And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Rev. 11:3<\/i><\/p>\n
4677<\/b> Longest Recorded Sermon<\/b><\/p>\n
The longest sermon on record was preached by Rev. Robert Marshall, minister of the Birmingham Unitarian Church, Michigan, in 1976. He preached for 60 hours and 31 minutes. The previous record holder was Robert McKee who preached for 52 hours. He said that it took him two-and-a-half years to write the 500,000-word sermon. <\/p>\n
4678<\/b> Shortest Sermon<\/b><\/p>\n
When Roy DeLamotte was chaplain at Paine College in Georgia, he preached the shortest sermon in the college\u2019s history. However, he had a rather long topic. It was, \u201cWhat Does Christ Answer When We Ask, \u201cLord, What\u2019s in Religion for Me?\u201d\u201d The complete content of his sermon was one word: \u201cNothing.\u201d He explained later that the one-word sermon was meant for people \u201cbrought up on the \u201cgimme-gimme\u201d gospel.\u201d When asked how long it took him to prepare the message, he said, \u201cTwenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Ray O. Tones<\/p>\n
4679<\/b> Survey Of Sermons Preached In U. S. <\/b><\/p>\n
In connection with my volumes of Best Sermons<\/i>, I have sent invitations during the last 20 years to more than 120,000 clergymen who do preach. From the 15,000 to 22,500 sermon invitations issued for each volume, the average number of sermon manuscripts received for reading and consideration has increased from 5,000 for the first volume to 6,000, 7,000, 7,500, and now nearly 8,000 per volume. <\/p>\n
Ministers of 198 different denominations have been invited to submit sermons; men of 165 different denominations have responded with a total to-date of more than 55,755 sermons. Sermons have been received in 15 different languages from ministers in 55 foreign countries. <\/p>\n
About one minister in each thousand preaches in blank verse; one younger man preaches in blank verse every Sunday of the year! <\/p>\n
Today, the better the sermon, the shorter it tends to be\u201418 to 20, 22, or 25 minutes. Generally speaking, the leading ministers and best preachers use more short illustrations rather than a few, long stories. The best preaching is done in the great city churches of New York, Washington, Boston, Dallas, New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago. <\/p>\n
A distinct difference marks most northern from southern preaching. In the South long illustrations\u2014perhaps three or four\u2014are customary in a sermon, while northern sermons may have 30 to 40 short, pithy allusions. Strong preachers are not limited to any specific locale, however, but may be found anywhere. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
THE PREACHER\u2019S PREPARATIONS<\/p>\n
4680<\/b> Give Pastor \u201cLeisure\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Earl Radmacher said in Moody Monthly<\/i>: \u201cIt is interesting that the Greek word for \u201cscholar,\u201d which comes from the word scholeo<\/i> has the idea of the word \u201cleisureliness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do we ask ourselves why we don\u2019t have Bible scholars today? Maybe it is because we don\u2019t let our pastors take time to be leisurely in the Word of God and to let God really speak. <\/p>\n
4681<\/b> Wasting An Audience\u2019s Time<\/b><\/p>\n
When one addresses an audience of one hundred people for thirty minutes, it is equivalent to taking 3,000 minutes of one person\u2019s time. That means fifty hours, or more than six days of eight hours each. It would be little short of criminal deliberately to waste one person\u2019s time for six working days. <\/p>\n
Yet that is precisely what happens when a speaker without complete and thorough preparation takes the time of an audience of one hundred persons. <\/p>\n
\u2014Herbert V. Prochnow<\/p>\n
4682<\/b> The Whole Morning Was His<\/b><\/p>\n
Many of the great preachers of the past had the practice of spending extended time in preparation. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, for example, closeted himself with the Bible and his study aids every morning. He did not permit anything to interfere unless it was a genuine emergency. And when this well-known British preacher arose to preach he had something to say that had value for his listeners. <\/p>\n
\u2014Robert Wilson<\/p>\n
4683<\/b> Matthew Henry\u2019s Schedule<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew Henry used to be in his study at four, and remain there till eight; then, after breakfast and family prayer, he used to be there again till noon; after dinner, he resumed his book or pen till four, and spent the rest of the day in visiting his friends. <\/p>\n
\u2014Foster<\/p>\n
4684<\/b> Some Popular Preachers<\/b><\/p>\n
Henry Melvill is the most popular preacher in London. He prepares and preaches but one sermon in a week, which he always writes twice, very often three times. <\/p>\n
