The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-22
PRESIDENT MILLs's PAPER.
The Head of EarIhnm Talks on Quail
fcatiOns for Ministers.

The Head of EarIhnm Talks on Quail
ficatiOns for Ministers.
One of the interesting papers read at last
nights session of the conference was by
j. J. Mills, president of Earlham University.
President Mills spoke on 1.-THE Qualifications
for the Christian Ministry" He said, in
part:
THE true Christian minister, like the
cient Hebrew seer, is differenced from other
public teachers, first by profound sensi-
tiveness to spiritual truth, and, second, by
special gift for expounding it. Funda-
mental to thetformer of these characteristics
IS personal holiness. Heart purity is the
first condition of spiritual insight In the
language of Archdeacon Farrar, the minis
ter must first of all be what the Bible calls
him, man of God"-that is, a man whose
life is born of God and comes from God.
He must walk with God, live with God, COM
mune with God
But the minister of Christ must be much
more than merely good man. His charac-
ter must be dynamic as well holy. Like
Paul he must have distinct consciousness
that he has been apprehended laid hold Of
by Christ as spokesman for Him. He
must not only have spiritual perception of
have holy impulse to communicate the
mystic voice of God to his fellow He
must have what has been fifty called
sense of message 1t ought to be the pas.
sion of his soul to help other men. His
perpetual attitude toward those about him
should be that of unselfsh service for Jesus
sake.
"A preacher who speaks with real pro-
phetic power ought to be the most diligent of
students. No other worker among men rests
under so imperiouS an obligation to make
faithful preparation for the service commit
ted to him. Every new occasion for preach
ing brings its special demand for him to be
found in readiness. Any conception of. the
ministry other than that successful preach
ing involves the necessity of constant and
downright hard work is radically wrong.
An Indian candidate for the ministry, when
asked by his examiners TO state what is
original sin, is said to have naively re-
piled, / do not know what other mems may
be; rather think mine is laziness. If his
candor was exceptional his experience may
not have been wholly unique among men
who aspire to be preachers of the gospel.
Nowhere does persistent methOdical work
bring larger returns than in the Christian
ministry. God puts the oil into the olives,
but before it can be available for the sane
tuary light it must be beaten out in NOR
tar by human hands. The minister that
faithfully studies to show himself approved
unto God will never rest short of the very
best preaching of which he is capable I'M
der the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
Nevertheless, the true minister, who
aspires to be a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, will always be compelled to
confess with Paul. Not 1, but the grace of
God that was with me- Wherever ne may
be when the message from the Lord finds
him, whether in the privacy of his study or
in his pastoral intercourse with the flock of
God, or when walking by the way, or before
the congregation in the hour OF worship,
cy is of God 1t has been said of John Yves
ley that he studied as If everything depended
upon himself and prayed as if everything
depended upon God George Adam Smith
says that the true prophet in ancient Israel
had come under such an overwhelming con-
viction of Gods presence and of His character
that Gods word broke through him and God
spoke in the first person to the people. Old
Testament prophet and New Testament
preacher are one at heart. Hear Farrar
again. If the preacher is not a prophet IL
he does not receive a message direct from
God which he can communicate to men
he is no true preacher.
"a minister thus anOinted cannot be said
to invent his sermons. Often, If not in
variably, he is under no need to search for
course. On the contrary, it is the text that
finds the preacher What he consciously does
is to surrender himself to the truth EMBODIED
in text which has taken possession of his
mind and heart.
THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT
THE orthodoxy of Ian Maclaren John
Watson) has, l believe been questioned in
some quarters. But, when judged from the
Quaker standpoint, he is hereto con-
corning the leading of the Spirit in the
preaching of the word. What the prophet
tells forth, he says, he must first be told.
but how God uncovers His servants
to whisper His message none can explain
The true preacher, he adds, is distin-
guished by divine passion which breathes
through his thoughts, his words. and his
BILE sign of the prophet, it is the baptism
OF the Holy Ghost, and about such secret
things it becometh us to be silent and to
fear
1T is idle to ask when and where
preacher acquired the sermon that spoke
With power on any given occasion. Ii he
habituahy dwell in the spirit, spiritual
themes will be perpetually presenting them
selves to his mind. Sermon material will
be found everywhere at his hand. Revela-
tons of religious truths will break in upon
his soul in his study of the Bible, in his
general reading, in his contact with people
socially and otherwise, in the prosaic incl
dents of daily life. The sermon that has
vitality and reaches the hearts of men must
be the embodiment of spiritual truth as re-
vealed in the inspired word of God. But
that truth may ind its reflection in the
heart, the thought. the life of the preach
erin the character and experience of men
and women who compose the minister's au-
dience. Coos word, the preachers person
atty, the congregation, the sympathy be-
tween speaker and nearer the hungering
need of souls-all these go to the making
of a sermon, under the ministratons of the
Holy Spirit. 1t is vain TO attempt 10 give
the genesis of any particular sermon that
has been used Of God for the blessing of
an individual or company. 1t may have
Deen the sudden elimination of a long and
hidden growth in the preachers soul. When
Lyman Beecher was asked how long it took
him 10 write his sermon on Gods moral
government he Is said to have replied forty
years. But whether the sermon take its
root in the complex sources of past study
ana experience, OF whether II come With
out forethought at the hour when the an
ointed servant of the Lord finds himself
face to face with the congregation that is
TO be fed-it is still the working of the self
same Spirit.
Under such a conception of his work a
preacher of the gospel ought to be supreme
ly reverent. At the manifestation of Jeho-
vah's glory in his prophetic call Ezekiel
falls upon his face AT his ordination as a
prophet jeremiah cries aloud All, Lord
God behold, ! cannot speak, for | am a
child John, at his reception of the divine
mysteries. falls as dead before the revela-
ton of his risen Lord Quaker trembler
from the reverent consciousness of the
presence of God, could hardly be an OPP
probrious name, however derisively be-
slowed. for all men like George Fox and
William Penn.
Men to-day as in the past, like serious
preaching. Not dull dreary or empty theo-
logical platitudes, to be sure, for no virtue
can be found in stupidity. be it ever so
sanctimonious. But earnest. thoughtful dis
course that does not trife with sacred
themes will never lack for appreciative and
considerable hearers. The irreverent preach
er has missed his calling. Joseph Parker.
Of the Temple Church London paints a
vivid picture OF the ideal pulpit eloquence.
Let us pray he says, that Pentecost may