"He that winneth souls is wise" and "He that is wise winneth souls." The one object of the man called of God to preach is to win souls; all his preaching tends to this one end. If he preaches to the Church it is to instruct, confirm, establish, that it may be effective in the work for which God established it. The increase in the membership of the Church should, and will if it is of God, increase its power. The first disciple of Jesus went out and brought another; the third went and brought in the fourth. A revival was on hand immediately. The Church of God today needs the revival preacher, and no other makes full proof of his ministry. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent?" (Rom. 10:13-15). Here the salvation of souls and the preaching of the Gospel are forever united by the Holy Ghost. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder." "As the Father hath sent me, even so have I sent you." "The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost." The Spirit and the Church and the individual believer all unite in saying, "Come." All Heaven is interested in sinners getting back to God. There is joy in the presence of God among the angels over one sinner that repenteth. What engages the interest and effort of Heaven ought to engage the interest and effort of the church on earth; the Church triumphant and the Church militant are one.
"One army of the living God Before His throne they bow; Part of the host have crossed the flood And part are crossing now."
Revivals are the necessity of the Church. Without them, it will cease to exist. Revival preachers are a necessity. There are preachers, men of reputation too, that never once in all their lives distinctly concentrated their efforts to the single purpose of converting men. Their efforts are to finish an eloquent sermon, to develop theological or biblical truth, to thrill aesthetically an audience, to spread a popular fame, to gather crowds, to build a large church. These have their reward, success in their objects. But here is a lonesome preacher, faithful to his calling, by prayer, by fasting, by waiting on God, by study of the Word, by humble dependence on the Holy Ghost aiming to win men for God, and he does it; he honors God and God honors him. Jacob Knapp, laboring in New York, in a meeting when the devil put up great resistance, said publicly, "My bones bleach in Pennsylvania, or I see the work of the Lord prosper." Of course a revival began, and began at once; that night people ran to the altar. The preacher who pays the price will enkindle the faith and prayers and enthusiasm of others.
If we would have extensive and powerful revivals of religion, we must have a good estimate of their value, remembering, in the first place, that the Holy Spirit, the Executive of the Godhead, is the sole Author of genuine revivals. He is the true oil of gladness; when He blows on the garden the spices will flow out. Nothing that man can do is a substitute for His presence. The preacher, without the Holy Ghost, is as dead as the branch in which there is no sap. The Church, without Him, is as dry and barren as the fields without heaven's dew and rain. If the Spirit of God does not aid, our hearts fail us while longing for much valued blessings.
The revival preacher preaches the Word of God, remembering that his Master said, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel." He enjoined His disciples to do as He had done. He has set them as watchmen, they must give the alarm. He has given them the trumpet, they must blow until the gladsome sound is heard. His object and theirs is the same -- "to open the eyes of the blind, to turn them from darkness, to light, and from Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ Jesus," to turn men from sin unto holiness. He not only preaches the Word, he preaches it boldly, without fear or favor, yet preaches it in love, his heart bathed in tears. Spurgeon said of Paul, "He was the kind of preacher whom you would expect to see walk down the pulpit stairs straight into the coffin and then stand before his God ready for his last account." Why not so of every preacher? Preaching for eternity, the blood-bought souls, over whom Christ wept, why not? "Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hall shall sweep away the refuge of lies, the water shall overflow the hiding-place, and your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with Hell shall not stand."
God's Word, His message for the preacher, to the unsaved, impenitent hearer before him, prevents, will not allow, of any law or cold standard of indifference. We must preach the Word; preach not what people want to hear, but what they ought to hear. Woe be to him who willingly keeps back any part of the counsel of God! "Preach the preaching that I bid thee preach." This means surely, he must unfold doctrines and enforce duties, must present promises and pronounce threatenings, must hold forth encouragement without concealing responsibilities; must preach the law and the Gospel distinctly; yet he must not forget that mercy triumphs over judgment, and that where sin abounded, grace does much more abound. As a physician of souls, he must know and declare the extent of the malady, no less than the perfection of the remedy. As men are poor, let him show them the riches of divine grace. As men are dead in trespasses and sins, let him point them to Him who is the life of the world. As they are naked, let him tell of the Lord our righteousness. As they are vile, let him show how Christ is made unto us sanctification. In short, let him preach the whole truth of the Scripture. "The prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream, but he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" This kind of preaching will not make the preacher popular, but nevertheless he will be in demand. There will be hungry hearts crying out to know the way, to be delivered from the burden of sin, and while the God-given message will bring the sinner to Sinai where rolling thunders and lightning flashes will make him fear and tremble. yet, if he "follows on to know," he will also be brought to Calvary where he will lose his burdens and be enabled to say,
"Thus far did I come laden with my sin, Nor could ought ease the grief that I was in, Till I came hither; what a place is this? Must here be the beginning of my bliss? Must here the burden fall from off my back? Must here the strings that bind it to me crack? Blest cross; blest sepulcher! blest rather be The Man that there was put to shame for me!"