Prof. Park, in his eloquent memoir of the late Mr. Homer, said: \u201cThe editor of Massilon\u2019s Lent Sermons regards it as a prodigy, that he finished a discourse in so short a time as ten or twelve days. This eminent preacher sometimes rewrote a single sermon fifteen or even twenty times. A distinguished scholar in our own land rewrote the most useful of his sermons thirteen or fourteen times, and labored, in connection with a literary theme, two whole days on as many sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014W. Balkam<\/p>\n
4685<\/b> Bishop With Unfinished Studies<\/b><\/p>\n
Some time after Louis XIV had invited the celebrated Bossuet to the bishopric of Meaux, he asked the citizens how they liked their new bishop. \u201cWhy, your Majesty, we like him pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty well! Why, what fault have you to find with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo tell your Majesty the truth, we would have preferred having a bishop who had finished his education; for whenever we wait upon him we are told that he is at his studies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Walter Baxendale<\/p>\n
4686<\/b> How Alexander Maclaren Prepares Sermons<\/b><\/p>\n
Alexander Maclaren was one of the greatest preachers of the nineteenth century. <\/p>\n
\u201cA man who reads one of Alexander Maclaren\u2019s sermons,\u201d said Robertson Nicoll, \u201cmust either take his outline\u2014or take another text.\u201d<\/p>\n
How did he do it? The answer is simple: Through hard work, disciplined study, and concentration on the one important thing\u2014preaching the Word. He turned down most speaking and social invitations. He stayed home, did his work, and built a great church. <\/p>\n
\u201cI began my ministry,\u201d he told a group of young preachers, \u201cwith the determination of concentrating all my available strength on the work, the proper work of the Christian ministry, the pulpit \u2026 I have tried to make my ministry a ministry of exposition of Scripture.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Alexander Maclaren, preparing messages was hard work. He often said he could never prepare sermons while wearing slippers; he always wore his outdoor boots. He was known to devote sixty hours to the preparation of a single sermon. <\/p>\n
4687<\/b> \u201cWould I Want To Hear Myself?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Last night I took that book from the shelf again and looked at the question I had written inside the cover: \u201cWould I come to church twice on Sunday to hear myself preach?\u201d<\/p>\n
I was preparing for the ministry when my former pastor, then quite old, wrote those words. We had been talking about preaching, and I was showing him a college textbook, The Preparation of Sermons<\/i>, by Andrew Blackwood. Suddenly he took the book from my hands and wrote. When I read what he had written, I was startled. Since that day, I have often asked myself that question as I stood up to preach. It has had a profound effect upon my ministry. <\/p>\n
\u2014Robert L. Owen<\/p>\n
4688<\/b> Loving The People<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cYou love to preach, don\u2019t you?\u201d asked Henry Ward Beecher of a young minister. \u201cI surely do,\u201d was the glowing reply. \u201cBut do you love the people to whom you preach?\u201d Beecher then asked. <\/p>\n
4689<\/b> \u201cI Love This Audience\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Before each performance, the famous magician Thurston used to stand for a minute in the wings and say, \u201cI love this audience. I\u2019m going to give my best to them and they are going to respond splendidly.\u201d It put Thurston over\u2014it will do the same for you. <\/p>\n
\u2014Wilfred L. Peterson<\/p>\n
4690<\/b> Wasting God\u2019s Gift<\/b><\/p>\n
A colorless voice is a waste of God\u2019s gift to men. As C. H. Spurgeon comments: \u201cWhat a pity that a man who from his heart delivered doctrines of undoubted value, in language the most appropriate, should commit ministerial suicide by harping on one string, when the Lord has given him an instrument of many strings to play upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Pastor\u2019s Manual<\/i><\/p>\n
4691<\/b> The Voice\u2019s Tone<\/b><\/p>\n
One other fault a preacher must avoid is giving a wrong emphasis or tone of voice to a particular word or phrase. How different, for example, should be the tone which he uses for each of the following sentences:<\/p>\n
\u2014And when he had said this, he fell asleep. <\/p>\n
\u2014He is not here, he is risen, as he said. <\/p>\n
\u2014O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered the children together, and ye would not. <\/p>\n
\u2014As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this shall surely die. <\/p>\n
\u2014Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. <\/p>\n
