The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-05-18

his best each time will do better the next
time and thus his ideal constantly pc
comes larger. Such Is an intilnation OF
the eternal possibilities OF the SOUL
This thought suggests the question,
what are the conditions OF spiritual
success in the ministry 1t 10 no new
question. The last word upon 1t VIII not
be spoken until the last minister mas
preached his last sermon. 1t means pow.
er. Not transient sensationalism but
living, abiding power. preacher may
be popular and Interesting and be power
less as a gospel minister.
There Is a sentiment that we have MOTH
ing to do with results but are simply N
preach the truth and leave the results TO
God. This is half a truth and like naif
truths Is misleading. 1t has made more
lazy ministers, produced more poor SER
mons, given more failures in the pastor
ate than any other words ever spoken.
1t hns made men contented with the neg
ativo success of holding the fort without
aggressive gains. 1t has stagnated our
churches, and wasted our missionary
funds. The man who enters the minis
try as only a gospel "hsndorgan." to tell
the story over and over and grind out
each week an essay for n few OF the most
Intelligent hearers had better remain out.
side the temple and let the town, not
the church, support him.
The preacher is not simply q watchman
to blow trumpet. but a general to be
an aggressive leader. When the church
does no aggressive work. then its restrain
ing and elevating influence declines The
thing to be sought is the redeeming Of
men out of the world into the kingdom
Of God-not the ethical lifting up Of So
oiety, lot social or political reform.
Christ nowhere attempted such things.
He sought individual men. He was not
q reformer, but O 6avior. The Apostles
had nothing to do with political reform.
The early church had nothing to do with
1t. 1t was the power of the spiritual life
which shook the Roman empire. As soon
as 1t commenced to deal with ethical and
political questions 1t lost both its ethical
and political power. The great histor-
ian tells us that the greatest social uplift-
ing followed the preaohings of Westfield
and Wesley. This Is the early history of
New England. The ethical never pro-
duoes the spiritual, the spiritual produces
the ethical. God put the first command
ment first. The object Of the gospel is
not to produce sweet singers, but to save
lost men. The salvation of men Is the
one thought in Christ's life, teachings
and example.
A man cannot preach what he has not,
hence deep spiritual life Is necessary to
the perception OF the truth. The mission
of reason is to study what has been re-
venltu. lU6 uluu CduuOU knUW u uOWcE
until after the flower has been revealed
This is true with all science. The mind
must have not only An objective revela-
tion, but subjective experience of that
revelation before 1T can understand the
revelation.
Every revelation comes through some
faculty of our nature given for that pur-
pose. Reason Is "a faculty. 1t originates
nothing. 1t 81 IMPLY reads Gods thoughts
ovar IN flor Him Ina Rible ie mpssnCp
from tine heart of God to the heart of
man, and only a heart that Is in love
with God can perceive Its meaning. The
spirit perceives and feels and the intellect
what the spirit sees.
We insist upon this because the most
subtle temptation of the ministerial life
is to look at revealed truth with only nat.
ural powers, as one studies geology or
English literature.
Out of this purely intellectual enthust-
asm has come nine-tenths of the religious
skepticism OF the age. Such men have
not passed from Thomas before to Thorn
as after Christ opened his understanding.
The great departures from faith in all
ages did not spring from superior scholar
ship, but from the lack of spiritual life.
The greatest aggressive work of the
church in all ages has not commenced
with superior culture but with the deeper
spiritual life. We are not to exalt doubt
ing Thomas above believing John.
A deep spiritual experience is next to
the power Of the pulpit. The success OF
the preacher is mott that Of truth, or
of reason, or of character, or of elo-
quence, or of social enthusiasm, or
of human sympathy, or of religious
but spiritual possession. No
man can preach what he does not possess
in his own heart Many men do not seem
to rise above an honest, earnest presenta-
tion of truth, but preachers power Is
spiritual rather than intellectual. To
preach doubts Is to awaken doubts, to
criticize is to create criticism. Such
has no uplift to the soul. The
preacher stands on higher ground than
that of the Spirits presence and power
Not the spirit without preparation, that is
nor preparation without the
spirit, that is egotism. Christ did not
speak words in the strength of his own
but in the power of the third
person of the Trinity. Thus with the
Apostles.
The word power when used in relation
to the ministry the Biblo always denotes
bestowed. power, the word from which
we gain our expression dynamic
Preaching was never more instructive,
more filled with human sympa-
thy, appealed more to the beautiful,
noble, loving and the compassion of God
there, the wood is there. but the fire
does not come. Preachers prostrate
themselves. do all that art can
do. use higher and lower oriti-
cism, charge them ethically, civilize.
popularize, but the fire does
not come. One of the saddest things in
the world Is popular minister without
When l read Sunday even
ing sermon q short time ago of distin-
guished preacher which was delivered be-
fore a large audience on the Book OF
Ruth, confined to the four uses OF the
novel in literature and from this match
less story of the Old Testament. not one
spiritual or moral lesson was drawn l
was forced to say, "Very brilliant. but
powerless.
This fact of an objective spiritual force
giving truth Eower more than is Inherent
in itself, is the secret of preaching. This
lifts preaching above lecturing, above
mere intellectual effort, above little
themes, above religious skepticism, above
seeking place, above personal ambition,
and from, it comes the unction and power
Train mon for the ministry deeply,
broadly, highly, fully. Give them all
that scholarship can bestow, wait with
them in prayer until the foolish ambition
is wrung from the heart and they be