1.C 04. Demands of Variety upon the Preacher

Demands of Variety upon the Preacher.

There is another question which I have barely hinted at, and that is, in attempting to address the truth in different forms to men, so as to meet the wants of a whole community, must not a man be universal, like Shakespeare? How can you expect men, taking them as they are, to do this ( My reasoning is this: It is not to be supposed that men will do it in perfection, that they will do it at once, or that they will ever more than approximate to the ideal. I shall have occasion to repeat every time I speak to you this thing, you have got to learn your business. It will take years and years before you are expert preachers. Let nobody puff you up by saying you are able preachers, be cause you can preach three or four good sermons.

You have three or four tunes; that is all. You are not practised workmen until you understand human nature, and know how to touch it with the divine truth; until you comprehend the divine truth in so many of its bearings upon the human soul that you can work with tolerable facility from the truth that is in Jesus to that which is in man; and, quite as often, can reverse the process. That is the study.

You have not begun your education yet. You arc but getting ready to study when you begin to preach. If you preach for five years, and find that your work is slow, and much of it obscure, and does not produce the results aimed at, do not be discouraged. The work is so great that you need not be ashamed, after working for years, to find that you are still an apprentice and not a journeyman.