\u2014God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. <\/p>\n
\u2014E. Browning<\/p>\n
4692<\/b> Saying \u201cOh!\u201d Like Whitefield<\/b><\/p>\n
Garrick, the actor, and Whitefield, the preacher, were contemporaries and were friends and admirers. Garrick said he would give a thousand guineas for the capacity to use the exclamation \u201cOh!\u201d as George Whitefield used it. <\/p>\n
One triumphed in the Drury Lane Theatre; the other triumphed on Moorfields Common, where thousands of souls under his ministry cried out for God. <\/p>\n
\u2014Talmage<\/p>\n
THE PREACHER\u2019S MESSAGE<\/p>\n
4693<\/b> Why I Go To Church<\/b><\/p>\n
Like most laymen, I go to church to hear heralded the mind of Christ, not the mind of man. I want to hear expounded the timeless truth contained in the Scriptures, the kind of preaching that gets its power from \u201cThus saith the Lord.\u201d Such preaching is hard to find these days. <\/p>\n
\u2014J. Howard Pew, <\/p>\n
Board Chairman, Sun Oil Co. <\/p>\n
4694<\/b> Why Webster Went To That Church<\/b><\/p>\n
Daniel Webster, the famous American politician and orator, once spent a summer in New Hampshire, and every Lord\u2019s Day went to a little country church morning and evening. His niece asked him why he went there, when he paid little attention to far abler sermons in Washington. He replied: \u201cIn Washington they preach to Daniel Webster, the statesman, but this man has been telling Daniel Webster, the sinner, of Jesus of Nazareth\u201d \u201cAll have sinned\u201d (Rom. 3:23). Preach Christ. <\/p>\n
\u2014Glad Tidings<\/i><\/p>\n
4695<\/b> What Has Science To Say To Her? <\/b><\/p>\n
Said Dr. Joseph A. Parker: \u201cSome have found fault with me. They say I am old-fashioned and out of date; I am always quoting the Bible; why not turn to science this morning. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a poor widow here who has lost her only son. She wants to know if she will see him again. Science shall give the answer, and I will put the Book away.\u201d So he took the Book and put it on the seat behind. \u201cWill this woman see her son again? Where is he? Does death end all? What has science to say?\u201d Here a long pause. \u201cWe are waiting for an answer, the woman is anxious.\u201d Another long pause. \u201cThe woman\u2019s heart is breaking. Science must speak. Nothing to say? Surely? <\/p>\n
\u201cThen we must take the Book,\u201d and here he reverently replaced it, and with great deliberation opened it and read: \u201cI shall go to him, but he shall not return to me \u2026 The dead shall arise \u2026 for this corruptible must put on incorrruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. O death, where is thy sting. \u2026 I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Closing the Book, and patting it affectionately, he said, \u201cWe will stick to the Book!\u201d<\/p>\n
4696<\/b> Competing With The Experts<\/b><\/p>\n
If preachers insist on competing with psychiatrists as counselors, with physicians as healers, with politicians as statesmen and with philosophers as speculators, then these specialists have every right to tell them how to preach. <\/p>\n
If a minister\u2019s message is not based on \u201cThus saith the Lord,\u201d then as a sermon it is good-for-nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of the specialists in the department with which it deals. <\/p>\n
\u2014John H. Gerstners<\/p>\n
4697<\/b> Embarrassing The President<\/b><\/p>\n
Ten years ago, a furor was raging over the remarks made by an Episcopalian rector, Dr. Gotesworth Pinckney Lewis, in a sermon he preached concerning the Vietnam war. The problem arose over the fact that the President of the United States was in the congregation that Sunday morning. The rector was charged with \u201cexquisitely bad taste,\u201d and some have suggested that he overstepped his bounds when he voiced these views to a \u201ccaptive audience, which included the President.\u201d<\/p>\n
The newspapers and news magazines had a field day citing the criticisms and laudations. Government officials, religious personalities, and self-styled experts on what constitutes ethics or etiquette voiced opinions or issued denunciations. Strange, isn\u2019t it, what a few words, spoken in a particular context, will do to stir up trouble. Dr. Lewis\u2019 same statement, had the Chief Executive not been in attendance, would have gone unnoticed. <\/p>\n
4698<\/b> First Things First In Greenland<\/b><\/p>\n
When the first Moravian missionaries went to Greenland to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they thought it was necessary, first of all, to instruct the people in the doctrines of natural religion. The result was that they were there seventeen years before they had a single convert. <\/p>\n
