de
voted. If that can be clearly opened up and faithful
ly enforced in twenty minutes, then there is no need
to take more ; if, however, that cannot be done in less
than an hour, then, even such an amount of time
should be cheerfully conceded to it. The preacher
should stop when he has reached a conclusion ; that
is, when he has brought his arguments and illustra-

QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE PREACHING. j.27
tions to such a focus that the truth he means to es
tablish is burned in on the souls of those whom he ad
dresses. If he go on after that, his continuance is an
impertinence ; but if he end before that, his sermon
is a fragment, and will lead to no result.
In this view of the case, few things are of sadder
omen for the churches than the unreasoning clamoi
for brevity in sermons which is so universal among
the people ; for if the pulpit is to be the place of in
struction, he who speaks from it must ha,ve a certain
latitude given him, in the matter of time, in order
that he may be faithful to the trust which has been
committed to him. The teacher of chemistry, or of
ethics, or of political economy, or of social economics,
is allowed ample scope when he comes to the plat
form ; and as the minister is also the teacher of the
doctrines of the Word of God, the same privilege
ought to be accorded to him. Let any one attempt
to unfold the Scriptural truth about faith, or repent
ance, orthe atonement, or justification, or regeneration,
or eternal judgment, or even any one aspect of these
subjects in fifteen minutes, and he will see how utter
ly hopeless his undertaking is. So if we are shut up
to a certain statutory allowance of so many minutes,
the results will be that doctrinal instruction and sys
tematic exposition of the sacred Scriptures will be
banished from the sanctuary, and we shall train a
generation of spiritual infants, to whom it may be said
that "when for the time they ought to be teachers,
they need that one should teach them again what be
the first principles of the oracles of God."*
* Hebrews v. 12. 9
1547)

I28 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Men may make themselves merry, indeed, over
the long sermons of our Puritan forefathers, with their
ninthlies of the thirteenth head, but we should not
forget that those who relished the discourses of Howe,
and Owen, and Baxter, were the strong heroes who
won the liberties of England, and the near kinsmen
of the noble pilgrims who laid the foundations of this
republic. Depend upon it, if ever the pulpit shall
cease to be a vehicle of instruction, and sink into a
place for the public reading of pretty little essays, or
the utterance of fifteen minutes of rose-water senti-
mentalism, our people will dwindle into spiritual
dwarfs, and the manhood will disappear from their
piety. Of course, there is a proper medium to be observed
in this as in other matters, and we must never forget
that while brevity is not in itself considered a mark
of excellence, inordinate length will mar the force
even of the noblest production. We must teach men
" as they are able to bear it," and if we are dealing
with great subjects in a way to interest and instruct
the hearers, a little common sense will be of more use
to us than any rigid rule in determining the length of
our discourse. He who is saying nothing, cannot have
done too soon. He who is saying something, will al
ways say that best in the fewest words. When the
nail is driven home, all after-hammering is superfluous ;
but if we stop before we have driven it home, we might
as well never have begun to drive it.

LECTURE VI.
THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON — IN THE
PREACHER.

LECTURE VI.
THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON —
IN THE PREACHER.
TN speaking of the qualities of an effective sermon,
-L so far as these are in the preacher, I shall not
refer to literary culture or elocutionary skill, though
these in their own places have an importance
not to be overlooked ; but I shall confine my atten
tion to those spiritual elements of power which have
their source in the convictions and character of the
minister himself.
And foremost among these I name earnestness.
But wherein does earnestness consist ? The ques
tion is by no means unnecessary, for the term has
become one of the " cant " words of the time, and in
the frequency of its use we are apt to lose sight of
its true significance.
We must not confound it with mere vehemence of
manner. Rant is not intensity, neither is noise ear
nestness. Too often the " "sound and fury " signify
" nothing ;" and sometimes as I have been compelled
to listen to preachers of the noisy school, I have
thought that they had taken their cue from Quince
in his description of the lion's part, when he says,
" You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but
roaring."* That is, and always must be, ridiculous,

* Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act I., Scene II.

132

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

and the antics which such orators cut remind me of
the position once occupied by a dignified professor
of divinity, when, being in a boat with a party, and
thinking he could row with ease, he took an oar,
and at the second or third stroke " caught a crab,"
so that he lay sprawling, hands and h'eels uppermost,'
in a most ludicrous plight, and was thus addressed
by his venerable mother, " Less pith, and more to
the purpose, my man !" Let the " pith " be all " to
the purpose," gentlemen, for it is in the purpose first
and always that the earnestness must lie. It is not
a manner which can be put on from without, but an
influence, say, rather, an effluence, which must ema--
nate from within. It cannot be acquired by any prac-
'tice, or successfully imitated from any model. Nei
ther can it be simulated by any process. It is part
of the man.
It springs out of an unwavering conviction of the
truth of that which we are at the moment preaching,
and of the fact that just that truth needs to be spoken
to our hearers. If we have not made up our minds
upon a subject, we cannot kindle into enthusiasm
over its treatment ; and he who has not yet brought
the ends of his thoughts together on any matter,
should keep that matter out of the pulpit until he
has. It is the irrepressible in a man that makes him
earnest. If he can keep anything in, then let him
keep it, for such a thing, generally speaking, is not
worth letting out, and his utterance of it will have no
force. But when it comes to such a point with him that
he feels like the old prophet who said, " His word was

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. 133
in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,
and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not
stay,"* then he will speak in such a way as to thrill
and overawe his hearers. When, like Peter before
the council, he is as if under some inner impulsion,
and says, " I cannot but speak,"t or when, like Paul,
he cries, " Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto
me if I preach not," then his earnestness will come as
a thing of course, and there will be as much difference
between his words and those of the mere rhetorician,
as there is between the mimic thunder of the theatre
and the reverberations of the cloud-artillery as they
are redoubled by the Alpine echoes.
In the lack of this, as it seems to me, we have the
secret of the easy nonchalance, not to say indiffer
ence, which many hearers complain of in the minis
trations of the modern pulpit. The preacher fills up
the time with talk, because he must say something.
He does not go into the sacred desk under the ab
sorbing impulse of the feeling that he has something
which he must say. So he is aimless and uninterest
ing, and fails to impress others because he is unim
pressed himself. It cannot be too constantly remem
bered by you, that your usefulness to others must
depend, next to the influence of God's Spirit, upon
the intensity of your own convictions. There is
nothing so contagious as conviction. The percep
tion that you are well assured of the truth of that
which you affirm, will -help your hearers into the same

: Jeremiah xx. 9. t Acts iv. 20.

134

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

certainty ; and often in the times when their faith is
sorely tried and is almost ready to fail, their observa
tion of your confidence will lift them into trust.
Their reliance on you will lead them to believe in
what you say. But if you devote your sermons to
the enumeration and illustration of the things which
you do not believe ; if you are careful only to discuss
the points on which you are either undecided or out
of harmony with other and more ordinary men, you
will produce anything but conviction, and will win
from the more intelligent of your hearers the criti
cism pronounced by Johnson on Dr. Priestley, " He
unsettles everything and settles nothing."
If, therefore, you have no positive convictions, keep
out of the pulpit until you get them ; and when you
get them, they will make for themselves a manly and
earnest utterance. Do not, I beseech you, enter upon
a pastorate professing, in a fashion, to hold certain
truths which yet are not such to you, as that you feel
you must preach them at all hazards. Such a posi
tion will be fatal to usefulness. Shape to yourselves
clear and definite views regarding " the truth as it is
in Jesus," and let the measure of your love to Him
be that also of the firmness with which you hold them ;
so shall the fervor of your affection for your Lord
inspire and energize your utterances. " We, having
the same spirit of faith according as it is written, I
believed, and, therefore, have I spoken, we also be
lieve and therefore speak."* Mark the force of that
* 2 Cor. iv. 13.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON, i-it
" therefore ;" it is the hinge on which all true earnest
ness turns ; without that your words will be little
better than " drowsy tinklings ; " with that they
will be full of force, and you will be like him of whom
the poet* speaks, as on a " throne mounted in heav
en," and shooting " into the dark, arrows of lighten
ing." But another element of earnestness is a vivid real
ization of the position of our hearers. Let a man
have the firm belief that he is dealing with immortal
souls ; that unless these souls embrace the Lord Jesus
Christ and live in obedience to His laws, they must
perish everlastingly ; and that he is set to persuade
them to choose that " good part which cannot be
taken away " from them, and he cannot help being
earnest in his appeals to them.
When one reads in the biography of that great and
good man after whom this lectureship is named, that
his six sermons on " Intemperance " were preached
in order that he might save some of the members of
his congregation whom he most tenderly loved, from
the horrible hell of the drunkard, we have at once
the explanation of their scorching earnestness and of
their irresistible power.
In the same way we account for the fiery logic of
the Epistle to the Galatians. The apostle saw that
the truth of the Gospel was endangered, and that those
beloved ones over whose conversion he had rejoiced
were in the greatest peril, and so he sat down, and with

* Tennyson. Sonnet to J. M. K.

136 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
his own hand he wrote to them, in large letters, that
epistle wherein " the arrows of his thoughts " are
" headed and winged with flame." Here is the ex
planation of its passionate energy, its scathing invec
tive, its rapid movement, its parental tenderness, and
its condensed power. He saw them in danger, and
he was in haste to rescue them. His one great aim
was to open their eyes to their real position, and to
bring them back to the security that is in Christ. I
do not say that he was not in earnest in all his epistles,
but we cannot read that letter without feeling that
he was peculiarly moved when he penned it, and
as a consequence it peculiarly affects us.
Now, from the difference between that and his
other writings, we may learn much regarding the
earnestness of which we are in search. Especially
we discover that the perception of the circumstances
of those to whom we speak, will give us such con
cern for their welfare that we shall lose sight of all
things else in the effort to secure their salvation.
There is no mistaking the earnestness of him who
runs from the burning dwelling to cry " Fire ! fire !"
He sees the evil ; he knows that if means be not taken
promptly to extinguish the flames the house must be
destroyed ; and so he does not take it leisurely, but
rushes on along the nearest way to the engine-house.
And it is the same in the pulpit. When the salva
tion of souls or the benefit of men in some special
direction is the uppermost object in the preacher's
ambition, earnestness will come unsought ; but without
that it can never be attained.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. 137
A Summer or two ago, a clergyman of the Church
of England, who was taking a holiday in Switzerland,
came, in one of the mountain passes of that land, to
a place of considerable danger, and as he was thread
ing his way with care, he heard a piercing shriek,
which, at length, he found proceeded from a lady,
who was down on the side of the precipice in a posi
tion of awful peril, and who was crying for assistance.
Taking a hasty survey of the situation, he went by
what seemed to him the best way to her relief, and
after making great efforts, he succeeded in bringing
her with him to a place of safety. The next day he
went with a friend to show him the spot, but though
he tried very hard, he found that he could not get
anywhere near it. Would you know the reason of
this difference ? In the former instance there was a
life to be saved ; in the latter there was only a display
to be made. Let not the lesson be lost upon us. We
shall always do most, my young brethren, when we
are directly seeking to save souls ; but when we are
working only for display, we shall inevitably fail. If
you keep your eye on the end to be gained, you will
be sure to be earnest ; but when you attempt to show
how you have done it, or how you can do it, the
earnestness will evaporate.
Think, then, ever as you enter the pulpit on the po
sition and necessities of your hearers. See in them
a company of fellow immortals, each of whom is
needing your help in the great struggle of life, and in
your eagerness to assist them, all thoughts of self will
die out of your soul. Your hearts will be filled with

!38 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
yearning affection for them, and that itself will be a
power over them, for as one*, has said :
" If mountains can be moved by faith,
Is there less power in love ?"
All your words will be made to converge toward
the great result on which your heart is fixed ; and
your ministry, as a whole, will grow in interest under
your eyes, as you watch week by week for the effects
of your labors.
Here, then, are the twin sources of that earnestness
of which so much is said, namely, intellectual convic
tion of the truth of those things which we proclaim ;
and loving realization of the fact thatour hearers need
to have these things said to them in order to be saved
from the evils of time and the perdition of eternity.
Give us these in all the occupants of all our pulpits,
and the world will be constrained to listen to them.
There is no royal road to earnestness ; neither can it
be successfully counterfeited by any histrionic art.
We can gain it only through personal conviction and
pervasive love ; but, when we do gain it, we do not so
much possess it as it possesses us, and carries us out
of ourselves to achievements which are as astonishing
to ourselves as they are irresistible to those whom we
address. A second quality of effectiveness in the preacher is
courage. It is said of the apostles that " they spake

* Frederick William Fabcr.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. T39
the Word of God with boldness ;"* and all who since
their days have been signally successful in the winning
of souls have been distinguished by the same charac
teristic. They have " not shunned to declare all the
counsel of God."f They have used " great plainness
of speech," calling things by their right names, and
exposing, when need was, the evils which existed in
the Church, in the home, and in the community.
John of the golden mouth would not have been so
blessed to the citizens of Antioch and Constantinople,
if he had not been so fearless in his denunciations of
corruptions, no matter in what rank of society they
appeared ; and if Luther had not possessed " the spirit
and power of Elijah," the Reformation from popery
had not resulted from his labors.
It may seem strange that I should connect such
great names as these with the enforcement of the cul
tivation of courage upon you, but even if your lot
should be cast in the humblest village, let me assure
you from my own experience, that it will require as
much heroism to breast the tide of antagonism there,
as it does in the largest city. " The fear of man
bringeth a snare ;" therefore, when you enter the
pulpit, let all considerations of personal comfort or
interest sink out of sight, while you seek to enforce
upon your hearers that which is " right in the sight
of God." If you are determined only to set forth
the truth of God, you may rely upon it that God
will take care of you.
* Acts iv. 31. t Acts xx. 27.

140 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
I say not, indeed, that you are at liberty to in
dulge in personal invective in your discourses. If
you have anything against any individual among
your flock, " go and tell him his fault between thee
and him alone ;" but be not guilty of the cowardice
of attacking him in the house of God, when he has
no opportunity of reply. Impertinence is not faith
fulness, and rudeness is not Christian courage. If
you mean to do good to a man, the very worst course
you can take is to begin by insulting him. Be as
fearless as you please in the denunciation of sins, but
take care that you do not so describe an individual
sinner as to enable all your hearers to identify him.
Men come to the house of God to be preached to, not
to be preached at, and your aim should be to secure
that each auditor shall make application to himself of
the truth which you are enforcing. Generally speak
ing, the hearers of our discourses are inclined of them
selves to be amazingly benevolent with our words,
and will, without any help of ours, give them all away
among their neighbors. It is not for us, therefore, to
pander to that tendency by striking plainly at certain
individuals. Our duty rather is to concentrate the
thoughts of each upon himself, so that the one arrow
which we send forth, may, by the power of the divine '
Spirit, be multiplied to the piercing of a thousand
hearts. But while we avoid all invidious personalities, we
must be careful not to keep back any part of the
truth from the fear of offending any prominent indi
vidual, or provoking " Demetrius and the craftsmen."

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. 141
We must preach the preaching that God bids us, " di
minishing not a word ;"* and if men will take offence,
we must see to it, that the cause of their indignation
shall be in the truth itself and not in our manner of
proclaiming it.
Now there is only one way of securing this, and that'
is by cultivating faith in the unseen presence of Christ
with us. We must preach as Moses endured, \ "as
seeing Him who is invisible." That will both lift us
above the fear of men and keep us from saying any
thing which would be inconsistent with his precepts and
example. We complicate matters so soon as we be
gin to ask, What will this man think ? or, How will that
one feel ? or, Will not this seriously affect my future
comfort ? or the church's financial condition ? In each
of these directions humiliation and failure lie. Our
safety is in the consciousness of the presence of Christ.
There will be no difficulty about what we ought to
say, or how we ought to say it, so long as we think
of pleasing Him, but the moment any regard to self-
interest intrudes, embarrassment begins.
Moreover, if we yield to these selfish temptations,
we are sure in the end to miss the comfort which we
have been seeking. " He that loveth his life " thus,
" will lose it,"f for the timid trimmer who is always
trying to keep from offence, becomes at length an ob
ject of contempt ; while he who faithfully reproves,
rebukes, and exhorts with all long-suffering and doc
trine, becomes a power in the community, and draws

* Jeremiah xxvi. 2. t Hebrews xi. 27. \ John xii. 25.

142

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

to himself the confidence and affection of his people.
The sycophant is despised even by those on whom he
fawns, but he who speaks to men in the assurance
that God is with him, will secure both their attention
and respect, even when he is telling them unpalatable
truths. John the Baptist was popular just because
he was pungent ; and the most attractive preachers of
our own days are those who are most courageous in
their antagonism to existing evils.
But even if that were not the case, it would still be
our duty to keep back from our hearers nothing that
will be profitable unto them ; to seek their good,
rather than their good opinion ; and to set clearly be
fore them the solemn responsibilities of life. This is
demanded of us alike by loyalty to God, a regard for
the welfare of those who wait upon our ministry, and
a consideration of the account which we ourselves
must. give. To each of us God says as He did to Eze
kiel, " O, son of man, I have set thee a watchman
unto the house of thy people ; therefore, thou shalt
hear -the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O, wicked man, thou
shalt surely die ; if thou dost not speak to warn the
wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thine hand."*
When we remember that, and have besides the con
sciousness that he is near us who has said,-)- " Lo I am
with you always, even unto the end of the world,"
the fear of man will be banished by the desire to

* Ezekiel xxxiii. 7-8. t Matthew xxviii. 20.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON, i^
serve God, and there will be that about us which will
make our hearers feel that it is with God, rather than
with us, that they have specially to do. " The Lord
God of Israel, before whom I stand," said Elijah when
he confronted Ahab, and in these words we have the
open secret of his dauntless demeanor. Let us stand
consciously in the presence of the living God when
we are in the pulpit, and every other feeling and fear
will be overmastered in the determination to be faith
ful to Him in the service of our people.
The minister's bearing should be in keeping with
the words of Paul, " I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth ; "* and when he feels in that
way, he will be ready to preach it anywhere, whether
in the centres of intellectual culture and fashionable
refinement, or- in the haunts of wickedness, where
Satan has his seat. When we begin to apologize for
the truth, or in any way to lower the flag of Him
whose messengers we are before the arrogance of the
world, our influence is on the wane. But with courage
in our hearts, the battle is half won, even before we
enter the lists ; and when men see our boldness, they
will " take knowledge of us that we have been with
Jesus, f " Our bodily presence may be " weak " and
our "speech contemptible," but our boldness, if it be
seen to spring from our conviction that God is with
us, will be itself a sermon, and will make men say
regarding us, as was said of an humble Scottish pas-

* Romans i. 16. t Acts iv. 13.
(547) 10

144 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
tor, " That man preaches as if the Lord Jesus Christ
was at his elbow." So preached the first apostles,
and so must we if we are to have repeated among us
the blessings of Pentecost or the successes of the early
Church. But as another element of effectiveness in the
preacher, I name tenderness. It may be thought by
some that this is thoroughly incompatible with
courage, but- in reality it is only its complement.
Without tenderness the courage would stiffen into
harshness. Without courage the tenderness would
degenerate into tepid sentimentalism. In the union
of the two, we get the highest excellence of both ;
the tenderness shading the courage into loving faith
fulness ; and the courage giving principle to the
tenderness, so that its manifestation is in harmony
with rectitude. How admirably these qualities were
blended in Paul ! We think of him usually, indeed,
as the stern reprover, the dauntless hero, the uncom
promising^ champion of truth, but there were in his
soul' great fountains of tenderness, which ever and
anon overflowed in tears. Thus he tells the Thessa-
lonians that he was " gentle among them " as " a nurse
cherishing her children ; "* and when he was con
strained in his letter to the Philippians f to testify
against some who were " the enemies of the cross of
Christ," he did so, " even weeping." So also among
the Ephesians,:): "by the space of three years he

* i Thess. ii. 7. t Phil. iii. 18. } Acts xx. 31.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. 145
ceased not to warn every one night and day with
tears." Now there is no doubt that in this gentleness
lay much of his power.
And he was, in this respect, only the follower of
the Lord Jesus himself. How tenderly He dealt with
the Pharisaic Nicodemus, as well as with the woman
at the well ! How lovingly He received the publicans
and sinners when they came unto Him! How like a
mother with her children He was in His training of
His disciples, teaching them as they were willing to
be taught, dealing with them often in the way of
indirectness, and having ever as the background even
of His reproofs, His love, shading and softening its
severity; yet, singularly enough, making it thereby
only the more effective. Truly, by " His gentleness "
He made them " great." And, if we would educate
our people into lives of holiness, we must imbibe
His spirit.
Many men are all courage, and many are all tender
ness. But few combine them in one and the same
address, yet that is what is most needed in our pul
pits in these days. We want the amalgamation of
the two, for the tenderest things are then most apt to
stir up to practical reformation when they are uttered
by one whose courage has not flinched from the
proclamation of God's law; and the sternest things
are then the strongest, when the tear-drop quivers in
the eye of him who utters them. When, therefore, we
are in the tender mood, we ought to give good heed
that we manifest courage ; and when we are dealing
in the terror of the Lord, then is the time to culti
vate peculiar tenderness.

I46 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
But how shall we acquire this gentleness ? There
is but one answer, by remembering what we were
ourselves, and how God dealt with us. Very sugges
tive here, to us all, is the case of John Newton — great,
strong man that he was, but with a heart as
tender as his intellect was vigorous* Jay tells the
following story of an interview with him : " When I
one day called upon him, he said, ' I am glad to see
you, for I have just received a letter from Bath, and
you may know something of the writer,' mentioning
his name. I told him I did, and that he had been for
years a hearer of mine, but he was a most awful
character, and almost in all evil. ' But,' said he, ' he
writes now like a penitent.' I said, ' He may be such,
but if he be, I shall never despair of the conversion
of any one again.' ' Oh ! ' said he, ' I never did since
God saved me.' And the same authority informs us
that on the wall of his study at Olney, just over his
desk, he had in very large letters these words, " Re
member that thou wast a bondman in the land of
Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed, thee." Who
can doubt that in the spirit which prompted him to
put these words there, we have the secret of his
power in dealing with hardened sinners? and the
source whence flowed those Cardiphonia which have
so refreshed every reader of his works. When Jesus
healed the leper, He touched him, and thereby He did
as much good to the poor man's soul as to his body ;
" for here " might the outcast sufferer have said, " is
* Autobiography and Reminiscences of the Rev. William Jay,
pp. 275-277.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. \^j
one, and He the purest of them all, who is not ashamed
to come into contact with me." So if we would
benefit men we must come into heart contact with
them. But how is that to be accomplished? Let
our common speech instruct us. We say of a tender
utterance, that it is " touching." So, by the hand of
gentleness, we touch the soul of the hearer, and if we
be ourselves in sympathy with Jesus, having our other
hand of faith in His, there will be healing in the touch.
"Virtue will go out of us," and in the strength of
that, the sinner will be encouraged to seek his Saviour.
But no make-believe gentleness will produce such
effects. To be thus operative our tenderness must be
true. The falsetto of the melodrama has no efficacy
in the pulpit. The tear that drops upon our Bible
must be sincere ; * and so again we come back to
those elements of earnestness on which already I have
so fully insisted, for only when we are intensely con
vinced of the truth of what we say, and have a vivid
realization of the circumstances of our hearers, can
we be really compassionate.
"And Jesus saw a great multitude, and was moved
with compassion toward them. " f How often, as I
have entered my pulpit, have these words come rush
ing into my heart ; and if I have been in any degree
successful in comforting the sorrowful or directing the
perplexed, or strengthening the tempted, it has been
because I have tried to take for my motto as a

* See Cowper's Eulogy of Whitefield in his poem on Hope.
t Matt. xiv. 14.

!48 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
preacher the words of my Master, " I will not send
them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." *
The nearer you keep to Him, and the more closely
you study the necessities of your people, the more
easy will it be for you to be gentle toward them.
Never forget that they are always needing help ; and
remember always, that you are the servant of Him
of whom it was said, " A bruised reed shall he not
break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench."
Then tenderness will come to you as the habit of
your Christian life, and will give its soft and search
ing undertone to all your words.
But I have said nothing in all this regarding the
manner of delivery; and I have not touched upon
the vexed question of the use of the manuscript.
Nor is there any necessity that I should go at any
length into the consideration of such matters. Given
burning earnestness, unflinching courage, and sympa
thetic tenderness in the preacher, and those other
things may" be very safely left to take care of them
selves. He who is characterized by these three quali
ties, will very soon come to the discovery of what is
best for him, and will ultimately concentrate his ener
gies on the doing of that effectively. One man here,
cannot lay down the law for another ; neither ought
one man to cavil at or condemn the practice of an
other. jThe preacher who rivets the attention of the
hearer, and moves his heart, and leads him for the

* Matt. xv. 32.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. 149
moment to forget everything but the truth which is
set before him, has thereby vindicated his own excel
lence, no matter what plan he has adopted. That a
manuscript must necessarily impair the power of a
speaker, cannot be successfully maintained in the face
of such cases as those of Edwards and Chalmers.
That free speech must always promote efficiency in
the pulpit, will not be assented to by those who are
condemned to listen from time to time to men who
are more remarkable for fluency than for force. A
discourse may be delivered with as little animation
or fervor as if it had been read with the most
slavish closeness ; and another may be read with as
much freedom and fire as if it had been delivered.
Abstractly, of course, there can be no doubt that
free speech is the normal method for the pulpit. Yet,
a question like this is not to be settled on mere ab
stract principles ; and the very fact that different ways
have been adopted by different men, all of whom were
first-rate preachers, is a proof that no one mode can
be declared to be the only best. Some, having writ
ten their discourse fully, commit it to memory, and
deliver it verbatim. ' This plan has been supposed by
many to involve tremendous drudgery ; and I sup
pose that they who so speak regarding it, would find
it to be a dreadful task. But, having myself prac
ticed it for the first ten years of my ministry, I can
attest that it did not in any degree hamper me. " The
memory," as Jay has said, " is like a friend, and loves
to be trusted," so that the labor of an hour and a

!50 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
half came with me to be sufficient for the mastery
of a discourse that was newly-written ; and I own
to a feeling of regret that I ever gave up the practice.
Still, I found that the more carefully I had prepared a
sermon, it was the more difficult to commit it to
memory ; and as it was just then that I wished to
give it with verbal accuracy, I was led to put the
manuscript before me, and use it as occasion required.
After I had done that a few times, I discovered that
I had lost my facility in remembering, and so, ever since,
having no aptitude whatever for extempore speech, I
have endeavored to train myself to use a manuscript
with effect. If I might speak from my own expe
rience, therefore, I would say, that memoriter preach
ing is the method which has the greatest advantages,
with the fewest disadvantages ; extempore preach
ing is the method in the employment of which suc
cess is hardest, and failure commonest ; and preaching
from a manuscript is the method in which, if he choose
to train himself in it, the man of average ability will
make, on the whole, the best of his talents, and make
the fewest failures. There are not above half a score
of men in a century who can rise to the foremost
places for usefulness and eminence through extem
pore speech. If you be one of these, there will be in
you that irrepressibility which is the mark of genius,
and which will force itself out at length against every
obstacle. If you be riot one of these, then, with all
respect to those who I know differ from me on this
subject, I do not hesitate to say, that it will be ten

THE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. 151
times better for you, and a thousand times better for
your hearers, that you should educate yourself into
the free and unfettered use of a full manuscript.
Observe what I have said, " educate yourself into
the free and unfettered use of a full manuscript.'* I
do not mean that you should keep your face close to
the desk, and never lift your eyes from the page
unless it be to look right up into the ventilator that
is overhead ; but that you should preach from your
manuscript. Write in a fair, round, legible hand ;
marking the beginnings of your sentences, and the
different stages of your argument in such a way that
your eye may easily catch them. Spend a couple of
hours with your manuscript before you enter the pul-
, pit, seeking to catch the spirit of your theme and to
kindle under the enthusiasm of your words. Do not
disdain to attend to such little matters as the folding
up of the corner of each page, so that you may turn
it over without hindrance. And above all, remember
whose messenger you are, and what you design to
attain through the special message which you mean
to deliver. Rise to your work from your knees, and
then your manuscript will be no more a hindrance to
you than its wings are to the bird, or its sails are to
the ship. It will help you to rise ; it will give energy
to your movement ; it will give calmness to your soul
even in your most impassioned moments, and before
you have gone on many minutes, your hearers will
forget alike the manuscript and yourself in their
solemn appreciation of the truth you speak.
Make your choice of the method which suits you

152

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

best, seek to do your best in that method, and do
both out of regard to Jesus and the souls of men. It
is not the manuscript that either makes or mars
efficiency, it is the man behind it. If he be cold, the
absence of the paper will not make him warm ; but
if he be on fire, the paper, as in the case of Chalmers,
may only make the blaze the stronger.

