By Arthur Vess
Preach it seriously, not as a joke, but as a serious eternal issue.
There is too much chaff in our modern pulpits. Many try to tickle and amuse people rather than bless them. If we are blessed, we do not need to be amused and entertained. It is all right to be cheerful, but not chaffy. They said that Jesus often wept but never laughed. How could He?
A young man was seriously affected by an evangelist's message, and went over to the parsonage after the service to inquire more about the truth; but the pastor and evangelist cracked jokes and cut up so much that the hungry soul went away grieved, disappointed and starved, wondering if there was anything to it after all. No one was ever saved or sanctified in a jocular mood. We must be sane and serious. There may be an occasional use of wit to embarrass the adversary, but holiness is not a joke. Some cowards in the pulpit crack a joke and explode their occasional denunciations of the world.
Many, or most, of our modern once-holiness preachers vie with each other in keeping their hearers laughing and roaring with fun. Is this why the "glory has departed?" The world stresses amusement and entertainment, while the world is lost, and communism is rushing in on us. They want to forget their sins and sorrows. They need deliverance from slavery of sin, and the impartation of a holy nature so that they can live a holy, happy life free from all sinful strife.
Only miserable people have to be amused and entertained.