One day a man called Kajarnak, who was a very wicked man, entered the missionary\u2019s hut and by accident heard him read the story of the last week in the life of Christ. Somehow this wicked Greenlander got a glimpse of the fact that Jesus suffered and died for sinners and that through Him a sinner might be saved. \u201cHow was that?\u201d he said. \u201cTell me that again, for I, too, wish to be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
The missionary was astonished. It was not long before Kajarnak, his wife, and two children were happily converted to Christ and became the firstfruits of Greenland unto the Saviour. It also taught the missionaries that the first thing to preach to a sinning man anywhere is the atoning sacrifice of Christ. <\/p>\n
\u2014The Teacher<\/i><\/p>\n
4699<\/b> A (Brief) Comparison<\/b><\/p>\n
The Ten Commandments contains 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln\u2019s Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. A recent Federal directive to regulate the price of cabbage contains 26,911 words. <\/p>\n
\u2014Atlanta Journal<\/i><\/p>\n
4700<\/b> Three Brief Documents<\/b><\/p>\n
There is too much speaking in the world, and almost all of it is too long. The Lord\u2019s Prayer, the Twenty-third Psalm, Lincoln\u2019s Gettysburg Address, are three great literary treasures that will last forever; no one of them is as long as 300 words. With such striking illustrations of the power of brevity it is amazing that speakers never learn to be brief. <\/p>\n
\u2014Bruce Barton<\/p>\n
4701<\/b> Prodigal Son Story<\/b><\/p>\n
Remember that Jesus used only 504 words to tell the Parable of the Prodigal Son, judged by some to be the greatest story ever written. <\/p>\n
\u2014James Hastings<\/p>\n
4702<\/b> Delivering It Briefly<\/b><\/p>\n
The Sermon on the Mount could be delivered in 20 minutes. You could preach Peter\u2019s sermon at Pentecost in ten minutes. You wouldn\u2019t need that long to give Paul\u2019s message before Agrippa. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
4703<\/b> \u201cTake Him?\u201d\u2014\u201dTook\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
The Texas oilman was getting married and was nervous about it. He told the minister that the fee would be in proportion to the brevity of the service, and that if he used a long service, he wouldn\u2019t receive a cent. When the wedding day came, the couple stood before the minister, in the bride\u2019s home, and the minister said to the man, \u201cTake her?\u201d\u2014to the woman, \u201cTake him?\u201d and then closed the ceremony by pronouncing \u201cTook\u201d\u2014a whole ceremony in five words. <\/p>\n
P. S. He got a $500.00 fee\u2014or to be brief\u2014$100 a word. <\/p>\n
4704<\/b> Chapel Hero<\/b><\/p>\n
They gave him twenty minutes<\/p>\n
but he finished up in ten. <\/p>\n
Oh, there\u2019s prince of speakers<\/p>\n
and servant unto men. <\/p>\n
His diction wasn\u2019t such a much, <\/p>\n
he hemmed and hawed a bit;<\/p>\n
But still he spoke a lot of sense, <\/p>\n
and after that\u2014he quit. <\/p>\n
At first we sat plumb paralyzed, <\/p>\n
then cheered and cheered again;<\/p>\n
For they gave him twenty minutes<\/p>\n
and he finished up in ten. <\/p>\n
\u2014The Skiff<\/i><\/p>\n
4705<\/b> Epigram On Preacher (Message)<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Billy Sunday once said: \u201cHere is my first rule in homiletics: Never preach to the intellectual giraffes in your congregation. And the second \u2026 Always leave some cookies on the bottom shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Charles F. Hall<\/p>\n
\u2022 A good sermon helps people in two ways. Some rise from it greatly strengthened, others wake from it refreshed. <\/p>\n
\u2014E. C. Mckenzie<\/p>\n
\u2022 A certain minister posted a sign at his parking space in the church lot. The sign read: \u201cOld Chinese Proverb\u2014He who parks in minister\u2019s space must preach Sunday sermon.\u201d<\/p>\n
PREACHER IN ACTION<\/p>\n
4706<\/b> Skeleton In Church<\/b><\/p>\n
Bolton, England (EP)\u2014The Rev. David Harrison, a pastor here, has a new way to hold the attention of his congregation. <\/p>\n
He hangs a human skeleton from the pulpit whenever he preaches. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t rivert their attention, you are lost,\u201d the pastor said. <\/p>\n
\u2014Gospel Herald<\/i><\/p>\n
4707<\/b> Preaching Subdues Gunman<\/b><\/p>\n
As the Greyhound bus approached Daytona Beach, Florida, last month, a passenger pulled a gun and ordered the driver to \u201ctake me to Tampa or I\u2019ll shoot you.\u201d A fellow passenger, Ena Cuff, a member of the Baptist Church of the Good Shepherd in Miami, knew just what to do. She began preaching<\/p>\n
Within minutes the man dropped his gun and was subdued and led off to jail. The bus went on its way. \u201cThe teachings of the word of Jesus Christ were enough to make his hand go limp,\u201d explained Ms. Cuff. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
