Persuasion Through Speech
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before them. The time in which we live calls for vital, sanctified
energy; for earnestness, zeal, and the tenderest sympathy and love; for
words that will not increase misery, but will inspire faith and hope.
We are homeward bound, seeking a better country, even an heavenly.
Instead of speaking words which will rankle in the breasts of those
that hear, shall we not speak of the love wherewith God hath loved us?
Shall we not try to lighten the hearts of those around us by words of
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Christlike sympathy?—
Our High Calling, 295
.
A Reservoir of Persuasion—A conscience void of offense toward
God and man, a heart that feels the tenderest sympathy for human
beings, especially that they may be won for Christ, will have the
attributes that Christ had. All such will be imbued with His Spirit.
They will have a reservoir of persuasion and a storehouse of simple
eloquence.—
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 120
.
Weight of Evidence—God is presenting to the minds of men
divinely appointed precious gems of truth, appropriate for our time.
God has rescued these truths from the companionship of error, and has
placed them in their proper framework. When these truths are given
their rightful position in God’s great plan, when they are presented
intelligently and earnestly, and with reverential awe, by the Lord’s
servants, many will conscientiously believe because of the weight of
evidence, without waiting for every supposed difficulty which may
suggest itself to their minds, to be removed.—
Evangelism, 122
.
Greatest Rebuke to Error—People cannot be expected to see at
once the advantage of truth over the error they have cherished. The
best way to expose the fallacy of error is to present the evidences of
truth. This is the greatest rebuke that can be given to error. Dispel the
cloud of darkness resting on minds by reflecting the bright light of the
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Sun of Righteousness.—
Evangelism, 170
.
Reasoning From the Scriptures—It is not excitement we wish
to create, but deep, earnest consideration, that those who hear shall do
solid work, real, sound, genuine work that will be enduring as eternity.
We hunger not for excitement, for the sensational; the less we have
of this, the better. The calm, earnest reasoning from the Scriptures
is precious and fruitful. Here is the secret of success, in preaching
a living personal Saviour in so simple and earnest a manner that the
people may be able to lay hold by faith of the power of the Word of
life.—
Evangelism, 170
.