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Volume 88. RALEIGH' N. C, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18; 1893. if Number 37 The Biblical Recorder. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY. US (op stairs) Fayette ville Street, Ealelgh, N. C. TlBHS Of BfcBSCRrrTIOlT: . Ooi oopy, ope year. . , . . $ 2 .00 Oas copy, six months , 1.00 Ctabs of ten (oopy extra to vender) . . . . 20.00 Anonymous communication will alwayi find ibeir war to the waste basket No exceptions. la tending letter of business, it la absolutely neo eaary that you give your poetoffloe address in fall; The date on the label of your paper indicates vhen your auoecnption expiree, ana also serves aa receipt tor your money, :.-sy:. Obituaries, sixty words long, are inserted free of charge. When they exceed this length, one cent for each word must be paid in advance. . it Don wi juukw wiv jvui yvkyvi viiwunij ytoaffo state the postomoe as wnicn you receive tne pap u well as the one to which you wish it changed. - Remittances munt be sent by Registered Letter,. Postomoe order, foetal note, icxpress or lmirt, Dayable to the order of the Publisher. Do not send stamps. :,-vi- ,; Sermon Preparation. RECENTLY BUD BEFORE THE SOMERSET (ST.) PASTORS CONFERENCE BY RET. W. . WARD. I The preparation of a sermon should al ways begin with the preparation of the heart. A sermon is not wholly the product of the intellect The heart most enter largely into it Otherwise tne hearer s intellect may be instructed and gratified while bis heart will be untouched. In order to put much spir itual power into a sermon, the preacher should be much encaged in prayer at the beginning and daring its preparation. Thus . Ood's blessing la secured, thought is quick ened and spiritual life is given to the whole discourse, t In fact, tne sermon should be born of the Holy Spirit amid earnest study and faithful prayer. When a sermon is thus prepared, the preacher prays not in vain for divine help in its delivery. Baying secured divine guidance, he is then ready to select his subject The late - Dr. - Phillips Brooks once remarked to a friend that he knew nothing of the worry which many preachers experience in select ing themes to preach from... However, the average preacher finds this a very difficult part of his work. And yet I am convinced that the preacher who fives in close touch with God and with his congregation will seldom lack for subjects to preach on. The Word of God was given to meet the spirit- 'ual needs of human souls. And the minis ter who makes himself familiar with the Bible and with the needs of his congrega tion will find subjects crowding upon him. Bis own experience with the truth will be very suggestive. For what will do his own - soul good will nnder the same circumstances do others good. But however his selection may be made, let him be thoroughly im pressed with its importance. He should feel that much depends upon its appropriateness. In selecting his theme he has the earnest purpose of accomplishing something for God, and that something should be clearly defined in his mind to begin with. A ser mon prepared and preached for the beauty of the subject as famishing an occasion for , oratory, for the simple entertainment of the people, or for the purpose of filling in time, can never accomplish holy results. A ser mon should never be prepared and preached for its own sake. The preacher who can afford to do this has a very poor conception -of his sacred calling. o The happy choice of a text has much to do both with the preparation and delivery of a sermon. A strained connection between the text and the theme, or unnatural divisions vWill impress the preacher with a sense of Incongruity which will cripple his whole effort in preparation and delivery. When the text has been chosen, it will of ten be ' found that the mind is sluggish and refuses to act readily. In this case, it will be found very helpful to take up some book which has in it the properties of mental stimulus ' and read for a while. ' Here his mind comes in contact with nntir mind which was 1 wrought up to intense activity .at the time i of writing, and his mind catches fire, and he is ready to take up his subject and forces all his powers of thought upon it. . The text should receive the most careful : and painstaking study. Otherwise what is the significance of taking a text? The .of the text, and ty. the light of the Holy, Spirit take his bearings.. Let him work s from within outwards, instead of gathering - his materials from other quarters and dump ing them down upon the text; he will thus 'get much of the materials for the sermon uu oi the text, surface materials are easuy : gathered and therefore easily , exhausted. This is why I Insist on the penetrating study , of the text This delving into the text opens rich mines of truth not to be found else-, where Here we discover the relation of the truths involved in the text to other related truths. A close and discriminative study of. tnose relations conduce to freshness of style, . and suggest lines of thought replete with in terest for other sermons. A sermon should ; he evolved out of the text, and made to glow a hy the touch of a soul on fire with love to God. ; Such a sermon has power in It to Jnove souls nearer to God. It is not attached w the text by an imaginary jiems; but Trows naturally out of it and reveals its meaning and power. Let the text be stud led in its own proper setting. The reflection from the jewels of truth about it often clothes it with a different hue, and frequently invests it witn a new . meaning to us. 1 This may lead to the necessity of hunting a new text, or it may lead to a rich train of thought wnoiiy different from mat contemplated. This is the telescopic view of the text which "takes in the wider sweep of the whole firmament of truth." . f : , Nor should the preacher be content to study the text in the English if he has even a smattering knowledge of the original Ian guage. A professor of New Testament Greek recently said that "a preacher who knows anything about Greek and runs out of something to preach' about ought to be ashamed of himself." 1 am firmly convinced that the text should be studied in the orig inal where it is at all possible. Those pas sages which have become commonplaces to us are, in the light of the original, often clothed with new life and beauty. The de vout student of the original receives valua ble impressions and suggestions which he would fail to get from any translation. These iltenjuinishch Ideas are never fully expressed in words. "For words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within." And as thought is greater than language, so lan guage is always greater in . its original tongue.. Hence it pays in the preparation of a sermon to toil over the text in the origi nal, thongh one should have a very limited knowledge of it The preacher should bring all his powers of analysis to bear on tne subject in hand; It should be taken apart and polished piece by piece. .Let it be thoroughly thought through and through. Until this is done, any effort at synthesis or sermon construc tion will be awkward and difficult And it should be" remembered that clear thinking here will guarantee clear expression in the delivery of the sermon. No man can make a thing clear to others which has not first been made clear to himself. Having analyzed his subject, he wishes to begin to build his sermon. First of all, be must have the frame work. He needs nat ural and clear cut divisions. These he should get without aid of note or commentary, Consultation of note or comment before this will often confuse the ideas which he has gotten pure and simple from his own inde pendent and devout study of uods word. Dr. John McNeil of London says ? ' The true preacher prays and meditates on the Scriptures until he has a vision, and be never preaches till he gets the vision." He beholds the outline of his discourse, which, like the outlines of a great painting, needs to be filled out. lie now addresses himself to this part of the work. He selects such materials as appropriately enter into the ser mon and the sermon grows until it cones to the finish and is ready for delivery. The Bible, or course, is the chief source of mate rials for a sermon. However, the true preacher lays all his store of knowledge under tribute as sermon materials, and the larger a man's supply of knowledge is the more userul be may be. Hut whatever else may be introduced into a sermon, it should be for the sole purpose of illustrating, ap plying and enforcing the truths of uods word. "The gospel is the power of uod unto salvation." Many a sermon fails of its highest good because the introduction and conclusion have been left to the inspiration of the mo ment. These should be prepared with es pecial care since it is necessary to make a good impression at the beginning of the ser mon in order to attract and rivet the atten tion. Then the interest which is awakened in the beginning should rise higher and higher till it reaches its climax at the con clusion. This is not likely to be the case if the conclusion is left to the inspiration of the moment Both of these will often grow naturally out of the body of the discourse. At other times the circumstances may fur nish materials for the introduction While a vigorous application of the sermon forms a. fit conclusion. . After all, whatever suggestions we may cftt bv studvinff sermon DreDaration. a man's gifts and circumstances will largely mould his theory and practice of sermon making. And the same thing is true as to aeuvery. But whatever methods of preparation and delivery one may follow, the burning pur pose which should thread every sermon should be to save souls, build up christian character and glorify God. " The Preaching of the Day. M As dull as a sermon" has passed into a nrnvfirh. Yet there is no neeessarv connec tion between the pulpit and platitude. Even in our own days, wnen tne innuence oi tne press is supposed to overshadow the preach er wd ran nnlnt in not a. : few whose words have won the attention and gained the hearts multitudes who hung spell bound on tneir , inn. There mftv be manv who in their ser- Aim at nothing and hit it" but the man who is mastered by his theme and de- Clares the wnoie counsel oi uoa nas never failed to command an audience. ' . ' . Nor Is there any reason why the pulpit should ever cease to maintain its proper. place or to exercise its peculiar power. So long as tne preacner is true to ms.misaiyu uwf faithful in proclaiming the gospel of God, he holds a position seeond to none.; For in this world, where sin riots, and its corse has captured the very heart of man. he who wonnuy mis tne puipn is m mes senger of divine mercy and the harbinger of heavenly bliss. There is no higher message, no holier ministry, than bis. '. Nevertheless, it were folly