LECTURE VII.
EXPOSITORY PREACHING.

LECTURE VII.
EXPOSITORY PREACHING.
TJY expository preaching, I mean that method of
•*-' pulpit discourse which consists in the consecu
tive interpretation, and practical enforcement, of a
book of the sacred canon. It differs, thus, from top
ical preaching, which may be described as the selec
tion of a clause, or verse, or section of the inspired
Word, from which some one principle is evolved and.
kept continuously before the hearer's mind, as the
speaker traces its manifold applications to present
circumstances, and to human life; from doctrinal
preaching, which prosecutes a system of Biblical in
duction in regard to some great truth, such as justifi
cation, regeneration, the atonement, or the like, gath
ering together all the portions of holy writ that bear
upon it, and deducing from them' some formulated
inference ; from hortatory preaching, which sets itself
to the enforcement of some neglected duty, or the
exposure of some prevalent iniquity ; and from bio
graphical preaching, which, taking some Scripture
character for its theme, gives an analysis of the moral
nature of the man, like that which Bishop Butler has
made in his wonderful discourse on Balaam, and
points from it lessons of warning or example.

156 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
But, though thus distinct from each other, these
several methods of pulpit discourse are not inconsis
tent with each other. Into every sermon exposition
must, in some degree, enter. It must, indeed, form
the foundation on which every discourse must be
reared, if, at least, it is to be a sermon proper, and
not a mere essay, or lecture, such as one may hear at
an ordinary Lyceum. Moreover, into the regularly
maintained expository series, all these other elements
of topical, doctrinal, hortatory, and biographic inter
est will come, if only the preacher will intelligently
follow the course of argument or narrative taken by
the inspired writer whose work he is seeking to inter
pret. Practically, therefore, the differentia of the
method of preaching of which I am now to treat, is
its continuous and consecutive character, giving, as
it does, a connected view either of a history or a
treatise. Now, on the very threshold of our plea, let it be
distinctly understood, that I do not advocate this
mode of discourse to the disparagement or neglect of
all others. *He who desires to be an efficient minis
ter will endeavor in his public teachings to combine
them all. My own practice has been, for many years,
to give up one of the services of each Lord's day to
the systematic exposition of some book of Scripture,
leaving the other free for the presentation of such
subjects as may be suggested to me by the occur
rences of the times, or the circumstances of my'people.
This division I have felt to be not only very con
venient, but also extremely serviceable. You will

EXPO SI 7 OR Y PRE A CHING. \ 5 7
remember, therefore, that in my after-remarks I do
not desire to exalt expository preaching above all
other varieties of pulpit discourse, far less to urge
it upon ministers and students to the neglect of
every other method. But, as it seems to me that
this mode has fallen somewhat into reproach and
disuetude among us, I wish to speak a few earnest
words in favor of. its revival and more general adop
tion. Exposition is the presentation to the people, in an
intelligible and forcible manner, of the meaning of the
sacred writer which has been first settled by the
preacher for himself, by the use of those grammatical
and historical instruments with which his preparatory
training has furnished him. It is not the mere dilu
tion of the statements of the sacred writer by the
repetition of his thought in language necessarily less
forcible than his own, for that would make it only a
weak and watery paraphrase of the original. Neither
is it the learned and exhaustive enumeration of all
the interpretations which commentators, ancient and
modern, have given of it. Still less is it the utterance
of a few pious platitudes in the way of inference from
it. But it is the giving of a simple statement, of the
writer's meaning, with the grounds on which the
explanation rests, and the lessons which it suggests
whether for " doctrine, reproof, correction, or in
struction, in righteousness." It is the honest answer
which the preacher gives, after faithful study, to these
questions, " What is the mind of the Holy Spirit in
this passage ? and what is its bearing on related

158 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Christian truths, or on the life and conversation of
the Christian himself? " If it be an argument that is
before him, he will analyze it from, its premises to its
conclusion, noting the different steps in the process,
marking the illustrations with which it is accompanied,
and pointing out its pertinency to the primary pur
pose of the writer, as well as emphasizing its perma
nent importance in the department of doctrine or of
duty. If it be a narrative, he will, by the help of the
historical imagination, seek to give it vividness by
reproducing the times and circumstances to which it
belongs ; then going beneath the surface, he will en
deavor to discover those principles of the divine ad
ministration which it illustrates, and so he will find
in the inspired record of the past the explanation of
the present ; and in some degree also the prophecy
of the future. If it be a parable, he will try to obtain
the key to its interpretation, in the purpose for which
it was spoken, or in the occasion out of which it
sprung, and then he will give unity to his exposition,
by making everything in it subservient to that, guard
ing on the*- one hand against the spiritualization of
every minute particular, and on the -other against the
merging of everything into a vague and dreamy gene
rality. If it be a prophecy, he will seize the central
position of the seer, and group every detail around
that, remembering evermore that " the testimony of
Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." In a word, he will
study thoroughly those inspired expositions of por
tions of the Old Testament which are given in the.
Epistles to the Galatians and ' Hebrews, and those

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. j 5 g
infallible models of parabolic interpretation which the
Great Teacher Himself has furnished, and he will
endeavor to apply the principles on which these are
constructed to all similar portions of the Word of
God. In dealing with historical subjects, special attention
should be given to the vivifying of the record by the
reproduction of the surroundings. People are apt to
forget that the Bible heroes were men of like passions
with themselves; and we should endeavor to give
humanness to them in all our descriptions. The
visitor to the Ceramic gallery in the South Kensing
ton Museum, reads on the etchings of each window
the history of the formation of the articles in the sec
tion beneath it. He gazes with interest on the
Chinese productions, and as he looks up he sees upon
the window a representation of Chinese potters at
their toil. He admires the singular ware made by
Palissy, and as he raises his eyes he sees on the win
dow the image of the persevering Huguenot, feeding
his furnace with the broken furniture of his cottage,
against the protest of his pleading wife. Now, what
that luminous framework is to each case in that inter
esting exhibition, a vivid reproduction of the scenes
and circumstances of sacred history is to the charac
ters of the men that moved in them, and to the truths
which were proclaimed in connection with them. It
is the appropriate setting to the precious stone. It
hangs the picture in a frame that is itself luminous
and instructive. And treated thus with vigorous im
agination and practical purpose, the Bible becomes
(547) 11

j6o THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
the most living, the most interesting, and the most
stimulating of books.
To do all this well, however, it is evident that great
labor will be needed, while the attempt will furnish
occasion for the employment of some of the noblest
of our intellectual powers. It requires a lively im-
Aagihation ; a calm, unbiased judgment ; a correct
scholarship, and a true homiletic instinct, to lay every
thing under tribute for purposes of instruction and
edification. Added to these, a large acquaintance
with modern literature will enable the preacher to
give interest to his discourses by pointing out the
parallels which secular history presents to that re
corded in the Book of God, or by furnishing him with
striking illustrations drawn from science or art, from
nature or from the works of man.
The method to be pursued in expounding a book
of Scripture will vary with the nature of the book
itself, &r with the purpose of the expositor. In gene
ral, however, it will be well for him before entering
upon such; a work to read the book through, if pos
sible, in the original language. Then, he will endeavor
to divide it into its different sections, mapping out
his course thus from the first. Then, as each of these
portions falls to be considered, he will study it care
fully, seeking to find some principle of unity in it,
around which he may crystallize his different proposi
tions. Then, with this, his own method in his mind,
and having first satisfied himself as to the meaning of
the section, he will read all that his library contains
upon the subject (and for the purpose of reference, if

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. r Q i
he be wise, he will construct an index to his library,
entering upon an interleaved Bible a citation of the
name and page of every book opposite the verse or
chapter of which it treats). Then, having thus sat
urated his mind with the subject, and seen what
others have said upon it, he will leave it all to simmer
and settle for some days, and, at length, sitting dowif
with his whole soul concentrated upon the work, he
will produce a discourse which, by the blessing of
God, will be at once interesting and instructive, stimu
lating and suggestive to his hearers. Thus from week
to week he will go forward, his spirit kindling into in
creasing enthusiasm as he proceeds, so that he will
forget the labor in the joy. His people, also, catch
ing fire from him, will long for the return of the Lord's
day, that they may renew their study with him, and
will deeply regret when by sickness, or absence from
home, they are deprived of one of the series. I have
seen a slimly attended second service gather back
into itself all the half-day hearers that had absented
themselves from it, and draw in others besides, through
the adoption by the minister of just such a method as
this ; while the effect, even upon those who have
dropped casually in upon a single discourse, has been
to send them away with what one of themselves
called " a new appetite for the Word of God."
I am thus brought naturally to the consideration
of the advantages which are connected with this
method of ministerial instruction, and among these I
mention, First, the fact that it brings both preacher

1 62 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
and hearers into direct and immediate contact with
the mind of the Spirit. The open Bible on the sacred
desk is the token that both speaker and auditors re
gard it as the ultimate standard of appeal. In the
pulpit the minister is not, ordinarily speaking, dealing
with those who repudiate the authority of the Word
of God. The very presence of his people in the
sanctuary may be taken by him as an admission that
" they are all present before God, to hear what is
commanded them of God." There may be excep
tional occasions when he feels bound to deal with
sceptical objectors, but, as a general rule, the pulpit
is not the place for that. As a brother once said to
me, "When I am in the pulpit, I am not there to
defend the Bible ; the Bible is there to defend me."
The great aim of the preacher ought to be to set
before the people the mind of God. Now, in so far
as he is successful, that is precisely what the expositor
does. In the topical sermon, there may be many of
his own particular opinions, which are matters of
" private interpretation," or of " doubtful disputa
tion." But when he has succeeded in convincing his
hearers that he has given the true meaning of the
passage which he is expounding, he can say, " This is
the mind of Christ," and the force of that both on
him and them will be overwhelming. When he so
speaks, he will speak " with authority and not as the
scribes," and men will feel that they have been
brought face to face with God.
Now, it is in the production of this impression that
the peculiar power of the pulpit consists. Other men

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. j 63
have genius, and can produce wonderful results by
the flashes of its erratic lightening. Other men have
stores of information on which they can draw at will,
and with which they can enrich their utterances.
Other men have force of logic and power of invective,
by which they can bear down all opposition. But, so
long as the preacher is wielding these alone, he has
not risen to his distinctive office, and is not clothing
himself with his own peculiar power. That which
gives him the might over men which every true
preacher ought to wield, is that he can show that he
has the Word of God behind him. Unless he can im
press that upon his hearers, he is no more to them
than the political orator or the literary essayist. Unless
he can make men feel that it is not so much with
himself, as with God, that they have to do, the most
superb mental endowments will not enable him to
secure the great end for which his office has been in
stituted ; but if he has been successful in conveying
that impression he has proved his fitness for his work,
even if he have no grace of oratory or charm of
diction. " By manifestation of the truth to commend
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of
God "¦ — that is our work as ministers of the Gospel ;
and if through the neglect of the exposition of the
Word of God, or through the deceitful handling of
that Word, we fail to use the power which is distinc
tively our own, we shall be like Samson shorn of his
locks, and may, by and by, descend so low as to make
sport for the Philistines of our generation. Hence,
as the special engine of the preacher's influence, I

164 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
advocate most earnestly the systematic exposition of
the sacred Scriptures.
A second advantage of this method is, that it se
cures variety in the ministrations of the preacher.
Every man has his own peculiar idiosyncracies, and,
yielding to these, he will be attracted more strongly
and more frequently to some subjects than to others.
Unless, therefore, the preacher pursue some regular
course of exposition, he will be in danger of confining
himself to a few favorite themes, and ringing the
changes upon them, until his hearers become weary
both of him and of them. But if he follow the
course of some book, or trace out consecutively the
chapters of some sacred biography, he will discover
the same old truths, with ever fresh surroundings, and
will secure that variety in unity, which is the charm
of God's book of revelation as much as of His book
of nature.
It is the same Mont Blanc which the traveller sees
from the bridge of Sallanches, from the summit of the
Col-de-Balme, and from the sweet seclusion of the
Valley of Chamouny. But each of these points of
view brings new features into prominence, which have
a special fascination of their own. So it is the same
truth of justification that we look on in the Epistles
to the Romans and Galatians, and in the general
Epistle of James ; but in each we have some feature
that we have not in the others ; and as we contem
plate that, we have an interest which the others failed
to awaken in us. Some time ago, in visiting an
English colliery, I was shown, in the office, a beauti-

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. \ 65
ful scale of the different strata through which they
had sunk the shaft some 300 fathoms deep. It was
very interesting, and gave me a good idea enough of
the geology of the place ; but when, a few days after,
walking out with my friend, we came on a peculiar-
looking, up-jutting rock, I learned something about
the nature of the underlying treasures which the
table in the counting-house had failed to teach. Now,
that perfectly illustrates the difference between sys
tematic theology and Biblical exposition. In the
former, you have everything arranged by the scale ;
in the latter, you come upon truths in situ, and there
is much of interest in the discovery, and of instruction
in the surroundings.
He who preaches merely on the general topic of
regeneration, must treat it in a more or less stereo
typed fashion ; but let him, in the course of his exposi
tions, come upon such a passage as that in the begin
ning of Peter's first epistle : " Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according-
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead ;" or such an one as that in the first
chapter of the Epistle of James : " Of his own will
begat he us by the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures," and he will,
as a conscientious interpreter, be compelled to look
at related topics in such a way as to give new interest
to the great central subject. Is it impertinent in me,
brethren, to suggest that the neglect of exposition
may have something to do with the brief average

1 66 , THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
duration of pastorates among us, concerning which so
many regrets are expressed? The merely topical
preacher will very soon wear himself out, because he
is drawing simply on his own resources all through.
But the expositor has the Word of God before him,
and his life-time will not exhaust that. As he follows
the discourses of Jesus, or the reasonings of the Apos
tles, or the devotional meditations of the Psalmist,
the infinite variety of these utterances will keep him
from running into ruts of thought, or expression, or
topic, and he will be like the well-instructed scribe of
whom the Master speaks, " Bringing out of his treas
ure-house things new and old." I have heard a ven
erable minister tell that Dr. John Dick, the well-
known professor of theology in Scotland, went, in the
early days of his ministry, to a neighboring clergy
man in the deepest distress, saying to him, " What
shall I do ? I have preached all I know to the peo
ple, and have nothing else to give them. I have gone
through the catechism, and what have I more ? " To
which his friend replied, " The catechism ! Take the
Bible, man. * It will take you a long while to exhaust
that." For variety and suggestiveness, for fullness
and inexhaustibility, there is no book like the Bible.
Make it, therefore, your constant theme, until the
people call you as they did Luther, Doctor Biblicus,
for that is the most worthy degree a minister can
earn. A third advantage of this method is that in follow
ing it out the preacher will be compelled to treat
many subjects from which otherwise he might have

EXPOSITOR Y PREA CHING. \ 67
shrunk, but which ought to be dealt with by him, if
he would not "shun to declare all the counsel of
God." Every pastor knows that there are almost
always some members of his congregation who speci
ally need to be enlightened on some points of duty,
or of danger. But if he were to select a subject purely
for them, his object would be defeated, because they
would be apt to suspect him of deliberate intention
to strike them, and would resent that which they felt
to be a preaching at them, rather than to them. Now,
in following a regular course of exposition, opportu
nities are continually furnished to us for the presenta
tion of timely truths, while no one can say that we
have gone out of our way for the special purpose of
reaching his conscience.
Besides, there are whole classes of topics which
would be completely ignored by us if we were to be
guided only by our own tastes and feelings in the
choice of subjects. One man would dwell exclusively
on doctrinal matters to the neglect of the practical.
Another, catching the modern infection, would sneer
at doctrine, and present subjects without connecting
them in any remotest manner with the cross of Christ.
One would deal constantly with the love of God, as
if there were no other text in the Bible than the
glorious declaration that " God is love." Another
would be forever dwelling on the justice of God's
government, as if there were no fatherly heart in Him
who rules the world. One would descant unweariedly
on the sovereignty of God, and be forever preaching
on the subjects of election and fore-ordination, forget-

1 68 THE MINISTRY OF THE . WORD.
ting the gracious invitations which are addressed to
all. Another, in his eagerness to press home these
invitations, might ignore the agency of the Holy
Ghost, and so do dishonor to the Comforter. And
thus, in spite of themselves, perhaps, indeed, uncon
sciously to themselves, each would give a defective
presentation of truth.
Half-truths are always the most insidious forms of
error, and it is to be feared that many of the half-
truths which are so popular in these days, have had
their origin in the neglect of a thorough and system
atic expository treatment of the Word of God as a
whole. By following the plan which I am advocat
ing, however, we would, in course of time, go round
the whole globe of revealed truth, and learn to preach
each doctrine in its own proportion, or, as Paul has
phrased it, " To prophesy according to the propor
tion of the faith." *
So, again, we should be led to distribute our atten
tion fairly between the different books of the Bible
itself. A venerable minister used to say that there
were always sounding in his ears the cries of neglected
texts of Scripture, saying to him, " Won't you show
how important we are ? " So, I often think, I hear
the complaints of neglected books of the Word of
God. You would be astonished at the result, if only
for twelve months you were to keep a register of the
texts that are preached from in any one of our sanc
tuaries. How limited is the area within which we

* Romans xii. 6.

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. \ 69
confine ourselves in the selection of subjects ! Some
are constantly in the Old Testament ; others appear
to think that the Jewish Scriptures are of no use to
us. Many are passionate in their devotion to the
psalms ; and some see no beauty in them that they
should be desired. The Gospels are the special fav
orites of some, and the Epistles are too frequently
ignored by all. Now it is not safe to neglect even
those books of Scripture which seem to be the driest
and least interesting. We should not forget that it
was from the apparently uninviting pages of the book
of Deuteronomy that our Lord Jesus drew those
weapons with which He foiled the adversary in
the wilderness ; and if we will only enter upon the
work with a devout heart, and an earnest spirit, we
may find the richest interest and the rarest profit, in
some, at first — shall I say repulsive? — portion of the
Word of God.
Thus, take the history of Nehemiah. Most people
would be inclined to pass it by. They would extend
to the book, as a whole, the criticism pronounced by
a Scotch woman upon the tenth chapter of it under
the following circumstances. Her husband was read
ing that portion of Scripture at family worship, and
as, in the failing light of the Summer evening, he had
some difficulty in making out the proper names which
it contained, he said, " Jenny, woman, bring a can
dle ! " " 'Deed, no ! " was the answer ; " the loss
would be more than the profit, with that chapter, ony
way ! " But I can testify from personal experience,
that one of the most interesting and profitable series

170 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
of discourses which I have ever preached, was found
ed on that book. Sometimes the soil which is most
rugged on the surface, covers the richest veins of ore ;
and, not unfrequently, the most beautiful flowers are
seen growing out of the crevices of the rock. Thus
it is with many of the neglected books of the Bible,
for if we will only dig beneath the surface of them we
shall discover many mines of wealth, and by going
through them all, we shall make ourselves " thorough
ly furnished unto all good works."
Then it must not be forgotten that in expounding
thus, we make our hearers sharers with us in our
privileges. So, as a fourth advantage of this method, I name
the fact that it will promote Biblical intelligence
among our people. Those who have not investigated
the matter will be surprised to find how limited an
acquaintance many church-goers have with the sacred
Scriptures. They may be acute in business, and well
" up" in all matters of politics, while yet they have
never carefully perused many portions of the Word
of God. There are whole books of the Bible which
to many worshipers in our pews are as much an un
explored territory as is the interior of the continent
of Africa. Ask them to find the prophecy of Zepha-
niah, and see what work they will make of their
search ! They know the Gospels tolerably well, but
they do not care very much for the Epistles ; they
may have read many of the Psalms again and again,
but they have little acquaintance with, or relish for, the
historical or prophetical books of the Old Testament.

EXPOSITORY PREACHING.

171

When, some eight or nine years ago, Mr. John Bright,
with that happy talent for giving appropriate names
by which he is distinguished, spoke of Mr. Robert
Lowe and his friends, who rebelled against the Re
form Bill of the liberal leader, as having gone into a
cave of Adullam, two country members of the British
House of Commons were overheard conversing thus,
as they were leaving the Chamber of Parliament : " I
say, where did Bright get that .illustration of his to
night about the cave ? " " Oh," was the reply, " I see
what you're up to ; do you suppose I haven't read
the Arabian Nights'?" And yet these men were
tolerably fair senators, according as senators go. I
am persuaded that most of us overrate the Biblical
knowledge of our hearers, and that it would be of im
mense consequence to them, as well as to ourselves,
if we should give ourselves to the consecutive exposi
tion of the Scriptures. Even if the Bible were noth
ing more than a valuable human production, its ear
nest study would tend to develop mental vigor and
moral strength. But when we take its divine inspira
tion and beneficent purpose into consideration, it
becomes infinitely more important that we should
concentrate our attention more thoroughly upon it.
Men in the parlor, in the closet, and in the counting-
room, are overlaying the Word of God beneath the
mountain of new books that are forever issuing from
the press ; therefore, in the pulpit, we ministers should
more and more exalt it, and seek to increase at once
the acquaintance of our hearers with it, and their
reverence for it. Truth is the nutriment of the soul,

T72 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
and Bible-truth is the stamina of the spiritual life. It
gives strength and stability to Christian character, and
he who is familiar with it is not easily moved from
the path of duty, or lightly "tossed" by every wind
of doctrine. The great defection of the Ritualistic
party in the Church of England was preceded by a
depreciation of the pulpit. The preacher forgot that
his mission was to instruct, and so substituted a few
minutes of vapid sentiment for an earnest effort to
expound the Scriptures. Biblical intelligence is ab
solutely essential to doctrinal steadfastness and Chris
tian stability. It is as true now as when the Psalmist
wrote, that he who medidates in God's law day and
night, shall be " like a tree planted by the rivers of
water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his
leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper."*
As a final advantage of this method, I men
tion the fact, that in the process of preparing his
expository discourses, the preacher will acquire a
great store of materials which he can use for other
purposes, and, in particular, will have constantly
suggested to him fresh subjects for topical sermons.
Max Miiller has entitled his essays, " Chips from a
German Workshop," indicating that the materials of
which they are composed were struck off in the elab
oration by him of his more systematic works ; and
the readers of the "Greyson Letters" are conscious
that they consist of the fragments that remained after
* Psalm i. 3.

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING.

173

the composition by its author of " The Eclipse of
Faith." Now, much in the same way the Biblical
expositor is obliged, week after week, to put aside a
great many valuable and suggestive thoughts for
which he can find no appropriate place in his regular
lectures, but which he can use either in the illustra
tion of other discourses or in the construction of
topical sermons. " Reading," as Lord Bacon says,
" maketh a full man ;" and the continuous study of
the holy Scriptures, and of the works of others on
them, cannot but fill the mind with ample stores from
which the minister will be always drawing with ad
vantage both to himself and to his hearers.
In the preparation of the ordinary sermon, he is
working out of a treasury which he has already ac
quired ; in the study of his expositions, he is con
stantly laying up new stores. Every week he gathers
far more than he can give in any one discourse ; but
that which he is compelled, for the time, to reject,
remains with him as a constant possession, and in due
season is brought forth to enrich the minds of his
people and influence their lives.
In this way, too, he will be saved from that most
horrible of all drudgeries, the "hunting for a text ;"
for he will have always at hand a host of subjects
which have been suggested to him, and when he
chooses one, he will take it, not from a sense of con
straint because he must preach upon something, but
with a feeling of satisfaction, because he has some
thing which he must preach upon. For many years,
. in my own ministry, I have never known a time when

174

THE MINISTRY OF' THE WORD.

I had not in my mind a large number of subjects,
each of which was, as it were, eager to receive my
first attention, but which I was compelled to detain,
that it might wait its turn ; and so the question has
been, not What can I get to preach on? but rather
Which one of many topics has the most pressing
claims and the most immediate interest ? Now, I
trace the existence of this state of things to my con
stant habit of expository preaching on at least one
part of every Lord's day.
But an example will be to students and ministers
worth far more than any mere general statement here,
so perhaps I may be allowed to give one chapter from
my recent experience. It is my duty to prepare
notes to the " International Lessons " for one of our
religious papers, and in the course for the three open
ing months of last year, I had occasion to go into the
histories of Joshua and the Judges. These books are
not generally accounted the most suggestive for
homiletic purposes. Yet, after having done what I
could to help the Sunday-school teachers, there re
mained on my own hands the following sheaf of valu
able texts, some of which I have already preached on,
and others are waiting only for a favorable opportu
nity. From the lesson on the crossing of the Jordan
I got the phrase, " Ye have not passed this way here
tofore," suggesting the topic how to meet unknown
difficulties ; from that on the sin of Achan I got the
evil influence of one man's sin on others, founded on
the words, " That man perished not alone in his ini
quity"; from that on the division of the land I got

EXPOSITORY PREACHING.