4708<\/b> Clergymen On Motorbikes<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re simply moving with the times,\u201d explained Bishop Maurice Wood of Norwich, England, as he sent forth thirty-six vicars on Hondas to spread the Word of God. With only 500 clergy to cover 760 parishes in Norfolk County, Wood decided it was time to switch from horses and gaiters to Hondas and crash helmets. <\/p>\n
The parsons are not \u201ca rodeo of reverend gentlemen,\u201d commented Wood. \u201cThey are seriously out to reach the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
4709<\/b> When Some People Talk In Church<\/b><\/p>\n
A clergyman was annoyed by people talking and giggling in church. He paused, looked at the disturbers, and said, \u201cI am always afraid to expose those who misbehave, for this reason: Some years ago, as I was preaching, a young man who sat before me was laughing, talking and making uncouth grimaces. I paused and administered a severe rebuke. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the service a gentleman said to me, \u2019Sir, you have made a great mistake. That young man, whom you reproved is an idiot. \u2019 Since then I have been afraid to reprove those who misbehave themselves in church, lest I should repeat the mistake and reprove another idiot.\u201d During the rest of the service there was good order. <\/p>\n
\u2014Aquilla Webb<\/p>\n
4710<\/b> Spurgeon Got Saved<\/b><\/p>\n
A faithful class leader thought it worthwhile to hold a service with seventeen present in a little Wesleyan Chapel in Colchester, England, on a stormy Sunday. A young man present accepted Christ at the meeting. His name was Charles H. Spurgeon. <\/p>\n
4711<\/b> Weary In, Not Of, Work<\/b><\/p>\n
George Whitefield preached judgment in the fields of both old and New England. Near the end of his life, a friend advised him to go to bed rather than keep a preaching appointment. But Whitefield prayed, \u201cLord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of it. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more in the fields, seal Thy truth, and come home and die!\u201d A few hours later he preached his last sermon, then died the following morning. <\/p>\n
4712<\/b> Voice In The Lumber Camp<\/b><\/p>\n
Stephen Grellet, the noted Friend, once felt a burden on his heart and the leading of the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to men in an American lumber camp. But when he arrived at the camp he found it deserted, for the men had gone further into the forest. Feeling, nevertheless, that he had been sent there by the Holy Spirit, he stood up in the empty mess hall and delivered his sermon, heard, as he thought, only by the broad walls of the building and the lofty trees of the forest. <\/p>\n
Years afterward, crossing London Bridge in the evening gloom, he was somewhat rudely stopped by a man who accosted him and said, \u201cYou are the man I have been looking for all these years. I have found you at last.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be some mistake,\u201d said Grellet, \u201cI have never seen thee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d said the man. \u201cBut did you not preach at a lumber camp in the American forest?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, but there was no one there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was there,\u201d responded the man, \u201cand I heard the sermon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he went on to relate how he had come back from where the men were working to get a saw that had been left behind, when he was startled and alarmed at hearing the sound of a man\u2019s voice. <\/p>\n
Approaching the building, he looked through a chink of the logs and saw Grellet standing by himself preaching the sermon. He listened to the preacher, was convicted of sin, got hold of a copy of the Scriptures, learned the way of life, was saved, and brought others with him into the Kingdom of Heaven. <\/p>\n
\u2014C. E. Macartney<\/p>\n
4713<\/b> Newton And Scott\u2019s Commentary<\/b><\/p>\n
Once, when John Newton preached in a village, such was the indifference that only a handful came to hear him. But he was loyal to Christ, and gave the best he had. Among that little number of hearers was Thomas Scott. The sermon turned his thoughts toward the truth, and the influence of Scott\u2019s Commentary<\/i> may be traced to that sermon. <\/p>\n
\u2014Walter Baxendale<\/p>\n
4714<\/b> Livingstone The Organ Pumper Was There<\/b><\/p>\n
It was a cold wintry night when Dr. Moffat, a missionary from Africa, arrived to preach a sermon in a New England church. He had come to appeal for men to go to Africa as missionaries. <\/p>\n
When Moffat looked over the small congregation, he saw a number of women but, to his consternation, only one male in the entire church: a boy pumping the organ in the loft. At first Dr. Moffat felt he should change his sermon, but then he decided to go ahead with the one he had planned. Its text\u2014Proverbs 8:4, \u201cUnto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of men.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy listened intently, drinking in words that thrilled him, words which proved that we never really know how what we say may affect other people. When he grew up and obtained his degree in medicine, it was that boy who remembered Dr. Moffat\u2019s plea and gave a lifetime of unselfish devotion to Africa and to Christianity. His name was David Livingstone. <\/p>\n
\u2014The Bible Friend<\/i><\/p>\n
4715<\/b> Someone Outside Was Listening<\/b><\/p>\n
The following true incident was told by a woman of the Quaker faith:<\/p>\n
A Quaker was once passing a meetinghouse in the country when suddenly he felt an impulse to go in and preach, although there was no audience. He acted according to his impulse, preached a short sermon and then left the building. <\/p>\n
Some years later, while in London, he was accosted by a man who said to him, \u201cSir, you saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Astonished at such a remark, he said, \u201cWhat do you mean? I do not know you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d said the man. \u201cI was passing a certain meetinghouse one day and hearing a voice, I listened outside the window.\u201d And then he added in a low voice, \u201cI was an ex-convict and in despair, but your words saved me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014The Youth\u2019s Companion<\/i><\/p>\n
4716<\/b> He Digressed From Text<\/b><\/p>\n
One Sunday evening, in his own Church, Dr. Hall was delivering a written sermon on temptation, and suddenly felt that his address was unlike his usual style, and too argumentative for many of the people. He paused, looked away from his manuscript, and, appealing with a loud voice to the more-distant of his audience, said: \u201cPerhaps among those pressing in at the door there may be someone so miserable as to think of throwing himself over yonder bridge, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s too late to tell me not to enter into temptation. I have done it; I am in it. There\u2019s no hope for me!\u201d Stop! Stop! There is hope. Christ died for thee. He will forgive. He will save even thee!\u201d<\/p>\n
A few weeks afterward one of the members of his church told him that he had called to see a woman who had made up her mind to throw herself over Blackfriars Bridge, one Sunday evening, but she thought it was too light and a policeman might stop her; so in order to wait for the darkness she went into the church and stood in the crowd inside the door. Standing there it seemed to her that Dr. Hall had called to her directly to stop, and come to Christ, and she went back to her home to pray, and became a true and happy Christian. <\/p>\n
\u2014Bible Expositor and Illuminator<\/i><\/p>\n
4717<\/b> Pastor Mentioned Their Son<\/b><\/p>\n
I once received a letter from the pastor of a Baptist church in suburban Philadelphia who wrote of having attended my church on a Sunday night. His letter contained this paragraph. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast August I buried my three-year-old nephew and the following Sunday his parents attended your evening service with us. You preached from I Peter 5:10, and probably without knowing the reason you said, \u201cGod had a purpose in taking your three-year-old son \u2026\u201d and that \u201cGod would strengthen, establish, and settle the sorrowing heart.\u201d Those parents are born again but your message brought increased faith and strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Donald Grey Barnhouse<\/p>\n
4718<\/b> Matches! Matches! <\/b><\/p>\n
Rowland Hill once commenced a sermon by shouting, \u201cMatches! matches! matches! You wonder,\u201d he continued in his usual tone, \u201cat my text. But this morning, while I was engaged in my study, the devil whispered to me, \u201cAh! Rowland, your zeal is indeed noble, and how indefatigably you labour for the salvation of souls!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that very moment a poor man passed under my window, crying, \u201cMatches!\u201d very lustily. And conscience said to me, \u201cRowland, you never laboured to save souls with half the zeal that this man does to sell matches.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Clerical Anecdotes<\/p>\n
4719<\/b> Luther On Preaching<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cDo your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to His honor and not to applause. \u2026 Although I am old (he was 48) and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Martin Luther<\/p>\n
4720<\/b> In The Closet<\/b><\/p>\n
Of Mr. John Shepherd, of the United States, it is recorded that he was greatly distinguished for his success in the pulpit. When on his death-bed he said to some young ministers who were present, \u201cThe secret of my success is in these three things:<\/p>\n
\u201c1st. The studying of my sermons very frequently cost me tears. 2nd. Before I preached a sermon to others I derived good from it myself. 3rd. I have always gone into the pulpit as if I were immediately after to render an account to my Master.\u201d<\/p>\n
All who knew that devoted man would have united in expressing his secret in three words\u2014\u201dIn the closet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Clerical Library<\/i><\/p>\n
4721<\/b> That Recording Angel<\/b><\/p>\n
Macartney in his Illustration<\/i>, writes: \u201cDelayed once for several hours in the town of Dijon in France, I went into the venerable cathedral there. What I remember now about the cathedral is the finely-wrought stone pulpit, and just beneath it the figure of a recording angel, holding a tablet in one hand and a pen in the other, with face upward turned toward the pulpit, waiting to hear and record what the preacher says. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlways the angel stands below our pulpits. He is not waiting to put down things which the congregation might like to record\u2014in pleasure or displeasure\u2014but whether or not the words of the preacher are true to the gospel with which he has been entrusted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Ministers\u2019 Research Service<\/i><\/p>\n
4722<\/b> Listening Angels On Altar Rails<\/b><\/p>\n
It is said that Chrysostom had a vision in which he saw the altar rails of Saint Sophia crowded with angels listening to the sermon. No wonder his words broke like thunder against the social scandals and loose living of the wicked city on the Bosphorus. No wonder the hatred of the emperor and empress was soon kindled against him, and that he was deposed and arrested. But the man who had seen God and angels listening did not fear. <\/p>\n
\u2014Prairie Overcomer<\/i><\/p>\n
4723<\/b> Christ At His Elbow<\/b><\/p>\n
Robert Hume, the Scottish philosopher and skeptic, would walk many miles on the Lord\u2019s Day to hear John Brown of Haddington preach. Asked why he did it, Hume said: \u201cI go to hear him because he always preaches as though Jesus Christ is at his elbow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Watchman-Examiner<\/i><\/p>\n
4724<\/b> Wesley\u2019s Extemporaneous Preaching<\/b><\/p>\n
Mr. Wesley related the following anecdote to Mr. Thomas Letts of All-hallows Church, London. While he was putting on his gown in the vestry he said to him, \u201cIt is fifty years, sir, since I first preached in this church. I remember it from a peculiar circumstance that occurred at that time. I came without a sermon, and going up the pulpit under much mental confusion and agitation. A woman who was there noticed that I was deeply agitated, and she inquired, \u201cPray, sir, what is the matter with you?\u201d I replied, \u201cI have not brought a sermon with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting her hand upon my shoulder, she said, \u201cIs that all? Can\u2019t you trust God for a sermon?\u201d That question had such an effect upon me that I ascended the pulpit and preached extempore, with great freedom to myself and acceptance to the people, and I have never since taken a written sermon into the pulpit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Current Anecdotes<\/p>\n
4725<\/b> Fosdick\u2019s Sermon Method<\/b><\/p>\n
Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick gives us the following instructive and interesting explanation of the procedure he uses in preparing his sermons: \u201cI always write out my sermons in full in advance. To the best of my recollection, after nearly forty years of preaching, I have never preached a sermon that was not written out fully. I do not see how any one can keep his substance serious, and his style flexible and varied unless he writes in full. At any rate, for myself there is no other method that is conceivable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Herbert V. Prochnow<\/p>\n
4726<\/b> \u201cGive Us One Hour\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
While in Norfolk, Virginia, I saw in a magazine an advertisement for a television station. The ad was seeking to enlist more viewers for the station\u2019s one-hour-long evening news program. Here was the appeal: \u201cGive us one hour, and we\u2019ll give you the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Prairie Overcomer<\/i><\/p>\n
4727<\/b> Bunyan\u2019s Resolve<\/b><\/p>\n
When liberty was offered to John Bunyan, then in prison, on condition of abstaining from preaching, he consistently replied, \u201cIf you let me out to-day I shall preach again to-morrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
4728<\/b> Preacher\u2019s Highest Praise<\/b><\/p>\n
I have heard many great orators, said Louis XIV to Massilon, and have been highly pleased with them: but whenever I hear you, I go away displeased with myself. <\/p>\n