to deny that many sermons are wholly lacking in worth. Without "grace, grit, or gumption,'? they fail to reach either the understanding or the heart.' Containing no divine message, and wholly devoid of spiritual power, they effect no change in the iaith or life of ' those who hear them. Now, surely the purpose of a sermon ought to be the conversion of sin ners or the "building up" of believers. The true function of the preacher Is to persuade, not to please. Yet nowadays this is not sel dom forgotten. f The orator too often is mainly anxious to display his gifts, and win the applause of the groundlings. Provided he can satisfy himself and. his hearers, he is too often well content Thus lightly does he fail to use the vantage ground assigned him, and be both forgets and forfeits the high and holy privilege with which he has been en trusted. .Sermons, however eloquent or pro found, ranging over the whole field of liter ature, while carefully avoiding all reference to the gospel, are a disgrace to preacher ana .bearer alike. ' "J " :;2:. " Evidehtly3f"tnT puTpirislo reouainTtrue to itself, it must allow only and always the the exposition and enforcement of the truths contained in the Word. . in other places and at other times it may be lawful to deal with the "burning questions" of the hour: but when the congregation meets on the Lord's day, the one question demanding an in stant answer is, "What saith the Scripture?" People who believe that God. has given us a rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him, care very : little about the thoughts or opinions of the man who speaks; they are only anxious to learn and love the true sayings of God. It is worse than im pertinence merely to amuse or interest an audience when its one real concern and need is to be saved and sanctified by the truth of One of the highest compliments ever paid to a preacher by a king was Addressed to Massillon by the ruler of France. "When I listen to other preachers, I go away pleased with the preacher; bnt after listening to you, I depart displeased with myself.! The rea son is not far to seek. While -others cared only to tickle the royal ear, the more faithful priest was anxious to awaken the sleeping conscience and to make some impression on the hardened heart The weight and Worth of a sermon are alone determined by its effect. When preaching sends truth to the heart by the power of the lioly Ghost, sin ners are saved and saints are edified. And it is by "manifestation of the truth "-that the genuine preacher commends himself " to every man's conscience in the sight of Uod." - . ' -i . .. There are two qualities essential to suc cess in winning souls. Fitly are they thus indicated in a recent address from the pres ident of the Congregational Union of Lon don: v. r - ' '" i r'-k "There are two things which a preacher must ever keep, in himself: love of Christ and his gospel, which ensures personal pi etythe one thing which one cannot learn from another, and which is not transmi table; and the love of men and their eternal wel fare, which makes him a true Christian phi lanthropist These two, if watched and fed, will make a living interesting, if not an elo quent preacher. -Ineffective preachers, as a real personal religious conviction, or in sin cere interest in the welfare here and here after of their fellow-men. And if you ques tion the fact that there are preachers with out any interest in their fellowmen, read the aavertiaf raenws wnero uuurcu juviura cue offered for sale. The last recommendation often dwelt upon, after describing the pleas ant scenery, the spacious vicarage, the sal mon pool, and the -almost total absence of Dissenters, is that there are only so many.in habitants in the parish. Yes, 'a recommen dation' that there are no people to take trouble with. No people to be loved, saved and ed ified; and the living is bought witjk avidity. "What better can be done with a preacher if human beings with their trials and eter nal destinies are nothing but trouble to him, than to bury him alive in a district without peoplet "But let me Quote a sentence of Quite an other spirit by Dr. Arnold: That which we know and love we cannot but communi cate.' ; If we would be living preachers we muet.be loving ones; we must idealize our congregations, and see in the men and wo men and children around us those for whom Christ gave himself, and the' glorious char acters he can make them to be. What Em erson says of eloquence is not only true but very suggestive: 'It is, the best speech of the best soul What additional powers, what increase of influence is opened before each one of us by making our preaching the best speech, full of thetenderest persuasion, the outflow of great love, and ourself the best soul,' telling upon our thoughts, words, and the very tones of our voice. What 'land to be possessed' is opened before us, in new and legitimate influence, on the one side and the other 'the best speech of the best soul P "-r Preachers' Magazine. ; . ,; J Some people measure their duty to their fellowmen by the benefits that they have re ceived from them. Frequently such people are narrow minded and inefficient We must measure our obligations to others by what Christ has done for us. This is the plan: upon which the most useful of Christ's ser vants have always worked. f Central Bap tist. X-l V-VA-Y -'- A Bejoinder to Bro. White.' Dear Bro. 