175,

the expostulation, " How long are ye slack to go to
possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers
hath given you ? " which may be used either as en
forcing efforts after the attainment of personal holi
ness or as stirring up to home missionary zeal ; from
that on the Promise broken I got the words, " They
followed other gods of the gods of the people that
were round about them," which may be employed as
the starting-point of a discourse on conformity to the
prevailing fashion of the world ; from the story of
Gideon I got the phrase, " Faint, yet pursuing ;" and
from the history of Samson I obtained the clause,
" Samson wist not that the Lord had departed from
him," which, taken in connection with the parallel
statement regarding Moses, that " he wist not that
the skin of his face did shine," suggested as a subject
" the element of unconsciousness in character." Other
expositors I know would have been drawn to other
topics; but no man whose business it is to preach,
could go over these chapters earnestly and prayer
fully without having some fruitful themes suggested
to him ; and thus, far from being inconsistent with top
ical preaching, the habit of exposition will give new in
terest to that also, and will enable the minister to
present old truths with constant freshness and variety.
Hence, apart from the advantages which the people
derive from it, I could not afford to give up my habit
of " lecturing," as we Scotchmen call it, because of its
influence on my own mind and heart.
But, in reply to all my arguments, it will be said,
[547) 12

176 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
" Expository preaching is not popular. The people
do not like it, and they will not stand it." Now, in
answer to this, I have to say "that the minister has to
consult the benefit of his hearers as well as their
tastes ; and where the two conflict, he has to prefer
that which will promote the former rather than that
which will please the latter. If he is fully persuaded
that they need such instruction as Biblical exposition
regularly prosecuted can alone impart, then he ought
to give himself to it, even at the risk of creating some
little dissatisfaction at first ; for he may rely upon it,
that if he do his work faithfully and well, they will
grow interested in spite of themselves, and will come
at length to enjoy it. Of course, if he is ambitious
of acquiring a reputation for " great sermons " and
wishes to hear many complimentary expressions about
the beauty and brilliancy of his " effort," then he
will leave off exposition, and indeed, in that case, he
had better leave off preaching altogether, for the pul
pit is not the place for such displays. But if he wish
to honor God's truth, and if his desire be to hear his
people tell him that they have never before so thor
oughly understood some portion of Scripture, or that
his explanation of a passage has taken a stumbling-
block out of their way or put a staff of strength into
their hands, he will go on with his expository work,
content ; oh, much more than content ! rejoicing in
the fact that he has been in any smallest degree the
instrument of building up the Christian character of
the people of his charge.
But why is this sort of preaching not popular ? Is

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. T jy
it not because those who have attempted it have
done so too often without any adequate idea of its
importance, and have gone on with it in the most
slovenly and perfunctory fashion ? They have been
content to "say away" on the 'passage, or, to use an
expressive Scotch word, they have "perlikewed"
awhile, going about it and about it, until everybody
hearing them has been longing for the amen. They
have taken to exposition because they thought it was
an easier thing to do than to write sermons, and they
have simply diluted the sayings of the sacred writer
by the watery additions of their extempore, not to
say ex-trumpery, utterances. They have had recourse
to it with the feelings of him who said, " I like to
take a whole chapter for a text, because when I am
persecuted in one verse, I can flee to another."
Now of course that is fatal. Such preaching does not
deserve to be popular, and it -is a proof of the good
sense of our people that it is not popular. Let no
man who wishes to succeed in exposition imagine
that he can do so without great labor. No mere cur
sory perusal of the passage before he goes to the pul
pit will suffice. No hasty study of it will be enough.
He needs to enter into the spirit of the writer, to re
call the times and circumstances in which he wrote,
and to live and move and have his being for the week
in the argument or narrative, the prophecy or parable,
the psalm or supplication, which he ;s considering. He
must follow the old canon of Bengel : "Apply thy
whole self to the text, and apply the whole text to
thyself." Thus will he discover the " hidden treas-

178 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
ures" in the field of sacred Scripture, and when he
speaks of them to his hearers, his words will have in
them that unmistakable ring — that " accent of con
viction," as Mullois calls it — which will make every one
feel that he is in living earnest.
One thing, however, he must guard against. He
must not turn the pulpit into the chair of the exe-
getical professor, and spend a long time in hunting
down some poor Greek particle, or digging up some
obscure Hebrew root. Processes are for the study ;
results are for the pulpit. Our people do not want
to know what every German, English, or American
commentator has thought. When one asks what time
it is, it would be a mockery of his request if you
should begin to tell him all the details of the mechan
ism of a watch, or if you should go into an exhaustive
dissertation on the relative merits of Trinity church
clock, or Bennet's, or the clock at the railway depot.
You look at your own watch and tell him what its
fingers point to, and that is all.
So let ifrbe here. Do not make your expositor)'
lecture a place of deposit for barrowfuls of other men's
opinions, gathered from all quarters, but tell your
hearers what you have concluded for yourselves, with
the grounds on which your opinion rests, and then pass
on and press the practical application of the principle
which you have found in the passage to the consciences
of your people and the circumstances of your times.
That this kind of preaching will be both profitable
and popular has been clearly proved, both from the

EXPOSITOR Y PRE A CHING. j 79
past history of the pulpit* and from the success of
many living preachers. Let the young minister,
therefore, take courage and labor on at it. Above
all, let him remember here, as in all other things,
his dependence on the Ploly Spirit, and prayerfully
seeking that in the closet, while. he diligently does his
best in the study let him go forward in the con
fidence that he will succeed, for God hath said, " Them
that honor me, I will honor."
Not all at once will the success come. But it will
come as the result of these three things : prayer, per
severance, and patience. Keep on, therefore, with
resolute courage, for " all things are possible to him
that believeth."

* For illustrations, I might point to Dr. John Dick's Lectures
on the Acts of the Apostles ; Dr. John Brown's volumes on the
Discourses and Sayings of the Lord ; the volumes by Dr. Hanna
on The Life of Christ ; those of Trench and Arnot on the Para
bles ; the various works of Dr. Cox, now editor of the Expositor ;
and for separate passages, "An Expositor's Note-Book," by the
author last named. The volume of Robertson on the Corin
thians and those of Vaughan on the Philippians and the book of
Revelation are exceedingly valuable, while in another style
Peddie's Jonah and Raleigh's Jonah are admirable.

LECTURE VIII.
ON THE USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN PREACHING.

LECTURE VIII.
ON THE USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN PREACHING.
TN its widest sense, illustration includes everything
-*- which is employed for the purpose of making an
argument intelligible, attractive, or convincing. In
recent times, however, it has been virtually restricted
to such rhetorical figures as the metaphor, the simile,
the allegory, and the parable. When, therefore, I
speak of the use of illustrations in preaching, it will
be understood that I employ the term in its narrower
and more modern application as equivalent to simili
tudes. Now, in the outset, it is important to say that illus
trations ought not to form the staple of a sermon.
There must be something to be illustrated. In former
days, preachers were exceedingly sparing in their use
of comparisons ; but under the influence of the ex
ample of such men as Guthrie, Beecher, and others, a
great reaction has set in, and the danger now is that
discourses shall consist of illustrations, and nothing
else. But the beauty of a simile lies in its pertinence
to the point which you design to brighten by its light.
Without that, it has no business in your discourse.
When illustrations will help to make your argument
more simple, they are to be used with discretion ; but

1 84 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
when they are employed purely for the sake of the
stories of which they consist, and to hide the poverty
of the thuoght, they are a snare to the preacher and
an offence to the hearer.
Much of the Sunday-school oratory of these days
is vitiated by this false rhetoric, and there are many
among us who would agree with the German lady
from whose diary Mr. Spurgeon has quoted the fol
lowing sentences : " There is a mission station here,
and young men come down to preach to us. I do
not wish to find fault with these young gentlemen,
but they tell us a great many very pretty little stories,
and I do not think there is much else in what they
say. Also, I have heard some of their little stories
before ; therefore, they do not so much interest me
as they would do if they would tell us some good
doctrine out of the Scriptures." * Be sure that you
have the good doctrine in full prominence, then let
the light of your illustrations fall on that and you
will be safe. Repeatedly, however, have I heard in
cidents introduced into discourses which, though
interesting enough in themselves, had no bearing,
either immediate or remote, on the subject which the
preacher was professing to discuss. They simply
filled up time, and by diverting the attention from
the topic which ought to have been uppermost, they
did more harm than good. Remember, therefore,
that as it is essential to a good style that one should

* " Lectures to my Students," by C. H. Spurgeon. English
Edition, p. 147.

USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS, IN PREACHING. 1%$
have something to say, and should say that well ; so
it is no less essential to the proper use of illustration
that one should have something to illustrate, and
should use his simile in such a manner as to illustrate
that well. We may paint a picture, but we must
never do that for the sake of the picture. That must
always be subordinated to the truth which the analogy
is meant to illuminate.
This principle was once emphasized to me in a
very suggestive way. Spending a few days, some
years ago, in the quiet little English town of Lutter
worth, where I was refreshing my spirit with the
memories of Wycliffe, I went into the shop of a
cabinet-maker, where I saw a magnificent book-case
which had just been finished for one of the gentry of
the neighborhood. I was at once attracted by it, and
began to examine it minutely. Then I ventured
rashly to criticize it, and even suggested something
which I thought would be an improvement. But the
intelligent workman said, " I could not do that, sir, for
it would be contrary to one great rule in art." " What
rule?" I asked. "This rule," replied he, " that we
must never construct ornament, but only ornament
construction." It was quaintly spoken, but it was to
me a word in season. I saw in a moment that this
principle held as truly in the architecture of a sermon
as in that of a cathedral — in the construction of a
discourse as in that of a book-case ; and often since,
when I have caught myself making ornament for its
own sake, I have destroyed what I had written, and
I have done so simply from the recollection of that

1 86 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
artisan's reproof. There is a whole " philosophy of
rhetoric " in his words. Whenever, therefore, you
are tempted to let illustration become the principal
thing, or to forget the great object of your discourse,
in your effort to work in the drapery of some beauti
ful image, let this good rule come back upon you
with its wholesome counsel. See that you have con
struction to ornament before you allow ornament to
make its appearance.
But, presuming that you have in your discourse a
body of substantial thought, or that it consists mainly
of a closely-linked argumentative chain, what is the
use of illustration ?
To this question several answers, all equally true
and equally important, may be given.
In the first place, it helps to make your thought
clear. This, indeed, must be suggested by the very
etymology of the term. An illustration must mean
that which throws light in upon something else. It
is to a thought, or an assertion, or an argument, what
a window is to a room, letting the brilliancy of the
sunlight in upon it, and making every portion of it
luminous. It uses that which is known and acknowl
edged to be true in such a way as to lead the hearer's
mind to the acceptance of something else of which
he has heretofore been in doubt. It employs the
imagination for the assistance of the judgment. Nay,
frequently it brings the material to the aid of the
spiritual, and by the clear analysis of the visible it
helps the soul to see that which is invisible. For ex
ample, if one should have a difficulty in assenting to

USE OF ILL USTRA TIONS IN PRE A CHING. r 87
the words of James, " For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty
of all ; " * we might help him to its acceptance by a
simple statement and illustration, thus : The principle
that we are bound to obey God, by whom it was en
joined, is that which underlies the law as a whole ;
hence, he who violates one precept of it does thereby
abjure that authority by which they are all alike en
forced. Thus the commandments of the law are like
a necklace of pearls from which one cannot be torn
away without breaking the string on which all the
others are threaded with it, and letting them fall
ignominiously to the ground. In this Way material
things are used as a diagram for the demonstration
of spiritual, and they who apprehend the point of the
analogy have no longer any hesitation about the
statement. But there is more than an illuminating power in a
good illustration. It has a force of proof as well.
As one has very well put it, " Wherever similes rest
on the unity between God's world and man's nature,
they are arguments as well as illustrations." \ This
was clearly seen and readily acknowledged, even by
such a philosopher as Sir William Hamilton, who
vindicated his liking for the illustrative preaching of
Dr. Guthrie in these words, "He has the best of all
logic ; there is but one step between his premise and

* James ii. 10.
t Dr. John Ker's Reminiscences of Dr. Thomas Guthrie in
Autobiography and Memoir of Guthrie. Vol. II. p. 359.

1 88 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
his conclusion." * Even our ordinary speech may in
struct us here, for there is an intimate connection
between the " like " and the " likely." The similitude
is in and of itself a ground of probability; and in
modern science many most important discoveries
have been suggested by analogy. The poetic insight
of the physical philosopher leads him to the percep
tion of hidden analogies through which he rises to
the apprehension of new truth. And the same genius
in the preacher leads him to see the correspondencies
which God has made between the material and the
spiritual departments of His universe, and to use these
for the attainment of the great ends of his calling.
The world of nature came from the hand of Him who
made the soul of man ; and the administration of
Providence is carried on by Him who gave to us the
revelation of His will through the sacred Scriptures.
We may expect, therefore, to find a principle of unity
running through them all. Milton was giving utter
ance to a correct philosophy, as well as true poetry,
when he said, *' What if earth
Be but the shadow of heaven, and things therein
Each to the other like, more than on earth is thought."
This is the principle that gives the Saviour's parables
all their power. They are something more than
felicitous illustrations. They are outward symbols
of inward realities, and the laws that obtain in the

* Dr. McCosh's Reminiscences of Guthrie. Autobiography
ut sup Vol. I., p. 322.

USE OF ILL USTRA TIONS IN PREA CHING. 1 89
one were felt by his hearers to be operative in the
other. Whether He drew His analogies from human
life or from external nature, He so employed them as
to make them effective for demonstration as well as
for elucidation. They proved as well as illumined
the truth. As Trench has said, " Their power lay in
the harmony unconsciously felt by all men, and which
all deeper minds have delighted to trace, between the
natural and spiritual worlds, so that analogies from
the first are felt to be something more than illustra
tions, happily, but yet arbitrarily, chosen. They are
arguments, and may be alleged as witnesses; the
world of nature being throughout a witness for the
world of spirit proceeding from the same hand, grow
ing out of the same root, and being constituted for
that very end." *
We may not claim the same force of argument for
every analogy which we discover ; but in so far as the
analogy is true, the illustration which we employ has
such an influence, and even when it may fall short of
establishing a probability in favor of that which we
are seeking to prove, it is invaluable, as Bishop Butler
has clearly shown, in answering objections. Fre
quently a striking analogy will do more to convince
the wavering, and to establish the weak in faith, than
a whole volume of philosophic argument ; and so

* " Notes on the Parables of our Lord." By Archbishop
Trench, pp. 12, 13. The whole section from which these
sentences are taken is pre-eminently worthy of the young preach
er's study.

I90 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
even as a means of persuasion, the study of the art
of illustration is as important as is that of logic.
But, leaving the rationale of illustration, I pass on
to observe that the employment of similitudes is of
great service in awakening and sustaining the interest
of an audience. Here, again, etymology vindicates
our position. Just as the " like " leads to the " likely,"
so it is that for which we have a " liking." Every one
is delighted with a vivid and effective illustration. It
is to a sermon what the picture is to the school-book
of the little child. The lesson is made agreeable by
means of the drawing. The thing may be over-done,
indeed, and the art may be something of the clumsi
est, but still the little student will read to find out
what the picture means. And in the same way the
hearer will listen to learn what you are going to make
of your analogy. While you are dealing with the
story, he is all attention, and it will be your own fault
if, before his interest flags, you have not insinuated
your lesson, or pointed your application. Look at
the parables of the great Teacher, and you will dis
cover how, while yet in the absorption of their atten
tion, His auditors had left the gates into the citadel
of " Mansoul " unguarded, He entered before they
were aware, and made His application in such a way
as thrilled them through. Often He made them
judge themselves, and, sometimes, when they had
pronounced sentence on the character and conduct
which He had depicted, He turned upon them as
Nathan did on David, saying to each of them, " Thou
art the man."

USE OF ILLUSTRA TIONS IN PREACHING.

I9I

This is an incidental advantage from the use of il
lustration which is often of great importance. Many
of our hearers come to the place of assembly preju
diced against the truth, and by the wise employment
of some beautiful or touching analogy, we may so dis
arm them for the moment, that before they have time
to resume their antagonism, we may, by the help of
God's Spirit, secure an entrance for the truth into
their minds. They become interested in spite of
themselves ; and when their attitude is most intense,
then is our time to strike. If Nathan had gone to
David with a direct denunciation of his iniquity, the
monarch might have been tempted to drive him from
his presence. But the parable fascinated him, and
then the prophet could speak to him as strongly as
he pleased.
Moreover, the impressions which are thus produced
are never forgotten. You may find difficulty in re
calling an intricate argument ; but you will be sure to
remember that which was fastened to an illustration.
Hence, if you wish your discourses to be memorable,
you will seek to have them aptly illustrated. When
Guthrie began his ministry at Arbirlot, he instituted
a Bible-class, which met every Lord's day immediately
after the service, and one part of its exercises was the
going over, catechetically, of the discourse which he
had just delivered. At first he was surprised to find
that his pupils remembered so little. But, perceiving
that they always easily recalled an illustration, and
the truth which it was meant to illuminate, he was
led to give special attention to that source of pulpit
(517) . 13

192

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

efficiency, and so he began that course which culmi
nated in his after greatness. Now, we may profit
much by this experience. We may not all become
Guthries, indeed. It is not desirable, either, that we
should. But we shall each become more admirably
furnished for the glorious work to which we have con
secrated ourselves ; and our words will be both
winged and weighted ; flying far, yet fixing them
selves permanently where they fall. But we need not
deal in amplification here ; the whole truth upon this
matter has been condensed for us by one who was
himself a master in the art, into these sentences,
whfch at once explain and exemplify its advantages :
" The chief and common object of a parable is by the
story to win attention and maintain it ; to give plain
ness and point, and, therefore, power to the truth.
By awakening and gratifying the imagination, the
truth finds its way more readily to the heart and
makes a deeper impression on the memory. The
story, like a float, keeps it from sinking; like a nail,
fastens i| in the mind ; like the feathers of an arrow
makes it strike, and like the barb makes it stick." *
But, you ask, how are we to get illustrations ? And
in answer to that inquiry, I begin by saying that if
I may speak from my own experience, there is no
faculty which is more susceptible of development by
culture than that of discovering analogies. When I

* " The Parables, Read in the Light of the Present Day." By
Thomas Guthrie, D.D., p. 9.

USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN PREACHING.

193

commenced my ministry, it was a rare thing with me
to use an illustration. My style then was particularly
argumentative, and my aim was to convince and
satisfy the understanding, and then to make my ap
peal warmly to the heart. But shortly after my re
moval from my Scotch parsonage to Liverpool, Guth
rie's Gospel in Ezekiel was published, and this was
followed a few months later by Mr. Beecher's Lile
Thoughts. These two books opened my eyes to see
what was lying all around me. Under the inspiration
which they communicated to me, I began to look for
spiritual analogies in everything. The books I read ;
the places I visited ; the incidents that passed under
my observation ; the discoveries of science with which
I became acquainted — all were scanned by me for the
purpose of finding in them, if possible, something
that might be used in pulpit illustration. And so it
came that when I sat down to my desk, appropriate
analogies would rise to my pen, and the difficulty was
not how to get illustrations, but which to choose out
of the many that offered themselves for my purpose.
It might have been easy to have saved myself all this
trouble, if I had been content to have appropriated
ready-made the analogies employed by those eminent
preachers to whom I have referred, or to have availed
myself of those helps to laziness which have been
published in the shape of Cyclopaedias of Religious
Anecdotes and Illustrations. But not to speak of the
dishonesty of such a proceeding, there would have
been nothing in all that to educate me into the dis
covery of similitudes for myself. So I used these

194 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
books, rather as suggesting to me how I should go to
work for myself, than as store-houses out of which I
might help myself as occasion required.
While, therefore, I recommend you to study very
closely the illustrations of other men, let me urge you,
also, to make your own for yourselves. Even if no
one in your audience should know that your analogy
is not original, there will be in your own soul, while
you are giving it, a feeling of meanness which will
prevent you from using it effectively ; so that when
you do employ the illustration of another, it would
be well always to acknowledge it. But it is a thousand
times better for you to make your own. Look for
them. I might paraphrase here the inscription on
the monument of Sir Christopher Wren, " Si illustra-
tiones qucBris circumspice." You will find them in
the talk of the children of the household ; and some
times, also, as you watch the school-boys in the play
ground. You will find them on the street and in the
store ; on the ship and in the railway car ; in the field
of naturg and on the page of literature ; in history,
biography, science, art ; in a word, everywhere.
Some one has said that " Learning to paint is
learning'to see ; " so I would say, " Learning to illus
trate is learning to see." The preacher who compels
himself for a time to look at everything with the
question in his mind, " What use can I make of this
in commending the truth of God to my fellow-men ?"
will by and by discover that he has been prosecuting
these researches unconsciously. It will become the
habit of his life to carry them on. Every journey

USE OF ILL USTRA TIONS IN PRE A CHING. 195
that he takes he will bring home with him new
treasures. Every visit that he pays to the work-shop
of the mechanic, the studio of the artist, or the labora
tory of the man of science, will give him new spoils.
Nay, after the faculty has been fairly cultivated, it .
will lay hold of his past accumulations and make them
fertile in the freshest analogies. The stories he heard
in his boyhood ; the scenes and circumstances of his
youth ; the characters he met with in his native town,
as well as the old brown-backed books which long
ago he read ere yet he had left his father's house ; all
will be laid under tribute, and will be found rich in
materials for this valuable purpose.
As the poet, under Wordsworth's tuition, finds
poetry everywhere, so the preacher, under the in
spiration of the Lord himself, will find illustrations
anywhere. Dr. John Ker, in his pleasant reminis
cences of Guthrie at his Highland home in Vacation-
time,* tells- us that he saw in the landscape of Inch-
grundle the originals of many of his most striking
similes ; and many a harvest of the same sort has Mr.
Beecher reaped from the fields of his Peekskill farm.
Nay, He whom we all alike call Master and Lord,
found all nature, and every phasis of human life, sug
gestive of spiritual truths. The hen with her brood
under her wings and the sparrow chirping on the
housetop ; the lily in its snowy loveliness and the
mustard tree in its growth from a tiny seed ; the

* " Guthrie's Autobiography and Memoir,'' ut sup. : Vol. II.,
pp. 348-360.

I96 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
housewife kneading her dough, or sweeping her room
in eager search after the piece of money which she
had lost ; the sower going forth to sow ; and the
vine-dresser with his pruning-hook ; all were intro
duced into His discourses in such a way that each
became thenceforth associated in the minds of His
hearers with some aspect of divine truth. And this
was one of the reasons why, with a Joseph and Nico
demus among His disciples, " the common people,"
also, " heard Him gladly." For here, in their liking
for the illustrative, " the rich and the poor meet to
gether." And both alike will be drawn to the sanctu
ary by the magnetism of its simplicity.
But it is necessary to give a few cautions as to the
use of illustrations. And here, in the first place, let
me say, that you should not attempt to illustrate
that which is already perfectly plain. Do not hold
up a lighted taper under pretence of making the sun
visible. The great luminary can shine for himself;
he does not require your puny rushlight to make his
glory conspicuous. Few things are more ridiculous
than to hear a would-be orator laboriously illustrating
a truth which is almost axiomatic. When you have
such a principle to lay down, state it with eriiphatic
clearness, and pass on. I was once listening to a
preacher who was descanting on the certainty of
death after this fashion : " As sure as to-morrow's sun
will rise, as sure as the tidal wave keeps its appointed
time, and as sure as "—a great many other things,
when a friend who was sitting beside me gave utter-

USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN PREACHING.

I97

ance to these words, which, for me, at least, blew the
preacher's rhetoric into atoms, " Tut ! tut ! what does
he mean? Do not the very boys on the street seal
their bargains with the phrase, ' As sure's death ? '
Can't he say that and press forward ? " What is
already clear can only be dimmed by the attempt to
illustrate it. You cannot handle crystal without
leaving on it the marks of your touch, and they mar
its transparency. Therefore, when you are dealing
with anything which is perfectly plain in itself, leave
it " simplex munditiis," for such truths " when un
adorned " are " adorned the most."
Again, do not use too many illustrations for the
same purpose. The effect of this prodigality will be
to dazzle your hearers, and you will leave them be
wildered, when, perhaps, you think you have suc
ceeded in leading them to a clear apprehension of
your point. In a display of fireworks, the last series
of dissolving showers of variegated sparks puts all
that went before it out of mind, and very soon it, too,
will fade from the spectator's memory, leaving only a
vague impression of something magnificent. So, in a
string of illustrations, one will jostle another out of
the hearer's mind, and he will go away with a wonder
ful idea of the wealth of your resources, but with a
very slight impression of the importance of the truth
which you have been attempting to enforce. Re
member that everything you say is virtually thrown
away by you if it do not bear on the elucidation or
application of that subject to which your discourse is
professedly devoted. You are not to empty out your

Ig8 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
commonplace book before the eyes of your people
that they may marvel at your industry in collecting
so much, but you are to make the truth plain to
them, even if they should never think of you.
I once spent an evening with an enthusiastic micro-
scopist, and I observed that always before he asked
me to look through his instrument, he adjusted a
focal mirror in such a way as to bring a bright point
of light to bear upon the object on the glass, and
then when I looked in I saw the butterfly's wing, or
whatever it might be, not only magnified, but il-.
lumined. Now, one illustration which, like that mir
ror, will focalize the light of analogy upon your theme,
will be worth a score of second-rate similitudes which
merely momentarily flicker before it. One lamp is
worth a million fire-flies.
Still, again, do not employ as illustrations things
which are recondite and obscure, needing first to be
explained themselves. The more simple and familiar
your analogies are the better. You are to use that
with which your people are already acquainted for
the purpose of making clearer to them that which is
obscure. Do not turn the sanctuary into a place for.
the teaching of botany, chemistry, electricity,
astronomy, or some other science, in order that you
may employ the facts of these departments to illus
trate some spiritual truth. Take the great outstand
ing things which are patent to all, and then the effect
will be felt by all ; but if you follow the other plan,
your discourses will drive away the unlettered with
out proving, attractive even to the votaries of science.

USE OF ILL US-TRA TIONS IN PRE A CHING. 1 99
The editor of the Preacher's Lantern tells of a
Scotchman who forsook the ministrations of the
late James Hamilton for those of a preacher of quite
another stamp, and who gave his reasons for the
change in these words : " Eh, sir ! the doctor is jist a
gran' man, but I got tired o' his natural history. ,A
little while ago he took up wi' spiders. I never kent
before that there was a science of spiders ; what he
ca'd arachnology. Well, sir, for a number of Sundays
he was always saying something about thae spiders.
He was a gran' man, but I couldna get on with his
natural history."* The author of " Life in Earn
est " had many other store-houses of illustration than
that of science, and made full proof of his ministry in
the scattering of similitudes of every sort all along
his pathway, but such an incident, even in his career,
may well serve as a caution to meaner men.
You will misunderstand me, however, if you sup
pose that I would debar you from the employment
of any analogy which scientific research may suggest.
On the contrary, some of these are so simple in them
selves, and so striking when wisely applied, that you
would be doing yourselves a great injustice if you
were to refuse their aid. Only study variety in your
employment of them. Do not go always to the same
quarter in search of them. Gather them from every
field. Be not so constantly referring to the ocean,
that men will say that your occupation will be gone
when " there shall be no more sea." Have no specialty

* "The Preacher's Lantern," Vol. II., p. 21.

