Persuasion the Preacher's Work

"By the persuasive process in preaching we mean the excitation of motives. For persuasion is addressed to the will, and its materials are motives ; that is to say, it is by motives always and only that the will is influenced. Knowledge and conviction are not enough. To know one's duty is not to do it, to see is not to move ; and the preacher's aim is to induce men to move, to influence them toward action. . .

"Persuasion, then, is the ultimatum of preaching. All else is subsidiary ; this is the end. 'For one,' says Bishop Pierce, 'I cannot preach much at best, but I cannot preach at all unless I have good hope of achieving results. I want to see impressions, effects, fruits, sinners awakened, souls converted, the church happy.' And the language of Blaikie, in his history of The Preachers of Scotland, is none too strong : 'It would mark a new era of pulpit power if preachers realized the obligation to persuade, and coveted this power as the best of pulpit gifts.' "—Pages 232, 233.

A young man comes out of college and is told to hold a series of meetings. Immediately he is concerned with subject matter, advertising, finance, music, a good attendance, a voice, ap­pearance, gestures, and many other worthy things, but little thought is given to persuasion. It is one of the last things we consider, but should be one of the first items for our consideration.

This, at least, has been my early experience. Persuasion was forgotten until the latter part of the series of meetings. After the Sabbath question had been fully presented and the mark of the beast stage had been reached, then calls and invitations were extended. From this time onward to the close of the series, invitations were given for people to give their hearts to the Lord and to join the remnant band who are looking for their Lord's soon coming.

Importance of Persuading Early

As a young man in the ministry I had learned this method from others by observation. This method was continued, and with some success, until a sad experience opened my eyes. An­other young man and I held a series of meet­ings in a tabernacle in a certain city in central Illinois. The effort there was counted a suc­cess, and when it was finished we started meet­ings in an adjacent city, so that those who had not as yet taken their stand and were still in­terested in the message could attend the new series and thus be drawn over the decision line.

The third night of the new series I was speaking on the subject of the Lord's second coming, and a number of the newly baptized members from the former effort were present. A number of those still interested but not yet baptized were also present, and then, of course, a goodly number of new people were in at­tendance. One couple was there who had at­tended just a few of the former meetings and who seemed very much interested. In fact, we had baptized the wife's three sisters and their husbands, and by former contact with this couple we had learned that they intended to attend the new series regularly.

During the course of the presentation of the sermon on this third night, no thought of an appeal had occurred to me, but suddenly a voice spoke to me and said, "Give the invita­tion." It was as if a person were behind me who whispered in no uncertain tone and with such force that I almost stopped preaching. Personally, I am convinced that it was an angel from heaven who spoke. I mentally whispered back to my unseen counselor, "You know, we don't give the invitation during the first few nights of the meetings:"

Then I looked at my congregation and found that something had happened—many were in tears. I looked at this young couple. The hus­band was sitting with bowed head, leaning for­ward a bit, with tears streaming from his eyes.

had made no appeal, neither had I played upon the emotions, yet something was happen­ing to the people. The Spirit of God was pres­ent, and in a very marked degree. God had someone to save that night, even if it was early in the series.

As I continued to preach, the voice spoke often to me in the same way, repeating the ad­monition, "Give the call," and I argued back, through ignorance, "We don't give the invita­tion so early in the series." Then . again it came, "Give it now." and my attention was di­rected to this young couple. I said to the angel, "They'll be here every night. I can invite them after they know more, when the time comes, but not now." This was a real conversation, going on while I was preaching, and as real as any I have ever had with a person of this world.

At the close of the evening meeting, I took my stand at the doorway to shake hands with our parting guests. Among the last to leave were this young man and his wife. He came up to me and with tears still in his eyes said, "You won't see us any more. Things have changed and we leave in the morning for dis­tant parts." Then it was that I realized that the invitation I was to give was for him. God knew he was leaving and had prepared his heart for a full surrender. This was his night. Now I did my best to make up for lost time by urging him to give his heart to the Lord, to follow the way, and to keep in touch with the message wherever he went. But in my heart I knew that I had failed. The iron was hot, but I did not strike. Now it was cooling, and it was too late.