That great revival preacher Whitefield often said, "Would ministers preach for eternity, they would act the part of true Christian orators, for then they would endeavor to move the affections and warm the heart, and not constrain their hearers to suspect they dealt in false commerce of unfelt truth." There is a Heaven and there is a Hell. Let the preacher duly speak of both. The Word of God teaches us all we must believe, practice, and experience in order to salvation. It is the Word of life. It is the doctrine according to godliness that is able to make men wise unto salvation.
The revival preacher preaches the whole Gospel and preaches it AS becomes a man sent of God. This little adverb leads us to the manner of preaching. Someone may say, "Is it necessary to say anything of the manner?" One with any experience would think so. The Archbishop of Canterbury said to Garrick, "Pray inform me how it is that you gentlemen of the stage can effect your auditory with things imaginary as if they were real, while we of the Church speak of things real, which many of our congregation receive as imaginary?" "The reason is plain," said Garrick, "we actors speak of things imaginary as though they were real, while too many in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary." He who speaks of God, eternity, sin, salvation, death, judgment, Heaven and Hell, should speak as becomes an ambassador of Heaven bearing a message to dying men and women, Hell bound without Christ, yet who may become sons of God without rebuke.
It must be serious preaching that will make men serious in hearing and obeying it. We are dealing in eternal verities. Heaven is not a dream; Hell is not the vagary of disordered imagination; damnation is not fiction. It is a solemn thing to die, it is a solemn thing to live. It is an awfully solemn thing to preach to candidates for Eternity. He who "woos a smile" when he should "win a soul" is a clown, not a preacher, such as God's man should be.
The preacher aiming for the glory of God should preach in plain English. I have been amused at men whose early advantages were limited, as they gave Hebrew and Greek, acquired not through culture, but a concordance, while educated hearers smiled at their pronunciation, and their revelation of weakness. Baxter said if people had sinned in Latin, he would have written his "Reformed Pastor" in Latin, but as they had sinned in English, he must also write in English. Romaine was required by some of his hearers to display a little more learning in the pulpit. His very next opportunity he read his text in Hebrew, saying, "I suppose scarcely anyone in the congregation understands that." He then read it in Greek, and added, "There may be one or two understand me now. I will now read it in Latin." He did so, and said, "Possibly a few more comprehend me." Last of all he repeated the text in English, and said, "There now, you all understand it. Which do you think is best? I hope always to preach that the most ignorant person in the congregation may understand me." Aim to give men the truth, show the people their sins, not your eloquence or learning. "That is not the best looking-glass which is most gilded, but which shows the truest face." Luther said, "To preach simply is high art. Christ does it Himself. He speaks of husbandry, of sowing seed, and uses peasant similes." The old bishop was right when he said, "Brethren, it will take all our learning to make things plain."
The revival preacher will preach to the consciences of men, and the preaching should be direct. Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost was a model in this respect. How it bore down on the conscience of every man! Such preaching God blesses. "Ye have taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain." Conscience was on the side of the speaker, and the appeal had a visible effect which could not be concealed. We need today preaching that will convince and move men to act from force of truth. Men cannot extinguish their conscience even by false principles, or by their creed. Herod was a Sadducee, did not believe in angel, or spirit, or resurrection, but when he heard of the mighty works of Jesus, he said, "it is John whom I beheaded." His principles fled before the power of conscience. Direct preaching to the conscience of men impels to action. Here the Methodist exhorters were "at home." They pushed men to action. Moody and Harrison and Sam Jones were especially effective because they were direct in their appeals and urged to action at once, pointing out the peril of delay. God uses the gift of urgent appeal; directness always has force, and produces results.