200 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
in this department, but welcome analogy no matter
from what quarter it may come to you.
Do not be afraid even of one which may have a
dash of humor in it. I would not choose it for the
humor of it, but neither would I reject it on that
account, if it were peculiarly pat. There are some,
indeed, who think it is wrong to utter a word in the
pulpit that might make a smile ripple over an au
dience. And, indeed, if the production of the smile
were the only reason for saying it, I should be dis
posed to agree with them. But if, in spite of the
smile, the illustration will rivet a truth in the mind
of the hearer, then I should not hesitate to employ it.
There is as little that is harmful in the laugh on such
an occasion, as there is that is commendable in the
tear which flows at the telling of a pathetic story.
To try to provoke either, for its own sake, is always
contemptible ; but to use both for the higher purpose
of commending the truth to the conscience, is really
praiseworthy. I think I can see a twinkle in Paul's
eye, as he dictates a reference to the " profitableness "
of OnesimrJs in his letter to Philemon ; and, provided
we consecrate it to Christ, and keep it always in
proper subordination, we may find a place even for
humor in the sphere of illustration.
Farther, when we use a fact in science, or an in
cident in history, or a story from .common life, or a
process in some ordinary occupation, we must be
sure that we have got it accurately. I was one day
trying to illustrate something to my Liverpool people,
who were familiar with everything about shipping,

USE OF ILL USTRA TIONS IN PRE A CITING. 20 1
by the setting sail of a vessel. I used the word
"shrouds" as if it had been synonymous with "sails,"
and when I saw the smile, half-compassionate, and
half-contemptuous, with which my error was received
by my hearers, I mentally resolved that I would
never again venture on anything in the way of illus
tration with which I was not absolutely familiar. The
auditors must be acquainted with everything which
we use for that purpose, that they may feel its force ;
but we must be accurate in its statement, that we
may retain their confidence, for if they see that we
cannot be depended on in their department, they will
place no reliance on us in our own.
Finally, we must be always careful to let the full
force of the illustration go to illuminate the truth
which we are expounding. We must not detain the
attention of the people on the picture, but use it for
the purpose of irradiating the subject which we have
in hand. The foot-lights of the theatre are studiously
veiled from the eyes of the spectators, but they throw
a lustre on the actor's face. Like them, our illustra
tions must not draw attention to themselves, but cast
all their brightness on the truth. Rivet your nail
after you have driven it. Do not allow the applica
tion of your analogy to take care of itself, but see to
it that it leaves the precise impression that you de
signed it to produce.. In your anxiety to do that,
however, beware lest you run your illustration into
the ground by drawing your simile out into the
minutest details. A single phrase, sometimes even two
or three words may do the work more effectively than

202 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
it could be performed in a whole sentence or para
graph. In his famous inaugural address to the stu
dents of the Glasgow University, Brougham, following
in the wake of Longinus, directs attention to the
excellence of Demosthenes in this respect. He re
minds us that when that ancient orator " would com
pare the effects of the Theban treaty in dispelling
dangers that compassed the state round about, to the
swift passing away of a stormy cloud, he satisfied
himself with the words Stairsp vepog — the just theme of
admiration to succeeding ages ; and when he would
paint the sudden approach of overwhelming peril to
beset the state, he does it by a stroke, the picturesque
effect of which has not, perhaps, been enough noted,
likening it to a whirlwind, or a winter torrent, dicmep
oKTjiTTbr- fj ^Eifiappovg." The same authority contrasts
these with the weakening amplifications with which
Burke ' marred the effect of his fine description of
those who suffered from Hyder's devastations, as
" enveloped in a whirlwind of cavalry." The tempta
tion, when one has a good illustration, is to overdo
it ; and so to' overlay that which we are seeking to
make plain.
That was the tendency of Dr. Guthrie, and in this
regard, his friend, William Arnot, is a much safer
model. That which Guthrie would have spread over
an entire page, elaborating every particular with pre-
Raphael-like minuteness, Arnot would have given in
a sentence ; and, while the hearer of the former
would have said, " What a beautiful' illustration ! "
that of the latter would have exclaimed, " How cleat
he made it all by that simple figure! "

USE OF ILL USTRA TIONS IN PREA CHING. 203
In the light-house at Sandy Hook, by a beautiful
combination of the catoptric and dioptric principles,
a reflector behind, and a many-ringed lantern in front,
things are arranged in such a manner that no ray
from the lamps is lost, but all are bent out to the
wide ocean, to bid the mariner welcome to our shores.
So in using our illustrations we should contrive to bring
every part of them to bear on the truth which is before
us. We must not turn them on our own faces ; neither
must we give our hearers the idea that they have been
enjoying an intellectual or oratorical treat, rather than
listening to a sermon. Jesus and His truth must be
always in the midst, and not only in the midst, but
conspicuously there, as the grand themes of our glory
and our joy. Macaulay tells us in his brilliant article
on Southey's " Bunyan," * that James the Second sat
for his portrait to Varelst, the famous flower painter.
When the performance was finished, his Majesty ap
peared in the midst of a bower of sun-flowers and
tulips, which completely drew away attention from
the central figure, so that all who looked at it took it
for a flower piece. Let not the lesson be lost on us.
It is as criminal to hide the Christ beneath gorgeous
illustrations as it is to ignore Him altogether. He
must be supreme. We may, and ought, to cover our
faces before Him ; but we must never put a veil, no
matter how exquisite may be its texture, over His
benignant countenance.

* Macaulay's Critical and Historical Essays. People's edi
tion. Vol. I., p. 133.

LECTURE IX.
THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — READING OF
THE SCRIPTURES.

LECTURE IX.
THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — READING OF
THE SCRIPTURES.
TT may seem strange, at first sight, that in a course
-*- of lectures on preaching any place should be
found for remark on the devotional services of the
sanctuary. But the two things are not generically
different. It is alleged, indeed, by many that we
who have no formal liturgy, exalt the sermon at the
expense of the worship. But they who speak in such
a fashion, forget that preaching and hearing from the
Word of God, when they are engaged in by pastor
and people out of love to Christ, and with a desire to
honor Him, are as really worship as praise and prayer.
Cornelius was as truly rendering homage to Jehovah,
when he said to Peter : " Now, therefore, are we all
here present before God to hear all things that are
commanded thee of God,"* as when he was on his
knees in prayer. And if our modern church-goers
were to reflect that still God prepares preacher and
hearer for meeting each other, and by the providence
of His Spirit, gives the one a message for the other,
there would be in them both a devouter sense of

* Acts x. 33.
(6*7) 14

208 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
reverence toward God in the exercises of delivering
and listening to a sermon.
Not now, indeed, by " visions on the housetop,"
does God fit His servants for speaking to their fellow-
men, but through the discipline and suggestions of
the week ; through family cares or pastoral experi
ences ; through public events or private conflicts, He
leads them to such a choice of subjects and such a
treatment of them, that they have a message specially
adapted to at least some of their hearers. And in
• the same way He has been preparing the hearers for
its reception ; the ploughshare has made the soil ready'
for the taking in of the seed. So every sermon that
is prepared as in the sight of the Lord finds' the Cor
nelius for whom it was designed ; and every Cornelius
who comes into the sanctuary seeking to know what
is commanded him of God, gets the. message for which
he was looking. And what is that, if it be not wor
ship? The preaching is regarded by both as an
ordinance of God, and so the souls of both are seek
ing to serve God through it.
But, to look at the matter in another light, every
one must perceive that the sermon and the service
act and react upon each other. Tne preacher who
begins his discourse after a fervent prayer and an in
spiring hymn, is always more animated and earnest
than he would have been if the devotional exercises
had been languid and formal. And after an impress
ive sermon, even the most careless worshiper must
have been moved by the hush of reverence with
which the people join in prayer, and the enthusiasm

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

20g

of soul and voice with which they sing the closing
hymn. Besides, in our form of worship, the main respon
sibility for the service rests upon the preacher ; and so,
it cannot be out of place to consider the subject here.
It. will not be expected, however, that I should
enter into a disquisition upon the general question
of worship, or seek to compare the advantages and
disadvantages of the different forms which have been
adopted by different churches. I am not here to
speak of the spectacular ritual of the Church of Rome,
or of the liturgical service of the Protestant Epis
copalians ; neither am I required to insist upon the
superiority of our own severely simple form. Each
has its own elements of attractiveness ; and though, on
what we consider Scriptural grounds, we may prefer
our own, we may have something better to do than
to anathematize the others. The essential things in
all worship are that it be spiritual and true ; and if
we condemn some for exalting certain accessories
into indispensable elements of religious service, we
must ourselves beware of insisting on the absence of
these, as if that were absolutely needful to insure
spirituality. Whenever any form or the exclusion of
any form is made imperative, there is a danger of im
perilling the spirit. That which is worshiped, if it be
not God, is an idol, whether it be made merely of
lead, or of the purest gold ; and if we make an idol
of our plain Puritan service, it will be a snare to us,
just as really as his processional pomp may be to the
High-Church Episcopalian.

21 o THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
But the question with which I have now to deal is
this, How shall we conduct that service which is
generally adopted among us, so as to secure that it
shall be most acceptable to God, and most refreshing
and stimulating to us and to the congregation ?
Now, here, it is pertinent to remind you that the
first grand indispensable qualification for the leading
of public devotion is a filial heart. The " true wor
shiper" is he that "worships the Father."* Sonship
will attune the heart to spirituality. It is not with
out great significance, in this regard, that the prayer,
so simple in its terms and so wide in its comprehen
siveness, which Jesus taught His disciples, should
begin with these words, " Our Father." Thus, the
Saviour would bid us pause a moment on the very
threshold of our devotions, that we may set defi
nitely before our minds what God is to us, ere we
go forward to present our petitions. Well has the
good Leighton said here : " This is one great cause
of our wandering, that we do not, at our entrance
into prayer, compose ourselves to due thoughts of
God and to set ourselves in His presence ; this would
do much to ballast our minds, that they tumble not
to and fro, as is' their custom."f Even if He stood in
a less endearing relationship to us, it would still be
proper for us, when we pray unto Him, to put clearly
before our minds what He is to us and what we are
to Him ; but since He has revealed Himself in Christ

* John iv. 23.
t The Works of Archbishop Leighton, Nelson's Edition, p. 452.

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 2IT
as "Our Father," it is of the highest moment, if
our supplications are to be either natural or sincere,
that we realize all that such a declaration implies.
If, for example, we lose consciousness of His Father
hood, and think of Him only as the Judge who shall
render unto every man according to his works, we
shall come to the throne of grace as if it were the
throne of judgment, and fear and trembling will get
hold upon us. If, again, we allow the thought that
He is a King to take exclusive possession of our souls,
our minds will be so occupied about the manner of
our coming to Him that we shall be apt to forget the
matter for which we come ; and our services may be
a pompous ritual, like the ceremonials connected with
the court of an earthly prince, but they will be like
these also, in a large degree, mere empty forms.
I am persuaded, therefore, that much of the life-
lessness and artificialness of our public devotions is
to be traced to the fact, that we have not received
" the spirit of adoption." The spirit of adoption and
the spirit of supplication is one. What liberty is that
which a son enjoys ? How he comes bounding into
our room, no matter how we may be engaged, calcu
lating that we will welcome him, and knowing that
when he has laid hold of our fatherhood, he has laid
hold of our strength ! How little is there of the
artificial or insincere in such an approach as he makes
to us ! But it is not otherwise in our applications to
God. It is easy to be sincere in offering all the peti
tions of the Lord's Prayer, when we have been able
to appropriate the first two words and to call God

212 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
" Our Father,'' and all unnatural and unreal formal
ism will disappear when we enter fully into the enjoy
ment " of the glorious liberty of the children of God."
Then, as regards praise, the came thing holds good.
What joy a daughter has in singing to her father !
There is no thought of weariness or of indifference,
but every effort is put forth to please him. So, if we
but recognize that God is our Father, and that He is
listening to our songs, our hymns will be no longer
vapid and uninteresting, but will become heart-stir
ring and ennobling, and we shall rival David when he
says, " My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed !
I will sing and give praise. Awake, psaltery and
harp, I myself will awake early!"*
Here is the radical cure for dull devotion, power
less prayer, and uninteresting worship. We need no
splendid liturgy or gorgeous ritual. We need only a
fresh baptism with " the spirit of adoption ;" we need
only the hearts of sons glowing with love for our God
and Father in Christ Jesus, and then, filial happiness
filling our souls, " hosannas " will no longer " lan
guish on our tongues," nor prayer come faltering
feebly from our lips. The first song of " the morn
ing stars " was accompanied with the joyful shout
ing of " the sons of God ;" and when the worshipers
in our modern sanctuaries shall realize their divine
relationship, their praises will be but the undertone
of the angelic harmonies.
But, bearing in mind this important principle, let

* Psalm Ivii. 7, 8.

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 213
us proceed to take up each of the departments of
the public service and see what is needed, in order to
give to each its best expression and to get from each
the fullest benefit.
I begin with the reading of the Word of God. The
day has gone, I trust forever, when the public read
ing of the Scriptures can be regarded as a work of
supererogation, or as a device of a poorly-prepared
preacher for filling out the time allotted for the serv
ices of the sanctuary. They tell in Scotland that
when a worthy minister in Aberdeenshire was remon
strated with by a committee of his parishioners for
making this exercise a prominent part of public wor
ship, he covered his censors' with confusion by turn
ing to the title-page of the Bible, which, as you know,
is printed in Great Britain by royal authority, and
showing them these words, " By His Majesty's special
command appointed to be read in churches ! " But
we have " another King, one Jesus," and when we
learn that " He went into the synagogue on the Sab
bath-day and stood up for to read,"* we have the
highest possible warrant for bringing into the fore
most place in the exercises of the sanctuary the Word
of the living God. It is true, indeed, that the Bible is
widely diffused among'the people, and that, happily,
there is now no longer a " famine of hearing the
words of the Lord,"f like, that which, in the days of
the Reformation in England,' made the people throng
around the learned clerk as he read out of the great

* Luke iv. 16. t Amos viii. 11.

214 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Bible that was chained to the pillar in the crypt of
old St. Paul's. But still it is right that the book
should be publicly read, not only that all may see
that preacher and hearer make it the ultimate stand
ard of appeal, but also that the minds and hearts of
the worshipers may be rightly affected as they draw
near to God. Besides, one is more deeply moved by
what he hears from the lips of another, than by what
he reads in his closet. Few portions of the New
Testament are more familiar than the eighth chapter
of the Romans, and yet, if I may judge from my own
experience, much as I always enjoy the perusal of that
section of Scripture by myself, I have never heard
it read by another without receiving a profounder im
pression of some part of the argument, or obtaining
a fresh glimpse into the meaning of some of its verses.
We ought not, therefore, to regard this part of the
service as of subordinate importance, or to engage in
it in a perfunctory manner. Let us' feel that we are
dealing with the Word of God, and that will produce
within us^such reverence and docility of spirit, that
as we read, the people will be hushed into attentive-
ness, and will listen, not as unto us, but as unto God.
If we go into it as a -mere form, or because it is a
part of what are commonly, "but very erroneously,
called, the introductory services, we shall read auto
matically, having ourselves no intelligent apprehen
sion of the meaning of what we read, and giving no
help or light to those who hear. But, if in our own
sanctified imagination we place ourselves before the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and hear

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

215

Him speaking to ourselves, we shall succeed in inter
preting Him to the people, so that they will listen
and obey. The first canon here, therefore, as in all
else, is that you be yourselves really impressed with
what you read.
A few hints, however, may be added from one's
own experience. Be sure, then, in the first place,
that the passage which you select is adapted -for pub
lic reading. " All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable ;" but it is not all equally
well -fitted for public perusal. Some two or three
years ago, an intimate friend from the other side of
the Atlantic, occupied my pulpit, and read the latter
half of the third chapter of Luke's gospel, which
consists of the genealogy of Joseph, the reputed
father of Jesus, and as he went on with the ever-
recurring phrase, " which was the son of," " which was
the son of," "which was the son of," etc., I saw a
broad grin spreading over the faces of the people,
which indicated that he had made a great mistake.
When he announced his text in the words, " Adam,
which was the son of God," I could see why he had
chosen to read such a passage ; but still the fact that
his theme was taken from the last entry in the table,
was no proper reason for reading the whole of it, and
the amusement of his hearers at the strangeness of
his selection, was a most unfortunate preparation, or
rather it was an actual disturbance of their minds for
the prayer which followed.
Choose your passages for reading from your knowl
edge of the circumstances of your people, as well as

2i6 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
out of regard to the topic which you are about to
submit to their consideration. If is well, as far as
possible, to give unity to the service j yet that must
not be sought at the sacrifice of any important inter-
i est. The didactic ought to yield to the devotional,
rather than the devotional to the didactic ; and if
you cannot find some portion of Scripture which
shows the devotional bearing of the subject which
you are going to treat, then make your selection on
the general principle of securing that which will be
most, appropriate to the greatest number of your
parishioners. Your pastoral visitation, of which I
shall have more to say in another Lecture, will be of
great assistance to you here ; for your knowledge of
the characters and conditions of your people which
you acquire thereby, will enable you to fix upon such
portions of Scripture as will be truly helpful to them,
and to present such petitions as will carry up with
them the burdens of their hearts to God. That which
you select with one case in view will commonly meet
many others, and not seldom a hearer, may take you
by the hand and thank you for throwing a new light
on his path, by directing his attention to a passage
which he had never noted before, but which he now
feels to be unspeakably precious to him.
You will find a rich treasury of such sustaining
sayings in the book of Psalms, and a precious store
house of them in the four gospels, while the expe
rience of the apostles, as unfolded in their epistles,
can scarcely ever^be inappropriate. But your own
private devotional reading will be here your greatest

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 217
helper, for what you have found to be profitable to
your own soul, Will always be serviceable to others,
especially because in your reading of that there will
be such emphasis of emotion unconsciously made, as
shall infallibly arrest the attention of the hearer, and
reveal to him the peculiar shade of thought which
has so affected you.
While, however, in the public reading ,of the Scrip
tures it is well to give particular prominence to the
devotional portions of the Word of God, you must
not overlook the practical or the doctrinal. Religion
is a creed and a life as well as an emotion, and in
order that it should be the last in any real and ra
tional sense, it must also be the former two. This is
probably the reason why in the liturgy of the Episco
pal Church a place has been made for the recitation
of the creed and for the reading of the ten command
ments, as well' as for the use of the litany. Now we
may act upon this same principle while yet we do not
confine ourselves to the use of these forms. Thus at
one time we may' give prominence to the doctrine of
the Incarnation, by using the first portion of the
Gospel by John ; and at another we may set clearly
forth the doctrine of the atonement, by reading the
third chapter of the Romans. Similarly we may place
distinctly before the minds of the hearers the work
of the Holy Ghost in regeneration, by the selection
of the third chapter of John's gospel ; or the blessed
ness of the forgiveness of sins by choosing the 33d
psalm. Again, we may find a place on one day for the read-

2i8 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
ing of the law ; on another for the Sermon on the
Mount ; on another, for some portion from the Epis
tle of James ; and on yet another, for one of the con
cluding chapters of the Epistle to the Romans.
Thus, that which has been done for Episcopalians by
the compilers of the Prayer-Book, in their observance
of the festivals of the Christian year, we may and
ought to do for ourselves. We should not leave our
selection of passages to the mood of the moment, or
the hap-hazard of the morning, but should endeavor
to observe some system in accordance with which we
shall be able to give its proper place to each of the
various departments of " doctrine, reproof, correction,
and instruction in righteousness." For this purpose
all parts of the sacred volume should be laid under
tribute, and you will do well to pay especial attention
to those unfrequented portions of it, in which will be
found some of its most startling utterances, and some
of its most beautiful and consoling sayings. At any
rate, have some plan which you follow, so that at
length your readings shall give a full-orbed presenta
tion of Christian truth.
Then, as to the length of your selections, you must
be guided by circumstances. The division into chap
ters, though very convenient for many purposes, is
not always happily made, and may occasionally be
disregarded. Sometimes it may be well to read more
than one chapter, and sometimes a brief section may
suffice. Only do not let it be too brief. Many pas
tors, as it seems to me, deal with the Scriptures
homeopathically, and give them out in globules and

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

219

triturations. They seem to be afraid to read more
than a very few verses, and judging from their man
ner all through, you would infer that it was a weari
ness to read even so few. They are impatient to be
at their sermon, or they know that they have a some
what longer discourse than usual, and the Bible read
ing must make way for their lucubrations. Now,
that is all wrong. Read such a portion, as that all
who hear you may understand that you regard God's
Word as of prime importance. Why should we not
occasionally take even so large a section as the entire
Sermon on the Mount ? or a whole division of Paul's
argument in the Epistle to the Romans ? Well read,
I can conceive that such passages would have tremen
dous power, while the unity of design running through
them, would certainly have an effect on the under
standing as well as on the hearts of the hearers.
Give your whole attention to that, which you are
reading. Forget your sermon for the time. Dismiss,
meanwhile, from your mind all thought about the
prayer which you are about to offer. Let your whole
soul be concentrated on the portion of God's Word
which you have selected, else your reading will be
lifeless and perfunctory. I have heard a distinguished
clergyman say that frequently his mind was so pre
occupied with the discourse which he was about to
deliver, that his reading of the Scriptures was me
chanical, and when it was over he could not have told
what the chapter was about. Now, it is impossible
that any one should interest his people in the Word
of God, if he reads it publicly in such a fashion as

220 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
that. Remember that it is God's word you are deal
ing with, and that greater results may be expected
from that than from any preaching of yours. The
reading ought not to be subordinate to your sermon,
but your sermon ought to be subordinate to it. In
deed, the end of your preaching will be secured, in a
large measure, when you have stirred up the hearers
to search the Scriptures, whether the things which
you have spoken are confirmed by them or not ; but
if, in your public treatment of the Word of God, you
are listless and mechanical, you cannot hope to inter
est any one in the study of it. The eloquent McAll,
of Manchester, England, is reported to have said : " If
the Lord had appointed two officers in His Church,
the one to preach the Gospel and the other to read
the Scriptures, and had given me the choice of these,
I should have chosen to be a reader of the inspired
Word of God," and with such an opinion, we are not
surprised to learn that he excelled in that exercise ;
nay, it is riot improbable that his deep reverence for
the Bible so manifested, contributed largely to the
power of his discourses.
Endeavor to indicate the meaning of the passage
by your mode of reading it. Good reading is good
interpretation ; and delicate shades of significance
which you have discovered for yourself in the study,
may be revealed by your emphasis even without a
word of explanation. Examples in illustration of
this assertion will readily occur to you. Thus in the
chapter on the resurrection of the dead, in the first
Epistle tp the Corinthians, most people read the

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 22\
words, " For this corruptible must put on incorrup-
tion," as if the word " must " were simply the auxiliary
to the verb " put on ;" but in the original we find that
the phrase literally means, " For it is necessary that
this corruptible should put on incorruption," and so
good reading will make the " must " emphatic ; and
when that is done, it is seen at once that the verse has
an important part in the apostle's argument.
Again, in the first verse of John's gospel, the full
force of the words is lost in the reading which is com
mon, and which puts the emphasis on "was," but
when we enter fully into the meaning of the Evangel
ist and lay the stress on the several predicates in
stead of on the copula, thus—" In the beginning was
the word; and the word was WITH GOD ; and the word
was GOD ;" then the forceof the verse as an assertion
of the Deity of the Word is overwhelming.
So in Paul's injunction to the Romans, " If it be
possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with
all men," the point is lost by emphasizing the "in,"
as is so commonly done, for that makes the second
clause only a reduplication of the first ; but when we
put the stress on "you," and read thus, " If it be pos
sible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men," the hearer is at once reminded that though he
is not responsible for the obstacles to peace existing
in other people, he is accountable for all that are in
himself, and he is exhorted to see to it, that if there
shall be any divisions, the causes of them shall be in
others and not in him.
Again, how often is the sense of the Saviour's

222 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
words about the salt weakened by a false emphasis !
Most people put the " it " into the shade, thus, " If
the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be
salted?" But when the "it" is made emphatic, the
question is immediately suggested, "How shall the
savorless salt be salted ?" and the fearful condition of
a Christless Church is vividly set before the imagina
tion of the hearer.
In the same way, by a delicate intonation, the pride
and sullenness of the elder brother may be thus
brought out, " Lo ! these many years do / serve thee,
neither transgressed / at any time thy commandment,
and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might
make merry with my friends ; but as soon as this thy
son was come, which hath devoured thy living with
harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." And
the sharpness of the arrow aimed by Jesus at the
heart of the woman of Samaria will be felt when we
read His words thus : " Thou hast well said, I have no
husband, for thou hast had five husbands, and he
whom thou now hast is not thy husband ;* in that
saidst thorj truly."
These may seem to you very little things, but, as
Michael Angelo once said, "they contribute to per
fection, and that is not a little thing." Besides, their
apparent minuteness, coupled, with the undoubted
light which attention to them sheds upon the several

* In the original the aov is found, and it is just possible the
emphasis may be on " thy," indicating that the man was some
one else's husband ; but as &v6pa is throughout emphatic, I pre
fer the reading which I have given in the text.

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 223
passages, suggests the inference that great attention
should be given to preparation for the public reading
of the Scriptures. You ought to study the passage
carefully beforehand, if possible, with the\original at
your side, and you should, by the help of every ex-
egetical appliance at your command, make up your
mind as to the meaning which it bears, so that you
may indicate that perfectly to those who hear you.
Do not delude yourself into the belief that it is an
easy thing to read thus. In truth, there are few things
so hard, and it has come to be much harder than
otherwise it might have been, because preachers
generally persist in thinking that it is easy. For my
self, I should be disposed to test a man's pulpit
efficiency by his reading of the Scriptures, fully more
than by any other of the public exercises, for it will
reveal at once whether he is a reverent student of the
Bible ; whether he is a careful exegete ; and whether
he is a man of thoroughness, carrying his principle and
preparation into everything. Because men usually
make this matter of so little account, it is a case for
the application of the Saviour's words, " He that is
faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much ;
and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in
much." When I hear good reading of the Scriptures,
I expect to find that the man is also attentive to all
the details of the ministry, and I am rarely disap
pointed. Do not take it for granted, therefore, that you can
read well enough ; or that you are competent to give
effective utterance to any passage ad aperturam libri.
(647) 15

224 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Extempore preaching may do for some, but extem
pore reading is impossible for anybody. Of course it
is easy to name the words correctly, but that is not
reading. That is only accelerated spelling. Reading
is the presentation through the voice of the thoughts
which the sacred author has put into words : and for
that, study is indispensable. You might as well ex
pect an actor to give a perfect presentation of a char
acter, on his first reading of a play, as imagine that
a preacher can, without previous preparation, give a
proper rendering of any passage in any author, how
much less in a book so many-sided and suggestive as
the Bible. Always prepare yourself for this exercise,
therefore, and at length your reading of the Scriptures
may be as effective in the conversion of sinners, and
the edification of the people of God, as any sermon.
But the question is often asked, Ought the reader
to indulge in running comments ? In answer, we have
to say, that in such a matter, very much will depend
upon th^ qualifications of the minister and on the
character of his congregation. Many men have what
one may call a happy knack of saying suggestive
things, in course of their reading of the Scriptures,
which amounts almost to genius. It is impossible to
listen to the incidental remarks of Mr. Spurgeon or
Dr. Cumming on the morning lesson, without both
admiration and edification. But their eminence in this
particular department has called into existence a host
of imitators, whose success, to say the least, is not en
couraging to others. They aim at saying what is

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 225
striking, and they end in uttering some pompous
platitude, or some ridiculous absurdity. In their
efforts to barb the arrow, they only blunt it ; and under
the guise of explaining the meaning of the sacred
writer, they succeed admirably in taking off the edge
of his words. Unless, therefore, you have a peculiar
aptitude for saying pithy, motto-like things, which con
dense a great deal into a very few words, you had bet
ter let the running commentary, as it is called, alone.
Perhaps, however, you may be settled over a people
who, from their habits or their education, are not able
to command their attention for any length of time
upon a single subject, and in such a case you may find
it profitable to abridge the length of the sermon
proper, and make a few telling remarks on the passage
which you read. To do that well, you must make as
careful preparation for it as for a more formal expo
sition ; studying attentively not only the original
Scriptures, but also everything that the best expositors
at your command have said upon the section. A
good model for such work is furnished in Mr. Spur-
geon's " Treasury of David," which, over and above
its value, from its references to the works of others, is
beyond all price for the illustration which it gives of
the best mode of turning the utterances of David to
practical and devotional account. Peculiarly service
able, also, will be the commentary of Matthew Henry,
especially in those places where he says "Note here " —
for after such an introduction you may look for some
specimen of sanctified wit, or some nugget of heavenly
wisdom.

226 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
But in making such remarks, do not mix them
up indiscriminately with the Word of God. Read
the passage distinctly and intelligently, that it
may stand clearly before the minds of the people
in its own unapproachable sublimity ; but be
ware of interjecting your comments parenthetically in
such a fashion that the hearer, unless he is already
familiar with the chapter, may not at first be able to
distinguish what is yours from what is in the book.
Do not indulge in flippancies, which may destroy that
sense of reverence which ought ever to be felt when
you are handling the Word of God. And if you have
no remark of explanation to offer, or no inference of
a practical sort to draw, say nothing ; for comment
is valuable only, when it illustrates the obscure, or
suggests that which might otherwise have been un-
thought of. God's Word can speak for itself, and
where it is perfectly clear, it will be more forcible »
without your remarks than with them.
Throughout my ministry in Liverpool I followed
the plan of accompanying my reading by an appendix
of comment ; and in that way, in the course of sixteen
years, beginning at Genesis I had gone over the books
of the Old Testament as far as that of Ecclesiastes ;
but though it was the means of increasing my own
familiarity with the Scriptures, and was acknowledged
to be both exceedingly interesting and instructive,
especially to the young, yet as the years advanced, it
grew less attractive to me, and when I began my
labors in New York, I left out this feature of the serv
ice. It broke in upon the unity of the exercises as

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

227

a whole ; it amounted sometimes in itself almost to
a minor sermon ; it tended to protract the morning
services to an undue length, and so, when the oppor
tunity of a new pastorate was afforded me, I deter
mined to dispense with it altogether.
So far as my experience goes, therefore, it is not
decisive on either side. Here as in other things I
would not fetter you with any Medo-Persic laws. Do
not make a comment unless it is absolutely irrepres
sible. But when you have something that you feel
you must say, say it, and go on. Encourage your
people to have Bibles in their own hands that they
may follow you as you proceed. That was perhaps
the greatest advantage which resulted from my Liver
pool practice. The members of the congregation
learned to make the Word of God a subject of study,
and came prepared to note what might be said. We
read in course, and so the morning lesson was in a
great degree like the exercises of a large Bible-class,
and proved interesting alike to old and young.
But in America the Bible is a stranger in the pew.
What the reason for that is, I cannot discover ; yet
the effect is bad. It disposes the preacher to take
short texts which his hearers may remember even with
out looking for them in the book. It discourages
him from presenting a Biblical argument, or making
any large induction of passages for the purpose of
coming to a Scriptural conclusion ; and especially it
puts a great obstacle in the way of expository preach
ing. I would favor anything which would remedy
this great evil. -The Bible must be in the pew, if it is

228 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
to keep its place in the pulpit. Wherever you may
be settled, make an early request that your people
will bring with them their copies of the Word of
God ; then see you to it, that they make good use of
them when they do bring them.
" To the law and to the testimony, if they speak
not according to this word, it is because they have no
light in them." " Seek ye out of the book of the
Lord, and read." " Search the Scriptures." " Give
attendance to reading." These are the commands of
Him who gave the book, and everything which will
stimulate to their obedience is to be welcomed and
encouraged. In a Scottish congregation few sounds are more in
spiring to the preacher than the rustle of the leaves of
hundreds of Bibles, as he bids his hearers turn with
him to a passage which has an important bearing on
his argument, and the corner pressed down, as he
finishes his remarks, indicates that the owner of the,
book means to study it in the leisure of his closet.
When you £an get your people to use the Word of
God in that way, both in the sanctuary and the home,
as the testimony to regulate their faith and the law
to rule their lives, your ministry will be a success.
And, if you be wise, you will endeavor so to shape
your public reading of it, that whether with com
ment, or without, it may, with your discourse, con
tribute to the formation and fostering of such a habit.

LECTURE X.
THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — PRAISE AND
PRAYER.

LECTURE X.
THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — PRAISE AND
PRAYER.
f I iHE subject of public praise is so environed with
-*- controversies, that one cannot reach it without
passing through them. But a few firm steps will
carry us safely over all burning questions, and the
more quickly we take them, we shall be the less in
jured by the flames.
Some insist that we shall confine ourselves in this
exercise to the use of inspired productions; yet, in
the matter of prayer, which is the nearest of kin to
praise, they have no objections to join with a brother
who is employing extempore language ; while in the
metrical versions of the psalms which they sing, there
is very frequently a marring of the original grandeur
of the odes by the imperfections, and even errors of
the rhymer. So, while repudiating merely human
utterances, they are compelled to accept them after all.
Others have conscientious objections to the em
ployment of instrumental music in the leading of
" the service of song in the house of the Lord ; " but
while we must ever respect a conviction which is
maintained from the determination to be true to God,
it does not seem to have struck the friends who hold
this view, that to be consistent, they ought to discard

232

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

the use of the music-book and of set tunes, as well as
that of the organ. In the music-book the notes are
in symbol, and address themselves to the eyes of the
initiated ; by the organ the notes are produced in
sound, and address themselves to the ears of all.
Thus there is no difference in principle between the
two, while, as appealing more powerfully to the
people as a whole, and giving them a greater degree
of assistance, the advantage is unquestionably on the
side of the instrument.
Moreover, in the employment of a precentor, the
friends who have these conscientious scruples are
hiring an organ. No doubt the man may be a good,
godly Christian, but he is not engaged by the church
because of that ; he is employed because he has an
organ, and can play well upon it ; and if his organ
gets out of repair— in other words, if he loses his voice
— he is dispensed with, and another is employed in his
stead. So the logical result of the argument is, that
if it is wrong to use an organ, then neither set tunes
nor a precentor should be tolerated, and each wor
shiper should be encouraged to " make a joyful
noise " at his own sweet will.
It is true, indeed, that the larynx is an instrument
made by God, while the organ is a human contrivance ;
but if it be wrong to employ the latter for the assist
ance of the former in singing a hymn, then it must be
equally wrong to avail one's self of the human con
trivance of spectacles for the help of the divinely-
constructed organ of the eye in reading it. So, if
the question were one of argument alone, it is easy

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 233
to reduce the whole of these objections to absurd
ities. Others still are decidedly opposed to the employ
ment of choirs who shall sing, at stated times, apart
from the congregation. They say that singing is
simply and only the expression of the soul's emotions
unto God, and that it is never to be employed for the
purpose of producing an impression on the heart of
the worshiper. But, in the consciousness of every
one who joins in the exercise of praise, there is un
deniably a very strong reflex effect produced, and if
that be so, it can hardly be doubted that it was a part
of the design of God in encouraging His people to
offer praise, that such an effect should be produced.
When Luther sung " Ein feste burg," he was inspirited
thereby for conflict, and they are the noblest heroes in
the battle of life, who enter on it, and maintain it to
the music of a psalm. Now the reflex influence being
proper enough in itself, may occasionally be made the
- direct object, and it is that which, in theory at least,
churches seek to do through the agency of the choir.
The singing of the Gospel, as in the case of Mr.
Sankey, may be as much blessed to the saving of
men's souls as the preaching of it ; nay, as the saintly
Herbert has said :
" A verse may catch him who a sermon flies,
And turn delight into a sacrifice."
All that is needed is that the members of the choir
should be themselves in sympathy with the message
which they sing, and that they should seek, as relig-

234 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
iously as the minister in the pulpit, to forget them
selves, and give up all effort at display, in the absorb
ing desire to glorify Christ. Given a choir of that
saintly sort, and the singing of its members will be a
joy to the minister and a blessing to the church.
But if the singers be musicians and nothing more — men
and women who are anxious only to let it be heard
how they can perform — then their presence will be an
intrusion in the sanctuary, and their influence will
damp all enthusiasm, and chill every ardent feeling,
alike in the preacher and his people.
In themselves all these matters are of little mo
ment. They become of importance only as they are
pushed unduly into prominence. They are not worth
a quarrel or a controversy. Therefore, when you set
tle as a pastor over any church, do not attempt rashly
to alter any existing order of things in musical mat
ters. Accept the situation and make the very best
of it for the glory of God and the edification of the
people. "Art thou called" to a church without an
organ, " gare not for it ;" but if thou mayest obtain
one, " use it rather." Only remember this, that noth
ing will more interfere with your usefulness or mar
your happiness, than the stirring up of a musical con
troversy. Let well alone. The best all round is very
often lost by attempting to have the absolute best in
any one department. In the organ itself, if every
note be separately tuned up to the scale, discord will
be the effect when one attempts to play upon it, for,
as it is an imperfect instrument, most of the fifths
must be left somewhat flat and the few others made

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 235
somewhat sharp, the octaves alone being put in per
fect unison. So, if we attempt to bring the music
in the church up to that point of perfection which we
think it ought to reach, we shall most likely put the
whole church out of tune. We must make the best
of things as a whole, and be content sometimes with
a little less in one department in order that we may
have harmony in all* Peace in a church is essential
to progress. The dew is not shed forth in storm, but
in the gentle calm of the Summer's eve it distils on
every blade of grass. So the Spirit comes not down
amid controversy and debate, but where brethren are
" dwelling together in unity," there " the Lord com-
mandeth the blessing, even life for evermore." No or
gan that was ever built, no choir that ever sang, is for a
moment to be preferred to those higher matters of
spiritual life, for the fostering of which the Church
of Christ exists. " The life is more than meat, and
the body than raiment." The church is more
than music, and it is the most arrant folly for either
minister or music committee to imperil the welfare of
souls for a mere question of taste. A church in re
gard to all such matters should be like Wordsworth's

* Let me direct attention here to Mrs. Alfred Gatty's very per
tinent little story, entitled " Imperfect Instruments,'' contained
in the fourth series of her beautiful " Parables from Nature." I
am indebted to it for the illustration taken from the organ in the
text, but the story itself is one of the most wholesome and sug
gestive Lectures on Pastoral Theology which I have ever read.

236 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
cloud, " which moveth all together w hen it moves at
all." So if you desire any change, wait till you can
carry the great body of the people along with you,
and meanwhile make the best of what you have.
But now, as to the fostering of congregational praise.
Let me suppose that you are the pastor of a church,
in which, as in the Broadway Tabernacle, the com
promise exists that the members of the choir sing by
themselves a chant and an anthem, while at each service
two hymns are sung by the congregation. Practically
in such a case, you will have little to say in the selec
tion of the anthems, and yet, if you care to keep
yourself en rapport with the leader and the members
of the choir, your influence will be felt, even when
you do not seem to be exerting it. And you ought
to care to keep yourself thus in sympathy with them.
If you regard them as hirelings merely — that will
lead to the manifestation by them of the hireling
spirit. But if you have a frank and generous confer
ence with them on the subject of praise ; if you give
them to understand that you look upon them as your
fellow-laborers, and that you desire to have them al
ways in unison with you ; above all, if you indicate to
them that you wish them to sing for the glory and
in the service of Christ ; then, from my own experi
ence, I am warranted to say, that you may have the
highest happiness in their co-operation, and, even, if
some of them may have been unconverted when they
came to you, the effect of your fellowship on them
may be to lead them to the Lord. If we are to have
choirs at all, then we shall degrade and demoralize

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

237

them by speaking of them as "necessary evils," or
by giving any countenance to the idea that they and
the ministers are " natural enemies." Let it be your
earnest endeavor to gain the confidence and secure
the affection of the members of your choir, and when
you have accomplished that, everything will be easy ;
for then your advice will be sought with deference,
and carried out with thoroughness, when in other cir
cumstances your request would be resisted as dicta
tion. Your power over the choir should be that of in
fluence, rather than authority ; for influence moves
men and women to yield, while authority will dispose
them to resist. • A few drops of oil rightly applied,
will stop the creaking of a wheel which might jangle
the nerves of multitudes ; and other people's de
meanor toward you is the mirror in which your treat
ment of them is reflected back upon yourself.
But now in regard to the choice of your hymns.
Let your selection be restricted within manageable
limits. I have a profound conviction that the great
size of our hymn-books is helping to kill our congre
gational praise. No church is able as a whole multi
tude to sing equally well such a number of tunes as
are needed for the rendering of the thirteen or fifteen
hundred hymns of which our popular collections con
sist. The really good hymns in our language are not
more than three hundred, and the first thing you will
have to do, will be to make your own smaller hymn-
book out of the larger ones now in existence. Mark
the tunes that go well in the great congregation, and
stick to them as closely as possible! If at any time

238 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
you give out one that drags, or is left to be sung by
the choir alone, put a beacon over it, and never give
it out again. Thus in a comparatively short time, you
will by a species of " natural selection " have made
for yourself a hymn-book within the hymn-book;
and without saying a syllable on the subject, you
will have developed a wonderful enthusiasm for con
gregational singing.
Four years ago the singing at the Tabernacle was
anything but congregational. Still I made no public
remark upon it. I waited patiently for nine months,
until a new hymn-book, by the vote of the church, was
introduced. Then I proceeded on the principle which
I have just described ; refusing the most .appropriate
hymn, if it were set to a tune which the people could
not or would not sing, and contenting myself with
one whose sentiment was less pertinent to my theme,
if only the tune was such as evoked enthusiasm, The
result has been, that the Tabernacle singing has been
often remarked on by strangers for its heartiness and
universality, while by the people themselves it is posi
tively delighted in. There is no need here of repeated
exhortation. Nothing is to me more repulsive than
the efforts of a minister to " whip up " the singing, by
continually entreating the people to exert themselves,
or by the impertinent interjection of similar inter
ludes of insistance between the stanzas. The thing
is largely in the pastor's own hand, and in the manner
which I have sketched he may without a word accom
plish all he desires. For the people love to sing ; and
they will always sing when they can ; but when they

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

239

are asked to join in tunes which have an intricate or
disagreeable character, and have " no unison with the
Creator's praise," they prefer to be silent. The less
you speak about it the better, if you will only wisely
provide for its general enjoyment.
Two or three other matters here, minute though
they be, require attention. Read the hymns distinct
ly and appreciatively as you give them out. That
which is worth singing well is worth reading well.
If you are careless or indifferent about the latter, the
people will be so also about the former. Do not name
the hymrf and sit down, as if you were in haste to get
through the entire service. In public worship nothing
should seerii to be huddled up. " He that believeth
shall not make haste." And if you believe that God
is in the midst of the people, you will be reverentially
calm. Many leap over the reading of the lesson and
the announcing of the hymns as if they were riding
a steeple-chase, and eager only to get as soon as possi
ble to the benediction. Take time, and by your read
ing prepare the minds of the people for turning the
poetry into praise.
Then rise with the people and sing with them your
self. Do not give them the idea that you regard the
praise as only furnishing a breathing-time for you ;
but give yourself up to the privilege of the moment,
and let the hymn carry your heart also up with it to
Him to whom it ascends. Let no sexton, or usher, or
deacon, or any one else, presume to come up into the
pulpit with any announcement, or to make any com
munication to you during the praise, any more than
(647)' ' 16

240

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

during the prayer. And if you have a brother with
you in the pulpit, do not indulge in conversation.
with him while the people are singing. Example
here is better than precept, and the sight of your in
terest in the song will lead those who might other
wise have been careless to join in with you. You are
a worshiper as well as each of them, and no stronger
obligation rests on them than on you to take part in
the praise.
Finally remember, that the best praise comes after
a living sermon.
A bishop visiting a new church, was asked by some
one where he would advise that the stove should be
put, and he is reported to have replied : " Tell your
rector to put the stove in the pulpit." So one of the
chief factors in the production of congregational sing
ing is an enthusiastic preacher.
There is nothing so overpowering to me in the
public services of the Sabbath, as the singing of the
last hymn. It gathers up into itself the whole inspi
ration of the occasion, and sends pastor and people
forth with the highest and holiest aspirations. If that
service of praise drags, you may generally conclude
that you have failed in your sermon ; but if it rises
into the fervor of a devout enthusiasm and stimulates
every one to unite in its strain, that is the attestation
that the hearers have been benefited, and the proph
ecy that they will . begin to live out what you have
been- enforcing.
But it is time that we should say something about

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 24 1
public prayer. That is the most difficult as it is the
most important part of the exercises of the sanctu
ary ; and in churches like ours, where no formal liturgy
is used, it does not always receive the attention which
it demands. Every earnest minister will tell you that
the prayer gives the tone to the entire service. It is
the key of the position. It holds in itself the success
or the failure of the day. He who is fervent and be
lieving in his petitions, laying hold of God's strength,
will be mighty also with men ; while the formal
suppliant will be but a feeble preacher.
But more even than the sermon the prayer requires
preparation. It needs the culture of the heart. The
devotion of the pulpit must have its roots back in the
closet. The habit of the life will fill a reservoir from
which the exercises of the sanctuary will be easily
supplied. Great advantage will be derived from the
perusal on the Lord's day morning of some portions
of the psalms, or other devotional sections of the
Word of God. That will attune the spirit into har
mony with the engagements of God's house, and put
it into a devotional frame. Attention may be profit
ably given, also, to the prayers of Paul which are ever
and anon welling up in his epistles ; while the closet
writings of such uninspired authors as Augustine,
A'Kempis, Leighton, Tholuck, and others may be
studied with great profit.
Combined with this preparation of the heart, there
must be a deliberate consideration of the circum
stances and necessities of our fellow-worshipers. On
the morning of the Sabbath throw yourself back on the

242

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

experiences of the week. You have been mingling
with your people. You have seen the backsliding oi
some, and the conflict of others ; the anguish of the
bereaved and the depression of the sick ; the sorrow
of the heavy-laden and the weariness of those who have
" forgotten their resting-place. " You know thus the
secrets of many homes into which you have been wel
comed as an elder brother ; and so the stream of your
devotion will flow through them all, and sweep away
with it every care, and trial, and distress, carrying all
on to the ocean of God's loving-kindness. Thus trust
and peace, and a sense of the most delightful relief,
will come into the hearts of those whose prayers you
are leading, and as they raise their heads they will
exclaim, " It is a good thing to draw near to God."
Furthermore, we must have in ourselves an un
wavering conviction of the profit of prayer. " He that
cometh unto God must believe that He is, and that He
is the rewarder of them who diligently seek Him."
The promises of God must be clearly before our
minds. We must have a sense of security in building
our expectations of an answer on the merits and medi
ation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all through, we
must stir ourselves up to take hold of God.
Now, to attain all these things, we ought to have,
immediately before the public services, a season of
uninterrupted privacy. It is the habit, in many places,
for deacons, or members of committee, or officials of
one sort or another, to crowd into the vestry or study
for the ten minutes preceding the commencement of
the worship, and among them all the mind and the

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

243

heart of the pastor are distracted by requests con
cerning notices or other matters equally trivial. This
is a serious evil. It springs, for the most part, from
the merest thoughtlessness, and a gentle hint lovingly
given will commonly be enough to rectify it. But
rectified it must be, if your prayers are to have that
peacefulness which is born of trust and meditation.
Hedge yourself in, therefore, as far as possible from all
intrusion, before you enter the pulpit. Take time to
look all around your people, to commune with your
own heart, and to ponder what special things you
have to carry with you to the mercy-seat. You will
not go on an errand to a fellow man without pausing
a little to consider what and how you are to speak to
him. But how much more necessary does that pre
meditation become, when you are the spokesman of
your people before the throne of God ? When Peter
wanted to raise Tabitha, he put all the mourners out
of the upper chamber, that he might gather himself
up for the great prayer-effort that was before him.
And. in the same way we should clear our room of all
intruders for some time before the service, that we
may brace ourselves for the great spiritual exertion
that we are so soon to make. For prayer is exertion.
When it is real, it is no child's play. It calls every
faculty of the soul into strenuous operation. " It is the
joint act of the will and the understanding, impelled
by the affections ; "* hence it is an exhausting labor ;
and the more thoroughly we enter into it, the more

* Canon Liddon's " Some Elements of Religion," pp. 174, 175.

244

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

does it wear upon us. Even when he is making no
physical effort that will account for such a result, you
will see the beads of perspiration standing on the
forehead of the earnest minister as he is engaged in
prayer ; and he knows nothing, as yet, of the respon
sibilities of the preacher's office, who has not dis
covered that the most intense, as well as the most
important, of his labors is that of public prayer. Keep
yourself up for it, therefore, and let no petty details
of parish work come in to steal away your attention
and devour your strength. The last ten or fifteen
minutes in the vestry should be sacredly and unre
servedly your own.
So much has been said by others on the different
parts of which public prayer is , composed, that I
shall not enter at all into the consideration of them,
save to remark that, in my judgment, the true place
for adoration is in the opening hymn. The ascrip
tion of honor and glory to God for what He is and
for what He has done, is more fittingly sung than
said. I would relegate all that, therefore, to the
praise, and find expression for it in some prose chant
from the psalms, or some sweet lyric like that of Sir
Robert Grant.* But with that exception, I would
* It begins with this stanza :
" O worship the King
All glorious above ;
O gratefully sing
His power and His love ;
Our shield and Defender,
The ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendor
And girded with praise.''

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 245
seek to find a place for all the parts into which prayer
has been divided, and to give due attention to thanks
giving, confession, petition, and intercession.
In the offering of these several constituent ele
ments of the one sacrifice of prayer, certain general
rules ought to be carefully observed.
In the first place, public prayer should be common,
and not minutely individual. The preacher should
not obtrude his own personal experiences and neces
sities, and ignore the great general wants of the con
gregation as a whole. His prayer should not be a
pious soliloquy which he simply permits his people
to overhear. Neither should it be a highly-wro.ught
rhapsody in which the imagination of the speaker
soars to such a height that the average worshiper
cannot accompany him. He must lead the people to
the throne of grace, and give utterance for them
there to the desires which in them are yearning for
expression. It is not easy always to strike the happy medium
between a generality so vague as to be almost mean
ingless, and a minuteness so particular as to be all
but unintelligible to the majority of our fellow-sup
pliants. But the great outstanding needs of a com
pany of men and women are easily recognizable by
us, and these must not be overlooked in our eager
ness to get out of the beaten track and have origi
nality in prayer. How has the track come to be
so beaten ? Simply because so many have been re
quired to take it, and so, if we leave it, it is possible that
we may be left to walk alone. What is needed in your

246 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
supplications, is not that you should ask things that
nobody else had thought of, but that you should
carry up on your words the cares and troubles, the
burdens and anxieties that are lying heavy and un
spoken on your people's hearts, and leave them with
God. Nor while you do that, need you be afraid that
you are bringing the ordinance into contempt ; for
when we are dealing with God, the simple rises into
the sublime, and there is nothing in all human litera
ture more elevating and ennobling in its character
and influence than that exquisite litany, which in
words of tenderness and unadorned beauty gives
voice to the common wants of the great congrega
tion. Let it be your aim, therefore, so to shape your
utterances that no one in the congregation may have
the feeling that there has been nothing said to which
he can add Amen. The most exquisite things that
human tongue can articulate will be out of place in
your prayers, if they meet nobody's necessity. The
true eloquence of supplication is its appropriateness,
and to have that it must be common. " O Lord,"
said a pious lady after a public prayer, in which the
leader seemed to go round the world, but to forget
the 'purpose for which the worshipers were assembled,
"¦ grant me all that person did not ask." Let us be
warned by such a case against the danger of forget
ting that when in the pulpit we lead the prayers of
others we must merge self in the community, and
unite in asking those things which we all alike require.
In the second place, the prayers of the sanctuary
should be petitionary, and not merely meditative or

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 2\f
hortatory. Meditation is not prayer, though it is
essential as a preparation for it. Pious reflections,
therefore, however much they may be valued by us
in the closet, should be kept out of our public prayers.
The place for them is in the sermon, which now and
then may very profitably take the form of a devo
tional meditation. Prayer is a direct address to God
and any reflex action of the soul as it muses on some
phase of its own experience, or moralizes from it, is
out of place in such an exercise. But if that be true
of meditation, it is still more evidently so of exhorta
tion. Our public prayers ought not to be " oblique
sermons," which are really addressed to the people,
though nominally uttered to God. Our supplications
should ascend perpendicularly ; we pervert them alto
gether when we endeavor to make them effective
horizontally. I say not, indeed, that when prayer is
sincerely offered in the pulpit, it will not have a bene
ficial influence on the heart of the worshiper, for the
contrary is a matter of too common experience to be
denied. But that is an incidental result, and so soon
as the production of that becomes the principal aim
of the minister his supplications cease to be prayers,
and degenerate into very feeble and indirect dis
courses. Do not put a whole system of theology
into your supplications. When a minister whom I
knew in Scotland, had, under the name of prayer, in
dulged for ten or fifteen minutes in a doctrinal disser
tation, making an old sermon serve in place of peti
tion, a venerable Christian matron was overheard to
say as he concluded, " O if he had just asked the

248 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Lord for something ! " That story, told to me in an
early stage of my pastorate, made a deep impression
on my heart, and there are few things now of which
I am more intolerant than a lesson in theology given
in the guise of a prayer.
Be on your guard, also, against insinuating into
your prayers the reproof of some irregularity or im
morality of which some one of your hearers has been
guilty. That is cowardice and irreverence, but it is
not prayer. Remember that when you engage in the
exercise of prayer in the pulpit, you are there not to
ventilate your personal aversions, or to give indirect
expression to your individual grudges and grievances,
but to be the mouth-piece of the desires of the peo
ple unto God. Keep your admonitions for private
dealing with the offender, and let your doctrinal in
structions go into your sermons. The essence of
prayer is asking. The thanksgiving is the acknowl
edgment of answers already received, and the confes
sion is the preparation for the presenting of new peti
tions ; but the unloading of the heart in earnest, be
lieving supplication, is the great thing that you should
seek to accomplish for yourself and for your people
in your public approaches to the throne of grace.
" Ask and ye shall receive." " Ye have not because
ye ask not." Let us only remember these and kin
dred passages when we- rise to lead our people's
prayers, and then our aspirations will shape them
selves into prayers which will be prayers indeed.
But, passing to another particular, I remark that
our public petitions should be real, and not artificial.

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

249

We should ask what we and the people truly desire,
rather than what we think we ought to desire.
There is too much of what might be called manner
ism in the prayers of the sanctuary. Certain expres
sions have come down to us by tradition from the
elders, and it has become the fashion to use. them,
until at length both for him who utters them and the
people whom he is leading all meaning has dropped
out of them. Nay, sometimes a similar effect has
been produced through the formal and habitual
adoption even of the language of the Word of God.
I trust that I shall not be misunderstood here. The
Bible is the great directory in prayer, and there is no
liturgy like that of the Book of Psalms. Still, even
when we employ its words, we must see to it that we
use them intelligently and sincerely, and must not
fall into the snare of letting the form become a form
alism. We can be whole-souled only in that which
is real to us, and to have reality in our petitions, they
must be natural and our own. Hence, it is better to
use Scriptural quotation only when we can pour our
hearts warm and living into its inspired mould ; and
wherever the language of the Bible is figurative or
obscure, we should prefer to put our thought into the
plainest words which we can select for ourselves.
The late Dr. James Hamilton has given, in one of
his review articles, an interesting illustration, which
will make my meaning plain in this connection. He
uses it in regard to hymns, but its primary application
is to prayer. I quote his words. He says : " I can
not tell it accurately, but I have heard of a godly

2qo THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
couple whose child was sick and at the point of death.
It was unusual to pray together, except at the hour
of ' exercise ' ; however, in her distress, the mother
' prevailed on her husband to kneel down at the bed
side and ' offer a word of prayer.' The good man's
prayers were chiefly taken from that best of litur
gies, the Book of Psalms ; and after a long and rever
ential introduction from the 90th psalm and else
where, he proceeded : ' Lord, turn again the captivity
of Zion ; then shall our mouth be filled with, laughter
and our tongue with singing ' ; and as"he was proceed
ing in that strain, the poor, agonized mother inter
rupted him, saying : ' Eh ! man, you're aye drawn
out for thae Jews, but it's our bairn that's deein',' at
the same time clasping her hands and crying, ' Lord,
help us ! oh, give us back our darling, if it be Thy
holy will ; and if he is to be taken, oh, take him to
Thyself,' "* Now, every one must, see how the reality
of that woman's distress brushed away all mannerism
from her prayer, and she told the Lord just what she
wanted. But the same thing holds in public petitions. ¦ We
have too largely overlaid our devotions, alike in the
sanctuary and the closet, with artificialisms which are
none the less injurious because they consist in the
formal repetition of words taken from the Scriptures
of truth. We attempt to ' soar aloft into spiritual
regions on the borrowed wings of David and his
brother psalmists, though at the moment we have no

British and Foreign Evangelical Review for 1865; p. 340.

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

251

community of feeling with them, and the troubles of
our every-day experience are permitted to lie un
spoken on our own and our people's hearts. We
smile as the lawyer talks of his precedents, and we
are apt to say to him : " What of these ? Give us
justice, and if you have not a precedent, make one
for the occasion." We complain of the architect who,
forgetting that we are living in the nineteenth cen
tury, will insist on building churches for us in the
beautiful, yet cold, inconvenient, and dimly-lighted
Gothic of the past, and we say to him : " These were
all well for former days, but give us something suited
to our present requirements." But we are often our
selves guilty of similar anachronisms in our prayers,
and keep using forms of expression, some Scriptural
and some traditional, which have no special appropri
ateness to men's circumstances now, until we provoke
our people to say, as that agonized mother did,
" Use common words that will describe our real
needs." Again, our public prayers should be definite and
direct. If we were going on a deputation to the head
of some department in the State, and were appointed
to represent our companions by making a statement
of the case which we had come to plead, we would
immediately set ourselves to discover how most
pointedly, briefly, and comprehensively we could
make our wishes known to the official. All circum
locution would be avoided ; we would not ask for
anything which we did not want, and we would put
clearly and distinctly forward those things which we

252 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
desired. Now, if we had a right idea of our duty as
leaders of public prayer, we would pursue a similar
plan with our petitions in the sanctuary. Chalmers
said of some one's prayers, that they were " business
like," and he could not have given them higher com
mendation. When Bartimeus called so loudly and
importunately on the Lord to have mercy on him, and
Christ commanded that he should be brought unto
Him, he was met with the question, " What wilt thou
that I should do unto thee ? " But he was at no loss
for a reply. He did not begin a thousand miles away
from the subject that was distressing him, and ask for
a great many things for which he did not care, but he
went to the point at once, and said : " Lord, that I may
receive my sight." So again, when Salome came with
her sons, worshiping Him and desiring a certain thing
of Him, He said unto her, " What wilt thou ? " And
in her reply, though she did not know all that was
implied in her prayer, she went straight to that which
she desired. Now, we may profitably follow such
examples ; and if, ever as we rise to lead our fellow-
worshipers in prayer, we could hear the voice of the
Master saying unto us, " What will ye that I should
do for you ? " our petitions would have as much of
definiteness and directness as there is in the flight of
an arrow to its mark.
A revival of spiritual life and earnestness in our
own souls will richly contribute to the production of
this directness. Earnestness always takes the short
est road. " Before our conversion," said some fervent
ones, after a revival, " we used to pray in circles, but

THE COND UCT OF P UBLIC WORSHIP. 253
now we pray in straight lines." I think we might
learn much in this respect also from the study of the
prayers recorded in the Bible. Take for example that
of Abraham's servant when he went for Rebekah, or
that of Jacob when he was afraid of meeting Esau, or
that of Elijah on Mount Carmel, or that of Peter
and the Apostles after the first imprisonment for
Jesus' sake, and you will be struck with the simple,
honest straightforwardness of the requests they made.
These men had an object in view, and they went
right onward to that. So let it be with us. Let us
gather up the wants of the people as far as they are
known to us, and express them simply and truthfully
to God, and then let us conclude, and the advantage
both in point and brevity will be unspeakable.
Finally, our public prayers should be in some parts
intercessory, and not merely selfish. When Christ
comes into the heart, He widens it and gives it in
terest in, and sympathy with, others. Now, these
emotions find their natural outlet at the throne of
grace. What a beautiful illustration of this we have
in the case of the apostle Paul ! As in the central
office of a great telegraphic company there are wires
in communication with all parts of the country and
all quarters of the globe, so from the closet of the
apostle there went out messages of greeting and
benediction, each one going round by the throne of
God, to the Christian brethren in all the cities .in
which the had been permitted to labor. He was a
Christian, and was affected by everything that had
any slightest influence on the cause of Christ.- There-

254

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

fore, he prayed not only for his brethren in the Lord,
but for all men in authority in the state. And in our
pulpits we ought to imitate his example. The aged,
the sick, the sorrowful, should be remembered by us
with tenderness, while those who are laboring in the
Sunday-school and mission district should be " com
mended to the grace of Him in whom they believe."
The land we live in should be patriotically borne upon
our hearts in public prayer, and our judges, legislators,
and magistrates ought • never to be forgotten. A
place should also frequently be found for the mission
ary enterprise both at home and abroad, and for the
work in which our Tract and Bible societies are so
nobly engaged. It will not be wise, indeed, to seek
to include all these in every prayer, but by a little
system on your part, you may be able' so to vary the
objects for which you pray on different occasions as
to secure brevity and variety' at all times. Only re
member that the heart must be in each utterance ;
for in public prayer, though it is not essential to say
all you feel (for that, the closet is the place), yet it is
indispensable that you feel all you say.
I have not thought it well to say a word on com
mon faults in prayer, partly because these are very
faithfully pointed out in various works that are of
easy access to you,* and partly because I could not

* See, especially, the lectures of the late Dr. Porter, of An-
dover ; the lecture on Public Prayer in Mr. Spurgeon's " Lectures
to my Students ;" and the extremely valuable book on Public
Worship, by J. Spencer Pearsall, London.

THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 255
expose therti without seeming to turn very sacred
subjects into ridicule. I leave you here, therefore, to
the guidance of sanctified common sense and the
teachings of the Holy Spirit ; and if any one of you
should be overwhelmed with a sense of his own un
fitness to lead the devotions of others, let him take
comfort in the thought that they who have such feel
ings are most commonly those who excel in this ex
ercise. The poet Cowper shrunk almost from the
sound of his own voice, and yet when he led in that
little prayer - meeting which was held in the great
house of Olney, it is the testimony of those who
heard him, that no one ever prayed like him. He
who knows that he has a gift in this direction, has in
reality no excellence in it, for the consciousness of it
mars its glory. He who is eager to lay hold of God,
and seeks to rise to ever closer communion with Him,
mourning all the while that he is so far from his ideal,
is likely to be nearer to it than he wots of. He sees
not the shining of his own face, but the people feel
that he is ' talking ' with Gpd. Take comfort, then, for
fluency is not always fervor; and always in prayer
there is more real power in the hesitancy of a bur
dened heart than in the easy utterance of stock
phrases. If the heart be in the prayer, other things
will right themselves by degrees. But nothing will
compensate for the absence of that.

(647) 17

LECTURE XI.
THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION.

LECTURE XI.
THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION.
f I iHE pastorate and the pulpit act and react upon
-*- each other. The experiences of the people
gathered by the minister in his intercourse among
them, serve to enrich his discourses ; and the charac
ter and conduct of the pastor during the week will
either deepen or efface the impressions made by his
sermon on the Sabbath. The discourse is itself in
some measure a feeding or shepherding of the flock ;
and the life is always a sermon, for there is no elo
quence so potent as that of character, and no in
fluence so subtle as that of example. The sermon
of the Lord's day gives the1 minister an introduction
into the homes of his people on other days, and his
behavior before them on such occasions will go far
either to neutralize or to enforce his public teachings.
The deportment of the pastor will be to his dis
courses, either like the extinguisher, which puts out
the light, or like the reflector, which intensifies its
lustre. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that you
should be thoroughly alive to the bearing of your
pastoral demeanor on your pulpit efficiency. There
are some men of whom you would say, as you listen

26b THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
to their sermons, that they should be always in the
pulpit ; but when you meet them in private, you are
constrained to declare, as you listen to their conver
sation, that they should never be in the pulpit. Let
it not be so with you. Do nothing in your life to
wipe out the impressions made by your sermons, but
seek that it may be said of you, as Chaucer said of
his " goode parson,"
"The lore of Christ and his apostles twelve
He taught, but first he followed it himselve."
I would not have you, indeed, to put on any artifi
cial piety, or to cultivate any mere appearance of
sanctity. Neither would I desire you to mistake
starch for dignity, or moroseness for piety. I have
no sympathy with those who seem to think that
clergymen are bound by a stricter moral law than
other men, and that what is perfectly justifiable in a
layman (so-called), is unwarrantable in a minister.
We cannot admit that the preacher is to be like a
monk, going about with sober step and look demure,
never seerl to laugh, or if he do make the attempt,
that he should only " grin horribly a ghastly smile,"
and look more melancholy in his mirth than an ordi
nary mortal would in tears. We , grant that he may
have some reasons which other men have not, for
seeking to walk worthy of the Gospel of Christ ; but
every professing Christian should be walking in the
same way with him. We grant, also, that he should
set an example in every good work ; but that which
he sets, if it be really good, it is the duty of his peo-

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 26l
pie to follow ; and the notion that he ought to be more
sedate, subdued, and holy than another Christian
should be, is but a fragment of the teaching of that
Church which insists upon the celibacy of the clergy,
and regards the conventual life as specially " relig
ious." There are not two standards of Christian
morality. The pattern is one and the same for all
believers ; and it is the duty of all alike to get as near
as possible to " the measure of the stature of the full
ness of Christ."
We ask, therefore, for no professional piety, or
official decorum. We desire only that you should
cultivate a sense of the presence, of Christ with you
in all your goings out and comings in among your
people, and then everything will come right of itself.
Do nothing, and say nothing of which you would be
ashamed, if He were visibly by your side ; and as
when men look at the spectrum through a telescope,
they see the mystic presence of other lines than
those made by the prismatic colors, so your people,
as they scan your deportment, will see in you the
evident tokens that there is more about you than
merely earthly agencies can account for, even the
spirit of the Lord himself.
But mere general exhortation will be comparatively
useless to you in this department, and so I will come
at once to particulars.
And first, in reference to parish matters, or things
pertaining to the management of congregational
affairs, let me advise you not to attempt to do too
much at the outset of .your ministry. Your earliest

262 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
impulse, as soon as you discover how matters are,
will be to set everything right in a moment ; and as
the young housemaid, in her attempts to clean a
room, generally ends by making the confusion greater
than it was when she began, the probability is, that
you will only increase the difficulties by your efforts
to overcome' them. Make haste slowly. The first
thing you have to do is to attain to ease in the prep
aration of your discourses. I dare say, you are-
wondering now how you will ever be able to prepare
two sermons weekly. But just similar misgivings
have filled the hearts of all your predecessors ; and
from my experience, I can affirm that a little systematic
effort, perseveringly expended, will very soon enable
you to accomplish that work within such limits as
will allow opportunity for the discharge of other
duties. But you will never reach that point if you
persist in thinking that you cannot reach it. So you
must begin determined to master that difficulty.
And, in order to do that thoroughly, you must resist
the temptations that will be put before you to induce
you to do* a great many more things at the same
time. These may be very important in their places ;
but the other is the most important, and they can
wait. As John Bright once said, "You can't drive
six omnibuses abreast through Temple Bar." Neither
can you cany on a great number of different enter
prises in the first year or two of your pastorate.
Robert Hall was in the habit of saying, that when
the devil saw that a young minister was in earnest,
he got on his back, and rode him to death, in order

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 263
that he might be the sooner rid of him ; and I be
lieve statistics show, that the greatest mortality
among ministers is during the first three years after
settlement. Now one, at least, of the causes of that
is, that most young men put " too many irons into
the fire " at first. Without stopping until their pul
pit preparations have become easy to them, they set
up a Bible-class, a cottage-meeting, a mission station,
and so on, and go into each of them with all the
fervor of juvenile enthusiasm, until warned by fail
ing health, when it is too late, they abandon some, or
may have even to look for another sphere. Now you
will not understand that I am an advocate of lazi
ness, when I say that such a course as that is very
bad economy indeed. The sixth commandment is,
" Thou shalt not kill," and it forbids suicide equally
with murder. Therefore, in your pastorate, as in the
ascent of a hill, take it leisurely at first, for if you
run yourself- out of breath in the early stages of
your life-journey, yOu will have no strength re
maining for the later.
Just before I was settled, I was put on my guard
against this too common besetment of young minis
ters, by an aged elder who took a fatherly interest in
me. He gave me substantially the advice which I
am repeating now to you. He said, " Keep yourself
entirely for your -pulpit work until that becomes
manageable ; then add something ,else, and when
that has begun to sit lightly upon you, a third enter
prise may be taken in hand ; and so you will go on
increasing your influence ; but if you begin all these

264 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
things at once, you will inevitably break down, and
will have to throw some of them up, thereby giving an
aspect of failure to your work- which it will never re
cover." I tried to follow that wise counsel, and to
that, by the blessing of God upon me, I trace the
fact, that in a ministry of now nearly three and
twenty years' duration, I have been incapacitated for
public work by illness only for the half of one Sab
bath. The health-lift will injure you, if you begin
with trying to raise a thousand pounds ; but if you
commence with a moderate weight, and go on in
creasing it by the scale, you may, perhaps, come up
to the neighborhood of the larger number, and that
even with advantage to your physical strength. Now
it is quite similar here. Work which, taken gradu
ally upon you, may be performed at length with a
sense of invigoration and enjoyment, may kill you, if
you undertake it all at once. Let your zeal, there
fore, in this department be tempered with discretion.
Again,' do not hang everything round your own
neck. That was what Moses was doing, when his
father-in-law said to him : " Thou wilt surely wear
away, both thou and this people that is with thee,
for this thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able
to perform it thyself alone," * and counselled him to
adopt the principle of the division of labor. Now you
ought to follow Jethro's advice.- Attempt not to
do everything yourself. Train others for work. Study
the brethren by whom you are surrounded, and seek

* Exodus xviii. 18.

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 26$
to put each to that for which he is best adapted. It
will not do for the commander-in-chief in the day of
battle to be mending a broken wagon wheel. He has
other and more important work on hand ; but such
details as that may be left to those who are skilled in
setting them to rights. It is your privilege as a min
ister to plan and superintend the campaign ; but you
cannot be in every place and do everything. The
movements of the battle are to be executed by others.
On the Lord's day you give the principles which are to
regulate your fellow-laborers, and by the help of God's
Spirit, you furnish the enthusiasm by which they are
inspired ; but you ought not, save in very exceptional
cases, as in the beginning of some struggling cause, to
be the factotum of the church. Cultivate, therefore, the
faculty of organization. Let your church grow under
you into a finely-constructed piece of spiritual mech
anism, every part of which, as in a steam-engine, shall
be nicely adapted to all the rest, and the whole calcu
lated to tell with effect upon the world around, while
all you will have to do will be to sustain the water at
the boiling point so as to generate the power that is
to keep the whole in motion.
Finally, here, do not attempt to have everything
done in your own particular way. I have used the
illustration of a general with his army, but I did not
mean to imply that military discipline could be intro
duced into the Christian church. Not the commands
of the minister, but the precepts of Christ are the or
ders of the " sacramental host." You must not ex
pect, therefore, that everything will be done precisely

266 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
as you wish to have it done. You are to move your
people by influence, not by authority. If you are a
wise man they will not be long in discovering it, and
they will defer to you accordingly. But this deference
must be mutual, and when you do not see things pre
cisely as they do, then your wisdom will suspect that
you may be in the wrong and will lead you gracefully
to give way.
Of course, in all this I am referring to modes of
operation in which no moral principle is compro
mised. True disciples of Christ will not insist upon
anything that is shown to be contrary to the will
of the Lord ; but if they should do so, then it will
be the right time for you to withstand, and when
you resist on such a ground you will be invin
cible. Such occasions, however, will not be of fre
quent occurrence ; and in all indifferent matters, when
your plan is not favored, then be thankful that there
are so many people in the church wiser than yourself,
and make the best of it. Do not be always acting
the part of Cassandra and uttering predictions which
nobody believes. Above all, if your prophecies should
come to pass, do not turn round and say, " I told you
so," but leave the lesson to burn itself in silently, and
rely upon it that its influence will be felt for many
days. He who is determined at all hazards to have
his own will, is lording it over God's heritage, and
will get more than he is seeking, for he will bring
upon himself the ill-will of the brotherhood, and that
will neutralize any amount of pulpit eloquence. It
is not a very fitting proverb for an abstainer to quote,

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 267
yet its appositeness to the case in hand may be ex
cuse enough for repeating the homely saying, " He
who will have the last drop in the tankard gets the
lid on his nose," and if you are resolved to carry
everything according to your will, you will lay up for
yourself many a heritage of sorrow. We are the dis
ciples of Him who said, " I am among you as he that
'serveth," and self in us should be crucified for His sake.
There is another side to all this, no doubt, and if
I were lecturing to church members I would insist
that they also, are bound by these sacred principles ;
but if there is to be a rivalry as to who should be the
first to yield, then let the minister look to his laurels,
and see that no man takes his crown. /
Passing now to the subject of visitation, I would
say that the pastor's first care should be for the aged,
the sick, the bereaved, and those who are suffering
from any kind of trial. The afflicted long for sym
pathy, and to whom can they look for that more nat
urally than to the minister of Christ ? Let them not
look in vain. Go to them in tenderness and love,
with these words sounding in your ears, " Inas
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Do
not think of such work as if it were a task, or even
simply a duty, but esteem it a privilege, . and seek
" to lift up them that are bowed down."
Let your sympathy be real. Do not say that
which you do not feel. But that you may feel
rightly, keep yourself in close fellowship with Christ.

268 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
While with the one hand you seek to raise your
brother out of the depths, put your other into the
hand of the Saviour, and seek to imbibe the spirit
which He manifested on His visit to the weepmg sis
ters at Bethany.
Consolation will be best imparted by you in the
words of Scripture, for at such times there is no
solace like that which is contained in the sayings of
the Lord Jesus and His inspired servants. Search the
Bible, therefore, for appropriate passages, and that
you may have them constantly in readiness, lay them
up in the memory of the heart. They will be always
more powerful when you have found them for your
self ; but that you may know what a treasury of com
fort there is laid up in these ancient oracles, and how
it may be turned to account in dealing with modern
sufferers, such a book -as that of Andrew Bonar,* the
biographer of McCheyne, may be very valuable and
suggestive. Sometimes, indeed, it may seem to you that even
the words ^of inspiration will fall like hail-stones on
the sufferer's heart, and you may be fain to take ref
uge in silence, solacing yourself the while with
Whittier's lines :
" With silence only as their benediction
God's angel's come ;
When in the shadow of a great affliction
The soul sits dumb."

* The Visitor's Book of Texts ; or, The Word brought nigh to
the sick and sorrowful. By the Rev. A. A. Bonar. London :
Nisbet & Co.

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 269
But even in that unbroken stillness there will be
comfort, if the tear shall be seen standing in the eye,
and if, at length, the quiet voice of prayer tenderly
pleading with God, shall rise out of the darkness.
On such occasions be not in too much haste to check
the outburst of grief, or to point the practical lesson
of the trial. Wait a little, and ere long a blessed op
portunity will come which you may turn to the best
account both for the mourner and for your Lord.
Then when you enter the chamber of the sick one,
cultivate the gentleness of your Master. " Do not
strive, nor cry, nor lift up your voice." Go with
muffled footstep into the room. Speak softly and
tenderly. Lead the sufferer to Christ. Pray with
him, and in all your exercises let a holy cheerfulness
surround you like a halo. Be not sombre or gloomy.
Let the sick one and his nurse feel as if a ray of sun
light had come in to gladden them. Do not remain
so long as to create fatigue, and thus your visits will
do " good like a medicine," and your return will be
looked for with eagerness.
If the illness is mortal,' realize the responsibility of the
position in which you stand, yet do not rashly and blunt
ly perform that which is much better accomplished by
the method of indirectness. Relatives will perhaps in
sist that you should inform the sufferer that his recovery
is hopeless ; and though I have always felt, that in so
doing they lay upon us a burden which we ought not
to be called to bear, yet in such circumstances you
ought lovingly and gently to lead the mind of the
afflicted one to the contemplation of his departure ;

270

7'HE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.

and if he be unconverted, to the consideration of the
urgency of his repentance and return to God. It is a
solemn work ; yet trusting in the help of the Holy
Spirit, you may be enabled to perform it in such a
way as to bring home the wanderer even at the
eleventh hour. Be faithful, be tender, be true both
to the sinner and his Saviour, and you will in no wise
lose your reward.
Nor are the benefits of such ministrations to the
sorrowful and the sick restricted to those to whom
especially they are rendered. They will open to you
the hearts of all the members of the household. A
new love for you and for your work will be born with
in their souls, and by a little wisdom on your part,
you may be blessed in leading them all into the fold.
Your public discourses at such times will be much
more interesting to them than they ever were before ;
your words will fall into the furrows which God's
afflictions have made in their hearts and the profiting
will appear after many days. Your kindness at such a
season will never be forgotten, and always your most
devoted friends, and those who profit most by your
labors in the pulpit, will be those whom you have
visited and comforted in their affliction. The longer
a minister is with his people, he sees the more of
them in such tribulation ; and thus it is, if he be
faithful to his trust, that their hearts twine around
him, and he seems at length to belong to every
family among them. How strong such ties are, only
he can tell, who after they have increasingly encircled
him for many years, is compelled to break them at

.THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 27 1
the call of the Maater, and to begin his work anew
among those whom he has never seen. The pain of
that heart-wrench is in me yet scarcely healed ; but
the love which caused the pain is indestructible, be
cause it is the evidence that the services tenderly
rendered on the one side, were gratefully received on
the other, and that the issue was the profit of both
My young brethren, be much in the homes of sorrow,
for through your ministrations to the afflicted, your
pulpit utterances will acquire increasing power.
On the subject of general systematic visitation of
your people, perhaps a history of my own experience
may be more helpful to you than any series of formal
exhortations. I was first settled over a church of
about one hundred and eighty members, many of
whom resided in the village in which the place of wor
ship was situated, but a considerable number of whom
were farmers, scattered over an area of about six miles
in length, by about two in breadth. I made my visits
systematically week by week, taking the parish in
manageable districts. At first I was accompanied on
each occasion by an elder. It was expected that I
should ask a few questions of the children, assemble
the members of the household, give a formal address,
and then conclude with prayer. The presence of the
" lay brother " was a great embarrassment. I supposed
that because he was with me I should have a new ad
dress in every house, and should have a prayer in every
instance perfectly distinct from any which I had for
merly offered. I had not then heard of the shrewd
device by which a minister in one of the largest cities
'(647) 18

272

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

in Scotland had got rid of his encumbering compan
ion. He endured the affliction patiently for one day,
but on the following week, when it came to the time
that prayer should be offered in the first house visited,
he turned to his friend and said, " Mr.  , will you
pray ? " and when he had repeated that request in two
or three households, Mr.  discovered that he
had an engagement in the city, and disappeared. In
those early days, however, I was too unsophisticated
to think of doing anything like that, so I went on from
house to house, making a new address in each,
until, when it was towards evening, and I had
walked perhaps five or six miles, and made ten or
Welve addresses, I was more dead than alive. You
cannot wonder, that in these circumstances, pastoral
visitation became the " bite noir " of my life, and I
positively hated it. Thus prosecuted, it was simply
and only drudgery, and so far as I know, was not
productive of any good result.
When I removed to Liverpool I began in a different
way. I made no public announcement of my pur
pose to visit in any street or locality, but kept
steadily before me a certain systematic plan, by
which I was- enabled to get round all the families
under my care in a reasonable time. I gave up all
formal addressing, and went into each home as a
friend and brother in the Lord ; and then when I had
regained my liberty, my joy returned. I made it my
business to find out the experiences through which
the household had passed since I had been last in it.
As opportunity offered, not obtrusively and profes-

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 2>j-i
sionally, but naturally and incidentally, I dropped a
word for the Master, and at the close of the visit I
attempted to gather up into a brief prayer those sup
plications which I judged to be most appropriate to
the circumstances which our conversation had re
vealed. Thus I went on for several years, when I discovered
that although I was earnestly doing everything I
could, I was yet, somehow, failing to satisfy either
my own conscience or my people's expectations in
the matter of visiting. I was continually asking my
self whether I could not do more ; and each person
who did not see me in his house during the week,
imagined that as I had not been to visit him, I had
not been to see anybody else. So, on looking all
round the situation, I determined, while preserving
the informal character of the visitation, to make pub
lic announcement on the Sabbath, of the day and the
district which I meant to take.
The advantages of this plan were numerous. It
kept me up to the mark, for having once made the
engagement, no light thing was permitted to interfere
with its being carried out. Formerly, if a friend hap
pened to call on me on the day and at the hour on
which in my own mind I had fixed for visitation, I
was tempted to say, " Well, the visiting can stand
over ;" and I remained with him, leaving arrears of
work to accumulate often to a very serious extent. But
now the programme was carried out, no matter who
should come in at the moment, or what might be the
state of the weather. Again, it enabled me to

274

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

keep the specified day free from all other pastoral en
gagements. If a wedding came to be arranged for,
the hour was fixed, so as not to interfere with the
purpose already publicly made known ; if a funeral
was to be conducted, the time was appointed so as to
leave this other work untouched. Thus the intima
tion of my intention to spend a certain day in visiting
in a certain locality, cleared the way for its being car
ried out. It was an express train, for which all the
minor accommodation trains had to give place ; and
so it happened that at the year's end it reached its
destination, having lost no time on the road, and' all
the passengers were satisfied.
Moreover, the public announcement had this in
cidental advantage, of which at first I had not
thought, namely, that it stopped at once all grum
bling on the part of the unvisited. They saw that I
was steadily working week by week somewhere ; it
became a matter of interest to them to watch my
progress, and they looked with a certain strange
eagerness for the day when I should name the street
in which they resided. I do not know that in the
long run I actually did much more pastoral work than
I was doing before, but I accomplished it with
more ease to myself, and with far more satisfaction
to my people.
, When I came to New York I resumed this prac
tice in every particular, save that I found it was
not always convenient to offer prayer ; and thus far
it has wrought admirably, for if it were not for the
interruption of the summer Hegira, and for such

THE PASTORA TE AND PASTORAL VISITA TION.