'Bailey: I wish to set myself straight with Bro. Jno. E. White, then I am done. I am glad J have enough of the milk of human kindness in my heart to love and honor Bro. White, or any other brother for honestly holding on to an opinion, though nis.ppimon, in my judgment, is not correct l have great respect for the honesty of Bro White, but mighty little for his opinion in regard to a call to the ministry. v Bro. W. says I'did not deal fairly with his article oy leaving out the phrase, " With its attendant theatricals, scenes, visions, &c" What he means by the &o.," I can't telL I left that out because I did not wish to oppose a thing about which I knew nothing. The . ' t M SI ... at w . wnoie passage is as iouows: " we no longer subscribe to the doctilne of apostolic suc cession, wnr i Because it is neither scrip tural nor reasonable. Besides, it tends to religious oligarchy. And the sooner we rid ourselves of the other and companion error of a personal and miraculous interposition of uod in the calling of men into the ministry, with its attendant theatriala of scenes, vis ions. &a. nearer will we-eccord with truth, scripture and common sense." ' Bra w. in geniously arranges his assertion, viz : that God does not interpose personally in the calling of men into the ministry by putting it in a capsule. On one side he places the assertion that he don't believe in apostolic succession, and on the other that he don't believe in theatricals of scenes, visions, &c I can say as readily as Bro. W. that I do not believe in "apostolio succession,", nor in "the theatricals of scenes and. visions." but I do believe in the personal interposition of God in calling men into the ministry. I don't know whether I believe in his "&c" or not. His capsule was too big for me to swallow, so I took only its contents. Bro. W. ought not to have offered that great big thing to be swallowed. Such big portions can best be taken in bro ten doses. If he will read my article carefully, I think he will see that I did not base the call to preach and regeneration on the same pas sage, but used it only as a simile, showing that the impressions made upon the heart, calling one to preach, is made by the same spirit and in the same way as in regenera tion. But If I had based the two on the same passage, I hardly think it would have been a later development In theology than his doctrine that men should preach without acalL.-"---'.I'..v;4.,.i::H1;.., Again he says: " The call to preach, the impression made by the Spirit, urging one toiay aside worldly ambition, in my opin ion is no more miraculous and special than the impression made , by the Spirit urging a man to do a certain act of charity." Cer tainly nothing can be more true. The only difference in the impressions made upon the two persons is that the one is impressed to engage in a work for life, while the other is impressed to do a single act i his, in my opinion, is all that is meant oy a can to tne ministry, it is not accompanied oy any theatricals of scenes and visions. Now, I maintain that unless one feels these imprea- sions oi ine spine w " lay asiuo wuiiuiy am- .... ... . i".'.. . 1 . 15-A ' Dillons " ana engage in tne puouc ministry, he has no rigM to preach. Will the brother admit this t If so, how shall we reconcile with this his assertion that " How he- shall serve Him is determined entirely bv his own luds ment of his talent ancf fitness t" ; Paul savs. in Romans 12: 4-8, "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we beinsr many are one body in Christ, and everv one members one oi anotner. tiav ing,. then, gifts differing according to the grace that is given tinto us, whether proph ecy, let ns prophesy according to the propor tion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacneth, on teacn- inc: or he that exhorteth, on exhortation. He that giveth let him do it with simplicity; he that ruietn witn auigence, , ub tua showeth mercy with cheerfulness. 'I Now, he who feels impressed by the Spirit to en- Sjage in teaching, or exhortation, or the min strv. is called to do that special work. I think there are some whose duty it is to en gage in making money to carry on the Lord's work. It would not be wrong to say that they are called to do that work. - Some who give money are doing as acceptable service for their Master as those who give their time and talent to preaching His gospel. - God does not, we think, call a man to any of these departments of .His work unless he is quali fied, but the man is not left to be the judge of his qualifications. If God call him He has a place adopted to nis quaancauons. tie may not be adapted to the work in the city, but there Is a work for him in" the village or Oountry. But Bro. Wf , does not seem to rec ognize the different departments of the Lord's work. : He seems to make the mistake of classing all Christian work under the head of preaching. He says: "I still earnestly believe that if the growth of grace were per sisted in. that every truly converted person could not, as the supreme importance of the gospel iorcea useii upon nis uean, im Dreach it to his friends, to strangers, every where, as did these members of the Jerusa- em Church, k If 4; such was the case, . who would do the other Christian work! J , v There is a great difference in propagating the gospel and preaching It officially. Preach ing is only one way of propagating it All other ways and methods are just as honora ble as preaching. .1 Cor., 12: 21-22: "And the eve cannot say unto the hand, I have no heed of thee; nor again, the head to the feet have no need of you; nay, much more tnose members of the body which seem to be more feeble, are necessary." I sgpree with the brother that too much of the work has been left for the ministers to do. I think persons are just as imperatively called to other bmnehefiUr the work as to the ministry. 