p. 131 | I am not Eloquent

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 9, 1872

“I am not Eloquent.”

This self-deceiving apology is heard, substantially, from the mouths of many Christians as an excuse for neglecting to bring the saving truth, in which they believe, into the consciences of their fellow-men. The following narrative sets this matter in its true light:

Two friends, one of them a pious man, often met, and spent hours in trivial conversation, but the subject of religion was scarcely ever touched. The Christian man was troubled in his conscience by the thought that he could not say anything impressive enough to awaken the other to the care of his soul. But one evening when they were together again, and the latter was full of talk on all kinds of subjects, the former was silent and thoughtful. At last he turned an anxious look and a weeping eye upon his gay friend, and said to him in a gentle, impressive, and serious tone, “Oh! how I wish I could do something for your soul!” In an instant, his merriment was changed into a look of surprise and distress, and in a short time he left the room. God made this simple, earnest word an arrow in the young man’s heart. His convictions grew more and more deep and painful, till in a few days he found peace in believing, and became a preacher of the gospel.

The real meaning of the above excuse is, “I have not enough interest in the salvation of others—it is not want of capacity—to undertake anything for them.” A single word, moistened by a tear, may, with God’s help, lead to the conversion of a soul.