It may seem easier to attract and hold a crowd with a picture machine than with an open Bible; but its use in evangelistic efforts tends to produce weak preachers, and I fear in many cases to lessen the spiritual power that should mark our public meetings. It is my conviction that there are untouched possibilities for moving hundreds at one time toward God through the masterly presentation of His great truths direct from the open Bible, with eye-to-eye contact of speaker and audience. This is an ideal and a possibility that should never be lost out of our work.
I do not write thus to condemn the proper use of aids to attract and hold an audience, but to plead for less dependence upon such aids and greater dependence upon the all-powerful word, that we may not only retain but stimulate the simplicity of the old-time gospel message in our closing work. This is the hour of the world's greatest need, and this is the hour of the church's greatest opportunity.
God's everlasting gospel for this closing era does not require worldly trappings. The word of God is powerful. But to preach the message effectively, we must know the word intimately. It must be unto us more than our necessary food. It must be to us God's living, powerful instrument for the transformation of men. This is where many ministers fail; they are not men of the Book as they should be. I am persuaded that the simple, positive preaching of God's message direct from the open Bible, has not lost its power to attract large audiences, to hold them from night to night, and to stir men to turn from sin to God in obedience, that their lives may be transformed by His grace. When God sends men with such a message, there is power in that message to accomplish the revealed purpose of God.
John the Baptist had no worldly trappings in his work, yet the people flocked to hear him, and many were turned to the Lord. What was the secret of his success? Was it not that in his complete surrender to God he became the voice of God crying in the wilderness the message for that hour, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord"? And is he not the type of minister that should be found in our ranks today?
"In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, such a work as that of John is to be done. . . . Our message must be as direct as was the message of John... In order to give such a message John gave, we must have a spiritual experience like his. The same work must be wrought in us. We must behold God, and in beholding Him lose sight of self."—"Testimonies," Vol. VIII, pp. 332, 333.
The hour has manifestly come when we should depend upon God's word and His Spirit. In this time of the promised latter rain, the more we depend upon the Holy Spirit in the right way, and the less upon worldly accessories, the more spiritual power will attend our work, and the greater will be the results for God. Let us remember the word: "Your success is in your simplicity."—"Testimonies," Vol. V, p. 667.
Raleigh, N. C.
