Preaching

Preaching

Thanks for the Help
A preacher was suddenly called out of town and he asked the new youth minister to conduct services on Sunday. When he returned, he asked his wife how the young man had done. "Not so well," she reported. "It was the poorest sermon I had ever heard-nothing to it at all." Meeting the youth minister later, the preacher asked him how he had managed. "Pretty good, I guess," replied the young man. "As I did not have time to prepare anything myself, I just used one of your sermons."

Only a Boy
The old Scots minister climbed wearily into the pulpit. Bowed and dejected, he had just faced the harsh criticism of one of his deacons. "Sir, there is something radically wrong with your ministry. Only one person has been saved this year, and he is only a boy."
The words stung him, for he, too, felt heartbroken that so few had responded to the Gospel; yet still he trusted God for the results.
The service concluded, but the weary man of God lingered on in the church, wondering if there was any point continuing in the ministry. A young lad saw him and waited behind. Please, sir... ." "Yes, Robert?" "Do you think if I worked hard for my education that I could ever become a preacher?" "God bless you, my boy," replied the old man with tears in his eyes. "Yes, I think you will become a preacher!"
It was years later that an elderly missionary came back to London from Africa. He had pushed back the boundaries of geographical knowledge and brought savage chiefs under the influence of the Gospel of Peace, given tribes the Bible in their own tongues; but most of all, he had followed the Lord with all of his heart.
Robert Moffat-"only a boy," won to Christ by a tired old man-had become a soul winner!
On one visit to England, Robert told of the need of Africa. Among those who heard him that day was a young Scottish medical student who had given his life to God for missionary service. Robert Moffat's words pierced his heart: "There is a vast plain to the north where I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been."
Filled with the vision of what God wanted him to do, the student asked Mr. Moffat, "Would I do for Africa?" The direction of David Livingstone's life had been changed.
Who can tell what impact was made through the ministry of the first old Scotsman? "Only a boy" it seemed-yet far-off generations and tribes knew the effect of it!
You never know what God is doing and can do through your witness. Do not be discouraged. But trust and pray on!

Accentuate the Positive
In revival services, a young evangelist preached the severity of God's judgment on many of societies' ills. In the spirit of love, the older and wiser pastor approached him after a service and instead of showering compliments on him, said simply, "Young man, don't kick the darkness, turn on the light."

Simplicity Preaching
Some preachers have the instincts of aviators-they announce a text, taxi for a short distance, then take off from the earth and disappear into the clouds. After that, only the din of exploding gasoline is heard, signifying that they are flying high, very high, above the heads of their hearers. In other words, a sermon, rightly presented, should not be a meteor, but a sun. Its true test is "Can it make anything grow?"
George Fox, seeking spiritual guidance, walked seven miles to talk to a clergyman who had the reputation for being helpful. "But I found him but like an empty hollow cask," he reported sadly. The problem with our preaching is that too often people come seeking the Water of Life, only to find an empty cask. But sometimes they find water-when the preacher with simplicity and authority proclaims Jesus Christ.
Feed your people with the Bread of Life; cause them to drink deeply of the Water of Life. Be careful not to confuse simple, easy communication with superficial study and shallow preaching. You can dig deep, but you do not have to come up dry. Use your professional tools at home, but take the inspired Word alone into the pulpit. With God's help, your sermons can be profoundly simple and simply profound.

Empty Speaker
A minister visited a rural family for supper, and they ate just before church. The minister explained that he couldn't eat very much and preach a good message. After supper the wife asked the husband to go on to the service with the minister while she washed dishes.
When the husband returned, she asked him how the preaching was. "Oh, to tell the truth," was his reply, "he may as well et."

Cutting Hearts
Years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, some workmen were laying a sidewalk of stones. One Monday morning a preacher passed by. He watched these busy men with interest for a long time. How impressed he was that a workman could take a tool, strike a stone, and cut it as if it were warm butter.
The man cutting stones kept moving along on his knees cutting more stones and putting them in place.
Shortly the preacher interrupted: "Say, I wish I could cut the hearts of men with my sermons the way you are cutting those stones with that instrument."
The man laying the sidewalk looked up and said, "Did you ever try it like I am doing it-on your knees?"

Preaching That Transforms
There was a butcher who ran a little shop on the edge of London. He decided one Sunday that he would go into town and hear the great preacher, Charles Spurgeon. His wife chose not to go with him. So the butcher went to town, went to church, and returned home. That afternoon his wife began to question him about the service.
"What songs did they sing?" He said, "I do not remember." "Well, what was his text?" Again he said, "I do not remember." Somewhat exasperated, his wife wanted to know: "What good did it do for you to go to church this morning?"
The butcher was quiet for a moment. And then he said, "What good? I will tell you what good. You know those scales out in the shop that really weigh just 14 ounces to the pound? Well, before we open for business in the morning, I am going to correct those scales to where they weight a full 16 ounces to the pound."

We Cannot Leave the Cross Out
"I have a friend in Scotland," said James Denney, "who is a fishing-tackle maker and an enthusiastic fisherman. He told me once of losing his bait in a mysterious way without catching anything."
The explanation was that by some accident the barb had been broken from the hook. This is exactly what happens when people preach the love of God to men, but leave out of their gospel the essential truth that it is Christ on the cross in whom the love is revealed. In other words, the condemnation of our sins in Christ upon His cross is the barb on the hook.

How to Study and Preach
A visitor to the manse was visiting with an old man who lived there with the family after Robert McCheyne's death. "Tell me, how did McCheyne study and preach?" the visitor inquired.
The old man took the visitor into Mr. McCheyne's study and said: "Sit down. Now put your hands over your face, and let the tears fall; that is the way my master studied."
Then the old man asked the visitor to follow him into the church and up the platform to the pulpit. "Lean over; lean way over, and stretch your hands toward the congregation," continued the old friend of McCheyne's, "and now let the tears fall. That is the way my master preached!"

They Will Do It Every Time
The preacher had just concluded a hot and scathing sermon on the sin of swearing. He had stated several times that he knew that one of his hearers was guilty.
The service ended. The worshipers one by one filed out the door. The first to go was a woman never suspected of using foul language. With a red and angry face she exclaimed, "I will never darken this door again." Before the astonished preacher could recover from this blast, another said, "Well, brother, if I had known you were near last week, I would have been more careful of my language." A third said, "I think that you might at least have come to me privately about it, rather than telling it to the whole church." A fourth remarked angrily, "I was never so embarrassed in all of my life."
Then came the real culprit-the one at whom the preacher had aimed all his remarks. With a bland and innocent smile he grasped the hand of the preacher and said, "Brother, that was what I call a real sermon. You certainly did put it on them today!"

Coffee After the Sermon
A church that loved good fellowship always served coffee after the sermon. The pastor asked a little boy if he knew why they served the coffee. "I think," said the boy, "it is to get the people wide awake before they drive home." The Archbishop and the Actor
Said an archbishop to the manager of the acting group, "Tell me, how is it that you actors hold the attention of your audience so vividly that you cause them to think of things imaginary as if they were real, while we of the church speak of things that are real but our congregations take them as imaginary?" The reason is plain," answered the actor. "We actors speak of things imaginary as if they were real; while too many in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary." It was said of one famous old preacher, "He showed us the fires of hell, and then he swept our souls up to the gates of heaven." When you talk about Christ, you have to believe in the transforming power of the gospel if you expect to convince anyone of its power to save.

Practice What You Preach
A fountain pen salesman persuaded a merchant to order five hundred pens. He was writing the order in his notebook when suddenly the merchant exclaimed, "Hold on! I'm cancelling that order!" and turned to wait on a customer. The salesman left the store in angry perplexity. Later, the merchant's bookkeeper asked, "Why did you cancel that pen order?" "Why?" responded the man. "Because he talked pens to me for a half-hour, using a number of forcible arguments, and then booked my order with a lead pencil."

Applied Religion
On a certain occasion Gladstone said: "One thing I have against the clergy ... I think they are not severe enough on congregations. They do not sufficiently lay upon the souls and consciences of their hearts and bring up their whole lives and actions to the bar of conscience. The class of sermons which I think are most needed are of the class which once offended Lord Melbourne. He was seen coming from church in the country in great anger. Finding a friend, he exclaimed, 'It is too bad; I have always been a supporter of the church, and I have always upheld the clergy, but it is really too bad to have to listen to a sermon like that we have heard this morning. Why, the preacher actually insisted upon applying religion to a man's private life!' But that is the kind of preaching which I like best, the kind of preaching which men need most, but it is also the kind of which they get the least."

