Brevity
161
may receive the very best impression.—
Testimonies to Ministers and
Gospel Workers, 310
.
[252]
Effect of Dry Words—Many make a mistake in their preaching
in not stopping while the interest is up. They go on speechifying
until the interest that had risen in the minds of the hearers dies out
and the people are really wearied with words of no special weight
or interest. Stop before you get there. Stop when you have nothing
of special importance to say. Do not go on with dry words that only
excite prejudice and do not soften the heart. You want to be so united
to Christ that your words will melt and burn their way to the soul.
Mere prosy talk is insufficient for this time. Arguments are good, but
there may be too much of the argumentative and too little of the spirit
and life of God.—
Testimonies for the Church 3:419
.
Better Preparation, Shorter Discourses—The discourses given
upon present truth are full of important matter, and if these discourses
are carefully considered before being presented to the people, if they
are condensed and do not cover too much ground, if the Spirit of the
Master goes with the utterances, no one will be left in darkness, no
one will have cause to complain of being unfed. The preparation, both
in preacher and hearer, has very much to do with the result.
I will here quote a few words that have come under my notice just
now:“I always know by the length of Cannon’s sermon whether he
has been much from home during the week,” said one of his flock.
“When carefully studied, his discourses are of a moderate length, but
it is almost impossible for his hearers to forget the teachings conveyed
in them. When he has had no time for preparation, his sermons are
[253]
unreasonably long, and it is equally impossible to get anything out of
them which will stick to the memory.”
Another able minister was asked how long he was accustomed to
preach. “When I prepare thoroughly, half an hour; when only partially,
an hour; but when I enter the pulpit without previous preparation, I go
on for any length of time you like; in fact, I never know when to stop.”
Here is another forcible statement: “A good shepherd,” says a
writer, “should always have abundance of bread in his scrip, and
his dog under command. The dog is his zeal, which he must lead,
order, and moderate. His scrip full of bread is his mind full of useful
knowledge, and he should ever be in readiness to give nourishment to
his flock.”—
Evangelism, 175, 176
.