5 ; i he position taken is a work for every man, and every man to his work. Itettd Mark 13:34. , ' ' ' . If, as Bra W. maintainsno special call to the ministry is necessary; why the custom of examining ministers, before ordination, on their call to the work. If there is no authority for it, then it must be wrong to require any evidence of a call when there is none. Is it possible, that all the Baptist host, and other denominations, too, have been going blindly in this matter! It is possible, but not proo able. Bra White must be in the hopeless minority of Baptists, at least. I - ; With the kindest feeling for all who may differ in opinion, I leave the subject with them. ; t TS. Akmiicwr. . Cross Anchor, S. C. 'Thoughts By the Way. ' '; In"rmy rifamBTeT'lamong the' churches,"! sometimes find that the church-members seem to worship their pastor more thsn their God ; or it looks so to a spectator. Is this best for the pastor and congregation I Preach ers are human beings liable to err like other people. If a preacher is a good man, he is as good and no better than a good layman. The.adulatlon shown him sometimes makes him worship himself and dislike all those who - do not - worship him ,or sonnd his praises. ' ' 1 ' l think tne pastor ought to be always spoken well of-hold up his hands and help him forward in all good works. 1 Some churches pay their pastors so little, that they almost starve them ; and in that case I can't see how the pastor can love or respect them as he should (no pastor wor ship there). Surely the people who will not, pay a fair salary don't resptct him enough. - Again, 1 think some exurcbes pay their pastors more than is necessary for his sup port; and this I think they do sometimes to worship themselves to say, we pay our preacher so many thousand dollars a year ; it irnnlrl ha a. difitrrnmt to nn tec nnv lfis " im would be retrograding; . , . ; -I- ,. I think it is the doty of all working in a civilized country to pay liberally to churches, orphan asylums and all worthy charita ble objects ; and if it is, we ought not to cause one preacher to live in luxury, and oar next-door neighbor preacher, who does as much or more work, to nearly starve. I believe in being consistent in church work as well as in other things, and think a church should be run on common sense as much so as a farmer's or a merchant's business. Fur ther! I believe churches are rather anxious for rich men to join them, whether con-; verted or not ; and if the man thought to be rich (and they don't know that he can pay his debts, though be seems to be rich) does not pay very liberally, the members gen erally, begin to talk about how stingy and ; mean he is. and thereby .cultivate an un- - brotherly feeling in the church. The re puted rich man will hear of such remarks, and will think if the poorer members had. worked more and talked less, they, . too, might have been worth more. Hence, it may not be best to make a special effort to get the rich in the churches unless surely converted. " There is none good, no not vuo, kuo LJlviv oa j a , auu w to w c' , will only be through the mercy of God. This fact clearly shows that we should over look the failings of others as much as we can, as we an nave our tauits, wnetner om ersknowof them or not So let us do all we can to nelp our erring brethren. The Kkcokder grows better and better as it increases in age. Justice. V Depreciating Other People, ' Some men have a habit of depreciating others. They can always see the faults of their neighbors much quicker than their good qualities; ; Where no real fault exists they either imagine one, or ' by innuendo suggest to other people that so and so Is not what he is generally supposed to be. The true inwardness of this evil habit of speak ing depreciatingly of others, is an effort to elevate One's self in the estimate' of the per son addressed. When a man has no strong points to commend him, he seeks to appear important by ingeniously reflecting, on bis contemporaries. The spirit that win ao this is little, narrow, selfish. Such conduct, deserves the unqualified condemnation cr all honorable persons. The man or woman, who is betrayed into this ignowe pracace will surely come to grief. Nothing is truer- than that the world will ultimately measure us at about our true worth. He who for a time , gains a . fictitious f merit by pull down others, is destined to exposure. II U methods will be found out, and there will! corne a time when without genuine worth upon which to base his claim, for re j ect and confidence, V and having forfeit-: v ? love of those who were once his fri:- ' . ' insinnatlbns against them, he will lot indeed. ' Don't go through life n other people. Let your good s kind speeches commend you. r 1 3" always Have friends. Fprvorth r ' Books are the true levc I r all who faithfully usa t). . 1 1 spiritual presence of tha Ic; ,t ; our T&ce.CJianrJny.
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
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March 15, 1893, edition 1
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