This is the highest accolade that could be bestowed on a preacher. <\/p>\n
\u2014C. Simmons<\/p>\n
4729<\/b> He And I Alone<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI have no recollection how he began his sermon,\u201d said A. C. Benson, author and son of an archbishop, referring to Moody\u2019s message, \u201cbut he had not spoken half a dozen sentences before I felt as though he and I were alone in the world!\u201d<\/p>\n
4730<\/b> Conditional Preaching<\/b><\/p>\n
The following is a bishop\u2019s description of preaching sometimes addressed to fashionable congregations: \u201cBrethren, unless you repent, in a measure, and be converted, as it were, you will, I regret to say, be damned to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n
4731<\/b> Praise Or Action<\/b><\/p>\n
It has been said of Cicero that after a speech of his, the people went away saying, \u201cWhat a fine orator is Cicero!\u201d But after a speech of Demosthenes people went away not saying anything about Demosthenes but \u201cLet us go and fight Philip!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014James E. Denton<\/p>\n
4732<\/b> \u201cAs You Mend, I\u2019ll Mend\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Dr. Hickington, chaplain to Charles II, used to preach at the king\u2019s vices. This the king took to himself; and so, one day, he said, \u201cDoctor, you and I ought to be better friends; give up being so sharp on me, and see if I don\u2019t mend on your hand.\u201d \u201cWell, well,\u201d retorted the doctor, \u201cI\u2019ll make it up with your Majesty on these terms: as you mend, I\u2019ll mend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Foster<\/p>\n
4733<\/b> \u201cThe Parson Forgot His Text\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Mr. Frederick Landis, who has recently been nominated for Congress in the eleventh district of Indiana in a close contest with the veteran Steele who has been in office for sixteen years, is only thirty years old. <\/p>\n
Shortly after Landis had commenced to practice law, some boys who had been arrested for disturbing church services came to him for help. The prosecuting attorney was thorough. When the time came for the trial he called the deacons and elders of the church for the prosecution, and, though they all agreed on the disorder of the boys, under cross-examination by Mr. Landis not one could recall the minister\u2019s text or a single point in the sermon. The preacher himself, to his confusion, could not give his own text. <\/p>\n
Then the miscreants, who had been carefully coached, were called to the witness stand, and decorously recited the main points of the sermon and the text, to the satisfaction of the court, which decided that their knowledge was proof of close attention and good behavior. The judge gave a verdict of acquittal. <\/p>\n
\u2014Saturday Evening Post<\/i><\/p>\n
4734<\/b> My Pastor<\/b><\/p>\n
My pastor shapes his sermons<\/p>\n
From A to final Z<\/p>\n
In clear and forthright language, <\/p>\n
And aims them straight at me. <\/p>\n
And when he gets to preaching, <\/p>\n
I look around to see<\/p>\n
If there might be another<\/p>\n
Deserving more than me. <\/p>\n
But every soul looks saintly\u2014<\/p>\n
Their hearts to heaven turn\u2014<\/p>\n
While I, in my conviction, <\/p>\n
Can only sit and squirm. <\/p>\n
You know, I often wonder<\/p>\n
If I should miss a day;<\/p>\n
Would he, without his target, <\/p>\n
Have anything to say? <\/p>\n
\u2014Author Unknown<\/p>\n
4735<\/b> Epigram On Preacher in Action<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 The best preacher is the heart; the best teacher is time; the best book is the world; the best friend is God. <\/p>\n
\u2014The Talmud<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2022 Great sermons begin in great hearts, and hearts are made great by tilling them with the needs of a brokenhearted, suffering world. Jesus\u2019 trained ears could hear a beggar\u2019s cry above the shouts of the throng. <\/p>\n
\u2022 After his return from church one Sunday a small boy said, \u201cYou know what, Mommie? I\u2019m going to be a minister when I grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d said his mother, \u201cbut what made you decide you want to be a preacher?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d said the boy pensively, \u201cI\u2019ll have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I think it would be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Sunshine Magazine<\/i><\/p>\n
See also:<\/b> Missions ; Pastor ; Soul-Winning ; Matt. 24:14; II Tim. 4:2; Rev. 7:4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. \u2014Rev. 11:3 4677 Longest Recorded Sermon The longest sermon on record was preached by Rev. Robert Marshall, minister of the Birmingham Unitarian Church, Michigan, in 1976. He preached for 60 hours and … Continue reading “PREACHER”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}