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Solemn Appeal to Ministers
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that the doctrines you believe unfit you for expressing sympathy
with suffering humanity—that you have a loveless religion. The
operations of the Holy Spirit will burn away the dross of selfishness,
and reveal a love which is tried in the fire, a love that maketh rich.
He who has these riches is in close sympathy with Him who so loved
us that He gave His life for our redemption.
Give Not Glory to Man
Paul, when speaking to the Corinthians, says, “We have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may
be of God, and not of us.” This is what Christ taught His disciples:
“Without Me ye can do nothing.” Paul would impress upon the
minds of the ministers and people the reason why the gospel was
committed to weak and erring men—that man might not receive the
honor due to God only, but that God might receive all the glory. The
ambassador is not to congratulate himself and take to himself the
honor of success, or even to divide the honor with God, as if by his
own power he had accomplished the work. Elaborate reasoning or
argumentative demonstrations of doctrines seldom impress upon the
hearer the sense of his need and his peril. Simple, brief statements,
from a heart made soft and sympathetic by the love of Christ, will
be as the grain of mustard seed, to which Christ Himself likened His
utterances of divine truth. He throws into the soul the vital energy
of His Spirit, to make the seed of truth germinate and bear fruit.
Will my brethren take heed that no glory is given to men? Will
they acknowledge that Christ does the work upon the human heart,
and not they themselves? Will my ministering brethren plead with
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God alone in secret prayer for His presence and His power? Dare not
to preach another discourse until you know, by your own experience,
what Christ is to you. With hearts made holy through faith in the
righteousness of Christ, you can preach Christ, you can lift up the
risen Saviour before your hearers; with hearts subdued and melted
with the love of Jesus you can say, “Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.”