Preach the Gospel
A young minister in a college town was embarrassed by the thought of criticism from his cultured congregation. He sought counsel from his father, a wise old minister, saying, "Dad, I am handicapped in my ministry in the pulpit I am now serving. If I cite anything from geology, there is Prof. A, teacher of this science, right before me. If I use an illustration from Roman mythology, there is Prof. B ready to trip me up for any little inaccuracy. If I mention something in English literature that pleases me, I am cowered by the presence of the learned man that teaches that branch. What shall I do?" The sagacious old man replied, "Do not be discouraged; preach the gospel. They probably know very little of that."

Dignity in Simplicity
John Wesley's preaching was marked by his constant use of the plainest, simplest words our language affords. Writing to one whose style was very high-sounding he said, "When I had been a member of the university about ten years I wrote and talked much as you do now, but when I talked to plain people, I observed that they gaped and stared. This quickly obliged me to alter my style and adopt the language of those I spoke to; and yet there is a dignity in this simplicity which is not disagreeable to those of the highest rank." Another preacher said, "If you preach so that the simplest person in the audience can understand you, the most educated is also sure to get the message." The Simple Message
A minister felt that the words he spoke from Sunday to Sunday were not bearing the fruit they should. One Saturday morning after he had finished writing his sermon, the thought occurred to him, "Perhaps I shoot too high. I will go down and see if Betty can understand it." Betty was a trusted kitchen helper. He went to the kitchen and called her to come and hear his sermon. She hesitated but came when he insisted. After he had read a few sentences he asked, "Do you understand that?" "No," she replied. He repeated the idea in simpler language and then asked her if she saw it. "I see it a little," she said. Again he simplified it. She saw it more clearly and showed deep interest but said to him, "Plane it down a little more." And once again he simplified it. Then she exclaimed with ecstasy, "Now I see it! Now I understand it!" He returned to his study and rewrote his sermon in the simple style that Betty could understand. On Sunday morning he went to church in fear and trembling lest his people should be contemptuous of his sermon but he fully resolved to try the experiment. To his surprise, he found he received better attention than ever before, and there were tears in the eyes of many of his congregation. From that time on, he changed his style of language and had no further cause to feel that his work was unsuccessful. Clarity of thought and expression do not rob our testimony of its depth and significance. A witness for Christ need never fear oversimplification. The Old Time Gospel
A critic told a renowned evangelist, "Your preaching has put Christianity back one hundred years." The evangelist replied, "That's not back far enough. We must go back to the cross of Christ and to the 'faith which was once delivered to the saints.' "

Preach to Broken Hearts
That forthright English clergyman, Dr. R. W. Dale, made this response to a young preacher who insisted that ministers must preach relevantly, to the times. "Young man, don't preach to the times. Go and preach to broken hearts and you will preach relevantly."

Lesson in Homiletics
At the close of a service, a preacher was stopped by a gentleman who, after conceding that the sermon possessed certain commendable features, added, "But it had one noticeable defect!" The startled minister, on inquiring what this defect was, received the following reply: "I am a Jew. I have only recently been born again. Up to that time I attended the synagogue. But there was really nothing in your sermon that I could not have heard in the synagogue, nothing that a Jewish rabbi might not have preached." "That," said the preacher in later years, "was the greatest lesson in homiletics I was ever taught."

Watch Your Choice of Words
Once that great Puritan preacher, Thomas Manton, had to speak before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London. He chose a subject in which he had an opportunity of displaying his learning and judgment. He was heard with admiration by the intelligent part of his audience, but as he was returning from dinner with the Lord Mayor, a poor man pulled him by the sleeve and asked if he were the gentleman that preached the sermon. He replied that he was. "Sir," said the man, "I came with the hopes of getting some good to my soul, but I was greatly disappointed, for I could not get a great deal of what you said; you were quite above my understanding." "Friend," said Dr. Manton, "if I have not given you a sermon, you have given me one. By the grace of God, I will not play the fool in such a manner again."