275

absorbing engagements as that of delivering " Lec
tures on Preaching" here and there over the
country, I would get over my parish in little more
than eight or nine months.
But that is only an external history. You want to
know how to deal with the people themselves in
visiting them. First, then, shun all stiffness and for
mality. Never mind your dignity; think of your
Master, and go everywhere out of love to Him. " Turn
your hand upon the little ones." Be not so pompous
and formidable that the children will run to hide
themselves at your approach. There was a whole
volume of pastoral theology in the reply of the High
land shepherd to the question how it came that he
took so many prizes for the best flock at the cattle
shows. He said, " I look weel to the lambs." So look
you well to the lambsi Encourage them to come to
you ; and by your tenderness to them, you will
easily enter into their parents' hearts.
Be natural and affable. Do not surround yourself
with chevaux de frise as if you were a marble statue
in the midst of a crowded thoroughfare ; but let your
heart be open and your words be free. And while
you will never allow yourself to forget that you are
there in the name of the Lord, do not drag in the sub
ject of religion in such a way as to make the whole
matter distasteful. Cultivate thei art of incidental al
lusion, and if you make a transition in the conversa
tion, make it naturally, so that everybody will not be
jolted into silence. We must find out that in which
our friends are interested, and descending to their

276 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
level therein, we shall be able to lift them more easily
to that which we desire to set before them. A friend
told me that he went one evening into the room
where his son was taking lessons in singing, and found
the tutor urging him to sound a certain note. Each
time the lad made the attempt, however, he fell short,
and the teacher kept on saying to him, " Higher !
higher ! " But it was all to no purpose, until, descend
ing to the tone which the boy was sounding, the mu
sician accompanied him with his own voice, and led
him gradually up to that which he wanted him to
sing, and then he sounded it with ease.
You have heard the story of Edward Irving and the
infidel shoe-maker who seemed resolutely bent on re
fusing to hold any communication with him. Going
up to his " seat," Irving lifted apiece of patent-leather,
which was then a recent invention, and, as his father was
a tanner, he knew so much about it that he was able to
speak intelligently regarding it; the "sutor" con
tinued at his work, preserving silence as long as he
could, until exasperated by what he thought the pre
tension of trie minister, he asked : " What do ye ken
aboot leather ? " Irving, in reply, went into the whole
subject, and, after a time, won by his acquaintance
with the matter of his craft, the shoe-maker said:
" You're a decent kind o' fellow ; do you preach ? "
On the following Sabbath the vanquished cobbler
made his appearance for the first time at church, and
became a regular attendant on Irving's ministry, ex
cusing himself to all who wondered at his conduct by

THE PASTORATE AND PASTORAL VISITATION. 2-jy
saying, " He's a sensible man yon, he kens aboot
leather!"* Now, an incident like that indicates that in order
to turn pastoral visitation to good account we must
interest ourselves in the common labors and expe
riences -of our people, and enter through that
door into their hearts. I was one evening driven
home from a farmer's house, a distance of some six or
seven miles, by a frank ' young boy, who at ' once got
into conversation with me. He talked about the farm,
the horses and the dog, and then by some subtle link
of association the subject was changed to that of the
school. I soon discovered that his favorite study was
arithmetic, and asked him what he was doing in it :
" O," he replied, " I am in profit and loss." " Can
you do all the examples in it ? " " Yes, some of them
were very hard, but I have done them all ; I did the
last to-day." " I think I could give you one in that
rule that you could not do." " I doubt it ; let me
hear it." " It is this : ' What shall it profit a man if
he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? '
Could you work that out ? " " No," said he, as a
thoughtful expression came over his countenance;
" that's beyond me, I admit." Thus, having won his
confidence and affection, it was easy for me to speak
with him- in such a way that his, whole nature was
aroused, and by and by he gave himself to the
Lord.

* See " The Life of Edward Irving, "by Mrs. Oliphant, pp. 1 10,
in.

278 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Or, to take another illustration : Suppose I enter
a hquse, in which are many beautiful engravings;
among these there is one of Holman Hunt's deeply
suggestive painting, " The Light of the World," and
from that it is easy to pass to the text which the pic
ture illustrates : " Behold I stand at the door arid
knock." Or I may tell the following story about the
artist who produced the work : Some seven or eight
summers ago a distinguished non-conformist divine of
England was a guest in the house of the gentleman
who now owns the original painting. At the time of
his visit the picture was undergoing the process of
re-framing, and so he was permitted to examine it
minutely. In one of the lower corners, where the
words would in ordinary circumstances have been cov
ered by the frame, he found in the handwriting of the
artist himself this expression : "Nee me praetermittas
Domine," " Nor pass»me by, O Lord ! " and so from the
prayer of the painter a very natural lesson, all the more
powerful because of its incidental character, may be
read to the possessor of the engraving.
To succeed in such work as this, however, we must
cultivate general intelligence, and be ever on the
watch for incidents and illustrations which we may
use thus as we go from house to house. " Parlor
preaching " is in its own place only inferior in impor
tance to " pulpit preaching." It needs great wealth
of resources, and, most of all, it requires that habitual
spiritually-mindedness which is holding fellowship
with Christ even in the commonest occupations. You
will never succeed in your visitation if you go to it

THE PA STOP A TE AND PASTORAL VISITA TION. 279
with, an effort, and as a duty. But when you start
out for the love of Jesus, and in His name, your exer
cise will be a joy to yourself and full of profit to those
on whom you call.
Nor will the benefit of it be only direct. It will
bring the families whom you have seen, with new in
terest to the sanctuary, and put their minds into a
state of greater impressibility. They are no longer
at arm's length from you. They have grasped your
hand, they have heard your heart-throb in their
homes, and now your words take stronger hold upon
their souls. John Brown's ' Jeames ' said, in regard to
prayer, " There is no good done till we come to close
grips with God." But it is just as true in regard to
preaching that we do little for men until we get into
personal dealing with them. If I am firing at a target
with a rifle, I want to know whether I have hit the
bull's-eye. And if I am in earnest in preaching on
the Lord's day, I desire to discover whether any
results have followed. Now it is only through pas
toral visitation that I can follow up my sermons.
Thus, while in some cases it lets me see where I can
drive a nail to advantage, in others it enables me to
clinch a nail which I have already driven.
You will make a great mistake, therefore, if you
undervalue the visitation of your people. The pulpit
is your throne, no doubt ; but then a throne is stable
only when it rests on the affections of the people,
and to get their affections you must visit them in their
dwellings. I used to look upon my visitation as a
dreadful drudgery, but it has now become my joy;

280 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
so that whenever I am tempted to despond I sally
forth to visit my flock ; and as I look sadly back upon
those early years in which I had no such gladness, I
am earnestly desirous to save you from blundering as
I did. Begin this work as your pastorate begins. If you
cannot fully master your pulpit preparations at first,
so as to secure the time needful for systematic
visitation, yet never omit the care of the sick and
the afflicted ; and at the earliest possible moment
enter upon the regular prosecution of this important
department of your labors. It will " mellow and
fatten " the roots of your own character. It will feed
your public prayers. It will furnish many themes
and suggestions for your pulpit teachings. It will
cheer you on in a thousand ways in your arduous
exertions, and as the years revolve you will come to
be regarded almost as a member of every family, and
be rewarded by the confidence and affection of the flock
as a whole. On that you may always rest as securely
as the swimmer does upon the wave; and your
character arnong your people will add an irresistible
ingredient to the eloquence of your speech.

LECTURE XII.
THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT TO PRESENT QUES
TIONS.

LECTURE XII.
THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT TO PRESENT QUES
TIONS.
"T~"TE who would be successful in the ministry of the
-L-L Word must give himself wholly to it. When
the apostles responded to the Master's call " they
forsook all and followed Him ;" and no one who is
really called to the work of the pastorate will be able
to combine with that any other occupation. When
Chalmers was first settled at Kilmany he tried to
unite with his ministry the teaching of mathematics
and chemistry at St. Andrews, and assured his father
that Saturday was sufficient for the preparation of
his discourses. But after he had passed the great
crisis of his life, he was constrained to devote every
moment of his time and every energy of his being to
the duties of his office. And every earnest pastor
will feel as he then did. No one who has any right
idea of the importance of the ministry, will consent
to regard it as a merely secondary or subordinate
thing. He will not be able to satisfy himself with
less than unreserved consecration to his calling ; and
if he is to preach sermons that will compel men to
listen to them, they must be the product of his un-
distracted labor. The river of the week must flow
with undivided current into the pulpit. He must

284 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
live, and move, and have his being, in and for his
work. He cannot afford, as a regular thing, to become a
peripatetic lecturer, or to be the principal of an edu
cational establishment, or to conduct a newspaper, or
to devote himself to some field of scientific inquiry.
He may have sufficient ability to do both things.
He may even, by dint of good management and hard
work, contrive to secure time enough for both. But
his heart will be divided between them, and that will
be fatal to his efficiency in the pulpit. His ministry
must have the whole of him, else ere long the " unc
tion " will evaporate out of his . speech, and the spell
of his eloquence will be broken.
He who desires success as a preacher, therefore,
must be content to leave many other things alone.
He may have dreamed in early years of winning fame
in the republic of letters, or of rising to eminence in
some scientific pursuit, but all such ambitions must
now be given up for Christ. The prizes of commerce
and the honors of statesmanship are not for him. He
has been called to labor in another field, whereon the
harvests are immortal souls ; and so eager is he in its
cultivation, that he cannot consent to give any part
of himself to other engagements. So soon as he does
that, the joy of his heart will disappear, and the glory
of his ministry will depart.
Be it yours, therefore, uncompromisingly to resist
every overture that may be made to you to give any
part of your time and strength, as a constant thing,
to any other object than your ministry. The sucker

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 285
in the end will kill the tree ; therefore take heed that
it be not permitted to spring up. It were better that
you should renounce the ministry altogether than
that you should continue in it half-heartedly, giving
the greater part of your time and thoughts to some
thing else than the feeding and shepherding of the
flock of God.
But though I would urge you to keep yourself ex
clusively to your calling, T would not have you to
adopt a narrow or restricted idea of that calling.
You have range enough in the pulpit to satisfy any
ordinary ambition ; and it is at once your privilege
and your duty there to bring the principles and
motives of the Gospel of Christ to bear upon the cir
cumstances of your times, and the questions that are
agitating the minds of men.
Thus there are many social subjects intimately con
nected with the welfare of the people, which not only
may be treated of, but which ought to be treated of,
in the pulpit. Foremost among these is the condi
tion of a large proportion of the poorer classes of the
land, who, in popular speech, are called the masses.
What ignorance, intemperance, immorality, and crime
prevail among them ! We talk of heathenism with
horror, but there are multitudes almost at our own
doors, and within the sound of our church bells, who
are living in circumstances as debasing as any to be
found in pagan lands. The car of Juggernaut has
not crushed as many victims as intemperance is an
nually destroying in our cities; and India has no
cruelties more horrid than those which are almost

286 THE MINISTRY OF THE , WORD.
nightly committed by the criminal classes in our
country. What dens of infamy and homes of sin
there are in all our cities, infecting by their impurity
even the households of those who are themselves
ashamed even to name the abominations of which
they are the scene !
Then in another department, who among us has not
been filled with sad forebodings for the future, as he
has marked the growing conflict between capital and
labor, and the ever increasing estrangement between
employers and employed, now rumbling ominously
like some far-off earthquake, and now breaking out.
into the velcanic eruption of a disastrous strike?
While at the other extremity of the social scale, the
luxury and extravagance, the ostentatious rivalry in
the keeping up of appearances, the heartless worldli-
ness, and the grasping selfishness, are utterly appall
ing. Now these are things that the Christian preacher
cannot pass by on the other side. He has been made
a minister for the very purpose of grappling . with
them, and It will be treachery to his office and trea
son to his Lord, if he refuse to deal with them. They
threaten the very life of the nation, and he is set upon
the watch-tower for the very purpose of giving an
alarm. Some one has compared the republic under
which we live to a pyramid, having its base composed
of the great masses of the people, and rising up, nar
rowing as it rises, through legislatures, judges, and
governors, until it finds its apex in him who sits in
the presidential chair; and it is alleged that this is

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 287
the most stable form of government. And so it is,
if the pyramid be composed of the most enduring
materials. But if the base be honey-combed with in
temperance, the central portions corroded with ex
travagance, and the upper layers disintegrated by
dishonesty, how long will the whole fabric last ?
But more even than the welfare of the nation is
endangered by the social evils of which we speak.
They imperil also the life of the church. Its mem
bers cannot live in the neighborhood of such things
without being in some degree contaminated. If
malaria is in the district, you cannot confine it to one
house. Its influence enters more or less into every
dwelling. And the Church and the State are not so
completely separated, even in this land, that the one
cannot be affected by the other. Their very prox
imity to each other makes the danger of the one a
peril also to the other. I went once with a friend
into his garden, and, observing in one part of it, a
plentiful crop of a very troublesome weed, I asked
him how he came to have so much of it. He said,
" My neighbor was absent from his house three
months last year, and let his garden run wild ; it was
just at the time when that particular weed was run
ning to seed, and the wind blew the downy things
over here: It would have paid me to have hired a
man to clean his garden for him, but then, you see, I
did not think of it in time." So, be sure, if we in the
church allow those evils in the community to go on
unchecked, the seeds that spring from them will blow
over into our own garden, and produce there confu
sion and every evil work.
(547) 19

288 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
How long will our cities be safe places for the
godly upbringing of our sons and daughters, if we
permit the impurity and iniquity in which they
abound to grow rampant in the midst of them ? The
life of the church, therefore, depends on its aggres
siveness, and the ministers of the Gospel must lead
forth their people to this new crusade. We must
not allow our hearers to rest contented in the thought
that if only they are benefited, and gratified, and
comforted by our discourses, and labors in the midst
of them, there is nothing else to be desired. We must
rouse them to a sense of their duty to those around
them who are perishing for lack of knowledge ; we
must urge them on, by the highest and holiest con
siderations, to prayer and liberality, and personal ex
ertion for the welfare of the fallen and degraded in
the land ; and as occasion offers, we must give our
selves enthusiastically to evangelistic work in the
streets or lanes by which our stately churches are sur
rounded. For the Gospel which we preach is the only remedy
that can *meet the manifold evils of society. All
these are only so many different symptoms of the one
disease of sin, and nothing can permanently remove
them save that which eradicates it. Hence the vari
ous agencies which men have proposed and experi
mented with for the purpose of improving the condi
tion of the masses, valuable as they have been in
some respects, have failed to get at the source of the
evil. They have " skinned and filmed the ulcerous
sore," but left the constitutional malady, of wjiich it

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 289
was the symptom, to break out in some other direc
tion. They have dammed up the stream for a little,
and sent its waters over into places which were before
uncovered ; but they have not dried up the fountain-
head. The only thing which can regenerate society,
is that which can regenerate the individual heart, to
wit, the power of the Holy Ghost working in and
through the belief of the truth as it is in Jesus. Now
as we are set not merely for the defence, but also for
the diffusion of that truth, it is imperative on us that
we stir up both ourselves and our people, to take
means for proclaiming it to the outcasts around us.
We must " go out into the streets and lanes of the
cities, and compel them to come in." Most evidently
we ministers cannot personally carry on such a work,
and at the same time satisfy all the demands that are
made upon us as pastors, especially if our pastorate
should happen to be in a great city. But it is not
necessary that we should. Our object ought to be to
stimulate every Christian to become himself a home
missionary ; and to furnish him, week by week, with
truth appropriate for his use in that capacity, and
with motive strong enough to sustain him in its proc
lamation. We should aim so to preach that no idler can
remain comfortable under our ministrations, and we
should seek by a wise organization to realize the ideal
of Wesley in our church, " At work, all at work, and
always at work." Every believer a missionary ;
that must be our watchword, and then our Sabbath
services will be the rallying points at which we come
together to recruit our wearied energies, and from

290 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
which we go forth with new enthusiasm to our holy
work. Admirably has it been said by the author of
" Ecce Homo ": " Men who meet within the church
walls on Sunday, should not meet as strangers who
find themselves together in the same lecture hall ;
but as co-operators in a public work, the object of
which all understand, and to his own department of
which each man habitually applies mind and his
contriving power. Thus meeting, with the esprit de
corps strong among them, and with a clear perception
of the purpose of their union and their meeting, they
would not desire that the exhortation of the preacher
should be what in the nature of things it seldom can
be — eloquent. . . . It might then become weighty
with business, and impressive as an officer's address
to his troops before a battle. For it would be ad
dressed by a soldier to soldiers, in the presence of an
enemy whose character they understood, and in a war
with whom they had given and received telling
blows." *
But even wnen we have got all our people up to
the working point, there will be need for some central
agency round which their operations must be con
ducted; and I cannot but think that the enterprise
which Christian men are now carrying on in the city
of New York, is designed, in the Providence of God,
to lead to some developments in home missionary
matters which shall be fraught with blessing to the
land.

* "Ecce Homo," pp. 225, 226.

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 29 1
For one thing it has shown, that the lowest stratum
of the population can be reached with the Gospel.
In conversation with a friend the other day, I learned
that the missionary who labors in the Tombs, informed
him that the number of prisoners was smaller than it
had been for a long time, and he traced that state of
things to the fact that the roughs of the city were at
tending at the Hippodrome, and so were at least kept
out of mischief thereby. And this testimony was
strikingly confirmed by one of the police who are in reg
ular waiting at the Hippodrome. He told my inform
ant that on the first night of the services, he was posi
tively alarmed to see such a collection of the " hard
est " criminals of the city in the section of the hall
under his care. He feared that they might attempt
some outbreak, but they sat quietly all through, and
the greater number of them come now every night.
Another friend mentioned to me that while he was
in the inquiry-room a man came to him in great
distress, under the deepest conviction of sin, saying
to him, " I did not come here to seek salvation ; I
came to pick pockets ; but the Lord has laid hold of
me, and I mean to turn to Him." Now these inci
dents show that the people can be reached. They
will come to hear the Gospel when they have a fitting
opportunity, and the Gospel is in their case also " the
power of God unto salvation."
Again, these services show that some men are bet
ter qualified than others for reaching these classes.
It is needless to attempt to analyze the elements of
Mr. Moody's and Mr. Sankey's power. They are

292 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
men, I believe, as truly raised up by God for their
work as were Wesley and Whitefield, Nettleton and
Finney ; and their success is their attestation. Now
does not this indicate to us that when a man shows
such eminent fitness for this particular work, he should
be at once laid hold of, and statedly employed in it ?
We have got into certain ecclesiastical ruts, and are
in danger of sacrificing life to order. Why should we
not, however, have even this great, benefit in an
orderly way? There are men who could do nothing
or next to nothing as pastors, who would yet be be
yond all price as peripatetic evangelists. What
hinders that they should be at once recognized in
that character, and sent forth from city to city and
from village to village, two and two, like the first dis
ciples? It seems to me that if such a plan were
adopted, we might have, not in one city only, but in
every city of the Union, some earnest and attractive
man of God laboring with a power only second to
that which is attending the Lord's messengers in
New York to-day.
Still farther, these services show that Christian co
operation between the members of different denomi
nations is a possible thing. In the inquiry-rooms at
the Hippodrome you will find Episcopalians, Baptists,
Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, all
earnestly at work in seeking to point souls to Christ.
Now if all this may last for two months, why should
it not last for years? Could we not have a per
manent Hippodrome in New York, supplied by men
whom God may raise up, and officered, as it is to-

THE RE LA TION OF THE PULPIT. 2g?
day, by Christians of all evangelical denominations?
And have we not in this a gleam of light thrown
upon that darkest, saddest social problem of our
times, how to elevate the masses of our large cities ?
But whatever else may or may not be done, thus
much is clear, that every minister should stir up his
people to personal exertion in this great cause. You
may say, indeed, that he cannot be always preaching
upon it ; and if you mean by that, that he is not to
be expected to be continually discoursing set sermons
on the evil of intemperance and how to meet it, or on
the claims of the non-church-going population on the
attention of the church, or on the different branches
of that upas tree which is poisoning our social life,
you are probably right. That course might aggravate
and irritate, instead of stimulating to work. But
while he may occasionally preach an entire sermon
upon some one particular evil, and show how the
Gospel is to be brought to bear upon it, he will be
wiser if he deal with all such questions incidentally, and
if after he has conclusively established some general
principles, he should turn unexpectedly upon his hear
ers and show them how these are to be applied to
present circumstances. It is just here, indeed, that he
will be able to turn his habit of consecutive exposition
to most valuable account. For no matter where he be
gins such a work, he will not go on very far without
finding some excellent opportunity of saying some
thing on these social subjects that may "strike and
stick." He can scarcely open the very first book of
Scripture without coming upon the excuse of the

294 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
selfish fratricide, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and
he will be no faithful shepherd if he do not from that
expose the Cain-like spirit of too many of our modern
hearers of the Gospel. Not many chapters more shall
have passed before he confronts the drunkenness of
Noah and Lot, and the fearful consequences that
sprung- out of the defilement of Dinah, and in these he
will have unsought and incidental opportunities for
the~ proclamation of truths, which are too often utterly
ignored in the pulpit. So again, if he take up the
sweet pastoral of Ruth, he will not go far until he
hear the mutual greeting of Boaz and his reapers
when he said unto them, " The Lord be with you,"
and they answered him, " The Lord bless thee," and
that will give him scope enough for treating the whole
question as between employers and employed, and
suggest the true and only remedy, namely, the com
mon brotherhood of both in the Lord. And if he go
on through the history of the Kings, he may find a
lesson for the ostentation of the times in the fact that
the display which Hezekiah made of his treasures be
fore the eyes of the Assyrian ambassadors was im
mediately followed by the invasion of the Assyrian
host. If he should open the New Testament, he cannot
expound the Sermon on the Mount without coming
down with withering power upon the evils of the
times ; or enforce the parable of the Good Samaritan
without stirring up his people to sacrifice their money
and their comfort for the good of others. In a word,
he cannot stand beneath the cross and contemplate

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT.

295

the sacrifice which Christ made there for sinners of
mankind, without crying out himself, and leading
others to cry out, " What shall I render to the Lord
for all His benefits?" and they cannot present such a
prayer sincerely without having their eyes opened to
see 'the poor half-dead ones whom sin has wounded
and cruelty has scarred, lying all around, waiting for
a brother's help. Thus his pulpit will become a
center of influence, the results of which may tell on
thousands whom he has never seen. My young
brethren, aim at making your pulpits such centers;
take as your motto the words of Robert Nicol when
he left his Perthshire home for the editorial chair,
"We'll make the world better yet." Shake off all
slothfulness and indifference. Go forth, trusting in
the might, and the majesty, and the grace of Him
whom you serve, and He will make you the means of
salvation to multitudes. Linger not, for while you
delay, souls are going down to an undone eternity.
Falter not, for greater is He that is in you than he that
is in the world ; and when men would urge you to sit
still, make answer in the words of the noble Port
Royalist, " What ! shall we not have a whole eternity
to rest in?" or in the loftier words of the Master
himself, " I must work the work of him that sent me
while it is day ; the night cometh when no man can
work." But there is another class of subjects concerning
which it may be well to define somewhat precisely the
province of the pulpit. I refer now to the political.

2g6 the ministry of the word.
The Christian is a citizen as well as a saint, and he
should manifest his piety in the discharge of his civic
duties. Hence it is clearly within the range of the
pulpit to insist occasionally on the importance of
Christians taking a practical interest in political mat
ters. It has come to pass among us that all such
things are left, I will not say exclusively, but largely,
to those who have no regard for the Gospel of Christ ;
and so the whole class of men who engage in them is
brought under reproach. Now that is a sore evil, not
only for the State, but for the Church. The State can
not be entrusted to the management of such men
without suffering- detriment ; and the members of the
Church cannot live in the habitual neglect of a positive
duty without entailing some injury upon themselves.
Let the minister, therefore, when a fitting opportunity
comes, exhort Christians earnestly to assume their
proper responsibility as citizens. Let him show that
it is as much a privilege and a duty to take part in
the details of civil government, as it is to participate
in the ordinances of religious worship ; and let him
exhort all fo take their Christianity with them in the
exercise of their civil rights, and to go to the ballot-
box with as thorough a resolution to serve God there
as they make when they are going to the communion
table. This is the only way to purify our political
life ; and if the ministers of the Gospel shall not urge
their people to adopt it, how is relief to be obtained ?
" Ye are the salt of the earth : but if the salt have lost
its savor, wherewith shall it be salted ? it is thence
forth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden
under foot of men."

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT.

297

But, while it is the duty of the preacher thus to
seek to purify and elevate political life, by showing
that it is only one department of Christian activity,
he must not use his pulpit in the interests of any
party in the State. He is a citizen as well as other
men, and ought to avail himself of his privileges as such,
but it is a fair matter for argument whether or not he
should ever allow himself to become prominent on
either of the two sides into which politicians are
divided. It is conceivable, however, that the ques
tions under discussion may have such moral and
religious bearings that he feels compelled to use his
influence for one rather than another, and at such a
time he may, in my judgment, give public utterance
to his sentiments, and seek to enforce the reasons
which have commended them to his adoption. But
he must not do so in the pulpit. He must go for
such a purpose to the political platform, and take his
chance of being met by counter-argument or demon
strations of dissent. The pulpit gives no opportunity
of reply to the hearer ; and it is not only unseemly,
but unfair for its occupant to take advantage of the
battlements within which he is there entrenched for
the firing pf a party gun. Let him have the courage
of his convictions, and go with his speech where men
can hiss at him or answer him if they choose. But
let him not request people to come to the sanctuary
for the worship of God, and then take advantage of
the fact that he has it all his own way, for " pitching
in " to them on some political question. His appear
ance in the political arena will be all the more effect-

2q8 THE MINISTR Y OF THE WORD.
ive if it be known that he has kept all partizanship
out of the house of God.
There may be exceptional times, as when the crisis
of some great agony or conflict is upon the nation,
when it may be imperative on the preacher to take the
matter with him into the pulpit ; but in all ordinary
cases when he carries party politics into the sanctuary
he is doing a certain evil for the attainment of an un
certain good, which, after all, even if certain, might be
as well attained elsewhere. He may please some, but
he will undoubtedly so irritate others as to turn them
away from him even when he is dealing in those faith
ful sayings which are " worthy of all acceptation."
Some will say that by giving this advice I am ad
vocating a cowardly policy. But it is quite otherwise.
The cowardice will consist in the minister's sheltering
himself behind the safeguards of the pulpit. It is an
easy thing to be vehement and demonstrative, and
even defiant, when a man knows that nobody then
present has the right to peep or mutter either in dis
sent or in reply. The true courage will consist in
going to fifht the battle, where a battle is possible —
on the political platform, and seeking there to win the
day for truth, for purity, and for freedom.
Even that, however, should be the rare exception
with the minister of Christ, and he should take such
a course only when some sacred right of humanity is
assailed, or some moral principle is in danger of being
violated, or some matter of religious liberty and
equality is imperilled.
Generally speaking, he will serve the nation best by

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 299
adhering to his high spiritual vocation ; for the pros
perity of the country depends on the character of
the people, and nothing can make and mould char
acter like the Gospel of Christ.
But I pass now to an entirely different class of
questions, which in their own department are not less
important than those to which I have already alluded.
I mean those which have been developed by the ad
vancement of science. It has been alleged that the
statements of the Word of God are inconsistent with
the discoveries of our physical philosophers.
Now, here, my first counsel is, that in relation to
all such subjects the preacher should not be an
alarmist. Do not give your people the idea that the
revelation of God is endangered by every fragment
of a "jaw-bone" that may be discovered at "Abbe
ville " or elsewhere. Be open and receptive towards
sicence. If on its own evidence the Bible is true, you
may be sure that in the end no other truth can harm
it. It betrays weakness in the defenders of the Word
of God when they are so excited about little things.
Besides, they have no need to be afraid. The fact of
Christ's resurrection from the dead is not to be im
perilled by any question concerning chronology or the
antiquity of the race.
Again, do not be always attacking scientific men.
Nothing has been more painful to me in listening to
discourses, especially from young men, than to hear
the light and flippant tone in which some of the
greatest discoverers of the age were alluded to.

