Presenting Truth Positively.
THE predecessor of Rev. Joel Hawes, as pastor of one of the Congregational churches of Hartford, Connecticut, was Dr. Strong. His pastorate was one of almost uninterrupted prosperity, persons uniting on profession of faith at every monthly meeting. The younger Dr. Edwards was a contemporary of Dr. Strong, and, on a visit to the Hartford parsonage, lamented that there were no more conversions among his own people, while so many were added to Dr. Strong’s church under his preaching. He inquired the reason, when Dr. Strong said, “Perhaps one reason is this, that you preach as if your people did not believe the Bible. You undertake logically to prove everything, and to state fully all kinds of objections to the truth, and to answer them; and I admit that you do it most ably and fully. But then you often suggest objections that many have never thought of till they heard them from your lips, and perhaps the objection is remembered, while the answer is forgotten. Now, I do differently. I preach to my people as if every one of them believed the Bible just as much as I do. The great object of every one of my sermons is to urge my hearers to obey it—to live up to the truth they in theory believe, and to do it now. And the result is that I never hear of a doubter in my congregation, and continually men are converted and added to the church.” The incident has an important practical lesson. There is no loss of power to the pulpit in the positive presentation of truth, and there is a fitness in truth to the conscience, when pressed upon it, which makes it, in the hands of the Spirit, the mighty power of God to salvation. Somebody has said that it is not enough that we do not preach on mere lecture-room themes and sensation topics, such as “The Beautiful Shoes,” “The Convoy of Wings,” “The Apostle’s Left Baggage,” or “The Message of Balaam’s Ass;” we must preach truth, gospel truth, truth in its positive claims, truth as now pointing all to Christ and to duty and to Heaven, else our ministry will be in vain. Richard Baxter’s words to a remonstrating friend are always in place: “When so many are preaching to the times, do not find fault if I try to preach for eternity!”—Sel.