Practical Suggestions
Formal Discourses—Some ministers, in the preparation of their
discourses, arrange every detail with such exactness that they give the
Lord no room to lead their minds. Every point is fixed, stereotyped,
as it were, and they seem unable to depart from the plan marked out.
This is a grave error, and if followed, will cause ministers to become
narrow-minded, and will leave them as destitute of spiritual life and
energy as were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain.
When a minister feels that he cannot vary from a set discourse, the
effect is little better than that produced by reading a sermon. Tame,
formal discourses have in them very little of the vitalizing power of the
Holy Spirit; and the habit of preaching such discourses will effectually
destroy a minister’s usefulness and ability.
God would have His workmen wholly dependent upon Him. They
must listen to hear what saith the Lord, asking, What is Thy word for
the people? Their hearts should be open, so that God may impress
their minds, and then they will be able to give the people truth fresh
from heaven. The Holy Spirit will give them ideas adapted to meet the
needs of those present.
* * * * *
Reverence—I have heard some ministers talk of Christ’s life and
teachings in a commonplace manner, as if recounting incidents in
the life of some great man of the world. Indeed, it is not unusual
for ministers to speak of Christ as if He were a man like themselves.
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When I hear this sacred subject treated in such a manner, I feel a
grief that I cannot express; for I know that although these men are
teachers of truth, they have never had exalted views of Christ; they
have never become acquainted with Him. They have not that elevation
of thought which would give them a clear conception of the character
of the world’s Redeemer.
Those who have a correct view of the character and work of Christ,
will not become self-sufficient or self-exalted. The weakness and
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