Painstaking consideration should be given to our manner of presenting God's truth, that we may secure maximum results in connection with our evangelistic efforts. All heaven is willing and anxious that many be brought into the remnant church of God. That this may be accomplished, there should be, first of all, thorough consecration to the service of the Lord on the part of the minister, the other workers connected with the effort, and the entire membership of the church. Frequently, before beginning an effort, it would be well for the evangelist to hold some revival meetings in the church, that delinquent members may get right with God. No worker or group of workers can expect to have success ,in bringing people into the church if they themselves are not fully consecrated, and right with the Lord.
The evangelist should never preach himself, but lift up Christ in every sermon. Displays of egotism usually disgust the hearer and misrepresent Christ. Paul admonishes, "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord." And Jesus said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me."
In meekness and humility of heart should we seek to make the word of God clear to the hearers; for the power is in the word. We read, "The word of God is quick, and powerful." And further, "It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
God cannot bless error. For Him to bless ,error 'would be to sanction evil, Therefore, Jehovah would deny Himself in permitting the Holy Spirit to bless us, should we carelessly teach error. The closer we come to His truth, the more of His blessing we may expect in our ministry.
As ministers we should guard against overstatement. Expressions that savor of exaggeration or fanaticism, border on error, and always militate against the truth. They will neutralize our efforts. Christ's sheep know His voice, and will respond to the teaching of truth. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Many times persons investigating truth, have heard the minister exaggerate or make fanatical assertions, have judged the whole message by such distortion, and being offended, have left the meeting, never to return. How careful we should be to give the trumpet both the right and the certain sound.
There is also danger, in our evangelistic efforts, of concluding that our hearers really know more of our message than they actually do. We may begrudge the time necessary to clarify in their minds every point of faith. When we are giving a series of Bible studies, no matter how many Adventists may be in the congregation, the minister should remember that he is giving the truth to those who know it not, and should be just as earnest and careful to make each point clear as though no one in the congregation had ever heard the message before. We should study to make God's word clear rather than to be eloquent.
It is possible to use too many texts in a sermon, or too few. A good rule to follow is to explain thoroughly and make clear every point of truth presented, using no more texts than are necessary to this end.
The success of some ministers is neutralized because they do not know when to close a sermon. They get into the habit of preaching long sermons, and the people become wearied and lose interest. In this day and age no minister may hope for success if he persists in wearying his congregation with long discourses. Sermons thirty-five or forty minutes in length, and right to the point, will accomplish much more in adding members to the church than the long efforts of past years.
Every preacher should restudy his subject before presenting it to his congregation. It makes no difference how well one knows his message, nor how many times he may have presented it, he should take time to be alone with God, and to refresh his mind on the truth and the subject, and to receive special personal blessing and help from God to present the truth and reach the hearts of the hearers.
Charlotte, N. C.