Correcting Not Conforming
Someone told G. Campbell Morgan that the preacher must catch the spirit of the age. Immediately this great preacher answered, "God forgive the preacher who does that. The preacher's business is to correct the spirit of the age." May we add that a witness for Christ must endeavor thoroughly to understand the spirit of the age-without conforming to it-in order to know what to correct.

Lifting Christ before Men
James Inglis was a graduate of Edinburgh University, learned and eloquent. He became the most popular preacher in Detroit, Michigan. Eager listeners filled his church to overflowing. One day, when he was preparing sermons for the following Sunday, it seemed as though a voice said to him, "James Inglis, whom are you preaching?" Startled, he answered, "I am preaching good theology." "I did not ask what you are preaching, but whom you are preaching." Inglis answered, "I am preaching the gospel." Again the voice said, "I did not ask you what you are preaching; I asked whom you are preaching." Silent, with bowed head, the preacher sat for a long time. Then rousing himself he cried, "O my God, I am preaching James Inglis, but henceforth I will preach Christ and Him crucified." Inglis went to a chest of drawers in his study, took his eloquent sermons from the files and burned them one by one. From that day he turned his back upon popularity and gave himself wholly to God's service by lifting Christ before men. God honored his consecration by giving him ever-widening influence. A Sermon Lived
A minister preached a powerful sermon on the surrendered life. As he made an appeal to his hearers to make the surrender, a woman sitting near another woman said, "That is excellent preaching, but I wonder if such a life is possible?" The other woman smiled back at her and said, "Well, I know the preacher lives such a life because I happen to be his wife." A Preacher's First Concern
Two young men broke into a photo studio one Sunday night. They murdered the aged owner and robbed the cash drawer. Headlines of the crime appeared on the front page of Monday morning's papers. The two youths had been apprehended and charged with murder. Because their names seemed familiar to the secretary of a local church, she looked them up in the visitor's book. Sure enough, they had attended the church on Sunday morning and that night they committed murder! The pastor's subject that morning had been "An Educated Ministry." Only God knows what the end result might have been if the minister had preached on Christ's power to save and to change sinful hearts.

Getting along Famously
Many people today treat religion as a matter of convenience. They have to belong somewhere to be considered respectable. A clergyman once met an old schoolmate of whose activities he had long been ignorant, and finding him a judge of good standing congratulated him upon his success in life. As they were parting, the clergyman said to him, "And best of all, Judge, I find you are a member of our church." "Well," said the judge, "that's more a matter of chance than anything else. You see, when I was getting established in my profession, my wife and I thought we ought to join a church-it was the respectable thing to do. So, after mature deliberation, we settled down with a certain denomination and got on very well for a time; but they kept harping on faith, till we pretty soon discovered that they required more faith than we had; so it became necessary to make a change. We turned the matter over considerably and at last, for various reasons, made up our minds to join another denomination. Here we found the demand was work, work incessantly; and it was presently apparent that they demanded more work than we were able to perform. It was with great reluctance that we concluded that we must change again, and we cast about with much caution, that this move might be final. At last we decided to connect ourselves with your church, sir, and have gotten along famously ever since without either faith or works." A Sermon without the Gospel
The story is told of three people who went into a church. The first was a business man who had failed and was contemplating suicide. The second was a prodigal youth, deep in sin, who was planning a robbery. The third was a young woman who was tempted to depart from the path of virtue. The service started. The choir arose and sang an anthem about building the walls of Zion. The minister addressed an eloquent prayer to the Lord and then preached on the theme, "Is Mars Inhabited?" Afterward, the businessman committed suicide, the boy stole and landed in jail, and the young woman began a life of moral shame. What might have happened if only the gospel of personal salvation in Christ had been preached! The Sermon's Omission
Years ago it was the custom in a certain theological college for the student who had preached a sermon in class to go into the principal's office next morning for a quiet talk about his work. On one such occasion, the revered and saintly old principal said to the young man before him, "It was a good sermon you gave yesterday; the truth you dealt with was well-arranged and well presented. But your sermon had one omission, a grave one. There was no word in it for a poor sinner like me."

Preach It Again
A minister, on taking a new church, was highly complimented on his first sermon. A number of people told him it was just what the congregation needed. The next Sunday he preached well again, but the congregation was greatly puzzled because he preached the same sermon as before. The third Sunday, when the same sermon was preached again, the session waited on the preacher for an explanation. He said, "Why, yes it is the same sermon. You told me the first Sunday how much you needed just that, and I watched all week for some change in your lives, but there was none, so I preached it again. I watched all next week; still no change; and I don't see any yet. Don't you think I'd better prepare to preach it again next Sunday?" Not Deep-But Muddy
"Isn't Rev. So-and-so a deep preacher?" asked a friend. "Well," replied the other smiling. "I'll tell you a story. When I was a boy I was amusing myself with some other boys in a pool. Some of them were going farther out than I was disposed to go, and I was frightened. To a man who was passing by I called out, 'Is the pool deep?' 'No, son,' he replied, 'it's only muddy.' "

Invitation-Important
A layman visited a great city church in Ohio during a business trip. After the service he congratulated the minister on his service and sermon. "But," said the manufacturer, "if you were my salesman, I'd discharge you. You got my attention by your appearance, voice, and manner; your prayer, reading, and logical discourse aroused my interest; you warmed my heart with a desire for what you preached; then you stopped without asking me to do something about it. In business, the important thing is to get people to sign on the dotted line." Should Sermons Offend?
"I always write my sermons," said one preacher to another, "and then carefully revise them, so that if anything is written that might offend any of my hearers, I may at once erase it." The older preacher friend replied, "Do you mean that forcible statements, either of your own or from Scripture, concerning sin, the cross, and the judgment to come, are either toned down or avoided?" "Yes," replied the young novice clergyman. "If I think they will offend anyone, I do so."

Dictionary Sermon
A woman who went to hear a visiting preacher took along her Bible so that she might refer to any Scripture passages he happened to mention. On coming away from the service she said to a friend, "I should have left my Bible home today and brought my dictionary. The doctor does not deal in Scripture but in such learned words and phrases that you need the help of an interpreter to render them intelligible."

Flying on One Wing
Dr. Andrew Bonar told a story of a plain man in one of the Scottish Presbyterian country churches who had learned the precious doctrine of Christ's promised return for His own. He had spent a Sunday in Edinburgh to play the part of a sermon taster. When he returned to his village, the people asked him how he liked the Edinburgh preachers. His reply was, "They all fly on one wing. They all preach the first coming of Christ, but they do not preach His second coming."

Man Can't Live on Flowers
It's fruit that you want when you present the gospel. Someone who had heard a moving sermon was asked by a friend what he remembered of it. "Truly," he said, "I remember nothing at all, but I am a different man as a result of it." Contrast that with what another man answered when he was asked what he thought of a sermon that had produced a great sensation among the congregation. His reply may hold an important lesson for some of us. "Very fine, sir; but a man cannot live upon flowers."

Unfinished Sermon
"Is the sermon done?" asked one member of the congregation of another. "No, the preacher is done, but the sermon has to be worked out in our lives," replied the practical listener. No Rain!
An Indian had attended services one Sunday morning. The sermon which contained very little in the way of spiritual food had been rather loud in spots. The Indian, a good Christian, was not impressed. When asked how he liked the sermon, he said, "High wind, big thunder, no rain."

Love Them All?
A brilliant, liberal preacher pleasing his congregation with flowery phrases as he talked on the importance of breadth of view and the danger of bigoted opinions, was bidding farewell to them as he was about to leave for a new parish. A young man approached him and said, "Pastor, I am sorry we are losing you. Before you came, I did not care for God, man, or the devil, but through your delightful sermons I have learned to love them all!" Unfortunately, that is the kind of messengers many churches have.

Keep It Simple
Vincent Ferrier, an eloquent preacher of the fifteenth century, was called to preach before a high dignitary of state. He took care to prepare his sermon according to the rules of oratory, but it was a notable failure. Next day he preached in his usual style, without pretentiousness, and electrified his hearers. The dignitary, who had heard him on both occasions, asked him how he could account for so great a difference in his sermons. He answered, "Yesterday Vincent Ferrier preached; today Jesus Christ."