Camp Meeting
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How to Present the Message
Everywhere there are hearts crying out for the living God. Dis-
courses unsatisfying to the hungry soul have been given in the
churches. In these discourses there is not that divine manifestation
which touches the mind and creates a glow in the soul. The hearers
cannot say: “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us
by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
Luke 24:32
.
Much of the teaching given is powerless to awaken the transgressor
or convict souls of sin. The people who come to hear the word need
a plain, straightforward presentation of truth. Some who have once
tasted of the word of God have dwelt long in an atmosphere where
there is no God, and they long for the divine presence.
The very first and most important thing is to melt and subdue the
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soul by presenting our Lord Jesus Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour.
Never should a sermon be preached, or Bible instruction in any line be
given, without pointing the hearers to the “Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world.”
John 1:29
. Every true doctrine makes
Christ the center, every precept receives force from His words.
Keep before the people the cross of Calvary. Show what caused the
death of Christ—the transgression of the law. Let not sin be cloaked or
treated as a matter of little consequence. It is to be presented as guilt
against the Son of God. Then point the people to Christ, telling them
that immortality comes only through receiving Him as their personal
Saviour.
Arouse the people to see how far they have departed from the
Lord’s ordinances by adopting worldly policy and conforming to
worldly principles. These have brought them into transgression of
God’s law.
* * * * *
Many in the world set their affections on things that in themselves
are not evil; but they become satisfied with these things, and do not
seek the greater and higher good that Christ desires to give them. Now
we must not rudely seek to deprive them of what they hold dear. Reveal
to them the beauty and preciousness of truth. Lead them to behold
Christ in His loveliness; then they will turn from everything that would
draw their affections away from Him. This is the principle of the