300

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

They communicated the impression that there is
some special affinity between science and infidelity.
But that is very far, indeed, from being the case.
The noble Faraday was as conspicuous for his hum
ble faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as he was for his
marvellous researches into magnetism and its related
sciences ; and during the meetings of the British As
sociation for the Advancement of Science, a year or
two ago, at Edinburgh, there were maintained by
some of its members, morning gatherings for prayer,
as remarkable in their character as those which are
held at the anniversary of the American Board
among ourselves. Therefore, it is not only ungener
ous, but untrue, to insinuate that science inevitably
leads to scepticism.
Furthermore, do not attempt to answer any of the
objections raised by some men of science, unless you
have fully and fairly mastered the subject from their
point of view. It is unfortunate that on each side of
this modern debate, much ignorance prevails regard
ing the department of the other. Scientific investi
gators havS not had a theological training. The ten
dency of their pursuits, as Jouffroy has well said, is
"to concentrate all their minds in their eyes and
hands." They are apt, therefore, to have no proper
appreciation of moral evidence, and to ignore the in
tuitions of the soul itself. But in theologians we
have just the opposite evil. They have had no scien
tific training, and in their vivid realization of the im
portance of spiritual truth, they are apt to depreciate
the labors of the physical philosopher. Now, in

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 30 1
these circumstances it will be foolish, not to say fool
hardy, in you to attack the positions of the man of
science, unless you are equally familiar with the sub
ject with himself. The true mediators here must be
men who can lay their hands upon both parties, and
who have the piety of the Christian, combined with
the insight and comprehension of the man of science.
It will be well, therefore, to leave the harmonizing of
the two to such men as are equally at home in both
departments. A lumbering and ineffective reply is a
thousand times worse than none ; and if you cannot
speak with the authority of conclusiveness, the best
thing you can do is to lead sinful souls to Christ, and
let them receive from Him such experimental evi
dence of the reality of His salvation as no power of
infidelity will ever shake.
But, without attempting to answer the objections
which have been raised from modern discovery, you
may do good service occasionally by pointing out
where precisely the discrepancies emerge. The scien
tific man believes in the infallibility of nature ; the
theologian believes in the infallibility of Scripture ;
and the differences, of which so much is made in these
days, lie, not between nature and revelation in them
selves, but between human interpretations of them.
The man of science interprets his facts in a certain
way, and makes certain deductions from them. These
interpretations and deductions, however, are not in
fallible ; they are not yet all unquestioningly received
by scientific men themselves. It is too soon, there
fore, to speak and reason, as if they were absolutely
correct.

302

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

Again, the theologian's interpretations of Scripture
are by no means infallible. Many of them which
were accepted in past days, have been disproved and
others substituted for them ; and of many more it
must be said that they are still unsettled. For in
stance, he would be a rash man who should assert
that he has discovered, with infallible accuracy, the
meaning of the first chapter of Genesis ; or should
affirm that he can satisfactorily unravel the chro
nology of the early chapters of that book. These
questions, and many others like them, are still sub
judice, and the wise course for all parties to this
modern misunderstanding is to wait, with mutual re
spect for each other, until God, in His providence and
by His spirit, shall lead to such interpretations of
nature on the one hand and of Scripture on the other,
as shall make manifest their perfect harmony. Let
the man of science go on with perseverance, and let
him not take any mischievous delight in flinging his
hypotheses at the Word of God. Let the theologian
also prosecute his inquiries with diligence and de-
voutness, and let him give over calling men of science
by evil names. They seem often to be working
against each other ; but they are in reality working
for each other and for the truth. In the formation
of the tunnel through Mont Cenis, the workmen
began at opposite ends, and approached each other
with driving machines apparently directed against
each other, but met at length in the middle to con
gratulate each other on the completion of their great
undertaking, because they were working under the

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT. 303
same supervision. So it will be with our theologians
and men of science. God, the great architect of prov
idence, is superintending both ; and by and by,
through the labors of both, the mountain of difficulty
will be- tunnelled through, no more to form a barrier
in the inquirer's way.
You may do much also in this matter by calling at
tention to such principles as these, namely : that the
Bible was not designed to be a revelation of physical
science; that its references to all such subjects are
merely incidental, and made in popular language ;
that, if it had alluded to such subjects in other than
popular language, it would have been unintelligible
to those to whom it was first given, and would have
been rejected by them for containing that which
some modern philosophers complain that it does not
contain ; that, considering the fact that it refers only
incidentally to these topics, its language concerning
some of them is occasionally very striking, and fully
in harmony with modern discoveries ; and finally,
that considering the course of things in the past, and
how what seemed at one time to be in hopeless an
tagonism to God's Word, is now held intelligently and
consistently with it, the wise course will be for both
sides to wait before the one tries to prove that there
is contradiction, or the other to enforce a harmony.
Moreover, we should not allow it to be forgotten
that, all advances of modern science notwithstanding,
there will ever be deep, solemn, all-important ex
periences in the human soul which only God's Gospel
can meet ; and if we dig down to these we shall go so
1547) 20

304

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

much lower than science, that the water which she has
apparently drawn from our well will return into our
spring. There will still be the poison of sin, which no
earthly antidote can neutralize, and which can be
counteracted only by the blood of the Redeemer's
cross. There will still be the sorrow of bereavement, to
be solaced only by the vision of the angel at the door
of the sepulchre, and the hearing of his soothing
words, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here ; He is risen as He said ; comesee the
place where the Lord lay." There will still be the
sense of lonesomeness stealing over the heart, even
amid the bustle, and business, and prosperity of the
world, to be dispelled only by the consciousness of
the Saviour's presence. There will still be the spirit-
shudder at the thought of death, which only faith in
Christ can change into the desire to depart and to be
with Him, which is far better. For these things
science has no remedy, and philosophy no solace, and,
strong in its adaptation to these irrepressible necessi
ties of the human heart, the Gospel of Christ will out
live all phifosophical attack and survive every form of
scientific unbelief.
But though all that is true, I would not have you
speak of Religion and Science as if they were antag
onists. They are elder and younger sister in the
same family; and though occasionally they may
seem to be at variance, yet let but some deep
grief enter into the home, or some heavy calamity
fall upon the dwelling, and all misunderstanding
between them will disappear ; they will lock them-

THE RELATION OF THE PULPIT.

305

selves in each other's arms, and science will find
her resting-place on the bosom of religion. You
can afford, therefore, to bid science God-speed !
Her triumphs will in the end contribute to the Gos
pel's advancement, ,1s it not written, " All things are
yours"? And you may rest assured that truth in
one department can never falsify that which, on its
own evidence, has been already ascertained to be true
in another.
And now, gentlemen, I have reached the end of my
labors among you ; and while there is a sense of
liberty in my heart, to which for months it has been
a stranger, inasmuch as I have now relieved myself
of that load of responsibility which my acceptance of
this Lectureship put upon me, yet I cannot part from
you, with whom I have been brought even so slightly
into contact, without some emotion. I trust that I
have said nothing that may tend to lower your ideal
of the office of the ministry, or to damp the ardor of
your enthusiasm as you look forward to its holy call
ing. You have before you the4 noblest work that is
given man to do upon the earth. You • will have
cares, and trials, and sorrows, which sometimes may
be heavier than those of others ; but you will have
also joys, that are more thrilling and enduring. I
have seen many varieties of experience among my
fellow-men, and have had many ups and downs in my
own ministry. There are many things which I should
not do again if, with my present knowledge, I were
permitted to begin life once more. But even if that

3o6 THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
opportunity were afforded me, I would choose again
to be a minister of the Gospel, only with more enthu
siasm and self-sacrifice than ever. I desire to say
with the sainted HenryMartyn, "Thank God, I am
Christ's minister." Christ's minister. Let that thought
fill your souls, and then your service will be of the
best. Be not like the cuckoo, whose ever changeless
song is the repetition of its own name. Resemble
rather the little sky-lark of my native land, which
rises ever, singing as it soars, until, itself unseen, it
rains a shower of melody upon the listening earth.
Forget yourselves. Seek only and always the good
of souls and the glory of the Lord, then added to
your own happiness will be the joy of every one
whom you have brought to Christ ; and in the end
"When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall re
ceive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." On
that day may I be a witness of your happiness and a
sharer of your reward !

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE QUOTED OR
REFERRED TO.

Exodus, iv. 10 

• 39

Acts, xx. 27 . . .

u xviii. 18 

264

Ll xx. 31 . .

11 xxxiv. 29 . . . .

20, 175

Romans, i. 16 . ,

Joshua iii. 4 "... .

. 174

11 iii. 25, 26

" xviii. 3 
• 175
" i»- 31 •
Judges, ii. 12 
¦ I7S
" xii. 6
" vi. 11-15 ....
¦ 39
u xii. 18 .
" xvi. 20 
¦ 175
u xvi. 3 .
u xviii. 4 . . . .
• 175
1 Corinthians, i. 13
2 Chron. xxv. 9 
. 40
i. 23
Psalm lvii. 7, 8 . .
. 212
11 ii. 2
Eccles. xii. 10, 11 . .
. 108
v. 7, 8 .
Isaiah vi. 1-8 . , . .
• 39
vi. 19, 20 . . .
" xxviii. 24-26 . . .
97
ix. 19
"1-4 
• 45
xv. 3-5 ... .
" lxi. 1-3 , ....
. 104
u, xv. 53 . .
Jeremiah, xx. 9 . . . .
¦ 133
2 Corinthians, i. 4 . . .
11 xxvi. j . . , .
141
i. 24 .
Ezekiel xxxiii. 7, 8 . . . .
. 142
iv. 2 
Amos viii. 11 
• 213
u iv. 5 
Matthew, v. 13 . . .
222
iv. 13 . . .
" xiv. 14 . . .
. 147
v. 19 
" xv. 32 . ,
148
v. 21 . . . . .
xx. 26-28 ....
10
viii. 9 . . . .
" xxviii. 20 ...
142
xii. 14 
Mark, vi. 26 . . .
. 41
xii. 15 
Luke, iv. 16 . . . . .
213
Galatians, vi. 14 . . ....
11 v. 1-16 
• 39
Ephesians, iv. 11-13 
Ll xv. 29, 30 
. 222
Philippians, i. 20 . . . .
u xxu. 26, 27 ....
10
u iii, r8 
John, i. i 
221
Colossians, i. 28, 29 . ....
" ii. 24, 25 . . .
. 45
1 Thessalonians, ii. 4 ....
" iii. 14, 16 
. 82
u "¦ 7 
iv. 18 . ...
222
2 Timothy, ii. 15 
41 iv. 23 . . . .
210
li iii. 16, 17 ....
li xii. 25 . ....
. 141
u iv. 2 . .
" xii. 32 
82
Hebrews, iv. 12 .
Acts, iv. 13 ...
143
U V. 12
" iv. 20 ....
• i33
" xi. 27
u iv. 31 . . . -
i39
James, ii. 10, . .
" x. 33 
207
u iii. -a . ,
u xiv. 1 . . . . •
6
1 Peter, v. 3
11 xvii. 16
• 45
3 John, 9 .
. 40
INDEX.

Adullam, cave of, a British Senator's notions of, 171.
Aggressiveness the life of the Church, 288.
Alexander, Rev. Dr. J. W., referred to, m.
American congregations and the Bible, 227.
Apostles, ministry of the, 16.
Arguments like soldiers, 121, 125.
Arnot, Rev. William, reference to, 202. ,
Articulation, distinctness of, how to be acquired, 72.
Artificiality to be avoided in the pulpit, 5, 72, and in piety, 260.
Bautain, M., quoted from, 87.
Beecher, Rev. Dr. Lyman, reference to his sermons on intem
perance, 135.
Beecher, Rev. H. W., references to, 183, 193, 195.
Bengel, canon of, for exposition, r77.
Bible, the instrument of the preacher's power,- 29; how to read
the, so as to prepare for preaching, 32 ; biographies of, to
be studied for a knowledge of human nature, 40 ; no book
of, to be neglected, 168; too common ignorance of, 170;
public reading of, 213 ; should be in the pew as well as in
the pulpit, 227 ; relation of, to science, 301, 303..
Biblicus, Doctor, 166.
Binney, Rev. Thomas, references to, 32, 68, 70.
Blackie, Professor, quoted from, 21, 59.
Blaikie, Rev. Dr., quoted from, 124.
Bonar, Rev. A. A., Visitor's Hand-Book of Texts, referred to,
268.
Books, knowledge of, a necessary preparation for the preacher,
53 ; value of, 54 ; what to read, 55 ; how to read, 56; ex-.
emplified in the case of Butler's Analogy, 57.

310 INDEX.
Brevity in a sermon, not in and of itself an excellence, 1 26 ; the
cry for, not of good omen, 127.
Bright, John, references to, 64, 171, 262.
Broadway Tabernacle, congregational singing, 238.
Brougham, Lord, quotations from, 121, 202.
Butler's Analogy^ how to read, 57.
Calderwood, Rev. Henry, LL.D., referred to, 60.
Carlyle, Thomas, reference to, 20.
Cautions, preliminary, 2-10 ; regarding expository preaching,
178 ; regarding the use of illustrations, 196.
Cecil, Rev. Richard, referred to, 55.
Chaucer, quotation from, 260.
Chalmers, Rev. Dr. Thomas, references to, 43, 65, 67, 93, 149,
152, 252.
Channing's Self-culture referred to, 59.
Choirs, what is needed in, 233.
Christ, tenderness of, a model for preachers, 145 ; use of illus
trations by, 195.
Christian, the, a citizen, 296.
Church, life of, consists in aggressiveness, 288.
Circumlocution, evil of, 67.
Coleridge, S. T., quotation from, 27.
Common sense essential to the preacher, 75.
Comments during the reading of the Scriptures, remarks on,
224.
Congregations, difference between Scotch and American, in the
use of the Bible, 227, 228.
Conflict, the, between capital and labor, 286 ; how to meet, 294.
Courage necessary to the preacher's effectiveness, 138; distin
guished from personal invective, 140 ; how to secure, 141 ;
relation of tenderness to, 144.
Cowper, William, referred to, 147, 255.
Crawford, Rev. Thomas, D.D., on the atonement, referred to, 32.
Cross, the preaching of, 88 ; two elements of its power, 89.
Cumming, Rev. Dr., reference to, 224.

INDEX. 3II
Dale, R. W., reference to, essential on the atonement, 32.
Defmiteness of aim essential to an effective sermon, no.
Delivery, general counsels on, 72-75, 148 ; use of a manuscript
in, 149; comparison of different methods, 150.
Demosthenes, references to, 75, 202.
Design of the ministry, 15-18.
Dick, Rev. John, D.D., story of, 166 ; lectures on the Acts of the
Apostles, 179.
Diminutive themes to be avoided by the preacher, in.
Doctrine to be preached, 84, 86.
Dull devotion, cure of, 212.

EARNESTNESS distinguished from rant, 131 ; springs from per
sonal conviction, 132 ; and from a vivid realization of the
position of the hearers, 135.
"Ecce Homo," quotation from, 290.
Effective preaching defined, 107; effort to secure, not incon
sistent with faith in the agency of the Holy Spirit, 107 ;
defmiteness of aim necessary to, no ; precision of language
necessary to, 1 10 ; clearness in arrangement necessary to,
121 ; depends on the preacher's earnestness, 131 ; on his
courage, 138 ; and on his tenderness, 144.
Eloquence different from rhetoric, 18-21.
Emphasis, importance of, appropriate, 74.
Emerson, R. W., referred to, 59.
Epithets, employment of, 66.
Exhaustiveness in a sermon not always desirable, 112.
Expository Preaching defined, 155, 156, 157; method of, 158;
use of historical imagination in, 159; powers required fo^
160 ; preparation for, 160 ; brings preacher and hearers
face to face with the mind of the Spirit, 162 ; secures variety
• of topics, 164; keeps the minister from neglecting truths
which might otherwise be overlooked, 166 ; secures attention
to all the books of the Bible, 168 ; promotes biblical intelli
gence, 170; accumulates stores for topical sermons, 172;

312

INDEX.

objections to, answered, 175 ;' cautions concerning, 178 ; ex
amples of, 179 ; relation of, to social questions, 293.
Extemporizers have frequently that which is equivalent to writ
ing, 118.
Faber, F. W., quoted from, 138.
Fairbairn, Principal, quoted from, 12.
Follett, Sir Win., story of, with George Stephenson, 123.
Galatians, Epistle to the, characterized and accounted for,
135-
Gatty, Mrs. Alfred, " Parables from Nature,'' referred to, 235.
Gospel described, 81 ; the true remedy for social evils, 288.
Graham, Rev. William, referred to, 55, 60.
Grant, Sir Robert, reference to, 244.
Guthrie, Rev. Dr. Thomas, references to, and quotations from,
43, 65 ; on the use of illustrations, 192; memoirs of, quoted
from, 187, 188 ; experiences at Arbrilot, 191 ; at his highland
home, 195 ; tendency of, in illustration, 202.
Half-Truths guarded against by expository preaching, 168.
Hall, Rev. Robert, references to, 7, 118, 262.
Hamilton, Rev. Dr. James, illustrations of, from spiders, 199 ;
story told^ by, 249.
Hamilton, Sir William, on Guthrie's illustrations, 187.
Heathenism at home, 285 ; how to meet, 289-294.
Henry, Matthew, commentary of, 225.
Herbert, George, quotation from, 233.
Highland Shepherd, gatheringhis flock, 122 ; and the lambs, 275.
Hippodrome services, reference to, 290-292.
History to be studied for a knowledge of the human heart, 41.
Horace, quotation from, 26.
Human heart, knowledge of, necessary to the preacher, 35.
Hunt, Holman, story of his painting, " The Light of the World,"
278.

INDEX.

3*3

Hymns, selection of the, for public worship, 237 ; should be read
before they are sung, 239.
ILLUSTRATIONS, use of, in preaching, 183 ; must not form the
staple of a sermon, 183 ; lesson in use of, from an English
artisan, 185 ; make the thought plain, 186; have a force of
proof, 187; awaken the attention, 190; make permanent
impressions, 191 ; how to get, 192 ; use of, by our Lord, 195 ;
not to be employed for things already plain, 196 ; must not"
be too numerous, 197 ; recondite things must not be em
ployed for, 198 ; humor in, 200 ; must be accurately expressed,
200 ; full force of, must go to illuminate the truth, 201,
Imitation, evil of, 5.
Importance of self-knowledge to the preacher, 37-40.
Individuality to be preserved by the preacher, 5.
Irving, Rev. Edward, references to, 125, 276.
James, Rev. J. A., referred to, 93.
Jay, Rev. William, quotations from, in reference to, 20, 122, 124,
I46- J49-
Jethro's Advice to Moses valuable to ministers, 264.
Johnson, Samuel, referred to, 56.
Jouffroy, saying of, concerning scientific men, 300.
KER, Rev. Dr. John, on the logic of illustrations, 187; on the
originals of Guthrie's similes, 195.
LANTERN, the Preacher's, quoted from, 65, 199.
Lawson, Rev. Dr. George, story of, 76.
Leighton, Archbishop, quoted from, 210.
Leifchild, Dr., quotation from, 118.
Length of a sermon, remarks on the, 125.
Liddon, Canon, quoted from, 243.
Life Thoughts, by H. W. Beecher, 193.
" Like '' related to " likely," 188 ; and that for which we have a
" liking," 190.

3M

INDEX.

Lighthouse at Sandy-Hook, illustration from, 203.
Light of the World, by Holman Hunt, 278.
Literature, knowledge of, necessary as a preparation for the
preacher, 53.
Logic of illustrations, 187.
Love and Righteousness the two elements of the power of the
Cross, 89.
Macall, Rev. Dr., references to, 21, 220.
Macaulay's Essays, quoted from, 203.
MacGregor, John, referred to, 49.
Maclaren, Rev. Alexander, quoted from, 85, 92.
Macleod, Rev. Alexander, D.D., reference to his Christus Con-
solator, 104.
Manuscript, use of a, 148-152.
Martyn, Henry, saying of, 306.
Masses, the, condition of, 285 ; danger to the nation from, 286 ;
danger to the Church from, 287.
Method in a serrnon, true place of, 124.
Milton, John, quoted from, 71, 188.
Mingling with men recommended for the getting of a knowledge
of human nature, 44.
Minister, Christ the model, n; for the church, not the
church for him, 13 ; a helper of others, 14, 45, 48; must
renounce s,elf, 1 5 ; different from an Evangelist, 94 ; relation
of, to choir, 236 ; should sing with the people, 239 ; should
not attempt too manv things at once in the beginning of his
pastorate, 261 ; should not hang everything on his own neck,
264 ; should not seek to have his own way in everything, 265 ;
must give himself entirely to his work, 283 ; should organize
his people for work, 289 ; relation of, to politics, 295 ;
should not be an alarmist about science, 299.
Ministry a service, 10; design of the, 15 ; range of the, 99, 285.
 of the Apostles, 16.
Monotony, evil of, 74.
Mont Blanc, illustration from, 164.

INDEX.

31?

Moody, D. L., work of, references to, 34, 290, 293.
Music not worth a church quarrel, 231 ; general remarks on,
234-
Newton, John, tenderness of, 146.
Nehemiah, book of, too commonly neglected, 169 ; a Scottish
woman's criticism on tenth chapter of, 169.
Nicol, Robert, motto from, 295.
ORATORY distinguished from rhetoric, 18-21 ; Sunday-school,
common fault of, 184.
PASTORAL visitation, personal experiences in, 271 ; present plan
of, 273 ; hints for, 275.
 of the sick, importance of, 267 ; counsels on, 268 ;
indirect benefits of, 270.
Pastorate, relation of, to the pulpit, 259-261 ; hints for the begin
ning of a, 261-267.
Paul, example, of, 12, 14, 17, 22 ; gospel according to, 82, 88,
91, 92, 98, 102 ; tenderness of, 144 ; humor of, 200.
Peace in a church essential to prosperity, 235.
Pearsal, J. Spencer, on public worship, 254.
Pen, use of the, an essential preparation for the preacher, 61 ;
gives defmiteness to thinking, 62; ministers' too readiness of
expression, 62 ; secures precision of language, 1 14 ; secures
that each part of the discourse shall have its due propor
tion, 116.
Personal experiences of the author, 13, 28, 33, 37, 42, 43, 46, 60,
92, 95, 112, 147, 149, 150, 185, 193, 200, 263, 271,
Perspicuity essential to a good style, 64.
Pew, Bible should be in the, 227.
Piety, artificial, to be avoided, 260.
Plain things do not need to be illustrated, 196.
Politics and the pulpit, 295, 299.
Porter, President, on Books and Reading, referred to, 59.
 Rev. Dr., of Andover, referred to, 254.

316 INDEX.
Pousa, the Chinese potter, story of, 21.
Praise, public, use of hymns in, 231 ; use of instrumental music
in, 232 ; employment of choirs in, 233 ; selections' of hymns
for, 237 ; relation of minister's example and preaching to,
239-
Prayer, connection of, in the closet with power in the pulpit, 26.
Prayer, public, most important part of service, 241 ; requires
preparation of the heart, 241 ; must spring from a knowl
edge of the circumstances of the people, 241 ; should be
preceded by a season of privacy, 242 ; exhaustive labor of,
243 ; should be common and not individual, 245 ; petitionary
and not hortatory, 246 ; real and not artificial, 249 ; definite
and direct, 251 ; intercessory and not selfish, 254.
Treacher cannot begin at that which is the maturity of another,
2 ; preparation of the, 25-78 ; must be a sincere Christian,
25 ; differs from an evangelist, 95.
Preacher's Lantern, The, referred to, 65, 199.
Preaching, expository, 155 ; advantages of, 162-172 ; objections
to, answered, 175 ; cautions concerning", 178 ; examples of,
179 ; relation of, to social questions, 293.
Preaching, effective, defined, 107 ; qualities of, in the sermon,
no; in the preacher, 131.
Precision of language, how to secure, 114.
Preparation of the preacher, 25-78.
Proportion in a, sermon, how to secure, 11 6-1 18.
Public reading of the Scriptures, hints on, 215-227.
Public speaking, how to secure facility and distinctness in, 72.
Public worship, relation of, to preaching, 207 ; essential things
in, 209 ; relation of a filial heart to, 210.
Pulpit, theme of, 81 ; range of, 99; peculiar and distinctive
power of, 162 ; relation of, to pastorate, 259 ; relation of,
to social questions, 285 ; to political matters, 295 ; to scien
tific subjects, 299.
Range of the Preacher, 99, 285.
Reading of the Scriptures in public worship, advantages of, 214 ;

INDEX.

317

reverence in, 214; selection of passages for, 215 ; relation
of private devotional reading to, 216 ; length of selections
for, 218 ; whole attention to be given to, for the time, 219 ;
should indicate the meaning, 220 ; hints for, 222-224 '
whether or not to be accompanied by comments, 224-227 ;
preparation necessary for, 223.
Rhetoric different from eloquence, 18-21.
Robertson, Rev. F. W., referred to, 119.
Sandy-Hook Lighthouse, illustration from, 203.
Sankey, Mr., singing the Gospel, 233.
Science does not meet all human needs, 303 ; not necessarily
connected with infidelity, 300 ; relation of revelation to,
3°i, 3°3-
Scientific subjects and the pulpit, 291-305.
Scriptures, acquaintance with the, essential to the preacher, 29-
35 ; public reading of the, 213 ; copies of the, should be in
the pews, 227.
Self-knowledge, importance of, to the preacher, 37.
Self-renunciation the root of excellence, 14, 21.
Seminary duties not to be neglected, 27.
Sermon should have a distinct aim, no ; should be written, 114
like a pyramid, 122 ; like the shooting of an arrow, 122.
Shakespeare, works of, to be studied for a knowledge of human
nature, 41 ; Guthrie's opinion of, 43 ; Sir James Stephen on,
44; quotation from, 131.
Shepherd, Highland, gathering his flock, 122 ; with the lambs, 275.
Ship-builder on the Tyne, story of, 47.
Sick, visitation of the, hints for, 267-270.
Smeaton, Rev. Professor, on the atonement, reference to, 32.
Social subjects and the pulpit, 285.
South Kensington Museum, illustration from, 159 ;
Spurgeon, Rev. C. H., quotations from and references to, 19, 119,
i'84, 224, 254 ; treasury of David, 225.
Spirit of adoption, the, is the spirit of supplication, 211.
Stanley, Dean A. P., referred \.o, 55.

3i»

INDEX.

Stephenson, George, story of, 123.
Storrs, Rev. R. S., D D., referred to, 120.
Style, how to form a good, 63 ; perspicuity of, 64 ; evil of pre-
tensiveness in, 64.
Sunday-school oratory, common fault of, 184.
Swift, Dean, saying of, 56.
System of theology to be formed from the Bible, 3 1 .
Tenderness necessary to effectiveness, 144 ; how related to
courage, 144 ; how to be acquired, 146.
Tennyson, Alfred, quoted from, 9, 135.
Theme of the minister, 81.
Theological training, necessity of, 27.
Trench, Archbishop, quoted from, 1 89.
Truths in situ found by the Expositor, 165.
Unconsciousness, Carlyle's gospel of, 20.
Unity in a sermon enforced, 122.
Use of a manuscript, 149.
Visitation, of the sick, 267-270; pastoral, 271 ; hints for,
275.
Whateley, Archbishop, references to, 32, 67.
Whittier, J. G., quotation from, 268.
Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, quoted from, 30.
Willmott's " Pleasures and Advantages of Literature " referred
to, 59.
Young Ministers apt to forget to preach to Christians, 95 ;
like young delvers, 113; danger of, from attempting too
many things at first, 262.
Young, importance of looking well to, 275.

Q