I repented in tears, but the thought "Too late!" came back to me and still comes back to me as an empty echo. This experience is told only that other preachers, young in experi­ence, perhaps, may learn, before it is too late, to give the call if prompted by the sweet Spirit of God, regardless of what they might think of its advisability at the time.

When Should We Persuade?

From this experience we can see how impor­tant it is to give the invitation, "Whosoever will, come," early in any series of meetings. for we never know who might be on the very verge of acceptance. If persuasion is the end of preaching, then we must persuade in every sermon, and since persuasion is getting the peo­ple to act, we must give some kind of call or invitation at the close of every sermon.

A great preacher of bygone days was asked by a younger preacher how to succeed in win­ning souls. The great preacher asked the young man, "You don't expect to win souls in every sermon, do you?"

"Oh, no," replied the young man.

"Well," replied the older man, "that's why you don't." I'm wondering if we haven't lost much by not more often inviting people to sur­render. If Paul died daily, and if the life of victory is a daily transaction, is it too much to ask people to surrender their hearts anew once a week on Sabbath, to allow them to give expression to their inward feelings in some way or other? Is it asking too much of the people to ask them every night in a series of meetings to express themselves in some way or other?

I am reminded of another personal experi­ence. In my first pastorate I did my best to build up the church, and preached to the best of my ability. While visiting in one of the homes a good sister said to me, "Brother Wellman, your sermons are good and are much ap­preciated, but do you know that you don't give us opportunity to act upon them. You stir us from within and we're ready to do something about what you say, but you leave no room for us to act, or to give expression." There I was, stirring the people, leading them up to, shall we say, repentance? and then neglecting to give them a chance to repent, or to give expression to their desire for repentance.

But someone says, "We can't have altar calls after every sermon. This would become mo­notonous and by repetition lose its force and effects." I believe that is true, and yet we can give the people a chance to express themselves in various ways right from the beginning of our meetings.

After the opening sermon has been presented in a series of meetings, I close in prayer, and while heads are bowed and the people are praying silently, I call for a show of hands of those who believe there is a heaven, if "Heaven" is my topic. Nearly all hands will go up. Then I ask, "Now how many are interested in going to heaven?" and about as many hands will go up. Then, "Now how many want to be ready for heaven when Christ comes to redeem His own?" Many hands will still go up. :This is the first night, and already we have people responding, giving expression of acceptance, and on the road to heaven. In this way no one feels that he is being watched, is conspicuous, or out of place. After I thank them for their at­tention and response, the closing song is an­nounced and we are dismissed.

The next night I make another call for a show of hands in response to questions that run parallel to the subject, or to the idea that many people are discouraged these days and want to be remembered in prayer. I call for those who want to be remembered in prayer.

After this show of hands I offer a short prayer, then the closing song is sung, and we are dismissed with the benediction. And so night after night, for the first two weeks, we call for a show of hands.

Perhaps at the close of the second week, after some solemn subject has been presented, I have people stand as their expression. At this time the appeal is general, so that all of the congre­gation can stand. In this way the most timid will respond and get into the habit of respond­ing.

During the third or fourth week on some important night I again give a general appeal, so that all can act upon it. While they are standing, I call them forward for a special prayer service—prayer for themselves and for others for whom they are burdened. On such a subject as the judgment, whole congregations have come forward to give their hearts to the Lord, to have their names confessed by the Ad­vocate in the heavenly court.

This is all being done to prepare the way for a stronger appeal that comes later in the series. So night after night the calls continue. For different appeals, different hands will go up. Then after the Sabbath question has been fully presented, and on the night I present the mark of the beast, I make an appeal for the people to give their hearts to the Lord, and to come forward and sign a covenant. The covenant reads something like this: